Chapter 30: Since Yi Was Born, Why Must Huan Exist? |
"Oh, you have to help me, you must find her! She has an event to attend this Sunday."
Right after stepping out of the car, Zuo Jiangqin trailed behind the police officers, frantically emphasizing the importance of finding Bai Yi.
The officer listening to her adjusted his police cap, which bore a qilin emblem and the words Kyogo Ward Police Department. He glanced back at Zuo Jiangqin and simply asked,
"Ms. Zuo, your concern right now shouldn''t be about some event. If we can''t find your daughter, everything else is pointless. Furthermore, according to your statement, your daughter chose to run away from home, correct?"
"I..."
Choked by his blunt words, Zuo Jiangqin opened her mouth but found nothing else to say.
"Alright, Ms. Zuo. We will do our absolute best to find her, I promise. Please try to stay calm, okay?"
A single reassuring sentence was enough, though the officer showed no other emotion.
After all, he knew exactly whose tax money kept their community police department running smoothly.
The officer tactfully withdrew his gaze and walked into the campus.
Several colleagues behind him dispersed, some heading to find the security guards, others seeking out the teachers.
At the same time, he pressed his Bluetooth earbud and spoke to someone on the other end,
"Little Wright, have you checked the surveillance footage from the residential complex?"
"We checked it, Captain Edo. They said they reviewed all the cameras around the villa, and no one was seen leaving between five and seven o''clock yesterday evening."
The police officer named Edo frowned in surprise. After a moment of thought, he continued,
"Check a few hours further back, and while you''re at it, have someone see if there are any blind spots in the surveillance."
"Understood. But Captain, I don''t think it''s very likely she would go to school. After all, based on the information Ms. Zuo provided, she rarely attends classes."
"I know. But we''ve been searching all night, so we can only try our luck here. Ms. Zuo is extremely anxious. Getting information out of her is like squeezing a tube of toothpaste—she just blurts out one sentence at a time. There''s nothing I can do."
"Yeah, I know. We worked so hard last night, only for her to tell us this morning that she frequently mentioned a classmate named Yan Huan in front of her daughter, and it seems her daughter ran away from home because of that."
Edo sighed silently, but with Zuo Jiangqin still nearby, he didn''t want to say too much and merely whispered,
"Her mind is completely occupied with what to do about that grand event this weekend now that her daughter is gone. If she doesn''t show up, the breach of contract penalty must be huge, right?"
"Hah, of course."
Edo originally wanted to let his colleague get back to work while he went to look for this boy named Yan Huan.
But suddenly, a new message came through the earbud,
"Oh, Captain. The information department just sent word. They said Bai Yi''s ID wasn''t registered at any hotel last night. Unless our little star condescended to sleep under a bridge in Kyogo Ward, then..."
Edo suddenly stopped in his tracks and muttered,
"She has a place to stay?"
Edo turned his head, looked at Zuo Jiangqin holding a parasol behind him, and quickly asked,
"Ms. Zuo, does your daughter have anywhere to stay other than home? In other words, does she know any acquaintances in Linmen who could provide her with accommodation?"
Zuo Jiangqin was slightly taken aback by the question. A few seconds later, she slapped her forehead, as if suddenly enlightened,
"She seems to have a close female friend! Much older than her, and she owns a house in Kyogo Ward. Maybe..."
"Why didn''t you tell us something like this earlier, Ms. Zuo?"
"She... Ugh, mainly because that woman clearly looks like one of those shady characters from society, covered in a bunch of tattoos. I cut off their contact a long time ago and forced them to end their friendship, afraid she would be a bad influence on my Yi. Who knew if they were still secretly in touch? I completely forgot about it."
"..."
Edo was completely speechless.
Even with his usual composure, Zuo Jiangqin''s antics made his blood boil, to the point where he felt the urge to swallow some quick-acting heart medicine.
''Damn it...''
He rubbed his brow. At this very moment, he truly, utterly despised his profession.
