Chapter 8: An Outstanding Youth, Especially in Moral Character |
"Here you go. Thank you for your patronage."
Yan Huan walked into the gift shop, carrying three freshly made drinks in his left hand. Since the shop had a semi-open layout, he entered through another door.
Even from a distance, Yan Huan immediately spotted Ye Shiyu, along with the blonde beauty standing before her, her head held high with a cold smirk.
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow, quickly realizing that Ye Shiyu had gotten into a conflict with someone.
He hastily stopped in his tracks and placed two of the drinks on a nearby shelf.
Grabbing his own Lemon Blue Extract, he pierced the seal with a straw and started drinking, sneaking entirely stealthy glances at the increasingly explosive scene unfolding over there.
Eating popcorn.jpg.
Oho, it seems Contestant Number One, Ye Shiyu, is in a dispute with the unknown Contestant Number Two, the blonde, over the ownership of a certain item!
Judging from her physique, Contestant Number Two is vastly superior to Contestant Number One. Not only that, but her words are also far more abundant and imposing!
"..."
Faced with the aggressive golden lioness, Ye Shiyu remained as steadfast as an iceberg, or rather, she simply had no idea how to respond.
Oh my, this is quite a thorny situation for Contestant Number One, who is terrible at socializing. She has instantly fallen to a disadvantage!
''Against such an enemy, would you win, Older Sister Shiyu?''
Yan Huan offered passionate inner commentary while happily sipping his drink.
Are you kidding me? Ye Shiyu had just sneaked over to use Hypnosis on him last night, causing him to suffer from nightmares all night long.
He had already given her enough face in front of Auntie Ye Lan. Now that he had a chance to watch her suffer a setback, there was no way he was going to intervene.
In terms of physical strength, however, Ye Shiyu really was completely outmatched by the girl in front of her. Her knuckles turned increasingly white as she desperately gripped the keychain.
"That keychain is going to be snatched away."
"..."
The cold smirk on the blonde girl''s face deepened, even carrying a trace of strange excitement.
Watching this, the spectating Yan Huan bit down on his straw, feeling somewhat speechless.
What the heck? Getting into a fight over a mere keychain.
It was perfectly normal for Ye Shiyu to be this stubborn. Given her personality of writing her name on absolutely everything, Yan Huan wasn''t surprised that she refused to let go of something she fancied.
But what was the deal with her opponent?
She''s abnormal, so you decide to be abnormal too?
Yan Huan clicked his tongue in amazement at this excellent matchmaking system. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he noticed the Mobile Phone clutched in Ye Shiyu''s left hand light up.
"..."
Unable to defeat her opponent, Contestant Number One was choosing to use cheats?
So, what is Coach Yan Huan''s reaction to this...
Coach! The Coach is warming up!
Yan Huan picked up the drinks he had set aside and walked wordlessly toward the battlefield.
The theory went like this:
A Modifier helped its Host achieve their goals through cheating. Once the Host tasted the sweetness of success, they would frequently rely on the Modifier to satisfy their desires.
This, in turn, made the Modifier more powerful, allowing it to fulfill even more of the Host''s wishes while deepening its influence on reality.
In short, it was a vicious cycle that dragged everyday life straight into hell.
And Yan Huan believed there were two key points to breaking this cycle:
First, Quantitative Change Leads to Qualitative Change, so he needed to minimize the frequency of them using their Modifiers. This would prevent them from reaching a point where they needed a Modifier for absolutely everything.
Second, he had to ensure that even when they used a Modifier, they couldn''t get what they wanted. This would make them realize that relying on Modifiers was a dead end, forcing them to use more normal methods to solve their problems.
To be honest, both tasks were as difficult as ascending to heaven. But at the very least, Yan Huan could currently prevent Ye Shiyu from using her Modifier to solve this immediate trouble.
Who told him to be an outstanding youth? Especially one with such good moral character.
The deep resentment on Yan Huan''s face was completely masked by his Perfect Expression Management Ability, shifting into an emotionless deadpan identical to Ye Shiyu''s.
