novelraw Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Chapter 51
"Xiao Huan, let's play house, okay?"
Yan Huan turned and looked down at the tiny, adorable black-haired girl behind him.
Her cheeks still had their baby fat; her eyes glittered like they were about to spill over with water.
"Xiao Huan can be the daddy, and I'll be the mommy."
South District's greenery rustled in the summer breeze, casting dappled light across the sandbox.
Yan Huan sat on the slide of the sandbox, staring at An Le with mild helplessness.
Yet, seeing the hope shining in her eyes, he finally nodded.
"All right—just for a little while."
"Yay!"
An Le pumped her little fist, then grinned at Yan Huan and chirped in perfect innocence,
"Hubby Xiao Huan, you worked so hard—do you want something yummy to eat?"
"......"
Yan Huan propped his chin in his hand; an inexplicable, sneaky pleasure bubbled up.
He'd only agreed to this childish game to humor his childhood sweetheart, but watching An Le's silly grin, he played along.
"Not hard at all. But what good food do we have at home? You already spent your allowance on chocolate for me. Didn't I tell you not to waste money?"
An Le simply blinked at him, wordless.
"......"
She didn't say a thing, yet somehow looked aggrieved.
That was An Le.
Even when upset or wronged, she never voiced it.
She'd just go quiet, but Yan Huan could always read her mood.
Those glistening eyes wore him down; he sighed and relented.
"Fine, fine—we'll buy more next time and share it. Don't feel bad, An Le."
"It's not that."
An Le lowered her head a fraction, twisting the hem of her dress between her small hands. After a long struggle she pouted and muttered,
"You're the daddy, I'm the mommy. I called you hubby, so you should call me wifey An Le, but you didn't."
Yan Huan blinked, glanced at An Le sitting beside him on the slide.
He opened his mouth—then laughed.
Unable to resist, he ruffled her hair. Even when her bangs went flying she didn't resist; she only tilted her head in puzzlement.
He gave a helpless smile.
"An Le... wifey?"
Shameful, honestly.
Yet kids know no shame; alone together, their innocence was armor.
To the soul that had crossed worlds, the words were mortifying, but to her they tasted sweet as frost.
An Le's eyes lit up as if his voice had kindled them. She beamed, satisfied, and her legs dangling from the slide kicked happily.
"Mm!"
"Happy now?"
Seeing her still grinning like a fool, Yan Huan thought, but said nothing, only looked away.
"Hah—"
The moment he turned, he felt a soft peck on his left cheek.
Yan Huan froze, disbelieving, fingers brushing the lingering warmth.
He turned to look at An Le.
Her small face was slightly flushed, smile unchanged.
The summer light was so bright she seemed to glow.
"Hubby Xiao Huan, you're the best!
I like you, like you the most!"
The memory of that childhood kiss slammed into his forehead; joy once buried deep now bloomed vivid.
But more than that—every scrap of happiness he'd ever known poured into his mind, memories flashing before his eyes:
Moving out of the orphanage into public housing, Sis Tong's fat bonus, getting into Linmen's top school, winning the presidency with Hashimoto...
The past unspooled in front of him, the accompanying euphoria crashing like a flood, leaving him dazed.
Plain speech: he was so happy he triggered a life-flashback montage.
Same as last time—zero-frame startup, no chance to dodge, straight into the Modifier's trap.
Yan Huan finally realized these Modifier hosts fought dirty, ambushing the student-council president at every turn.
"Meow!"
"Yan Huan!"
Only when a soft paw repeatedly slapped his tingling cheek did he come back to himself.
"Are you okay, meow?"
"I'm fine."
"Her Modifier effect hasn't ended. The percentage of your resistance that was shattered rose by two percent; her Modifier has evolved since last time."
Modifier.
Right—the Modifier!
Yan Huan's brain, drugged on bliss, snapped back to clarity, replaying what had just happened.
He'd reunited with his long-lost childhood friend An Le—who turned out to be the fourth Modifier host.
