Chapter 112: Finally, Back to Daily Life?

Chapter 112: Finally, Back to Daily Life?

“Is it for real? Do I really look that bad in this outfit?!”

Monday afternoon.

You Anli Na was pinching her light green floral dress, staring at Ai Xili with disbelief.

Today, Ai Xili was dressed in a spring-themed outfit, complete with a beret, looking very much like an old-school reporter.

But You Anli Na was anxiously spinning in circles, especially since she had specifically brought this dress, planning to change after school.

It was all for attending the birthday banquet at the Sakuraguchi family.

Yet, after a quick glance, Ai Xili bluntly stated, “It’s ugly.”

That made her almost faint with anger as she clutched her head and shook it, saying,

“I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen! Ai Xili, you must be lying to me!”

“Who’s lying? That outfit makes you look fat and ages you by at least a year! You look like an aunt trying to scrounge a meal!”

“Eh?!”

You Anli Na’s eyes widened as she retorted,

“How do you know I’m going there to scrounge food?!”

“Is that your main concern?!”

Ai Xili, exasperated, rubbed her forehead, too tired to argue further.

At that moment, a certain Ya Qiao Mu stepped out of the school shopping street, wearing a black long-sleeve jacket and trousers, carrying his backpack.

He had Bluetooth earphones in, and upon seeing the two by the roadside, he took them off and greeted them,

“Yo.”

You Anli Na and Ai Xili sized up Ya Qiao Mu’s outfit, and it was You Anli Na who fired the first shot,

“Heading to a banquet and you’re dressed just like any other day, Ya Qiao?”

With a confused expression, Ya Qiao Mu replied,

“I picked this ‘Confidence Outfit’ after a long consideration! I only wear it for important events, alright? Besides, the Sakuraguchi vice president said it’s a family gathering, so no need to dress formally!”

“Confidence Outfit? Where’s the confidence in that?!”

You Anli Na asked in disbelief, but Ai Xili squinted at him, then fell silent for a moment and stepped forward.

She reached out and pulled open his black jacket, revealing a red-faced graphic of an anime heroine on his shirt.

“I knew it! Your so-called confidence is just wearing your paper doll waifu on your body!”

“Hah?! What’s wrong with that? And you, you perv! You just stripped someone’s clothes off!”

You Anli Na pouted at Ai Xili’s back, remembering her earlier comments about her dress, suddenly asking Ya Qiao Mu,

“Wait, stop your bickering! Ya Qiao, how does my outfit today look? Out of ten, what score do you give me?”

“Hah?”

Ya Qiao Mu glanced at You Anli Na’s dress as she playfully lifted the hem of her skirt.

But the very next second, he ruthlessly replied,

“One point.”

“Eh? One… one point?!”

Pushing up his glasses with a dismissive expression, he continued,

“The historic color scheme, the historic design, the historic matching—it’s simply a disaster. From a distance, you look like a clump of seaweed, and up close like a bloated lily pad—one point.”

“You, you, you! Wuwu! Subjective!! You have no sense of aesthetics!!”

Under numerous blows, You Anli Na was nearly crying, while Ai Xili was rolling with laughter beside her,

“Hahaha, I think Ya Qiao is right, it looks terrible.”

Ya Qiao Mu adjusted his glasses and turned to Ai Xili, scanning her from head to toe before mercilessly stating,

“You two points.”

“Hah?!”

Ai Xili’s smile froze in place as she stared at him blankly.

But he shook his head, sneering,

“What are you wearing, a cosplay outfit? Still stuck in the past two weeks after the comic convention? This ancient tackiness wouldn’t even be worn by my mom. No, my grandma wouldn’t wear this either.”

Ai Xili’s smile slowly wilted, but it didn’t disappear, just shifted.

Now it was You Anli Na’s turn to laugh,

“Puhahahaha!”

“Ya Qiao Mu, I see you’re on the path to your doom!”

“Sorry, I’m late. I just finished volleyball practice and thought it’d be bad to arrive all sweaty.”

Just as Ai Xili raised her fist for a righteous smack-down on the rude Ya Qiao Mu, they heard Yan Huan’s voice from not far away.

Turning to look, Yan Huan was slowly approaching, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers.

Seeing Yan Huan, You Anli Na rushed over, spinning as she asked,

“President! Tell me, how does my dress look today? Out of ten, what score do you give me?!”

“Dress?”

Yan Huan rubbed his chin, examining her carefully, and first said,

“Eight points?”

“Right?! Isn’t it nice, President?!”

Finally hearing a satisfying answer, You Anli Na jumped up with her fist raised.

She then turned back, mocking Ya Qiao Mu and Ai Xili, shaking her finger as she declared,

“Hmph, did you hear that? Now that’s a completely objective opinion! You guys just don’t know how to appreciate, you poor souls~”

Ai Xili rolled her eyes, replying,

“Did you want to hear what you wanted to hear, thinking it’s objective?”

