novelraw Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Chapter 43
"Auntie, the flat's on the sixth floor—there's no lift, so you'll have to hike a bit."
"Alright~"
After lunch Ye Lan still wanted to see the place Yan Huan rented; he could hardly refuse.
He agreed at once, flagged down a car and brought them to the foot of his building.
Though Ye Lan wore high heels, she and Ye Shiyu climbed the six storeys without effort, not even breathing hard—clearly they kept fit.
If Sakuramiya Vice-President had come along, she'd have been panting before the second landing.
Ye Lan glanced around the passably tidy stairwell—clean, not dilapidated, a world away from the notorious South-District blocks—and lifted a brow in mild surprise.
"Looks decent enough here, Xiao Huan."
"Well, it's public-rent housing; the rent's low, just the paperwork that's a pain."
Public-rent flats were a Linmen-government initiative: capped rent and living standards, managed centrally, open only to applicants who met strict criteria.
As an orphan, Yan Huan happened to qualify.
The flat was decent and cheap, so his biggest money worry wasn't rent—it was tuition.
He still remembered Principal Hermes telling Ye Lan that Yuanyue's top scholarship only covered two-thirds of the fees.
At first glance it seemed odd: Yuanyue, one of Linmen's two elite academies, couldn't fully waive fees even for its top student and student-council president.
But that wasn't quite accurate.
The scholarship did cover tuition; the problem lay in everything else.
Daily shuttle buses? Several thousand per year.
Two sets of tailored uniforms, supplies, health insurance—all extra.
And then the textbooks, the real killer.
Printing in Linmen was shockingly expensive; Yan Huan's current maths book alone cost a few hundred.
That was only one subject—five core courses, plus electives that required their own texts.
Add it up and the "miscellaneous" costs equalled one-third of the total, payable in full before term began.
Still, those careful calculations might matter a little less now that he'd been adopted into the benevolent Church of Ye Lan.
"Here we are."
Yan Huan smiled back at Ye Lan, produced his key and opened the door to forty square metres of tidy space.
"Auntie, Shiyu sis, come right in. I don't get many visitors, so no spare slippers or shoe-covers."
"Then we'll impose on your hospitality~"
"......"
He switched on the light and stepped inside.
Ye Lan and Ye Shiyu followed, glancing around the neat flat while Meow-chan trotted out to greet them.
After all, during crafts class Ye Shiyu had once knitted him a tiny scarf, and the shelves of cat food and tins made it obvious Yan Huan kept a cat.
Cute creatures always draw female attention; once Yan Huan introduced Meow-chan's grand name, Ye Lan scooped the cat up and ruffled its fur with delight.
From a distance the black cat looked like a fluffy ball; only when lifted did one realise it was solid.
"What a fat cat!"
Ye Lan laughed behind her hand.
"Meow?!"
Meow-chan was mortified.
But the slip betrayed him.
"Adorable kitty," Ye Lan said, still stroking, "but Xiao Huan, where's the litter tray?"
At that, Ye Shiyu's curious gaze sharpened.
"Ah, that."
Yan Huan glanced at the dazed cat in Ye Lan's arms.
"Meow-chan likes to roam. He usually handles his business outside."
"I see—still a bit wild. Such a sweet cat."
Ye Lan scratched the cat's chubby cheeks, then set him down to finish the tour.
There wasn't much to see: forty square metres, sparse furnishings.
After a brief circuit Ye Lan and Ye Shiyu prepared to leave for Jinghe District.
"Then we'll be off, Xiao Huan. Call Auntie any time, and come home for meals often."
At the door Ye Lan turned back to wave.
"Will do, Auntie."
Ye Shiyu's expression was as calm as ever, yet her eyes had missed nothing of the tiny flat.
Only as she stepped out did she draw her gaze back and bid him farewell.
"See you at school next week, Xiao Huan."
"Sure thing, Shiyu sis."
No need for Yan Huan to escort them further; the car waited downstairs.
He closed the door, and Ye Lan and Ye Shiyu walked toward the stairwell.
