Be Sure to Go to Sleep Before Midnight!

An hour later.

Boiled fish with pickled cabbage, sweet-and-sour pork, mapo tofu, blanched okra, and fish head and tofu soup were laid out on the dining table.

Three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, with four dishes and a soup.

"Wow~~"

Li Ziyang stared at the steaming dishes on the table, practically drooling.

"Dad, you're amazing!"

Li Ran came out of the kitchen and teased him, "So this is what counts as amazing?"

He carried two bowls, serving his wife a bowl of fish head and tofu soup first, then his son, and finally himself.

"Son, this soup is good for your brain, stimulates your appetite, and is nutritious. Drink plenty."

"Dad, you're the best."

Su Bingyao glanced into the kitchen. The counters were tidy, the sink was completely dry, and the whole kitchen was spotless.

"Why didn't you wait until after dinner to clean up?" Su Bingyao asked, puzzled.

"I learned it online. Cleaning as I cook makes washing the dishes after dinner a lot easier. It keeps things from getting overwhelming."

Li Ran didn't say that he'd cleaned the kitchen because of Su Bingyao's obsessive-compulsive habits and cleanliness obsession.

Su Bingyao knew the truth. Her husband had simply been thinking of her.

After all, they'd had plenty of arguments over her obsessive-compulsive habits and cleanliness obsession.

But right then, Su Bingyao felt warm inside, as if the milky-white fish head and tofu soup were flowing straight into her heart.

"Son, I'll get you some rice."

"I can get it myself."

"Haha, my son's growing up. Do it yourself, and you'll have what you need."

Su Bingyao raised her beautiful eyes. "I can get my own, too. You just eat."

Li Ran had no choice but to give up and get his own rice.

"Boiled fish with pickled cabbage goes perfectly with rice. You're growing, son, so you need plenty of nutrition. Eat up."

"Mm, the fish is so tender. And the sweet-and-sour pork is delicious!"

Actually, Li Ran had just been trying to find something to talk about. If he didn't make an effort, he really didn't know how to communicate with the two of them.

Just then, Su Bingyao put down her chopsticks and handed Li Ran a bank card.

Li Ran looked at her in confusion. "What's this?"

Su Bingyao explained, "Hasn't your company been doing poorly lately? You shouldn't have to shoulder the whole family alone. This is some of my savings. Take it for now. If it's not enough, I have more."

"This..."

Seeing the bank card she held out, Li Ran felt a surge of warmth.

If the keyboard warriors online saw this, they'd surely say it was science fiction again.

How could there be such a wonderful woman in the world? So many married men dreaded coming home.

"Mistaking vinegar for ink, I filled half a lifetime's pages with sour words."

How many people felt truly alive only when they were sitting in their cars after work, because going home meant dealing with one mess after another?

Su Bingyao's gesture would absolutely send her soaring in the eyes of men.

Li Ran actually felt like he was dreaming.

"I don't need it. You should keep it."

"I'm giving it to you. Are you saying you won't take it?"

Su Bingyao boldly stuffed the card into Li Ran's clothes.

Li Ran lowered his head and shoveled mouthful after mouthful of rice into his mouth.

Aside from feeling touched, he was also confused.

What did he need Su Bingyao's money for?

What use was money in the Weird World?

He needed points, attributes, and Mysterious Power!

Of course, Su Bingyao's gesture had truly moved him.

If they weren't in the Weird World, he might have stayed to live out this ordinary, happy life.

[You completed a hidden side quest in "Repair the Broken Family."]

[The extra bank card will automatically be converted into rewards and granted to the player.]

[Conversion rewards: Mysterious Power +100, Points +1000]

"Whoa..."

"Money earned in the instance gets automatically converted into rewards."

"That's pretty thoughtful."

Li Ran checked his attributes.

Li Ran

Mysterious Power: 200

Agility: 20

Strength: 20

Points: 1460

Active Skill: Shadow Escape

Passive Skills: Thunder Mark, Focus (immune to mental attacks)

"Such a big reward for a hidden side quest?"

"My wife's the real powerhouse!"

Li Ran hadn't expected the bank card Su Bingyao gave him to convert into a reward worth as much as several quests.

The final reward for the seven-day [Repair the Broken Family] quest was only Mysterious Power +50 and Points +500.

Li Ran thought of that fake Fortune Teller. He'd also completed a hidden quest by chance and claimed all the rewards.

"Hidden quest rewards are much better than regular quest rewards."

"Looks like I'll have to pay more attention to the details and complete more hidden quests from now on."

Li Ran kept his head down, secretly grinning. He'd really hit the jackpot this time.

But to Su Bingyao, Li Ran looked like a husband with a strong sense of pride who'd only accepted his wife's help because the pressure left him no choice.

Hmph. Men and their damned pride.

A faint smile tugged at Su Bingyao's lips.

If she hadn't hypnotized her husband today, she might never have figured so many things out.

She wouldn't snoop through her husband's private affairs again. This experience had taught her not to jump to conclusions before learning the truth.

Just then, Li Ziyang put a piece of sweet-and-sour pork on Li Ran's plate and asked tentatively, "The kindergarten is holding a Parent-Child Activity the day after tomorrow. All the other kids' moms and dads are going."

"I'll go with you," Li Ran replied readily.

"What about Mom?"

Li Ziyang looked at Su Bingyao hopefully and placed a piece of pork on her plate, too.

"Mom will go, too," Su Bingyao said gently.

"Yay! That's great! Mom and Dad will come to school with me!"

Color returned to Li Ziyang's face, and he looked noticeably healthier. As his mood improved, he seemed more cheerful, too.

The faint smile at the corners of Su Bingyao's lips showed that she was in a good mood, too. She clearly ate more than she had the day before.

The food was delicious, and there was plenty of it.

At this rate, Li Ran was confident he could finish the [Repair the Broken Family] quest in less than seven days.

After washing the dishes, Li Ziyang went to do his homework.

Li Ran had eaten a little too much and wanted to walk it off, so he asked Su Bingyao, who was standing by the window, "Honey, want to go for a walk downstairs?"

Su Bingyao didn't turn around. Instead, she looked down over the residential complex and said, "It's dangerous to go for a walk at night. Don't go."

Images of the densely packed monsters he'd first seen in the complex immediately came to Li Ran's mind.

If not for Su Bingyao's warning, he would have nearly forgotten about them.

Su Bingyao continued, "I don't know when it started, but the complex becomes dangerous after nightfall."

Li Ran frowned slightly and thought, Has Su Bingyao not realized she's been infected and turned into a monster? Or are all the residents here unaware?

Thinking back over the past two days, he remembered that each resident had their own quirks and communicated like normal people, yet some of their behaviors were bizarre and terrifying. Clearly, none of them thought they were monsters.

Su Bingyao and Li Ziyang were just as unaware.

Suddenly, Su Bingyao turned around and stared at Li Ran with a strange expression.

"Be sure to go to sleep before midnight!"