But Ya Qiao Mu covered his face, murmuring,

“You believe that? The president’s famous for having terrible taste. Have you guys forgotten? When he ran for the student council, that middle part hairstyle?!”

“Ah um… that…”

As soon as this was mentioned, You Anli Na’s smile froze, looking like she had something to say but couldn’t.

“…”

Yan Huan raised an eyebrow, walked up to Ya Qiao Mu, and looked curiously at the two girls,

“That hairstyle was styled by a teacher when I enrolled in the outer campus. Was it really that terrible? I thought it looked fine.”

When enrolling at the Far Moon Academy, students must take ID photos, and those from the outer campus wear uniforms styled with the help of makeup artists.

Thus, Yan Huan, with his grown-up hairstyle, left his mark on his student ID.

When he ran for student council alongside Ya Qiao Mu, he used the photo from his student ID, which earned him the nickname “South District Gigolo” among classmates.

Later, upon Ya Qiao Mu’s suggestion, he replaced it with a more casual shot to successfully proceed with the election.

At the time, Yan Huan hadn’t thought anything was wrong.

“…”

Seeing the two girls suddenly fall silent, Yan Huan scratched his head and reconsidered if his aesthetic sense might be a little off.

Ya Qiao Mu shrugged and added,

“I knew it when we played a game together before; the president, instead of loving big-boobed SSR heroines, prefers those flat R-rated characters.”

Yan Huan shot him a glance, snarking,

“Don’t you like lolis too?”

“No way! That’s completely different! Lolis are lolis! How can fake lolis, still underdeveloped even after growing up, compare?!”

Ya Qiao Mu shook his head with disdain,

“Having a loli-like beautiful figure yet being morally corrupt inside? That’s the essence of ‘an angel masquerading as a demon,’ ten times more frightening than a demon!”

“So, um, president, why are you so far from me all of a sudden? No, why is everyone so far from me?”

You Anli Na and Ai Xili were both fanning their noses wildly, while Yan Huan just covered his eyes, looking like he wanted to see nothing.

At that moment, he said,

“Someone’s talking about a corpse.”

“What corpse? Ugh!”

However, the next second, he suddenly realized something, his pupils contracting slightly.

A chilling sensation surged down his spine as if something sinister lurked nearby.

Before he could turn around, he shouted,

“Sakuraguchi Vice President, I meant the two-dimensional characters, two-dimensional… Wah wah wah wah!”

“Two-dimensional, two-dimensional! I’ll show you two-dimensional!”

But right behind him, with a smile on her face, Sakura Kyoko had already lifted her bag and slammed it down onto his head, looking ready to knock him into two dimensions.

Ya Qiao Mu went down!

“Whoosh… whoosh.”

Slammed down until he couldn’t rise again. Okay, truthfully, he was just too scared to move.

With Sakura Kyoko’s small stature and strength, merely tiptoeing to reach Ym Qiao Mu’s head was exhausting, let alone swinging the bag a few times.

That left her panting for breath.

When Yan Huan lowered his hand from his eyes, his gaze suddenly locked with Sakura Kyoko’s, whose hair was slightly disheveled.

The two paused momentarily, their eyes tangling in mid-air.

Today, the president’s eyes seem exceptionally beautiful.

Sakura has a new outfit today, completely hitting the sweet spot.

Just as they maintained their stare for a few seconds, a villainous echo of laughter rang in Yan Huan’s ears,

“Say the name, say the name… say the name.”

He halted slightly since it was his first time triggering this devilish telepathy condition, feeling somewhat surprised.

As long as they locked eyes and then said the name three times, he could know what Sakura was thinking?

To discover what a girl who held feelings for him was conceiving in her mind.

Once such a notion sprouted, it spread like poison.

At this moment, Yan Huan, endowed with an external ability akin to a modifier, was also grappling with the trials that such a modifier brings with it.

He hurriedly shifted his gaze, intending to evade the telepathy trigger.

But Sakura, thinking Yan Huan realized she was staring at him, blushed slightly.

Consequently, though he had already turned his gaze away, she too, realizing it, fidgeted with her dress, shyly averting her look.

Simultaneously, her spoken words also stuttered,

“Well, um, let’s go then. Our driver should have arrived already.”

“Sure, let’s head out.”

Yan Huan crouched down and activated “Raising the Dead” on the fallen Ya Qiao Mu.

Then, he patted his backside, reviving him,

“I’m alive again! What was I saying just now? Ah, it must have been a possessed spirit taking control of my body for such evil deeds!”

“Shut up.”

“Sure thing, Sakuraguchi Vice President!”

After waiting a while at the school entrance, a long black MPV rolled up.