Half-way down, Ye Shiyu glanced at her mother humming cheerfully and asked abruptly,
"...Is it really okay, Mom?"
Ye Lan looked back, puzzled.
"What's not okay?"
"You clearly want Xiao Huan to come home, don't you?"
"Mm, I do."
"Then leaving him here in South District—is that really alright?"
Ye Lan paused, then smiled.
"I do feel that way, but—"
"But?"
Ye Shiyu's brow furrowed.
"Well, it might be a little early for you, but let's call it a life lesson ahead of schedule."
"."
Ye Lan reached out and smoothed her daughter's dark hair.
"People are terribly good at turning those they care about into possessions, then piling expectations on them.
Parents treat children as theirs, expecting obedience and the life path they've mapped out.
Children treat parents as theirs, expecting unconditional support whenever they need it.
Lovers, friends—most close relationships follow the same pattern.
And while doing this, we rarely notice, because we view everything from our own perspective."
Ye Shiyu blinked. After a moment she asked,
"...Is that wrong?"
Ye Lan shook her head and continued down the stairs.
"Not at all; it's perfectly natural.
Because we care, we hope the other person will act in ways that don't disappoint us."
She reached the landing and looked back at her daughter still standing in the shadows.
"But Shiyu, you must remember: the one carrying those expectations belongs to himself first, and only then to you.
Understand that, respect that, and no one gets hurt.
If you heap on expectations and treat others as property, you'll only keep hurting yourself when the returns don't match."
Ye Shiyu's eyes widened; her lips parted slightly.
"Xiao Huan is himself first, then Yulu's child, then the one I want to confide in.
And you, Shiyu, are the same to me~"
In the dim stairwell Ye Shiyu stared at her smiling mother, unable to comprehend.
Completely unable.
Yet at that moment she recalled the unease she'd felt all week—
Every time she noticed another student paying attention to Xiao Huan, liking Xiao Huan, a sour heat had risen in her chest.
That, she supposed, was the disappointment her mother had warned her about—the feeling when you realize someone might be claimed by another, no longer yours alone.
But what was wrong with wanting everything to bend to her will, to stay forever beside her, never betray her, never leave?
Disappointment itself didn't frighten her. After all, she had the hypnosis app.
The thought shattered her daze like glass. Ye Shiyu's face smoothed back into its usual blank mask.
South District's night wind shredded the unspeakable knot inside her. Ye Lan's gentle voice dissolved into the garish neon, bright and oily as paint spilled across water.
Multicolored lights from the billboard opposite the estate bled into the shadows where Ye Shiyu stood, turning the sudden violet glow of her phone into just another shard of the city's glare.
As though the screen itself were the city's nightlife, and the nightlife itself were cupped in her palm.
"All right, Shiyu, stop brooding. I'm exhausted—let's go home and crash, okay?"
"Okay."
She nodded, finally stepping out of the shadows and toward the stairwell. Before she left, she glanced once more toward Yan Huan's flat and silently memorized his unit number.
Only then did she follow Ye Lan downstairs.
Tonight, confusion wasn't Ye Shiyu's alone.
"Why... why is it like this?"
Jinghe District, inside a Western-style mansion.
Sakuramiya Hitomi, still in her nightgown, stared wide-eyed at the monitor. After a moment she pressed the brass bell on her desk.
Ding-ding.
Click.
The door opened to reveal a sultry black-haired woman in a dark suit. Spotting the motionless figure in the nightgown at the far end of the vast bedroom, the woman's expression shifted to I-knew-it. She tapped her phone; the "URGENT" banner vanished.
"My dear Sakuramiya young lady, haven't you heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?"
She flashed a teasing smile.
"Though I saw this coming, as your personal bodyguard I still have to remind you: don't ring that bell unless it's an actual emergency."
"This is an emergency, Nara!!" Sakuramiya spun around, cheeks flushed.
"Mm-hmm." Nara shut the door behind her and walked over. "So, how exactly is it an emergency?"
"Look!"
