Restricted Fantasy Invasion

Chapter 22

"Xiaohuan, there are barely any customers left. Where's Sister Tong?" Yan Huan, cleaning wine glasses and plates, turned to look at the seat where Tong Yingtong had been sitting earlier. There were still bottles and glasses there, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll go look for her."

Yan Huan wiped his hands and walked over in that direction.

The bar has a second floor, but it's not open to customers. Sister Tong usually lives upstairs.

There is a long hallway between the shop and the stairs leading to the second floor, with the restroom in the middle of the hallway.

Yan Huan thought she had gone upstairs to rest, but when he stood at the foot of the stairs and saw the locked iron door, he knocked and called out twice, but got no response.

"That's really strange."

With Sister Tong's attitude toward managing the bar, if the staff were unreliable, it'd be quite something if someone emptied out her bar one day.

Luckily, Yan Huan is a model youth, the kind with especially good character.

He sent her a message on plane but got no reply. Yan Huan pursed his lips, checked the time, and called out to the people outside,

"Sister Guan, Brother Tian, why don't you head out first! She might have fallen asleep upstairs. I'll lock up later!"

"Alright, we'll help you bring in the tables and chairs outside!"

"OK!"

In the hallway, Yan Huan called her plane number again. The phone rang with a "doo doo" but no one answered, yet a ringtone came from inside the restroom.

Yan Huan raised an eyebrow and tentatively knocked on the restroom door, calling out,

"Sister Tong?"

The Longguo tune kept playing inside.

Yan Huan had no choice but to push the door open.

In the cramped single-person restroom, the stall door was open, revealing Tong Yingtong sitting dazedly on the toilet lid.

Thankfully, her pants were still on.

Yan Huan breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the phone that had fallen to the floor, picked it up, and hung up his own call.

Just as the call ended, the lock screen displayed over 99+ message notifications, all from her mother.

Yan Huan didn't even look at the content, just locked the phone again.

He then leaned in closer to Tong Yingtong and called out,

"Sister Tong?"

"Mmm."

Hearing Yan Huan's voice, she reached out to rub her slightly furrowed brow and brushed her bangs aside.

On her flushed, beautiful face, those eyes always looked so spiritless.

Meanwhile, her left hand quietly slipped inside her coat, as if she had already grabbed something.

But the guarded look in her eyes gradually faded as she recognized the boy in front of her, replaced by a breath of alcohol from her slightly parted red lips.

"Yan Huan."

As her vigilance dropped, her hand loosened its grip inside her coat, and an electric baton slid down onto her thigh.

"."

Seeing this, Yan Huan found it a bit funny and pointed at the baton on her leg, asking,

"Seriously, Sis, why are you carrying an electric baton around? If you hadn't looked carefully, wouldn't you have zapped me?"

"Kids shouldn't poke their noses into grown-up affairs."

"I think you're the only one who still treats me like a kid, Sister Tong."

Oh, wait, there's also Aunt Ye Lan, and she's even more dramatic when she talks.

Tong Yingtong struggled to sit up straight, put the baton back inside her coat, and softly asked,

"They're off work?"

"Yeah, there aren't any customers at this hour."

"Mm."

She lowered her head a bit more, so Yan Huan took the initiative to ask,

"Want me to help you upstairs to rest?"

"Mm."

Yan Huan sighed, tucked her phone into her coat, helped her up, and led her outside.

She fished out a key from her pocket and handed it to Yan Huan, who used it to open the door, revealing the room upstairs.

The room was a bit messy, with all kinds of clothes and underwear piled up on the sofa like a mountain. When Yan Huan helped her upstairs, he almost tripped over some stockings tangled with clothes on the floor.

It was obvious she just tossed both things into the washing machine together, and after drying them, this was how they came out.

"Sister Tong, every time I come to your room, I'm shocked all over again."

When he turned on the light, he could see a black electric guitar hanging on the wall.

Yan Huan didn't know much about these things, but he thought the guitar looked well-made, with a line of gold signature on it that seemed pretty expensive.

"Mm."

She hung her head, her red hair slightly covering her face, and replied very casually.

But the hand holding onto Yan Huan's arm started wandering over his shoulder, then to his chest.

Yan Huan quickly grabbed her restless hand and then tossed her onto the bed.

For a moment, he even wondered if Tong Yingtong had been chosen by the modifier too.

If the modifier picked someone like Ye Shiyu or Spencer, strangers to him, Yan Huan could accept it. But if it picked someone he knew, that would really leave him speechless.

