Chapter 34: To Wash or Not to Wash

After a brief, ambiguous silence by the kitchen sink, Lin Xuemei picked up a small bowl with dipping sauce, attempting to shift the conversation.

“This little pink rabbit bowl—I remember when you and Qiqi were little, it was your favorite. Every time you came over for dinner, the two of you would fight over it. In the end, you, clever as a fox, would let her have the bowl, then hug her and say, ‘The bowl is yours, but you belong to me.’”

As she reminisced, Lin Xuemei smiled, but the smile soon faded into silence. Clutching the pink rabbit bowl, shadows gathered in her eyes, as if she were burdened by some secret.

Wen Nan noticed and moved a little closer, reaching out to take the bowl from her. “Aunt, let me wash it.”

His palm covered Aunt Mei’s slender fingers, startling her back to herself. She hurriedly withdrew her hand and stepped aside.

“Alright, you—you do it. I’ll… step out for now.”

With that, Lin Xuemei left the last two bowls in the sink for Wen Nan and exited the kitchen without looking back.

Left alone by the sink, Wen Nan was momentarily puzzled. What was with Aunt Mei’s sudden mood swing?

He called out to the system in his mind: [9527, check the task progress.]

[Main quest 2, current completion: 65%.]

The completion rate had stalled.

Wen Nan stared at the pink rabbit bowl in his hand, bewildered—what was this about? How could a simple bowl trigger such a sudden drop in Aunt Mei’s mood, even making her hide her secret yearning?

After cleaning up and loading the bowls into the disinfection cabinet, Wen Nan stepped out of the kitchen and immediately saw Qiqi sprawled on the sofa, watching TV.

“Hurry up, bro! The second half just started—you’re right on time!”

Wen Nan sat down beside Qiqi and glanced at the live broadcast on TV—the European Cup, Spain versus England.

He turned to Qiqi, “I thought you didn’t like watching football?”

With a straight face, Qiqi replied, “I don’t like football, but I enjoy watching cute little backsides.”

Wen Nan stared at her incredulously, deeply suspicious that beneath her innocent appearance lurked a thoroughly corrupt soul.

Qiqi blushed under Wen Nan’s gaze, cupped his face in her hands, and turned him to face the screen. “Don’t look at me, watch the game!”

He did bring the main quest with him, and the task was indeed to watch the match—but it certainly wasn’t about the ball on the pitch.

With that in mind, Wen Nan glanced around. “Where did Aunt Mei go?”

“She said she’s making up your bed,” Qiqi replied, eyes glued to the screen. “Are you staying over tonight, just like before? The guest room’s yours.”

Wen Nan didn’t respond, but since he’d always crashed here for food and lodging in the past, he had no objections now.

After mulling it over, he stood from the sofa, intending to see if Aunt Mei needed any help. He’d barely taken two steps when he bumped into Aunt Mei coming out.

Lin Xuemei lowered her gaze, noticing Wen Nan’s pants. She paused and pointed at a spot below his waist. “How did your pants get dirty?”

Wen Nan looked down and saw a row of dried, dark brown stains at his crotch.

Thinking for a moment, he recalled it was from the morning, when he was rushing to class and a sudden cloud of black mist enveloped the teaching building. The chubby guy had dashed past, splashing water onto him.

He’d thought it would fade once dry—not realizing it left a mark.

“Uh, I accidentally got splashed at school,” Wen Nan replied.

Lin Xuemei stepped forward and gently patted his waistband. “Take them off, I’ll wash them for you.”

Wen Nan instinctively refused, “No need…”

She assumed he was worried about not having anything to wear, and smiled, “The pants you changed out of last time are still in the wardrobe. You can wear those. It’s fine.”

She glanced again at the stains. “Judging by the location, your underwear is probably dirty too. Change them together. We don’t have your size here, so I’ll order you two disposable pairs, or… you could just go without for now.”

Wen Nan’s face burned. “No, really, it’s fine.”

After a moment’s thought, he said, “My house is right next door. I’ll go back and change.”

With that, Wen Nan turned and walked out.

“…Xiao Jiu?” Lin Xuemei hurried after him, hoping to call him back, but seeing his determined stride toward the door, she could only ask, “Will you be back tonight?”

Wen Nan turned and replied, “Yes, I’ll be back.”

—

The door closed behind him. Wen Nan left Lin Xuemei and Qiqi’s home, consulted the system in his mind, and soon found his own house, unlocking the door and stepping inside.

It was clear the place hadn’t been lived in for ages—the musty smell hit him as soon as he entered, and dust coated every surface.

Holding his breath, Wen Nan walked to the bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and grabbed a random pair of pants to change into. As he was about to throw away the dirty pair, a system prompt sounded in his mind.

[Main quest 2, current completion: 63%.]

Wen Nan: …

What the hell?

He’d seen character affection drop before, but now even the quest completion rate was falling?

So this quest wasn’t like the first one—the first quest only required Wen Nan to keep his mood upbeat, and completion steadily increased with time. But this second quest required satisfying TA; otherwise, completion would drop.

Had it just dropped two points because Wen Nan refused to let her wash his underwear?