Sakuramiya clicked the mouse, zooming in on one of dozens of surveillance feeds, then dragged the timeline. The screen showed Yan Huan smiling as he ushered Ye Lan and Ye Shiyu into his apartment in the public estate.
Nara glanced at the footage, then at Sakuramiya—puffed cheeks, arms crossed, radiating indignation.
One second of silence later, Nara turned into a broken record. "And the emergency is...?"
"Can't you see? President Yan has never let anyone into his flat, ever! But today—today that Ye Shiyu actually went inside. His first time... his very first—"
"Could you please phrase that less weirdly?"
Nara's face cracked as she tried to keep listening, but Sakuramiya plowed on.
"Besides, it's not just Ye Shiyu—there's an older woman too. How is that not an emergency?"
"They're still women, aren't they?!"
Sakuramiya bit the nail of her thumb, anxiety written all over her.
"I was the one who met him first, stayed by his side first, noticed him first. He even made me pudding—she's never tasted it. Why does she get to enter his home when I haven't even been invited?!"
"Then just ask Yan Huan if you can drop by."
"As if it were that simple, dummy!"
Sakuramiya shot Nara a sidelong glare and laid out her reasoning.
"I've studied the floor plan—his place is only forty square metres. If I come up with a legitimate reason, the rest of the student-council officers will want to tag along. Five people in forty square metres? The president would be mortified—impossible."
Nara had already flopped onto Sakuramiya's bed and started scrolling through cute-animal videos.
Between clips, she glanced up. "I meant ask Yan Huan if you can visit him alone."
"Wh—"
Crimson flooded Sakuramiya's face. She waved her hands frantically. "That would be way too obvious!"
"What's wrong with obvious? You like him, right?"
"Exactly, but—"
Sakuramiya's gaze drifted to the wall of monitors, the stacks of photos, the notebooks chronicling every move Yan Huan made. The more she looked, the paler she became.
"This doesn't match the persona I've built at all. If I act that forward, he'll spot the cracks. Even if we start dating, what if he slowly grows disappointed and runs away? I'd die—I'd literally die!"
"...Fine. Just wait until I've quit before you do, Miss Sakuramiya. I like my job."
"What are you even saying, Nara?!"
Nara sat up, yawned, and let her normally seductive mask slip into exasperation.
"Then stop doing this. You had me install all these cameras, monitor his every breath. You're one step away from a confession, yet you've made everything ten times messier."
Sakuramiya blinked as if Nara were the idiot.
"Are you stupid? Without the cameras, how would I keep track of the president's every move?"
"..."
Nara wanted to die, but suspected someone else deserved it more.
She spread-eagled on the bed, ready for the coffin, and muttered, "You win, Miss Sakuramiya."
"Do I?"
Sakuramiya marched over, hands on hips, glaring at Nara who was already texting someone else.
"Aren't you supposed to help me?"
"So, what do you want me to do?"
Chin in hand, Sakuramiya looked like she'd planned this for weeks. She returned to her desk and scooped up a stack of pamphlets.
"Here, look."
"What are these?"
"Home-service brochures—cable TV, Wi-Fi, air-con installation, water-heater replacement, water-purifier set-up..."
"Hold on. What exactly are you plotting?"
Nara sat up as Sakuramiya laid the flyers on the bed like playing cards.
Sakuramiya held one up like a weapon. "Pick any excuse—free air-con installation, whatever. Get inside his flat and plant another camera. No, one isn't enough. One in the living room, one in the bedroom, one in the—"
"Have you completely lost it?"
Slap!
Nara swatted the flyer from Sakuramiya's hand and flicked her forehead.
Tap.
A feather-light flick, yet the pampered young lady clutched her head with a whimper.
"Ow—Nara!"
"Miss Sakuramiya, if you keep this up you're finished. Forget dating Yan Huan—you'll be ruined for life once he finds out."
Sakuramiya, on the verge of tears, looked up with scarlet cheeks.