With strangers, he could perform without hesitation, treating it as a battle of wits against the modifier.

But if someone he knew suddenly used the modifier on him, the way familiar relationships got twisted and shattered was the most unbearable thing.

Especially when you're the one being targeted by the modifier.

Fortunately, Tong Yingtong just seemed drunk. After being tossed onto the bed, she settled down.

Yan Huan sighed and smiled at her,

"I think you're really hungry, Sister Tong. I'm ten years younger than you-how could you even go after me?!"

Tong Yingtong grunted, as if Yan Huan's sudden remark snapped her a bit more awake.

She opened her eyes, then squinted at the boy standing by her bed.

She saw him wearing the bar's bartender uniform, the brown vest outlining his tall, lean figure with a forbidden allure.

She'd just squeezed his muscles, and they were pretty firm.

Most importantly, that charming face of his.

Damn.

"."

Tong Yingtong's up-and-down gaze made Yan Huan a little uncomfortable.

"Sister Tong?"

After a moment of silence, she sat up.

Then she turned her head and picked up the bulging wallet from her nightstand.

"Sit."

Yan Huan dragged a chair over and sat down in front of the bed.

He watched as she opened her wallet and pulled out the stack of bills inside one by one.

Then, she handed the small wad of cash she'd pulled out to Yan Huan.

But Yan Huan didn't dare accept it, just blinked at her.

Seeing he wouldn't take it, Tong Yingtong tossed the money onto the bed.

At some point her fingers were already gripping a metal flip lighter. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lowered her eyes, and suddenly asked,

"How do I usually treat you?"

"."

Why does this feel like a gangster boss about to send his underling on a suicide mission in a movie?

"Uh, just so-so?"

Tong Yingtong paused while pulling out a cigarette and looked up at Yan Huan.

Yan Huan smiled and quickly corrected himself.

"Oops, just kidding, Sister Tong."

Tong Yingtong lowered her head again, and then heard him continue,

"Actually, you treat me pretty badly."

"?"

Tong Yingtong looked up at him again, her usually lifeless eyes now wide open.

Yan Huan reached out and gently closed her open cigarette case, then counted on his fingers as he explained,

"Look, you dump all the bar's work on me every day, and that's fine, but you always threaten to dock my pay, your drinking is terrible, your mouth is savage, and you're always swearing."

"What else?"

Tong Yingtong nodded, and as she reached for the electric baton, she asked one more question.

Yan Huan immediately smiled,

"That's all, everything else is great, Sister Tong."

Tired of bantering and joking with Yan Huan, she pouted at the wad of cash on the bed and said,

"Take the money, and let me ask you for a favor."

"Say it first, what do you want me to help with?"

"My family is in a hurry for me to get married. They know I don't have anyone, so they call every other day to set me up on blind dates. If I ignore them, they start dropping hints through all sorts of relatives, saying how my parents are getting sick from the stress."

"Hmm, so you want to act?"

"Who knows, I'm still abroad. If I have to fly back just because of this stupid thing, I swear-"

Tong Yingtong sighed, cupping her pretty face as she said to Yan Huan,

"So, I have an idea, Yan Huan."

"."

"Just go along with me and act a bit. When they video call, show your face and act a little close to me, help me get through it."

Yan Huan listened, looking at the serious-faced Tong Yingtong, and seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.

Seeing his expression, Tong Yingtong paused slightly and asked,

"What, do you want to say something?"

"Sister Tong, you really do come up with nothing but bad ideas all day."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Back when business at the bar was bad, you suddenly had the idea to bring in a band, but didn't notice they played heavy metal. In the end, someone reported us for disturbing the peace, and the neighbors trashed the place with eggs and vegetable leaves."

Tong Yingtong blinked, as if remembering that mess. It was Yan Huan who talked those old folks into leaving.

"And then, to boost drink sales, you put some discount coupons online. But you even got the price tags wrong, missed a decimal point, and someone found out and bought a ton. We got milked for a whole month."

"."

Hearing this, Tong Yingtong opened her mouth but couldn't find anything to say for a moment.

Actually, when Tong Yingtong isn't drinking, she's pretty clear-headed and sharp.

But as soon as she drinks, she instantly turns into a little genius idea machine, her head full of these self-sabotaging schemes.

"Hey, Yan Huan, I have an idea!"

Just like her passive skill after drinking, every time she says this, Yan Huan knows something bad is coming.