The back door opened automatically, revealing a spacious five-seater inside.

When attending Sakuraguchi’s birthday banquet in January, it was the same seven-seater MPV sent by the Sakuraguchi family to pick them up.

However, unlike the black bodyguards with sunglasses before, sitting at the driver’s seat this time was a charming lady dressed in a qipao.

She turned around and smiled faintly at the students just about to board,

“Hello there.”

Yan Huan had seen this woman before at the Sakuraguchi family’s ocean villa; he nodded in acknowledgment.

“Let’s go, Nairu, straight to Ryo.”

“Okay, let’s head out to North Sea District.”

In the back, the three girls sat together like a party while the two boys stood guard like gatekeepers.

“Hey, doesn’t Sakura’s cousin live in Jinghe District?”

“Yeah, Ryo prefers the ocean, so they bought a seaside villa for her as a birthday gift, one with a little beach.”

“…Let’s say some things the commoners can understand.”

Ai Xili blinked, commenting.

You Anli Na clapped her hands and picked up the topic,

“Haha, what did everyone have for lunch? I had tomato braised noodles, so delicious… Oh, I also talked to that blonde girl from our office, her name’s Spencer, I shared her some of her fruit salad, it was great.”

Ai Xili buried her face in her hands, looking like she couldn’t express herself,

“I said let’s talk about stuff commoners can understand, not dive into kids’ shows or idiot talk, okay?”

Sakura Kyoko stroked her chin, glancing at Yan Huan in the front, smiling as he looked down at his phone.

Then she spoke up,

“You Anli Na, why would you ask Spencer for food?”

“Ah, I saw her take the last bit of dragon fruit, so I wondered if I could get a share. She glanced at me and just let me have some.”

“You seem just like her.”

Ai Xili propped her chin up, criticizing,

“You’re something else; everyone at school says they dislike her! Only that childhood friend of the president hangs out with her. Are you not afraid she’ll offer you another dragon fruit instead?”

“Eh? Is she that scary?!”

Yan Huan, who had been playing with his phone, squinted, adjusting his expression to ask You Anli Na,

“You Anli Na, don’t you dislike Spencer?”

“While it seems a bit intimidating from what you all said, during lunch, I didn’t find it that way. Instead, she appeared quite calm and friendly.”

Ai Xili leaned closer, ominously whispering into her ear,

“Did you know? Killers act like this—their intended prey will encounter kindness first, then they strike when you’re off your guard.”

“Yi!! You… you scared me!”

The two girls squabbled again, but Yan Huan fell into thought.

Here we go again.

You Anli Na didn’t dislike Spencer.

In which case, You Anli Na possessed some kind of shared trait with An Le and Aunt Ye, able to neutralize Spencer’s modifier effect.

What on earth was going on?

Yan Huan pondered for a long time, but glancing at the somewhat silly You Anli Na being teased by Ai Xili, he could not reach a conclusion.

“…”

Well, whatever, he didn’t want to think about it today.

On this Monday, Ye Shiyu, Spencer, and An Le didn’t come looking for him, and Bai Yi wasn’t at school.

It must be fate giving him a break, allowing him to enjoy a day of bliss, just hanging out freely with Sakura and the rest of the student council members.

Life was so delightful that it was better to avoid such troubling thoughts.

With a helpless smile, Yan Huan tucked this matter away in his heart, resolving not to dwell on it anymore.

He didn’t want to interrupt the girls’ chatter behind him, and Ya Qiao Mu had already put on his earphones, captivated with his paper waifu.

Having nothing to do, Yan Huan turned to observe Nairu, the charming woman driving in the front seat.

Sakura called her Nairu.

She was probably some sort of bodyguard for Sakura, right?

The lifestyle of the wealthy in Linyi was indeed hard to imagine. There were plenty of wealthy individuals at school, but most didn’t have bodyguards trailing them around like Sakura.

That made Yan Huan inevitably curious, glancing over at Nairu.

However, when he looked over, he caught a glimpse of something strange—a tattoo peeking out from the collar of her qipao at the back of her neck.

Thoughts of a civil service exam were out of the question.

As Yan Huan reflected quietly, he suddenly realized something, changing his expression slightly.

Because that tattoo’s design was somewhat familiar.

It depicted a pair of folded wings, reminding him of Tong Yingying’s earrings that hung in her room.

Was this a famous brand or some sort of symbolic meaning?

What mattered was that the style of this tattoo was exactly the same as the emblem in Tong Yingying’s room.

“…”

As he scrutinized her neck tattoo, he raised his eyes slightly, only to meet the gaze of the seemingly charming woman, who had a beguiling smile.

Their eyes briefly locked, and Yan Huan felt an undertone of danger hidden within her charming smile.

“Say the name, say the name… say the name.”