He walked briskly toward them. It wasn''t until he got close that the blonde girl, still immersed in the dispute, realized someone was approaching.
She looked up and saw a strikingly handsome boy who looked a little... familiar, walking in their direction.
She subconsciously relaxed her grip, causing the still-pulling Ye Shiyu to stumble back a step out of control.
And it was precisely this stumble that sent Ye Shiyu crashing right into Yan Huan''s chest.
Feeling his scorching body heat, Ye Shiyu''s body stiffened. But before she could even linger in his embrace for a second, a hand firmly grasped her shoulder without hesitation, pulling her behind him to separate her from her opponent.
It seemed as though he was protecting Ye Shiyu, but in reality, he was stopping her from using Hypnosis on the other girl.
Last night, he had heard the ethereal voice emanating from her. The effect was Individual Hypnosis, meaning it could only be used when she was alone with someone.
With the involvement of a Third Party, her current Modifier would be rendered completely useless.
Ye Shiyu blinked, her beautiful eyes gazing at the back of the figure standing in front of her.
Yan Huan opportunely turned his head slightly, looking as if he had just returned from buying drinks and was completely oblivious to the situation. He asked with feigned concern and confusion,
"What happened, Older Sister Shiyu?"
"...Nothing."
Ye Shiyu replied, gripping the keychain.
Yan Huan''s expression remained unchanged, but the blonde girl in front of him practically bristled like an angry cat.
"What do you mean ''nothing''? I was the one who grabbed that keychain first!"
Yan Huan turned his head and looked blankly at the blonde girl, asking,
"You grabbed it first, really?"
The blonde girl faltered at the question. Perhaps because she found the person in front of her familiar, she subconsciously chose not to drag out the lie, but instead scoffed coldly,
"Even if we grabbed it at the same time, didn''t I offer her compensation? I already told her she could pick anything else of the same value, and I''d pay for it."
Yan Huan glanced at the price tag on the shelf. This tiny little keychain actually cost nearly a hundred yuan, making it more expensive than most items in the shop.
The tourist trap markup, combined with its genuinely nice craftsmanship, made the solitary jellyfish keychain hanging there seem incredibly pricey.
"I''ll pay double the price, and you can pick out whatever else you want. I''ll foot the bill. Do you accept?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Shiyu spoke up unhurriedly from behind him. It was hard to tell whether she was making a proposal or throwing a provocation.
Regardless, the blonde girl assumed it was the latter.
The cold smirk on her face grew increasingly sinister. "Heh, I''m warning you, don''t think you can be so brazen just because you brought your boyfriend to back you up..."
Ye Shiyu simply shook her head and stared back at her, looking as though she hadn''t understood the implication behind those words and was still waiting for a proper response.
"Snap!"
Right at that moment, Yan Huan deadpanned and snapped his fingers right in front of the blonde girl''s face. Not only did this draw her attention, but it also acted like a lit match, instantly igniting her fury.
"What are you doing?!"
Just as the blonde girl was about to explode with rage, Yan Huan couldn''t even be bothered to acknowledge her. He turned to Ye Shiyu and flashed a helpless smile.
The smile directed at the black-haired girl was clearly helpless yet incredibly patient, causing the blonde girl to blank out slightly.
Strangely, she completely aborted her impending tantrum. Instead, she just stood there and watched as Yan Huan raised his hand and called out loudly toward the entrance,
"Hello, we need some assistance over here!"
"Coming! How can I help you?"
The store clerk by the entrance rushed over upon hearing the call. Yan Huan pointed at the jellyfish keychain in Ye Shiyu''s hand and said,
"There''s only one of this keychain left on the shelf. Both we and this young lady want it. Do you have any more in stock?"
"Yes, yes we do. Please come to the register to check out first. Miss, please wait a moment, I''ll fetch one for you right away."
Yan Huan turned his head to look at the blonde girl whose tantrum had been cut short. The expression on his face mirrored that of a certain exasperated streamer from his previous life who threw his hands up in sheer speechlessness.
Over such a trivial matter, was it really necessary to make things so complicated?