''Forget it.''
''Money is hard to earn, and this crap is hard to swallow.''
''Who asked us to be unable to afford offending these rich folks in Kyogo Ward?''
Seeing Edo speechless for a long time, Zuo Jiangqin pulled her smartphone out of her designer bag and asked tentatively,
"How about... I try to contact her?"
Edo nodded with a headache, taking a passing glance at this top-tier school in Kyogo Ward—
Far Moon Academy.
Then, he forced a smile at Zuo Jiangqin,
"Alright, please do. How about we go look for her first?"
"Okay, I... Oh my, I don''t remember the phone number. Let me find Yi''s Agent first. Hold on a second."
"Uh-huh."
''Daughter, watch closely!!''
''This is how hard your father works to make a living!!''
''You must study hard in the future! Daddy will save up enough money for you to attend this aristocratic school!!''
Edo wept tears of blood in his heart, screaming silently.
Escorting Zuo Jiangqin back into the police car, Edo used his walkie-talkie to order all the dispersed colleagues to return.
"Wee-woo, wee-woo!!"
The sirens rang out from the police car once again as it drove out of the school, leaving all the students on campus utterly bewildered as they watched the officers come and go in such a rush.
This included the belatedly arriving Yan Huan.
He had originally wanted to find out what was going on, but with everyone gone, his intentions naturally fell flat.
Essentially, Yan Huan hoped that the police wouldn''t manage to investigate anything substantial.
After all, if others discovered more anomalous phenomena brought about by the Modifiers and launched an exhaustive investigation...
That would be like walking a tightrope on the very edge of exposing the Modifiers.
If she completely lost her sense of security and her Modifier just exploded, he wouldn''t even have a chance to manage the situation.
Thinking about it carefully, among all the known Modifier hosts, only Bai Yi''s Modifier was the easiest to expose.
The other Modifier hosts had a series of measures like Memory Correction for their targets once their abilities ended. Only Bai Yi''s power seemed to leave direct, physical traces.
The ink marks on Zhou Bin''s face, the paint on his own desk...
Once or twice was fine, but if it happened too often, drawing attention was practically inevitable.
''What a hassle...''
Yan Huan took a deep breath, though his expression remained remarkably calm.
Just then, the security guard from the pavilion outside the main gate walked over with a face full of confusion, staring at the entrance.
Yan Huan saw him, raised an eyebrow, and took the initiative to greet him,
"Uncle He!"
"Oh, Yan Huan. It''s good you''re here. They just said a student from our school named Bai Yi ran away from home and went missing. They came to the school to look for her and specifically asked for you by name. Did they talk to you about anything?"
''Looking for me?''
''So Bai Yi running away from home is highly likely related to me?''
''Plus, she holds such a grudge against me...''
Yan Huan thought to himself, but outwardly he just smiled and shook his head.
"No, I just came over out of curiosity, but by the time I got here, everyone was already gone."
"How bizarre... Well, let''s just hope nothing bad happens. She''s just a young girl, after all."
The security guard shook his head, waved his hand, and turned to leave, returning to his post at the pavilion outside the gate.
Meanwhile, deep down, Yan Huan couldn''t shake the feeling that someone was watching him from behind.
He suddenly turned around to look, but there were only the curious gazes of countless fellow students across the campus.
Yan Huan silently turned back and walked away.
He failed to notice that at a hidden corner of the Teaching Building, a lock of black hair was lifted by the breeze before briefly falling back into place.
Standing in that shadow was none other than Bai Yi, fully geared up in a bucket hat, sunglasses, and a face mask.
She was not semi-transparent; she was there in the flesh.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
At this moment, the hiding girl''s heart was beating furiously, and her mouth was terrifyingly dry.
After all, this was her first time being hunted by the police like this. Not to mention, she possessed this inexplicable supernatural power...