His pupils contracted as he looked at An Le still sitting before him in the corridor.
She looked panicked too, but the next second her face seemed to glow in the dark.
Her already-pretty features were now filtered like a high-end beauty app; every flaw, every trace of unfamiliarity erased.
A flutter of her lashes, and starlight seemed to flow in her eyes, turning into tender concern for him.
Her former timidity had become the pity a goddess shows mortals—just looking made one want to weep in sympathy.
In Yan Huan's eyes, An Le was now so beautiful she couldn't be human; merely being near her felt euphoric.
Worse, every happy memory in his mind now felt gifted by this girl.
The government clerk who'd handed him the keys to public housing? A besuited, bespectacled An Le.
Sis Tong, reeking of cigarettes while giving him a huge bonus? Now soft, fragrant An Le with a radiant smile.
Even the platinum credit card had come not from kindly Auntie Ye, but from An Le.
In an instant, it seemed all happiness in the world originated from this girl.
Sss...
Auntie Ye...
Am I about to betray the Church of Ye Lan?!
Just looking at her, the life-flashback bliss welled up again.
Yan Huan quickly looked away, reciting the Clear-Heart mantra while hunting for a counter-strategy.
"W-we're doomed! What did I do to Xiao Huan?"
In the darkness, An Le, at last aware she'd triggered her power on instinct, stared at Yan Huan's flushed, panting face.
"Xiao Muzi, what do I do—ah?! Why did you get so fat?"
An Le turned inward, trying to ask her Modifier-avatar why the ability had fired on its own.
What she saw was Xiao Muzi, now more than a size bigger, chubby and burping, giving her a sidelong glare.
"You... you never use it, then suddenly go all out? Geez, An Le, don't you think that's a bit extreme?"
"Stop circling—Xiao Muzi, waaah, tell me what to do!"
Seeing Xiao Huan in the same state as the shop assistant earlier, An Le was on the verge of tears.
She'd panicked when Xiao Huan spotted her purchases, never expecting her power to auto-trigger.
She'd thought Xiao Muzi had done it, but one look at its speechless face told her otherwise.
Xiao Muzi pursed its lips, burped again, looking slightly indigestible.
"What's to do? Not like it's bad—just roll with it."
"How is this not bad? Xiao Huan looks miserable!"
I think it's not Xiao Huan who's miserable—Little Xiao Huan is about to explode.
The plumper-than-ever Xiao Muzi glanced at Yan Huan on the ground, then at An Le.
"Relax. Superconducting Mode's automatic memory repair is my gig. I'll make him forget he ever saw those games."
"Really?"
"Would I lie to you? Of course it's true!"
Xiao Muzi couldn't help flicking An Le's shoulder with his tail again and scolded,
"And don't forget, dummy—you chose the power to give other people pleasure. No matter what, you're only making them happy."
In the darkness the serpent's plump body shrank bit by bit, its frame tightening until it was sleek again—though noticeably larger and longer than the thin little snake from before.
"Burp~"
Xiao Muzi flicked out his tongue and let out a long belch.
Two scarlet reptilian eyes fixed on An Le.
"An Le, no one ever resents happiness—they only complain there's too little of it. Search your heart: is it wrong to make people happy?"
An Le blinked, hesitated, then gave a small nod.
"Y-yeah, I guess not."
"See? Look at Xiao Huan—he adores you right now. Are you really going to do nothing?"
"Huh?"
An Le turned toward Yan Huan. In the dim room she could just make out the boy's handsome brow and hear the quick rasp of his breathing, the frantic thud of his heart.
She couldn't see his exact expression, but if she pictured the convenience-store clerk's flushed face and superimposed it onto Xiao Huan's—
"..."
An Le's mouth went dry; she suddenly needed water.
Scattered beside Yan Huan lay the brand-new galge she'd been dying to play, but now she couldn't even glance at it.
A video game? Nothing compared to the scent of Xiao Huan.
"Xiao Huan..."
