Strategy to Capture Men

Tang Ke was nervous all day, thinking about what he had done wrong.
At school, Han Yunqi and Han Shao walked right past him without even saying hello, making his mood fall even further.

In fact, Tang Ke wasn't a fool.
He had long ago vaguely understood that Han Yunqi and Han Shao's enthusiasm about him was actually directed at Han Yanyan.
But humans love to lie to themselves, and and he had convinced himself that they had befriended him because they wanted to be friends with him.

But reality was that when Han Yanyan suddenly gave him the cold shoulder, the two followed suit.

Tang Ke's depression lasted for a full day until he boarded the spaceship that evening.
When he saw Han Yanyan sitting in the front row, he hesitated.
He wondered if he should ask her what he had done wrong, but was afraid of making her unhappy again.

Then Han Yanyan turned her head, her face once again clear.
“What are you doing? Don't stand there, come sit.” She patted the seat beside her.

As if the morning had never happened, her smile still as gentle as the spring breeze.

The low feeling that had lingered for a whole day dissipated instantly.
Taking what should have been three steps in two, Tang Ke bounded to her side.

“Here, for you.” Han Yanyan handed him a juice.

When he looked at her sweet smile, Tang Ke swallowed his original intentions of asking her what had happened that morning, and drank the juice obediently.

Han Yanyan stroked his hair, smiling, as if stroking a docile little white rabbit.

Brother and sister Han Jingshan and Han Jun looked at each other, and then at Han Wei, sitting on the other side of the aisle.
It  just so happened that Han Wei was also looking at them.
Their three gazes met in silent communication.

Han Jun was the youngest, and couldn't help himself.
He switched on his smartwatch and sent a text: Is she training him?

His sister: Shut up!

His cousin: Watch your mouth.

His sister also gave him a pinch on the thigh.
Han Jun hissed silently.

His cousin gloated: Control him properly.

His sister: I don't need you to tell me what to do!

Rubbing his leg, Han Jun sent another text lamenting: The people in this family sure are scary.

His cousin: …Control him! Teach him to shut up!

His sister: I know!

Han Jun gritted his teeth again, not daring to make a sound, but his elder sister laid her hands on him so hard that he gasped in pain.

In the first row, Han Yanyan suddenly turned her head and glanced back through the gaps in the chairs.

The three held their breath.

Once Han Jun was once again well behaved, the Eldest Miss in front turned back around.
Only her long curly hair could be seen through the gap.
She was clearly only a little older than he was, so why was she…
so scary?

Han Yanyan was thinking that these three were still so difficult to understand1 right now.

In the first round, they had all become her trusted subordinates, right-hand men even.
With them behind her, the elders of the family all praised them as “the younger generation surpassing the older”.
At that time, each one of them were capable of handling themselves.
Even the youngest, Han Jun, was deep and shrewd.
She had forgotten that they had this side to them when they were teenagers.

She looked back at the little boy who was drinking juice beside her.
A fatherless child, eager for love and friendship, quiet and well-behaved.
She reached out to stroke his hair, thinking: When to really…
start bullying you?

She turned back to look at Han Jin, her youngest brother.
His IQ and EQ had probably hurt her father's self-esteem, as ever since then, he had never had children with anyone else.
Producing too many such idiots…
would truly be losing face.
But right now, Han Jin was the backbone of the plan to bully Tang Ke.

She patted Tang Ke and praised, “What a good boy you are.
I wish I had a little brother like you.”

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for a few people nearby to hear.
Han Jingshan and Han Wei looked at each other.
Han Jin let out a heavy “humph”.

Only naïve Tang Ke blushed shyly, completely ignorant of the fact that Han Yanyan had just brought a new wave of hostility down on him.

Back in his room, Tang Ke had completely put aside the things that had happened in the morning.
Sister Yanyan was a girl, and his mother had said that girls all liked to put on a show of being in a huff, so just give in to them a little.
Maybe she had just been in a bad mood and was showing a bit of temper.