He looked like he wanted to mutter the word ''Idiot'', but considering the splash damage might hit the girl he was protecting behind him, he dropped the idea.
Yan Huan didn''t say another word to the blonde girl, nor did he even glance at her. Holding the drinks, he simply smiled at Ye Shiyu and said,
"Older Sister Shiyu, let''s go."
Ye Shiyu looked at him, and for once, she uncharacteristically averted his gaze, seemingly aware that what she had just done was a little stupid.
"Mhm..."
Yan Huan stood behind her, continuing to act as a barrier between her and the blonde girl as they walked over to the front desk.
The blonde girl didn''t badger them any further. She simply watched them walk away in silence, her gaze continuously shifting between Yan Huan and Ye Shiyu''s retreating figures.
At the front desk, the jellyfish keychain was scanned, and they prepared to pay. The service was surprisingly thorough—even a tiny keychain received a full gift box, which felt slightly wasteful.
Ye Shiyu picked up her Mobile Phone. It was only then that Yan Huan noticed a message notification from several minutes ago. It was from Ye Lan.
Sensing Yan Huan''s gaze, Ye Shiyu opened Plane to take a look, then turned her head and said,
"Mom just texted. She said it will take a little while longer, so we should find a place to sit down and rest."
Wait a minute, could it be that the screen lit up earlier because...
"..."
"What''s wrong?"
"Nothing."
Realizing that Ye Shiyu probably had no intention of using the Hypnosis app at all, the smile on Yan Huan''s face nearly broke, even with his Ability.
"Beep!"
"Plane payment received: 99 yuan."
"Thank you for your purchase. Have a nice day."
Ye Shiyu carried the bag out the door, and she and Yan Huan found a bench to sit down and rest.
The moment they sat down, she eagerly tore off the packaging, then took a tiny Sticky Note out of her handbag.
Yan Huan caught a glimpse of it. Every single Sticky Note had her name printed on it.
"Ye Shiyu."
She peeled one off, removed the adhesive backing, and stuck it onto the side of the jellyfish keychain. She then pressed down firmly with her thumb to ensure it wouldn''t fall off.
Just like that, this item officially belonged to her.
Yan Huan observed her movements, watching as she smoothly and efficiently applied the name tag. She toyed with it affectionately for a moment before placing all her belongings back into her purse.
Only after finishing all this did Ye Shiyu raise her head, catching Yan Huan''s analyzing gaze.
"..."
They stared at each other, neither averting their eyes, though her pupils contracted ever so slightly.
It was the smiling Yan Huan who broke the silence first, handing her the drink he had just bought and saying,
"Older Sister Shiyu, here are the drinks I just got. I didn''t know what you liked, so I just bought something at random..."
"Thank you."
Ye Shiyu nodded. After glancing at the drinks, she unhesitatingly reached into the bag for the Large Banana Sweet. ''That was bought for Auntie Ye...''
Yan Huan blinked, just about to say exactly that, but suddenly thought of something and clamped his mouth shut.
''Ah, could it be that Ye Shiyu actually loves drinking banana-flavored drinks too?''
However, after taking the drink, Ye Shiyu didn''t start drinking immediately. Instead, she stared blankly ahead once more.
Her pale fingers rubbed against the paper cup, tracing out a hesitation that no one else could read.
A moment later, that hesitation finally came to an end.
She raised her head to look at Yan Huan and suddenly said,
"About what happened just now, thank you..."
"It''s nothing. It''s the least I could do, Older Sister Shiyu."
Yan Huan smiled faintly, just as his name implied.
''Is he someone who loves to smile? But he certainly didn''t show a pleasant face to that girl just now...''
"..."
Ye Shiyu remained expressionless, turning her head away to unwrap her straw.
Well, even though he had completely misunderstood Ye Shiyu''s intention to use the APP, he hadn''t exactly done a bad deed.
Ye Shiyu got what she wanted, the Modifier wasn''t used, and he prevented a potentially idiotic conflict. It was a win-win.
Oh, wait. Didn''t that girl from earlier also end up getting a jellyfish keychain?
A win-win-win, then.