The key is, Yan Huan has discovered Tong Yingtong has another weird mechanism.

You'd think after drinking and coming up with bad ideas, she'd realize they're bad once she sobers up, right?

But no, Tong Yingtong is just that magical. The crazy ideas she comes up with while drunk are like rules in a horror story-her brain absolutely can't break them, so even when she's sober, she never realizes anything's wrong.

"."

"."

In the room, Tong Yingtong and Yan Huan sat in silence for a moment.

After a second, Tong Yingtong irritably ruffled her red hair.

With a gentle pull, she undid the hair tie behind her head, and her shoulder-length hair fell down gracefully.

"So what should I do? They call every day and never stop-I feel like my head's about to explode."

Yan Huan held his chin, thought for a moment, and then asked with the wisdom of Zhuge Kongming,

"I have three plans-lower, middle, and upper. Which one do you want to hear first, Sister Tong?"

"...Let's hear the lower one first."

That's Sister Tong for you, drunk and with a totally different thought process from everyone else!

But Yan Huan didn't complain, just smiled slightly and continued,

"The lower plan is what you suggested-I help you act and deal with them. But paper can't cover fire forever. They want you to get married, not just date. So even if you get through this round of blind dates, you still can't dodge the follow-up questions, right?"

Tong Yingtong frowned, spinning her flip-top lighter faster and faster in her hand,

"Then what's the middle plan?"

"The middle plan is to toughen up. No matter what they say or how much they push, just ignore them. Block whoever needs to be blocked."

"."

"In the end, Sister Tong, the reason you're annoyed is because you still care about your parents' feelings, right? If you were really heartless, no matter what they did, if you absolutely refused, what could they do?"

Looking at Yan Huan in front of her, Tong Yingtong sighed and said,

"If only I could be so heartless. But they're my parents, after all. I came here for high school, and they worked the fields back home to support me, so no matter what-"

But as she spoke, she couldn't help getting a little angry,

"But when it's like this every day, it really wears me down. Always forcing me to make these extreme choices-either hurt myself or hurt them-what's the point?"

"Don't worry, there's still the upper plan, Sister Tong."

"Mm-hmm, go on."

Yan Huan raised a finger and asked in return,

"Sister Tong, can't you think about why they keep pushing you to get married?"

"What else could it be? Old-fashioned thinking."

"Sure, that's part of it, but I think there's another reason: isn't it because you worry them too much? They want someone to take care of you."

"Wait, have you been brainwashed by them or something?"

Tong Yingtong looked at Yan Huan with a deeply suspicious gaze, as if she thought her mom had possessed him.

"...Sister Tong, where's your brain? Where's your brain."

If it weren't for the fact that she was holding the electric baton, Yan Huan would want to see what her brain looks like after drinking,

"Look at you, staying up late, drinking, smoking. You never answer calls or messages during the day, anyone can see your routine is a total mess."

"."

"Even if you finally pick up a video call at night, you look like a Qing Dynasty zombie, all your yang energy sucked dry. Someone who didn't know better would think Linmen has bad feng shui and breeds zombies."

"."

"Before you started getting nagged about marriage, I'd already heard them mention this countless times. So, I think your parents just can't think of another way-they figure marriage might fix your bad habits."

Yan Huan looked at the frozen Tong Yingtong and said finally,

"So the upper plan is: quit smoking, quit drinking, fix your routine, get out more instead of staying cooped up in this coffin shop, and let your parents see the change. Maybe they'll stop pushing so hard."

Tong Yingtong blinked, just about to say something, when she suddenly realized Yan Huan had been doing exactly that all along.

Every time she reached for a cigarette, he'd immediately interrupt her "casting."

Every time she wanted to drink, he'd speak up to dissuade her.

Honestly, since Yan Huan started working here this year, she really has smoked and drunk a lot less. She's in much better shape than a year ago, even if she's still a ways off from normal.

No wonder her parents think this way.

But why has Yan Huan spent the whole year working so hard to get her to quit smoking and drinking?

Could it be... this kid likes me?

At that thought, Tong Yingtong froze for a moment, her eyes flickering slightly as she asked,

"So, all this time you've been telling me to quit smoking and drinking because... why?"

She asked directly, but hesitated halfway through.

"Oh, that-"

But Yan Huan didn't seem to catch the subtext. He just smiled and said, all sunshine,

"Because I hate the smell of smoke. Seriously, Sister Tong, every time you light up in front of me, it stinks to high heaven."

"."