All of a sudden, he halted in his tracks.

Boys who grew up with single mothers were often sensitive, and Tang Ke's intuition was telling him that something was wrong in his room, as if someone had come in.
He glanced around and immediately saw a lovely handmade cloth bag on the desk, printed with cartoon mecha patterns, but stitched with white lace.
It looked like it was trying to have a boyish appearance, but with the innate breath of a girl.

Underneath the bag was a cute post-it note, the handwriting on which was delicate and beautiful, saying: “It's my first time baking cookies, I hope you like them.”

When he opened the bag, he saw star-shaped biscuits inside.
He picked up one and took a bite.

The taste was, ummm…

It really was their first time!

There was a sort of indescribable cuteness about it.

This little cloth bag, a post-it note that had an adorable pattern on it, and baked homemade cookies all together outlined a cute little girl who was cautiously reaching out to be friends.

Tang Ke's ears were red.

It– it was his first time getting a present like this from a girl! She– she wanted to be friends, right?

But she hadn't left a name.
Who could it be? There were over twenty children living in the manor.
Aside from Han Yanyan, there were eight girls, five of whom were close to his age.
Who could it be?

 

Han Yanyan had handwritten a small pile of notes in a pretty script.

She knew several styles of handwriting, including her original style, Eldest Miss Han's, student Han Yanyan's, and the style of girl Han Yanyan's, whose body she was currently in.
Only the last one couldn't be used, and from the rest she chose the elegant and gentle schoolgirl font of college student Han Yanyan.

She handed the pile to her henchmen.
“Once a week.
Make it realistic.”

The reason why henchmen could be henchmen was because they would faithfully carry out their orders.
No matter how strange or inexplicable the Eldest Miss's actions were, they never asked why.

 

Tang Ke slept soundly thanks to having an unknown new friend.
When he got on the boat the next morning, he couldn't wait to share his joy with Han Yanyan.

“Sister Yanyan, yesterday I…” His voice came to an abrupt stop when he saw two girls who had just boarded the ship.

He didn't know them well because they were of different genders, but they were both among the five he had guessed.

Compared to the rowdy boys, the girls who could live in the Han manor tended to be precocious and quiet.
As they passed by, both girls nodded slightly and whispered good morning.

Tang Ke remembered the note without a name and the burnt cookies.
That girl… was probably very quiet and introverted.
That was why she hadn't dared give him the cookies to him face to face, but quietly put them in his room instead.

She must not want others to know about it.

Tang Ke felt like he understood.

“What happened yesterday?” Han Yanyan asked.

“Um, well…
yesterday, I got second place in the class test.” Tang Ke changed his story at the last moment.

“I told you yesterday, you silly fellow,” Han Yanyan pinched his face.
“Next time you should try to be first.
Your sister only likes those silly fellows who get first in their exams.”

“I'll work hard.” The little boy quickly grabbed his face, his ears red.

He hoped Sister Yanyan wouldn't always treat him like a child.
How embarrassing.

Although the boy liked his angel-like Sister Yanyan, he also had his own little secret.
Gifts from an unknown friend would always appear in his room on Monday night.
He guessed that she must sneak into his room in the morning after he left, before boarding the ship herself.

He deliberately left early every Monday to give her enough time and came back in the evening full of expectations.

She must be quite a silly little girl, he guessed.
Her cookies were burnt the first three times.
Only on the fourth time did they no longer smell burnt.
But he ate them happily every time.

It was when he was eating a cookie without a burnt smell that he suddenly realized.
Since she could leave him a gift, he could also leave her a message.
So the next Monday morning, he left a note on his desk before leaving the room.

When Han Yanyuan came back that evening, she got the note from her henchmen.

“Who are you? Will you tell me?”

Han Yanyan thought that she was so good to the child that even her younger brother envied him, yet he kept this little secret from her.

Sure enough, even as children, men were all pigs.