''What if I get caught on a surveillance camera right as my Indifference effect ends? Wouldn''t I look bizarre, like a ghost appearing out of nowhere?''
''If someone discovers me...''
"Tick... Tock..."
Just as Bai Yi was intensely worried that she would be caught and dragged off for research due to an inability to explain herself, a clock-like ticking, reminiscent of dripping water, suddenly chimed. Text materialized before her eyes.
[Accumulated Usage Time: 3 minutes]
''I''ve been using it continuously since last night, and the time is almost up...''
''Only ten minutes a day. Couldn''t it be a little longer?''
''Even if the time can accumulate, isn''t it still inevitably too little?''
Gripping the pocket watch tightly, Bai Yi turned her previous anxieties into a simple inward question.
It was at the very moment this thought surfaced that the surrounding air inexplicably seemed to grow colder...
As if it had frozen solid.
"Click-click-click."
[Congratulations, due to your continuous usage, the pocket watch''s Level has increased!]
[Level 1 -> 2]
[The daily time limit for the Indifference effect has increased to 20 minutes!]
[Acquired new trait: Transparent Human Correction]
[Any unreasonable phenomena that occur before and after your use of the Indifference effect, which might otherwise be discovered, will now be corrected by the pocket watch.]
[Corrections include but are not limited to surveillance cameras, smartphones, cameras, and other technological products or recording methods. However, the naked eyes of humans and animals will still notice anomalies. Therefore, please continue to exercise caution to ensure the existence of the pocket watch is not exposed.]
Bai Yi''s beautiful eyes widened slightly beneath her sunglasses as she watched the accumulated time limit suddenly surge by 20 minutes.
"..."
She didn''t say a word, and her mask-covered face concealed any expression.
The only visible reaction was her hand clutching the pocket watch tighter and tighter. As the sun gradually set, Yan Huan emerged from the Changing Room with his School Bag on his back, having already changed out of his volleyball uniform.
Sakuramiya Hitomi didn''t return for the elective class in the afternoon; she had directly taken a leave of absence to care for the little kitten named Mitsuki at home.
Yan Huan bought a sports drink from the vending machine, sipping it as he made his way back to class.
Just like on Monday, the Teaching Building was practically deserted, bathed in quiet and tranquility.
Along the way, apart from the shadows cast by the pillars in the setting sun, there was only a semi-transparent masked girl standing in the corridor with her arms crossed...
''Wait a minute, did something weird just mix in?''
The very moment he realized something was wrong, Yan Huan nearly spat out his mouthful of sports drink.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, his Perfect Expression Management instantly activated.
He walked past her with complete naturalness. Beside him, the girl with her face tightly concealed simply followed him with her gaze, her intentions unknown.
''And isn''t the usage time for this girl''s Modifier a bit too excessive?''
''I couldn''t have misheard in the Examination Room last Friday. It was a fifteen-minute countdown...''
''It definitely should have surpassed fifteen minutes by noon today, so how is she still able to use it this late in the afternoon?''
''Hello, yes, I''m a parent, and I''d like to file a complaint!''
''Please install an anti-addiction system for the Modifier! It''s completely corrupting my precious child!!''
Even though he didn''t know what Bai Yi was planning, Yan Huan realized he had to make a move.
Sipping his drink, his expression grew even more natural as he slowly paced toward Class A.
"..."
Before he even reached the classroom, the half-liter beverage in Yan Huan''s hand was reduced to an empty bottle, leaving Bai Yi trailing behind him somewhat dumbfounded.
''Is he that thirsty?''
''He chugged all of that in one go?''
She kept her arms crossed and watched as Yan Huan tossed the empty bottle into the recycling bin. The dark thoughts from noon resurfaced in her mind.
After a moment of silence, she quietly followed his footsteps.
The sun sank lower, and the two walked down a corridor stained crimson by the evening light.
One person''s shadow stretched out long and lean, while the other stood completely bathed in the red glow, as though she herself had become a shadow.
