4. In the midst of the dolls, the young girl picked up her cellphone.

When Yan Huan walked out of the office, Miao was nowhere to be seen, and she wondered where she might have gone.

Ye Lan was still in the office talking to Principal Hermes about the so-called matter of her sister coming to study here.

Standing at the door, Yan Huan requested time off from her evening job, and the only response she received was a cold "Consider it truancy, docking 200."

A few minutes later, another message arrived,

"Only just remembered, you've never asked for time off before. Will let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again."

Yan Huan gave a wry smile and sent back a "thank you" emoji, and just as Ye Lan came out, Yan Huan instinctively locked her phone screen and looked up,

"Let's go, Xiao Huan... Which way should we head down? Your school is too complicated for me, I'm a bit lost..."

"Over here, Aunt Ye."

Walking down the stairs, the Yuanyue campus was extremely quiet with no sight of other students, as the weekend tempted them to ride the school bus and escape, leaving the entire campus so silent it seemed only Yan Huan and Ye Lan were there.

They chatted leisurely and quickly reached the school gate.

On the asphalt road among the maple trees at the school entrance, a low-profile black Dragon Country electric car had been waiting for a while, and a Dragon Country woman in a black suit was standing by the door,

"President Ye."

"Just head home."

"Okay."

As soon as Ye Lan helped Yan Huan into the car and sat down, the car started up quietly.

Yan Huan curiously examined the spacious interior of the car, while Ye Lan bent down and pulled out a refrigerated cabinet from beneath the air outlet in the back seat.

Glancing inside, Yan Huan saw an abundance of yellow canned banana milk.

With a beaming smile, Ye Lan took out a can with a straw and handed it to Yan Huan, like a squirrel sharing nuts from its burrow,

"Xiao Huan, here's some for you to drink."

"Thank you, Auntie."

"There, don't thank Auntie..."

Then, she seemed unable to wait to grab another can of banana milk herself, inserted the straw, and started to sip from the can with both hands.

"Mmm..."

Ye Lan emitted a pleasantly satisfied hum, seemingly because the banana milk tasted very good.

Seeing this, Yan Huan opened a can tentatively, tasted it, and found it to be a low-sugar sweet milk, not very sweet but with a strong banana flavor.

While drinking the banana milk, Ye Lan started a conversation,

"Speaking of your sister, back in Dragon Country, I was busy every day and couldn't spend much time with her. She was always taken care of by the nanny at home. I don't know if because of this, your sister became quite withdrawn, not fond of communicating with others, and didn't have any same-aged friends...

"Now even more so, having brought her all the way to a foreign country, although there are many Dragon Country people at Lin Gate and Yuanyue Academy, it's still not the place she grew up in, which makes me a bit worried whether she can adapt."

Yan Huan sipped the milk and looked at her, "What about uncle, is he also very busy?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Lan didn't respond but displayed a polite yet helpless smile, as if Yan Huan had touched on an awkward and distasteful intersection.

Yan Huan immediately understood and apologized,

"Sorry, Aunt Ye."

"No... it's just that her father and I separated and stopped interacting when your sister was very young."

Ye Lan, while speaking about this matter, stopped drinking her milk briefly, then promptly continued sipping from the straw and switched the topic,

"Xiao Huan seems to have a lot of friends at school, right? The principal says he can just ask any student to call you, and they all have your contact info."

That was true - even if not close friends of Yan Huan, she was added in various large groups within the academies, definitely reachable, for a simple reason,

"Probably because I am the student council president. It's a troublesome role; if not for applying to university..."

"Who said that, it's simply because Xiao Huan you are very popular."

Ye Lan cupped her cheeks, smiling as she gazed into Yan Huan's eyes, imagining,

"I don't expect your sister to be as popular as Xiao Huan, I just hope she can interact normally with others, rather than spending all her days alone in her room playing with those doll figures..."

"Doll figures?"

"Ah, like Barbie dolls, figurines... those sort of things? I don't quite understand either, but your sister really likes them, strange isn't it?"

"..."

Yan Huan usually made no comment on personal preferences - this was a good habit learned from Vice President Sakuragi.

"Anyway, seeing is believing, you'll understand when you meet your sister in a bit. I hope Xiao Huan can, for Auntie's sake, be more considerate towards your sister. She hasn't made friends with her peers for a very long time, so if there's anything she doesn't do well, I apologize in advance on her behalf~"

"How could that be, Auntie, you're being too modest..."

Yan Huan replied with a polite smile, and even though they chatted and drank, the banana milk in his can was quickly finished, making Ye Lan, who had only drunk less than one-fifth, blink with curiosity.

During the ride, Ye Lan chatted with Yan Huan about various things, and Yan Huan also added her plane contact info - the profile picture was even a can of banana milk.

Ye Lan's house wasn't too far from the school, and it was only about half an hour by car when there was no traffic.

After all, they were both located in the expensive Jinghe District. When they arrived, Ye Lan's small appetite had just managed to finish that cup of banana milk.

The electric car entered an unnamed residential area and through the car's grey-black privacy film, Yan Huan saw many detached houses with gardens, though not very neatly arranged outside.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a well-located Western-style Mansion at the end of the road.