Yan Huan thought to himself as he sipped his drink.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ye Shiyu gently pinching her straw and taking a sip of the Large Banana Sweet.
Following that, her eyes lit up slightly, and her lips pursed as if savoring the sweetness, unconsciously revealing a faint smile.
Just as expected, much like Ye Lan, Ye Shiyu also loved drinking Banana Milk.
"Beep!"
"Plane payment received: 99 yuan."
"Thank you for your purchase. Have a nice day."
Having paid, the blonde girl walked out of the souvenir shop through another exit, holding the jellyfish keychain that the clerk had belatedly fetched from the storage room.
She headed toward the plaza by the Aquarium exit, so she didn''t run into Ye Shiyu and Yan Huan, who were still near the entrance.
As she walked, she held the jellyfish keychain up to the sunlight, inspecting it closely.
After a moment of silence, she curled her lip and critiqued,
"It''s so ugly."
Saying that, she walked toward a nearby trash can, preparing to throw the item away.
But halfway there, a little girl in an elementary school uniform ran past her, holding a cheap Plastic Pinwheel. She seemed to be having a great time playing with it.
Her gaze tracking the running little girl, the boredom on the blonde girl''s face was gradually replaced by an intrigued, wicked smirk.
"Oh~"
Immediately, she walked over to the little girl.
"Hey, little kid."
"Hmm?" The little girl playing with the pinwheel heard the voice and stopped running. She turned to look at her in a daze. "What is it, Big Sister?"
The blonde girl squatted down with a smile and asked,
"Little kid, what''s your name?"
"...Mama said I shouldn''t tell strangers my name."
"Aria Spencer. You can call me Spencer."
"...I-I''m Wenwen."
Exchanging names seemed to be a procedural etiquette among little kids, didn''t it?
"I really like that pinwheel in your hand. How about I trade you this pretty jellyfish keychain for it?"
"Huh?"
Spencer pulled out the exquisitely crafted crystal jellyfish. In an instant, the sparkling crystal texture captivated all of the little girl''s attention.
Even as a fourth or fifth grader, she knew that something made with such fine craftsmanship would be very expensive.
However, she glanced at the spinning little pinwheel in her hand, still highly hesitant.
But Spencer let out a cold laugh and directly shoved the jellyfish into her hands, subsequently snatching away the Plastic Pinwheel that had accompanied the girl''s playtime all morning.
"The pinwheel is mine now. Hold onto your jellyfish and go play."
The little girl looked timidly at the domineering Spencer, then lowered her head, hugged the jellyfish keychain, and quickly scurried away.
Spencer stood up, deeply satisfied, and casually blew on the pinwheel in her hand.
But because it was cheaply made, the Plastic Pinwheel didn''t budge at all. It probably required someone to run very hard to make it spin.
Simply put, trading a nearly hundred-yuan jellyfish keychain for this toy worth less than five yuan was a massive loss.
Yet even so, Spencer didn''t seem upset in the slightest; rather, she was incredibly delighted.
Pinching the little pinwheel, Spencer suddenly recalled what had just happened in the souvenir shop.
At the end of the day, Spencer, who had been strolling aimlessly through the gift shop, hadn''t actually been interested in that jellyfish ornament to begin with.
It was only because she noticed the black-haired girl constantly eyeing the jellyfish ornament and realizing how deeply she favored the keychain.
And so, her interest was piqued, exactly like how she had just used the keychain to snatch the elementary schooler''s beloved pinwheel.
That was the sole reason the conflict over the keychain with Ye Shiyu had occurred.
Well, whatever. Even though she got a keychain, this wasn''t the one she wanted. She wanted the specific one in Ye Shiyu''s hands.
Still, she hadn''t expected such a strange weirdo to have a boyfriend who spoiled her that much...
Speaking of which, wasn''t that handsome boy a bit familiar?
Where had she seen him before?
Spencer stroked her chin and started to think very hard. But ultimately, she gave up on thinking altogether, seemingly because it was too troublesome.
Well, if she couldn''t remember, so be it...
It was just a bit annoying that she hadn''t managed to snatch it from that girl, even allowing her to obtain exactly what she liked.