Yan Huan slid open the classroom door and walked inside. His window-side desk, which had been splattered with paint, had already been replaced after he reported it to the school.
''Is he here to pack up his things?''
''But isn''t he already wearing his school bag?''
In the next moment, Yan Huan dragged the newly replaced desk and chair aside, exposing the section of the wall previously hidden behind the desk.
On the wall, numerous streaks of multi-colored paint still remained.
Yan Huan stared at the marks on the wall for a moment. He then silently set his School Bag down and took off his jacket, revealing the black short-sleeved T-shirt underneath.
He turned and walked out of the classroom. Not long after, he returned with a damp rag and a bottle of sanitizing alcohol spray from the restroom entrance.
Under Bai Yi''s utterly confused gaze, Yan Huan slowly rolled up his sleeves.
He first sprayed a layer of alcohol over the paint on the wall. Then, crouching down, he began meticulously scrubbing the stains with the damp rag.
''This guy... he''s actually cleaning the paint off the wall?''
Bai Yi was slightly stunned. Her original intention to step forward and carry out her dark plan faltered for a second.
Because the paint had gradually dried, scrubbing it was quite strenuous even with the help of the alcohol, yet Yan Huan diligently wiped away the marks, bit by bit, over and over.
And those very marks were inexplicably left behind entirely because of her grudge.
''Maybe in his eyes, just like that female classmate in Class A, he thinks he encountered a Supernatural Event, right?''
''Inexplicably splashed with paint, inexplicably having pebbles thrown at his window...''
"..."
At that moment, Yan Huan, who was scrubbing the tiles, suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled out his smartphone.
His phone was of an ordinary brand. Although the smartphone market had been highly competitive in recent years, producing many cost-effective models so it didn''t look too shabby...
...his particular model clearly looked like it had been used for a very long time.
Bai Yi knew electronics very well.
She watched him dial a number, then tilt his head to sandwich the phone between his ear and shoulder.
"Ring..."
"Sister Tong, it''s me. Yeah... Um, I''ll be arriving a little late for work at the Bar tonight."
"...Yeah, I have something to take care of at school first. I probably won''t catch the School Bus and will have to take another bus back."
"I''m so sorry. I really apologize."
While he smiled and asked for time off from his part-time job over the phone, he continued to use the rag to clean the paint off the wall.
This left Tong Yingying, who was sprawled out spread-eagle on her bed on the second floor of the Bar, clutching her phone in sleep-deprived confusion.
''Huh?''
''What''s gotten into this kid?''
''Why is he suddenly being so polite?''
''Could I be dreaming?''
''I must still be half-asleep...''
"Mhm... Yeah."
Thinking she was dreaming, Tong Yingying agreed offhandedly and hung up the phone.
Then, she scratched her belly, which was exposed between her pajama top and pants, rolled over, hugged her pillow, and went right back to sleep.
Meanwhile, in Class A at Far Moon Academy.
Listening to Yan Huan''s phone conversation, Bai Yi finally realized that the rumors she had heard during her rare visits to the school were actually true...
''Yan Huan, the Student Council President of Far Moon Academy, the guy so wildly popular with everyone, is actually working part-time to make a living?''
''And he even has to apologize so submissively to his boss just for being a little late for work...''
Witnessing this scene, a base sense of superiority suddenly swelled in Bai Yi''s heart.
Over the years, she had participated in many variety shows and filmed movies, making her somewhat famous.
She had earned a lot of money for her family. The clothes she wore, the items she used, and the place she lived were all excellent.
''So what if Mama says he''s incredibly smart and hardworking?''
''So what if he was spotted by the Station Executives at first glance?''
''Even if he looks...''
''Maybe, probably, perhaps...''
''...exceptionally good-looking.''
''Doesn''t he still have to struggle so bitterly just to survive?''
With these thoughts in her mind, Bai Yi watched Yan Huan hang up the phone.