An Le wasn't a clueless newbie like Ye Shiyu—her collection proved she'd been driving for years.
Whether her steering was any good remained to be seen.
So when she spoke now, there was an unfamiliar tremor of—excitement?
But Yan Huan, who had been reciting calming mantras, nearly cracked at the sound of her voice.
Even that single word was enough to send his pulse racing; it felt like falling in love.
In the darkness he bit his lip and sat up, breathing hard.
"An Le."
The moment he opened his mouth, the partial collapse of his resistance showed its downside: he couldn't hold back the urge to praise her.
The words he'd meant to say veered off course and became:
"An Le... you smell amazing."
"E-eh?!"
An Le's face flashed crimson.
She grabbed her sleeve and sniffed herself.
"N-no weird smell... And if anyone's fragrant, it's you, Xiao Huan—ah!"
Mortified, she ducked her head.
Wait, am I... putting the moves on the student-council vice-president's boyfriend?
The realization doused some of her excitement.
If Xiao Huan and Sakuramiya Hitomi were really that close, An Le wouldn't try to snatch him away—she'd only hurt herself.
But as Xiao Muzi said, nothing was settled yet. This was the perfect chance to ask.
"Xiao Huan."
She stepped back, voice trembling.
"Are you and Sakuramiya Vice-President... dating?"
Under the influence of Superconducting Mode, Yan Huan was a hair's breadth from becoming her devoted pup.
No! Of course not!
Or worse—he might decide that even if he did have a girlfriend, past loyalties were worthless; only An Le mattered, only An Le could give him joy.
The thought set off alarms.
Was An Le's Modifier tied to pleasure?
Silently he edged away, though his body screamed in protest.
Once there was distance between them, the clinging stimulation finally ebbed.
So distance weakened the effect?
He couldn't see the white mist linking them, but his mind cleared.
Yet memories of the fun they'd once shared resurfaced, and An Le had always been the same in his heart.
Now the Modifier cast everything in a strange light, leaving him unsure how to face her.
Childhood friend reunited?
Or a dangerous host he had to neutralize?
He had no choice but to treat her as the latter.
And he already knew how—because he knew her weaknesses.
After a long silence he let his eyes darken and activated Perfect Expression Management.
His handsome face was once again veiled by that flawless mask; the cracks in his composure vanished.
He leaned in as if enchanted, cupping the black silk of her hair like some priceless treasure.
An Le's eyes went wide, cheeks flushed, body trembling as Yan Huan brought his lips close to her ear.
"We're not together, Sakuramiya and I.
"An-le lao-po."
Playing house—!
"E-eh?!"
Just as the Modifier's pleasure had hijacked Yan Huan's brain, the old nickname detonated in An Le's memory.
Her body went limp with a tingling rush.
She remembered too well: as a kid with poor stamina, she couldn't keep up with running games, so she and Yan Huan had played house instead.
Back then she'd babbled anything, no matter how embarrassing.
When she told her mom, the woman had laughed for days.
By elementary school, An Le realized what she'd done and cringed ever since.
The phrase had become a switch; whenever Yan Huan called her "An-le lao-po," her brain crashed.
Now it happened again.
She backed away, hands over her red-hot face, stammering,
"W-wait, Xiao Huan, don't call me that... u-until after we're married..."
The trick had once bought half a day of peace; now it seemed even stronger.
Yan Huan thought he'd won time to study the Modifier—until his phone chimed behind him.
Ding-ding-ding~
"?!"
Signal? In here?
Hidden behind Perfect Expression Management, Yan Huan stared in disbelief; last time he and Sakuramiya had been trapped together the place had been a dead zone.
"What now?"
Yan Huan pretended the Modifier's Effect still had him in its grip and didn't dare turn around, but he could tell—it was Plane's ringtone.
An Le froze, cheeks scarlet. She jerked her head up and saw the screen: a middle-aged woman's profile picture.
And beneath it, the caller's name—
"Bai Yi Mommy."