Chapter 35: The Yearning Within

Wen Nan knocked on the neighbor's door once again.

Lin Xuemei opened the door, only to see Wen Nan standing there with his changed trousers neatly packed, handing them to her.

“Aunt Mei, I… I’m not very good at washing these myself. Can you help me, please?” Wen Nan asked tentatively.

Lin Xuemei was taken aback for a moment, then broke into a smile.

She reached out to take the bag of clothes and stepped aside to clear the doorway. “Qiqi is inside working on her homework. She said there’s a new set of worksheets that’s quite difficult and she can’t figure them out. She wants you to take a look, so just go right in and find her, okay? Leave the trousers to me.”

Wen Nan nodded and headed into the apartment.

The place wasn’t large—two bedrooms and a living room. Lin Xuemei slept in the master, while the guest room served as Qiqi’s bedroom and study.

Along the wall opposite the bed, a long desk stretched across, with two chairs side by side.

When she saw Wen Nan come in, Qiqi immediately pulled out the chair next to her. “Come, sit here, brother.”

Just as they did at school, Wen Nan sat beside her, only to watch as Qiqi, with an air of secrecy, fished a booklet from a drawer under the desk, leaned in close, and whispered, “I just got this—collector’s edition—for you.”

Wen Nan glanced down and, at a single look at the bold, risqué cover, caught sight of the striking title—"The Testament of New Sister Devil."

Startled, Wen Nan cast a meaningful look at Qiqi. He found himself once more re-evaluating this childhood friend of his…

“So this is the difficult, new set of worksheets you wanted my help with?”

Qiqi giggled, not bothering to answer, but simply shoved the book into Wen Nan’s hands. “Go on, study it.”

Wen Nan opened the book, preparing for a thorough examination, when a voice echoed in his mind—an alert from the system.

9527: [Main Quest 2, current completion rate: 62%]

Wen Nan: ?

He’d brought back his trousers and handed them to Aunt Mei—so why hadn’t the completion rate gone up? In fact, it had dropped by 1%.

Was it because he’d gone into the room and neglected Aunt Mei?

With this thought, Wen Nan excused himself to Qiqi, put down the book, and went out to find the bathroom.

“Aunt Mei, is there anything I can help with…?”

As he spoke, he opened the bathroom door.

Lin Xuemei clearly hadn’t expected Wen Nan to barge in like that. Flustered, she quickly plunged his half-washed trousers back into the sink, then turned with a smile. “Why are you out here? There’s nothing I need help with—you and Qiqi just focus on your homework in the room. Don’t worry about this.”

Wen Nan was perplexed—

When he’d come in, he’d seen Aunt Mei standing at the sink, clutching his trousers mid-wash, frozen like a statue, lost in thought.

Lost in a daze over his trousers, and it had cost him 1% completion? How strange.

But if Wen Nan insisted on washing his trousers himself, the completion rate would drop even further. After some thought, he leaned against the glass door nearby, looked earnestly at Lin Xuemei, and spoke: “Auntie, is something bothering you? You can tell me if you want.”

Lin Xuemei lowered her lashes, considered a moment, then smiled again. “No, not at all. It’s rare for you to come home on the weekend—I’m too happy to have you here to have anything on my mind.”

“But…”

“Alright, go do your homework. Don’t get underfoot here—I still have to cook dinner after I finish washing these.” With that, Aunt Mei gently ushered Wen Nan out.

At dinner, just as he had at lunch, Wen Nan eagerly volunteered to help Lin Xuemei in the kitchen.

The kitchen was cramped, and their movements inevitably resulted in all sorts of physical brushes. Every time Wen Nan accidentally touched some soft, springy part of her, the system would show the quest completion rate jump up by two points—yet almost immediately Aunt Mei would turn away to avoid him, and the rate would fall back by a point.

Rising and falling like this, by evening’s end the completion rate hovered at 68% and would not budge higher.

As night deepened, it became clear that, at this rate, they’d have to leave for school by noon the next day without finishing the main quest.

But Lin Xuemei’s attitude kept vacillating, and Wen Nan found himself utterly at a loss.

After midnight, Qiqi, barely able to keep her eyes open, went to shower, then said goodnight to Wen Nan and Aunt Mei before collapsing into the big bed in the master bedroom and falling fast asleep.

In the living room, only Lin Xuemei and Wen Nan remained. The atmosphere grew heavy with silence.

Softly, Lin Xuemei said, “Xiao Jiu, do you want to shower first?”

Wen Nan shook his head. “I just remembered—I need to go out for a bit. Auntie, you shower first.”

Lin Xuemei wanted to ask what business could possibly take him outside so late, but in the end she didn’t. She simply handed him the keys and told him not to be long.

Wen Nan went down to the fruit shop and was back before long.

He opened the door—and stopped short at the sight before him.

Lin Xuemei had just come out of the bathroom, wrapped in nothing but a white bath towel, steam still rising from her skin, standing not far away.

She clearly hadn’t expected Wen Nan to return so soon, and for a moment she stood frozen, forgetting to react.

Her long hair hung loose over her shoulders, the damp ends dripping, water droplets tracing paths down her collarbones, pooling in the hollow at the center, soaking the towel into a darkened patch.

Wen Nan’s gaze followed the trail of water downward, his throat tightening with a sudden thirst.

For a moment, they stood at an impasse. Lin Xuemei forced a calm smile. “You’re—back so soon? I’ll go put on some pajamas…”

“Jie.”

Wen Nan called out, deliberately changing the way he addressed her.

9527: [Main Quest 2, current completion rate: 69%]

Wen Nan paused, then continued, “Sister, you don’t need to change. It’s just the two of us here—no outsiders.”

Lin Xuemei turned back toward him, her gentle smile masking the panic in her eyes.

Wen Nan sat down on the sofa, his gaze sincere. “There’s something on my mind. Will you sit with me for a bit?”

Faced with the earnest, beautiful eyes of the young man, Lin Xuemei could hardly refuse. She clutched the edge of her towel and carefully walked over to sit beside him. “What’s wrong?”

Wen Nan opened the fruit platter he’d brought back and offered it to Lin Xuemei. “The fruit shop downstairs was about to close, so I only managed to get two kinds. Would you like banana or orange? Pick one.”

Wen Nan’s tone was too certain for Lin Xuemei to realize she could, in fact, refuse.

Banana, or orange?

After a moment’s thought, Lin Xuemei picked the orange.

She took a piece of peeled orange and popped it into her mouth.

9527: [Player has used the item—Truth Serum—on target: Lin Xuemei.]

9527: [Item in effect, please wait…]

9527: [Item successfully used!]

Wen Nan turned slightly, gazing straight into Lin Xuemei’s eyes. “Sister, deep down, what do you want most of all?”

Lin Xuemei looked back at Wen Nan, her heart pounding rapidly, heavily.

She didn’t want to answer, but the truth slipped out unbidden from her heart:

“I want you… to have me.”