She watched him slip his phone into his pocket, seemingly unable to hide his exhaustion as he stifled a yawn.
Even so, he continued diligently cleaning off the paint on the wall piece by piece, not showing the slightest hint of frustration.
Gazing at him like this, the sense of superiority within Bai Yi faded like a firework—dazzling upon bursting, but impossible to sustain.
Hidden beneath Indifference, she would never be noticed by anyone. Consequently, in this state, she was her most authentic self.
That vile superiority was more like a long-compressed spring suddenly snapping loose, just like the anger that had driven her to act impulsively in the first place.
If she just thought about it rationally, she could easily understand that she and Yan Huan practically had no interaction.
From his perspective, he likely hadn''t done anything wrong yet was subjected to this kind of treatment.
Normally, he had to study hard, manage numerous trivial tasks for the Student Council, and work part-time after school to make a living.
Yet someone like him had to be entangled in a Supernatural Event for no apparent reason, forcing him to quietly return after school to clean up these multi-colored paint stains.
This was indeed Bai Yi''s fault.
Economic principles assume that all individuals are rational beings, that everyone will choose the most logical option when faced with a decision.
But the reality is, human beings cannot maintain perfect rationality at all times.
Especially when you are compared to someone day and night, constantly being told that he is better than you, he is more hardworking than you, he is more valuable than you...
Naturally, you would hate the person drawing those comparisons.
But it was also hard to avoid a surge of disgust and resistance toward the subject of the comparison in the deepest reaches of your heart.
Especially when you possess a pocket watch capable of shifting you into a state of Indifference...
It was a magnifying glass, a tool that silently amplified the filth within.
Yet, the reality is also that people cannot be irrational all the time.
For instance, at this very moment.
Enveloped in the state of Indifference, Bai Yi opened her mouth slightly. Her original intent to execute her dirty scheme now felt completely impossible to carry out.
''Yeah...''
''Didn''t I despise the path laid out by my mother and Agent the most?''
"With such excellent physical attributes, of course, you should seize the advantage and capture the market of fans who value looks..."
''That was exactly why I always wanted to write songs, wanted to create.''
''And yet, seeing that he is just like me, possessing looks that perhaps even surpass mine, but chose not to walk down that path—why did I instead feel a sense of superiority over the status I gained through my appearance?''
Bai Yi felt remorse, jealousy, and confusion all at once.
She was remorseful that she had used the Modifier to do such things to an innocent person, and that she had previously mocked his current situation with such a superior attitude.
She was jealous because she seemingly truly grasped the words her mother had said, fully understanding his hardships and his excellence.
Words from others rarely teach you, but lessons from reality teach you instantly.
''But why did I have to meet someone like him?''
''Since Yi was born, why must Huan exist?''
Bai Yi clenched her teeth, her delicate fists gradually tightening.
And lastly, her confusion lay in the fact that...
''Since he had already caught the eye of the Station Executives back then, why would he rather endure such hardship now than accept their offer?''
''No matter what, it would at least be easier than this, right?''
''It really makes one curious...''
''Are you genuinely this excellent and resilient, or...?''
''Then let me keep watching you—the boy my mother constantly lectures me about—to see exactly what your deal is.''
"Phew... Finally done."
After quite a while, Yan Huan finally wiped the tiles completely clean of the paint.
He took a deep breath, stood up, and clapped his hands, which now carried the strong scent of alcohol.
He then turned around, pretending to pack his things and get ready to leave.
In reality, he wanted to confirm the state of Bai Yi behind him.
However, as his gaze swept across the room, the classroom was completely empty. The figure of the young girl was nowhere to be seen.
"..."
''Well, it looks like this wave of attacks has been temporarily resolved.''
Yan Huan rubbed his wrist and glanced at the time on his smartphone. It was precisely the time to head out for his part-time job.
He slung his School Bag over his shoulders, though he didn''t lower his guard in the slightest.
Because he had a premonition that things between him and Bai Yi were far from over today...