Chapter 14: The Retriever, Shen Yan

Chapter 14: The Retriever, Shen Yan

“Mom! I’m back!”

“…Mom?”

Parking the shared bike outside, Chen Shiyu called out as she pushed open the half-closed front door.

She stepped into the house, glanced at the two pairs of slippers by the stairs, and immediately realized her mother wasn’t home.

That, oddly enough, came as a relief. Pretending to be the cute bubbly girl outside was exhausting. At home, she just wanted to drop the act and be herself.

At the foot of the stairs, she slipped off her white sneakers, put on the slippers, and started heading up.

The first floor had a simple cement floor—shoes or no shoes didn’t matter. Her mother only did light cleaning to keep it looking decent. But once you stepped onto the warm wooden flooring upstairs, slippers were a must.

Otherwise, there would be scolding.

“…I did okay today, right?”

“But Chen Jing thought I was acting strange… though she just assumed I was sick.”

“And Shen Yan… he keeps testing me somehow. I don’t think he’s caught on yet. He even tied my hair, treated me to lunch, and went online with me.”

“…I don’t want to go to school tomorrow.”

Muttering to herself as she replayed the day in her head, Shiyu trudged up to the third floor, tossed her schoolbag aside, switched on the air conditioner, locked the door, and collapsed onto her bed.

“Ahhh~ being alone is the best!”

She was, at her core, a hardcore shut-in. Solitude was her comfort zone.

—No, wait!

She jolted upright, darting to the window.

Sure enough, across from her, the third-floor lights of Shen Yan’s room were on. His shadow flickered against the glass.

It didn’t take long before he noticed her at the window too. He walked over and gave her a little wave, the same ritual as always.

Shiyu smiled sweetly, raised her hand for a quick wave, then yanked the curtains shut.

“…So stupid.”

She muttered the words half in envy, half in jealousy. She had never dated anyone before, never even had much physical closeness with a boy.

With the curtains closed and the door locked, Chen Shiyu could finally peel off her mask.

Stretching lazily, she dropped back onto the bed, curling up like a cat—or perhaps more like a fox. Instinctively, she reached for a tail that wasn’t there, hugging a stuffed toy by the pillow as a substitute.

After spending months as a fox, walking upright again had been a nightmare. At first, she’d almost forgotten how to stand, collapsing after just a few steps.

Thank goodness she’d been clever enough to blame it on a “sprained ankle.” No matter how awkward her gait, no one questioned it.

“My energy was fine all day… so I really do need something like human yang energy to stay active, huh?”

A school full of strong, blood-warm teenagers was practically a buffet. Just brushing against them was enough to keep her lively.

“But if I run low on yang energy… what happens? Do I just get tired? No energy?”

“…No idea.”

Frowning, she rubbed the bridge of her nose—then quickly stopped, tugging a strand of hair around her finger instead.

No more touching her nose! She wasn’t wearing glasses right now!

Her mother had clearly cleaned her room while she was gone. The floor, desk, even the bedspread—everything was spotless.

She could probably go barefoot and sleep on the floor without issue.

Shiyu slid off her long pants, leaving her bare legs exposed to the chill of the air conditioner. She shivered but didn’t bother putting them back on.

She hated the feeling of being restrained. Back when she was still a guy, she’d lounge around in nothing but underwear at home. If not for the bashfulness of being a freshly minted maiden, she’d probably ditch the bra and top as well.

“…My legs really are pale…”

Chen Shiyu muttered to herself as she sat down at her desk. Her soft thighs spread slightly against the chair, full and supple yet not overweight.

This body had clearly never done any exercise. It looked slim, but underneath was nothing but soft flesh with barely any muscle. The moment she sat down, not only did her thighs squish outward, but a faint layer of belly fat appeared as well.

With a sigh, she patted her stomach, then pulled the stack of homework papers out of her bag.

There was a lot to get through tonight. If nothing got in the way, she’d probably be working until eleven or twelve. Still, since she always ignored class and spent the time daydreaming, she had already finished a good portion of it during the day.

“A fox like me… still has to do homework? It’s been years since I last solved problems like these…”

Her phone lit up before she could even start.

She had only written two lines before being distracted, immediately grabbing the phone to check. A message from Shen Yan—he had shared a short video.

‘Even an Idiot Can Learn to Control Recoil’

‘Different Ways to Throw Grenades’

‘Upcoming May Game Releases’

‘This Content Has a 0% Chance of Being Human-Written’

‘Abstract Art’

…

At first, they were all game-related clips. Then, as if realizing it might be boring to only send what he liked, Shen Yan had started mixing in random comedy and weird abstract videos.

It was exactly like a retriever let loose outdoors—eagerly running back with every little thing it found, wagging its tail to show its owner.

Even if what it brought back was… well, crap.

Shiyu tapped one at random. After only a few seconds, her lips pressed tight in disgust, her brain buzzing in confusion. She leaned back as if to distance herself from the screen, worried her IQ might drop just by watching.

She had no idea how to respond. If she typed too harshly, it might break her character, but if she encouraged him, he might just keep bringing her crap.

“haha.”

In the end, she just typed two characters and added an emoji.

After putting the phone down, Shiyu fell into thought.

—Did Shen Yan ever send his childhood friend videos like this before? As far as she remembered, no. If anything, it was always her predecessor acting like the retriever, running to share things with him.

She shook her head hard, pushing away the thought, and forced herself to focus back on her homework.

“Shishi! Are you doing your homework?”

Her mother’s voice echoed from downstairs.

“Mm! I’m writing!” she shouted back.

A moment later, there was a knock at the door. Shiyu hurried over to open it and found her mother smiling, holding a cup of hot milk and a plate of sliced papaya.

“Here, eat more of this.”

“Uh? Oh…” Shiyu accepted the tray, her expression souring the instant she saw the papaya. “Mom… don’t buy papaya next time.”

Of all fruits, papaya was the one she hated the most. That weird, indescribable taste—just thinking about it made her skin crawl.

Her mother blinked at her in confusion. “Didn’t you say you wanted to… enhance your chest? You told me to give you milk every day and buy papaya often.”

“…” Shiyu froze for a beat. “I saw online… papaya doesn’t work.”

“That’s fine. You’re not small anyway. And even if you were, being small has its own charm,” her mother said, desperately trying to comfort her daughter’s obvious displeasure. “It’s cute, isn’t it?”

No! Don’t talk about this with me! I’m a man, for crying out loud!

Shiyu wanted to scream, to bury her head and howl, but all she could do was tilt her head back and chug the glass of milk in one go.

“Oh, right. While I was cleaning your room today, I found a few strands of red hair on your bed.”

Her mother’s curious tone made her stiffen.

“Must’ve been loose threads from a doll. I haven’t dyed my hair.”

—Red hair, again.

Shiyu frowned. A ridiculous thought crossed her mind.

Could it be… that while she was asleep, she was transforming back into a fox? And shedding fur?