Chapter 36: A Land of Tenderness

[(○o○)] [(̑)wow!*✰] [c( O.O )ɔ] [(;꒪ö꒪)] [(*0*)/] [⊙０⊙]
[Vulgar words!]
[So crude! Far too crude! Please, give us more of such commentary!]
[Isn't this supposed to be the Green Ghost's streaming room? How could things get so spicy? I’ll tip you right away!]
[Wait, what’s with Big Bear? Why was this thought kept inside before, and suddenly now it’s so honest?]
[Newbie, check the status bar above the streamer’s equipment list. He used Truth Serum on Aunt Mei.]
[Damn, is the effect of Truth Serum really this explosive?]
[Excellent.]
[Please, give us more exciting content!]
[Waiting for something exciting.]
[Waiting.]
...
...
Upon hearing Lin Xue Mei’s utterly candid words, Wen Nan laughed.
So that’s how it is?
So, the fluctuating completion rate of the task wasn’t because she suddenly resisted Wen Nan’s closeness, but rather the opposite—it was because she longed for it too much?
She harbored such desires deep inside, but felt guilty, angry, and self-reproachful for having them?
Thinking back, the first drop in completion rate happened by the kitchen sink, when Lin Xue Mei reminisced about Ye Jiu and Qiqi’s childhood, recalling how Ye Jiu hugged Qiqi and said, “You belong to me.” At that moment, a faint gloom appeared between her brows.
Apparently, Lin Xue Mei suddenly realized then that Ye Jiu and Qiqi were childhood sweethearts. He liked Qiqi; she suited him. As her aunt, she ought to play the elder, quietly stand by, watch the young lovers unite, and give her blessing.
Not, as now, to cross the line because of her own deep yearning, and do things that break boundaries.
Desire and morality tugged at Lin Xue Mei’s heart, making her moods swing, which in turn caused Wen Nan’s task completion rate to fluctuate.
Now, after Wen Nan used the Truth Serum, Lin Xue Mei was forced to voice her innermost thoughts, with no turning back.
9527: [Truth Serum remains active, time left: 12s...]
9527: [Truth Serum remains active, time left: 11s...]
9527: [Truth Serum remains active, time left: 10s...]
Having reached this point, with the answer to the romance strategy laid before him, Wen Nan had no reason to refuse.
He chuckled softly, raised his hand, and gently rubbed Lin Xue Mei’s earlobe.
Fresh from the shower, her earlobe was slick, delicate, soft, and carried a faint creamy scent of the bath gel.
“Alright.”
Wen Nan whispered by Lin Xue Mei’s ear:
“Why don’t you check if the child is asleep? Once I shower, I’ll come find you?”
With that, Wen Nan rose from the sofa, about to head to the bathroom, but Lin Xue Mei suddenly reached out, gripping his arm tightly and pulling him back.
Caught off guard, Wen Nan stumbled and nearly toppled onto Lin Xue Mei’s chest.
He instinctively braced himself with both arms on either side of her head, trapping her before him.
Their faces were so close, their noses almost touching. From this angle, Wen Nan could see the fine hairs on Lin Xue Mei’s cheeks, still adorned with sparkling droplets from the bathroom, like a ripe peach freshly wet from rain.
“What is it?” Wen Nan asked, hearing his voice turn hoarse.
A blush bloomed on Lin Xue Mei’s pale, dewy cheeks. She gazed right into Wen Nan’s eyes, her look shy, but her words frank:
“No need to wash. Just like this—it’s even better. I like it.”
Wen Nan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled with a hint of helplessness. “Alright.”

He lowered his arms, wrapped one around Lin Xue Mei’s slippery fragrant shoulder, and swept the other beneath her thighs, lifting her horizontally.
With all his stats maxed out from the prize wheel’s attribute experience card, Wen Nan now had full strength, armor, agility, charm. Carrying Lin Xue Mei was as easy as holding a kitten.
“To the guest room? On the little bed?” Wen Nan asked.
Lin Xue Mei nestled close to his shoulder, honestly nodded, “Mm...”
...
...
[!]
[!!!]
[(@￣ρ￣@)]
[ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)]
[ヘ(°￢°)ノ]
[(´ρ`)]
[ヽ(o･་།･o)ノ]
[Continue]
[Please don’t stop!]
[Watching horror games get spicy—soon, surely!]
[This is the right stream to join.]
[Amazing.]
[dlnb]
[dlnb]
[dlnb]
[Received tip: 50 gold coins]
[Received tip: 50 gold coins]
[Received tip: 100 gold coins]
[Received tip: 1000 gold coins]
[Received tip: 5000 gold coins]
...
...
Wen Nan carried Lin Xue Mei toward the guest room. Just as they reached the door, an urgent system alert sounded in his mind.
9527: [Truth Serum remains active, time left: 2s...]
9527: [Truth Serum remains active, time left: 1s...]
9527: [Truth Serum effect ended, please be advised.]
The moment the drug’s effect faded, the person in his arms began to struggle.
Her slender waist twisted, Lin Xue Mei gripped Wen Nan’s arm tightly, her tone flustered, “Xiao Jiu, what we’re doing, we shouldn’t...”
She choked halfway through her sentence.
As she struggled, the thin bath towel on her body slipped to the floor...
...
...
[Detected sensitive content in One Night Jiu’s streaming room...]
[This streaming room adheres to basic green and harmonious principles. Any content involving explicit, violent, or bloody elements will be automatically shielded...]
[We have automatically closed the One Night Jiu stream. Now switching to highlights from the past 24 hours...]
[Thank you for your support and cooperation...]
[Enjoy watching!]
...

...
[?]
[?]
[???]
[????]
[(╬⁽⁽⁰⁾⁾Д⁽⁽⁰⁾⁾)]
[(╯°□°）╯︵┻━┻]
[Σ(-`Д´-ﾉ；)ﾉ]
[(▼へ▼メ)]
[n.m.l.g.b.d.s.b.w.y]
[(๑⁼̴̀д⁼̴́๑) Damn]
[I took off my pants and this is what you show me?!]
[rnm refund!!!]
[rnm refund!!!]
[Refund! I demand a refund!]
[Damn harmony system.]
[Scammer.]
[I really shouldn’t have expected much from a horror escape game.]
[A wasted effort, after all.]
...
...
On the checkpoint’s light screen, the main quest countdown kept ticking.
[08:00:59—]
[08:00:58—]
[08:00:57—]
Meanwhile, in One Night Jiu’s streaming room, the barrage of curses, rebukes, urging, and waiting never ceased.
Even shielded, the stream’s popularity miraculously remained sky-high.
[...]
[Still not released.]
[It’s already noon.]
[It’s been twelve hours now...]
[Seriously, is it really going on this long?]
[One Night Jiu truly lives up to his name...]
[Will the stream ever come back?]
[Are we going to be shielded until the quest time ends?]
[No way, isn’t there still the Little Chili? Isn’t Jiu going to go after her?]
[With so little time left, and no stream, that must mean he’s still in bed. If he gets up now, washes, changes, goes out, finds Little Chili, uncovers her hidden desires, and satisfies them, he’ll run out of time for sure...]
[I said it, never get too deep in, once you fall into the tender trap, you can’t escape.]
[We’re doomed.]
[Feels like it’s over.]
[I just want to know, will the stream ever come back? Are we really not getting even a scrap of content?]