"And besides, Sister Tong, once you start drinking, your brain gets taken over by alcohol and you turn into a total idiot. I'm worried you'll be dumb enough to lose all your money, the bar will go under, and I won't get paid, so-"

"."

Tong Yingtong's already lifeless eyes gradually turned into the look of a dead person.

Seeing her actually pull out the electric baton, Yan Huan immediately stood up.

Glancing at the time on his phone, he said,

"Alright, that's it. I'm off work. Downstairs is pretty much cleaned up. Enjoy your nightlife, Sister Tong."

"."

As he turned to leave, Tong Yingtong suddenly called out to him,

"Hey, wait a sec."

"What now? No way, Sister Tong, are you really going to tase me?"

"You wish."

Tong Yingtong picked up the money on the bed, counted out a portion, and handed it to him,

"Here, this month's salary. Just take it now-there's only a few days left until payday anyway."

Yan Huan raised his eyebrows, took the money and counted it, then asked,

"It's more than usual?"

"I'm not counting your weekend absences as missed shifts, plus today's-so, six hundred more."

"Sister Tong, love you."

"Get lost. You want me to tase you to death or what?"

Tong Yingtong brandished the electric baton triumphantly, but didn't look at Yan Huan.

"Alright, I'm out, Sister Tong."

Yan Huan pocketed the money and left Tong Yingtong's room.

Watching him go, Tong Yingtong lay back down on the bed and shouted downstairs,

"Lock the door for me!"

"OK!"

Then came the sound of the iron door being closed and locked, and Yan Huan's footsteps gradually fading away.

Lying on the bed, Tong Yingtong put down the electric baton, her gaze still blank.

Maybe I should change my lifestyle a bit.

Tong Yingtong couldn't make up her mind for the moment, unable to step out of the comfort zone of her current "lying flat" lifestyle.

After all, three feet of ice is not formed in a single day-she was already used to living like this.

Still, maybe quitting smoking and drinking really is necessary.

She'd almost started hallucinating just now, even vaguely seeing a talking-

White snake?

Linmen, Luoqiao District.

Inside a residential neighborhood, in a room of a three-story building, a black-haired girl in pajamas was fiddling with a box in her room.

Inside the box was a leopard gecko staring at her with wide eyes.

"Xiao Yun, come out and play for a bit."

The black-haired girl's pajamas were loose, but still filled out by her ample chest.

She had just finished showering, and now brushed her bangs back, revealing her adorably rosy face.

She was a student in Class 1-C at Yuanyue Academy, An Le.

Usually invisible in class, she could finally show her lively side in her private room, indulging in her hobbies without restraint.

An Le liked to raise reptiles.

She was interested in geckos, lizards, all kinds of insects, and other strange little animals, and often watched their videos online.

However, the gecko in the box, called "Xiao Yun," just looked up at her, showing no intention of moving.

"Don't want to come out?"

An Le smiled slightly, not even forcing her pet, and put the box back on the shelf.

Well then, let's check out some resources online.

Any new games lately?

Everything's been so tame recently, nothing really satisfying.

An Le put on her blue light blocking glasses and sat down in front of the computer.

She opened a certain resource forum and browsed the "R-18 Games" section.

Her previous search history was still in the search bar, all kinds of questionable keywords.

Yes, An Le was actually a hardcore otaku in private.

But unlike ordinary otakus, the things she liked to watch were all a bit-

Hard to describe.

"Hmm, this gameplay is a bit outdated. If it's just breaking in and whipping..."

"How about this one? Ugh, the male lead is so ugly, and if he gets ruined he'll look even worse-oh, turns out he has a non-human form."

"This one seems okay, tentacles huh."

As An Le was browsing the web on her computer, a series of faint, almost illusory sounds came from the windowsill.

"Sss... gurururu."

An Le blinked in surprise, then turned to look at the windowsill.

"Eh, what's that sound?"

She stood up and walked over, apparently about to close the window.

But as she got closer, she suddenly discovered a small, immobile white snake lying on the windowsill.

The white snake seemed injured, with some of its scales missing...

"Eh, a snake? Why would a snake suddenly show up here?"

An Le blinked, wondering this in her heart.

The little snake weakly opened its eyes, giving the girl in front of it a pitiful look before closing them again.

"..."

An Le's mouth hung open, as if hesitating.

After a moment, she returned to the room.

When she came back, she was already wearing bite-proof gloves, and gently cupped the snake in her hands, bringing it back into her room.

(End of this chapter)