7. A golden-maned lion

Last night the windows were left open, and the morning breeze slightly stirred the curtains, also waking up the young man on the bed.

Blearily opening his eyes, Yan Huan felt his body was heavy and tingled all over as he gazed at the unfamiliar ceiling.

This sensation also brought back unpleasant memories from last night, making him helplessly rub his brow.

"Ow~"

From within the warm bedding, a hot black furball struggled to climb out, shaking its body by the edge of the bed, then it hooked onto the sheets and yawned a big lazy stretch with its mouth wide open.

Yan Huan propped himself up a bit and reached for the fully charged phone on the bedside, discovering it was already past nine.

After seeing the time, he sighed and lay back down, burying his head deep into the pillow.

Last night, he went to sleep while pondering how to deal with Ye Shiyu's modifier, resulting in a nightmare.

He dreamed that he was standing on the edge of a cliff, moving step by step uncontrollably towards the precipice...

That feeling of knowing he was in danger but unable to control his movements was like torture, accompanying him as he fell to be shattered to pieces.

Without thinking, he knew that it was because he confronted Ye Shiyu's modifier last night that made him unable to sleep peacefully.

If he were to really stay here for long, not only would he have to face Bai Yi's Carefree attitude at school but also be hypnotized by Ye Shiyu when he got home...

Really, it felt like his life was over.

No, he had to run...

Yan Huan thought as much, with his head as heavy as iron while facing the pillow.

Luckily, his crisis awareness yesterday made him circle around the issue and he did not agree to stay; the downside was that he still had to spend the weekend here.

Otherwise, if he just left all of a sudden for no apparent reason, Ye Lan might only feel puzzled, but Ye Shiyu would probably notice something off, guessing that Yan Huan knew about last night's hypnosis...

So, he would have to endure it a bit longer.

"Ah..."

A muffled sigh echoed from within the pillow.

Even on weekends, he usually got up very early and would go for a morning exercise, but today he definitely couldn't, so he had to take a day off for himself...

"Meow~"

Miao approached while meowing, prompting Yan Huan to reach out and rub its head instinctively, and as he did, he asked,

"Miao, you don't need to eat anything, right?"

"No need, meow."

"That's a pity, you won't get to taste delicious cat sticks and canned food."

It's really you who feels it's a pity you can't feed me cat sticks and canned food, right?

Miao had already seen through everything, then it consoled him,

"But if you insist on feeding me, I can eat a little bit."

"Alright then, you really are a greedy little cat."

"..."

Yan Huan sat up, ignoring Miao who was awwing and trying to bite him, and got out of bed to go to the bathroom to wash up.

By the time he was done and went downstairs, Ye Lan and Aunt Chen were already up early in the living room lit by the morning light.

"Xiao Huan, you're up? Did you sleep well last night?"

Ye Lan sat in front of the dining table wearing a white home gown, the bright white morning light casting a faint outline of her slender body on it.

Sitting with her legs crossed and her toes awkwardly catching the swaying slippers, she asked with her back to the track of light.

Yan Huan concealed last night's nightmare with a flawless smile: "I slept very well, nothing uncomfortable."

If there were no restrictions about the modifier, he would now complain to Aunt Ye about Ye Shiyu's bad influence with her random hypnosis, guilty as charged.

"That's good, come have breakfast, your sister is still sleeping. She's a lazy worm, she likes to stay in bed usually."

Ye Lan's voice was still gentle, despite the mother-daughter relationship, they gave off entirely different impressions.

One was an angel, the other a devil.

Aunt Chen brought up a breakfast full of Dragon Country's specialities, some pastries, soymilk, and a plate of cooked eggs.

Ye Lan just took an egg, with a banana-flavored milkshake staying next to her, unsurprisingly.

Seeing Yan Huan still wearing the white shirt from the school's uniform yesterday, Ye Lan peeled an eggshell with a smile,

"I completely forgot to buy a few clothes for Xiao Huan on the way back yesterday. Let's go shopping today. I heard there's a big Aquarium near a famous shopping center, we'll head out soon!"

"Okay, Aunt Ye."

Ye Lan watched happily as the young man sat down, noting the dampness in his hair indicating he'd just washed up.

His hair slightly messy, evidently not carefully groomed.

Though with a face like Yan Huan's, it's attractive no matter what, it wouldn't disgust anyone, but if he paid more attention to this aspect, he might utterly charm girls to their wit's end.

After all, he's a boy, not as meticulous in this regard as a girl, she'd hand-hold him through this after...

"Here, have an egg."

Thinking this, Ye Lan handed over an egg with a bit of shell left at the bottom for easier handling.

"Thank you, Auntie."

After receiving the egg and eating half of it, with cheeks still puffed, Ye Lan peeled another and handed it over.

Yan Huan blinked and looked up at her, amusing Ye Lan who covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then hurriedly said,

"Good boy, eat slowly, you can have this one after you're done."

Ye Lan set the peeled egg down and picked up a tissue, extending it towards Yan Huan's face, seemingly wanting to help him wipe something off.

Just then, a soft footstep came from behind on the stairs, Yan Huan didn't turn around, but as if he had a "spider-sense," he knew who had come down.

So, Yan Huan hurriedly reached out and grabbed the tissue from Ye Lan: "Thanks, Auntie, I can do it."

After saying that, he took the tissue and wiped his mouth.

Ye Lan blinked and burst out laughing.