''Tsk, didn''t that voice say that whatever I wanted to plunder would be mine? Was it really just a hallucination?''
''Oh, wait...''
''Didn''t I have to actively activate some sort of mode? And it had side effects while it was running?''
''I can''t remember.''
Just as Spencer was blowing on the pinwheel and thinking this, a familiar ethereal interface suddenly floated into her vision.
[Do you wish to activate Looting Mode?]
''Ah, right, right, right. It was this mode.''
Looking at the ethereal prompt before her, Spencer pondered for a moment, then recalled Ye Shiyu''s emotionless face from earlier...
A moment later, a wicked smirk suddenly surfaced on her face, almost entirely identical to the smile she had before snatching the little girl''s pinwheel.
''Then, why don''t I give it a try?''
Immediately, she chanted silently in her heart,
''Yes.''
In that fleeting instant, her incredibly gorgeous features became obscured and indiscernible beneath the shadow of her baseball cap, leaving only her blonde hair to shine ever more brilliantly.
Right after, two yellow Phantom Images materialized above her head, resembling a pair of antennas—or a pair of bull horns.
The Phantom Images burst with light, radiating an invisible Strange Fluctuation into the distance...
It seemed some sort of effect was activating.
However, she herself was completely oblivious to it. She even cast a skeptical glance at her surroundings.
"Is this for real? I feel like nothing happened at all."
[Effect has been activated]
"..."
Spencer had no choice but to temporarily believe it.
Walking up to a trash can and staring at the pinwheel in her hand, she felt she was already bored with it.
Besides, this pinwheel was never anything interesting to begin with. If she hadn''t seen that Little Brat having so much fun with it, she wouldn''t have even bothered stealing it.
How boring. Time to throw it away.
Spencer revealed an expression of profound boredom and prepared to toss the little pinwheel into the trash.
"Mama! Waaaah, it was her! She stole my pinwheel! I didn''t want to trade at all, but she forced me to! Waaah!"
Right at that moment, the loud cries of a little girl from behind instantly halted her actions.
She turned her head in a daze, only to see the elementary schooler from earlier with tear-filled eyes. Beside the girl stood an Auntie, her face flushed red and her neck bulging, glaring furiously at Spencer.
"Damn it! Stealing a little girl''s pinwheel! Come over here right now!"
"Huh?"
Spencer''s body stiffened, frightened by the other party''s momentum. She kinda wanted to say, ''But I clearly traded a jellyfish keychain with your daughter!'' But thinking about it carefully, she indeed hadn''t actually heard the girl agree to it earlier...
Moreover, if the other party had actually agreed, what would be the fun in taking it?
However, seeing that the Auntie was accompanied by several security guards, Spencer suddenly panicked.
No way...
What on earth did that little girl tell her mother? How did even the security guards get involved?!
Her body trembled slightly in fear. She didn''t dare respond. Clutching the little pinwheel in her hand, she turned around and bolted.
As she ran, she cursed furiously in her heart,
''Didn''t it say the effect had already been activated? Why couldn''t I even steal a little brat''s pinwheel?!''
[Effect has been activated]
''You Liar! What exactly did you activate?! I want to cancel it!''
[Effect has been deactivated]
''Damn it, only at times like this do you actually respond?!''
[Effect has been deactivated]
''Aaaahhhhh!''
She completely relegated the ethereal voice in her heart to the category of hallucinations, and firmly decided she needed to see a Psychologist.
Of course, her fleeing footsteps didn''t slow down in the slightest.
"Whoosh~"
The little pinwheel creaked and whirred as it spun...
As she sprinted desperately, the pinwheel that couldn''t be blown into motion earlier finally began to spin, incredibly magically.
"Still running?! Keep running! You shameless wench, bullying my daughter! I''ll beat you to death, you little bastard!"
Up ahead, Spencer ran with astonishing speed, leaving the Auntie trailing behind to pant heavily, yelling and screaming in impotent rage at Spencer''s distant silhouette.
Hearing that, Spencer ran even faster.
Comments 2