After a few seconds, the devilish voice returned to his ears.

This time, Yan Huan hesitated for a moment before internally repeating,

“Nairu, Nairu, Nairu.”

After three attempts, yet the car remained quiet, nothing happening.

Did the telepathy not work?

No, wait.

Yan Huan suddenly realized something.

The name was incorrect.

“Nairu” was not the true name of the charming woman before him, which is why the telepathy didn’t work.

Swallowing hard, just then, he found Nairu raising her eyebrows and winking at him.

That flirtatious feeling made Yan Huan quickly avert his gaze, and Nairu seemed to think he was shy, chuckling behind her hand.

Hearing this, Sakura Kyoko furrowed her brows and asked,

“What are you laughing at, Nairu?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking of something happy.”

“Really?”

Sakura seemed skeptical, but by this time, the MPV had exited the highway, heading straight toward the seaside.

“We’re almost there, everyone.”

“Woo, we’re almost at the edge of Linyi, right?”

“Yeah, just a bit further, and it’ll be the ocean. Usually, no one comes to this part; who knew there would be a villa here?”

Sakura covered her mouth, laughing as she told the others,

“Everyone, prepare yourselves psychologically. My cousin has always hated her birthdays.”

“Hated her birthday?”

Yan Huan asked, confused, to which Sakura explained,

“Yeah, Ryo really doesn’t like gatherings. In our family, we celebrate everything, big or small, with a banquet. So, she prefers staying alone and doesn’t seem to consider others’ thoughts.

“From past experiences, she might come out wearing a pajama with a bad expression on her birthday and won’t really entertain anyone.”

Ai Xili blinked, shrugging,

“That’s alright, we don’t need any lavish hospitality. Just like when we went to the Sakuraguchi house last time; we’ll find our fun on our own, especially being at the seaside.”

You Anli Na shot Ai Xili a glare and quickly interjected,

“It’s exactly because we’re presenting ourselves that we need to bring Sakura’s cousin along for some fun!”

The two girls exchanged opinions while the two boys remained silent.

Yan Huan simply leaned against the car window, staring at the approaching villa, muttering,

“Is that the place where Sakura’s cousin lives? It doesn’t quite feel like it.”

Sakura didn’t look outside, just softly chuckled behind her hand,

“That should be it. Although it seems a bit deserted, it’s the only house nearby.”

“Deserted? No way.”

“Eh?”

Sakura’s eyes widened slightly as she also looked outside.

What met her view was the villa she had thought was lifeless was now brightly lit with festive decorations, and there were quite a few maids outside arranging things and hauling in ovens.

“??”

Sakura Kyoko was perplexed, yet by now, the MPV had already entered the villa’s courtyard.

The moment the car door opened after Yan Huan stepped out, the grand entrance swung open.

A girl who resembled Sakura but was shorter and more youthful stepped forward.

Dressed in a beautiful princess dress and wearing a flower crown, Sakura Ryo stood gracefully with her hands on her belly, politely addressing Yan Huan and the group,

“Welcome, distinguished guests from the Far Moon Academy student council. I am Sakura Ryo, unworthy of your visit.”

Yan Huan, Ya Qiao Mu, and the others gaped, completely shocked by the noble girl seemingly stepping out of a painting, stammering in response,

“Ah, hello.”

Except for Yan Huan, who felt a hint of familiarity with the girl before him, the rest were taken aback by her elegance and poise, momentarily unsure how to respond.

They turned in unison to look at Sakura Kyoko, the last to disembark.

Earlier in the car, she had introduced her cousin’s situation.

Before preconceived notions could set in, the reality presented by Sakura Ryo shocked them entirely.

This left You Anli Na and the others confused, knowing not what to make of it, they could only look over at Sakura Kyoko.

“…”

Sakura Kyoko’s smile began to falter, becoming somewhat forced, as she said to Sakura Ryo,

“Ryo, you…”

Sakura Kyoko stepped forward and looked at her cousin, who had a gentle smile etched on her face.

Just as she was about to say something, Sakura Ryo sneakily glanced at Yan Huan, then blinked innocently at Sakura Kyoko, asking,

“What’s wrong, my esteemed elder sister? Oh, everyone, come in, it’s chilly outside. I’ve prepared some light tea inside for you all; please, come in.”

She spoke sweetly, slightly bending at the waist, turning to lead the way.

The grand door of the villa opened wider, revealing a spacious living room that appeared to have been meticulously arranged.

In the center of the living room, there was a Sakura Country Style tatami with a small wooden table set up.

A pot of tea was heating up on the table, alongside various snacks, creating an exceptionally inviting scene.

“…”

You must be kidding me, Sakura Ryo.

As this unfolded, Sakura Kyoko’s expression darkened slightly, instinctively gritting her teeth.