"Then what should I do?! That hateful Ye Shiyu actually... actually—"
"This afternoon you were perfectly composed," Nara drawled. "You stood right here telling me she was 'no threat at all.' So how come, by nightfall, the enemy marched straight through Yinping Pass and you collapsed like Shu-Han?"
As Sakuramiya Hitomi's personal bodyguard, Nara had handled a long list of odd jobs—installing cameras chief among them.
More than a hundred tiny lenses, many positioned at angles so devilish they'd make a voyeur blush, all needing routine maintenance. Anyone with half a brain could tell the frail young lady couldn't crawl around drilling holes herself; Nara had done every bit of the work.
Because she kept getting dragged into it, even the usually bored adult had started tuning in to the romance like it was a daily e-sports match. Nothing beat free entertainment.
That afternoon, on the ride home from school, Hitomi had delivered a scathing commentary on the "potential rival," Ye Shiyu:
"EZ game," she'd scoffed. "Free carry. Send to human support."
Yet by evening, watching Ye Shiyu "sneak through Yinping and storm the capital," the proud Sakuramiya heiress had completely lost her cool.
Honestly, where did the young lady find the energy for all this drama?
Granted, seeing her stamp her feet in private was adorable. If she dropped the dignified act in front of Yan Huan, she'd have bagged him ages ago.
Hitomi clenched her fists and lunged at Nara in mock outrage, but her flurry of soft punches was easy to parry with one hand. While batting away the harmless assault, Nara propped her cheek on her free palm and yawned.
"Young Lady, instead of breaking into someone's apartment to plant bugs, maybe think about what you'll do at the game expo on Sunday."
"The... game expo?"
Hitomi blinked, then brightened. Right—the student-council retreat was this weekend. The president would be there, and so would she!
"Exactly," Nara went on. "I'll bring the schedule. If there's a chance—well, you'll figure it out."
Watching Hitomi finally calm down, Nara closed one hand around the girl's fist and gave a gentle push. Hitomi stumbled backward off the bed, landing on her feet.
"But before you plan the expo, you might want to decide what you're going to do about your feelings for President Yan."
"What do you mean?"
Nara sat up, resting her chin on laced fingers, and smiled sweetly.
"You intend to be with him, yes?"
"O-of course."
"Yet you're banking on a carefully crafted persona to attract him. If it works and he confesses, will he love the character you're playing—or the real you?"
Hitomi stared as if Nara had just asked the dumbest question on earth.
"Are you an idiot?" she said. "If the persona I build makes him happy, and I get to keep him beside me, learning every detail about him—why isn't that the best of both worlds? The act is me, the real me is also me. No difference at all."
Fully restored to icy composure, she paused, then fixed Nara with a gaze sharp enough to cut glass.
"Nara, you're the only person in the world I trust. That's why I've let you see everything. And you will never breathe a word of my secrets—will you?"
Nara lifted a brow. With a sultry smile she drew an invisible zipper across her lips.
"Of course. Your secrets are safe with me, Young Lady. In return, keep mine from the main family, all right?"
Hitomi's smile was serene. She extended her hand.
"Agreed. I won't tell them you've been masquerading as my bodyguard."
"Then it's settled."
Nara took the outstretched hand, then rose.
"Shall we start prepping for the weekend expo? I'll bring the files, and you can decide how to proceed."
"Fine. I'll think about it."
Nara nodded and turned to leave. At the door, Hitomi suddenly caught her sleeve. Blushing, she pointed at the stack of installation orders still lying on the bed.
"..."
The message was unmistakable: she still wanted Nara to use "routine maintenance" as an excuse to sneak cameras into Yan Huan's apartment.
"..."
Nara paused, then gave a playful smile.
"No can do~"
"Eh?! Why not?"
"It's for your own good. Be good, now."
"Uwaaaa, but I really want to see what his place looks like! How he eats, how he sleeps, how he studies, how he show—"
Nara clapped her hands over her ears like a scandalized adult and bolted from the room before the sentence could turn X-rated.
Left alone, Sakuramiya Hitomi stamped her foot and shouted after her.
"Nara! You're the worst!"
(End of chapter.)