A Qualified Husband

"Dad, hurry back! I still want you to teach me how to draw."

Li Ziyang took the backpack and said obediently.

Li Ran hummed in acknowledgment and dashed toward the elevator.

Just then, a woman's icy voice came from inside the apartment.

"What could be more important than eating? Can't you pick it up tomorrow?"

Li Ran stopped dead in his tracks. His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily before he finally managed to speak.

"It's actually nothing much. I can pick it up tomorrow... Tomorrow it is."

With no other choice, Li Ran turned around and walked back inside.

As soon as he entered, he saw takeout containers stacked neatly on the dining table like bricks.

Through the transparent containers, he could see something wriggling among the food.

"Good grief, it's full of maggots!" Li Ran's stomach began to churn.

Damn it, it was bad enough that she didn't cook. Now she expected him to eat bugs, too.

(Warning: Li Ziyang is in a very low mood after seeing that you've ordered takeout again. If you don't eat, he'll eat you.)

(Tip: Do your best to make Li Ziyang feel the warmth of a family. Do not let him realize that you and your wife are divorced.)

Li Ziyang began to crack apart again, and something terrifying wriggled inside the cracks.

Divorced?

Shit!

But why were they still living together?

Could they be temporarily cohabiting for the sake of their child?

After a hard day's work, coming home to a table full of cold takeout would leave any head of the household feeling a little disappointed, let alone a growing child.

"Son, let's not eat takeout. How about Dad cooks for you himself?" Li Ran gave him a wink and spoke gently.

"That's great! Dad's going to cook!"

Li Ziyang's face gradually healed, and his little face took on an innocent expression.

Li Ran ushered his son toward his room. "Go do your homework in your room. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

As long as his son didn't crack apart, everything was fine. The more Li Ran looked at him, the more normal he seemed.

Li Ran turned toward his wife, standing by the living room's floor-to-ceiling window in a silky slip dress. Her hands were clasped behind her back, her left hand resting lightly on her drooping, lotus-root-white arm. Her waterfall of black hair fell just right, hiding her slender, jade-white waist. She seemed like a celestial maiden who had descended to the mortal world, untouched by earthly concerns.

For a moment, Li Ran was transfixed.

Even the city lights outside the window seemed dim beside her silhouette.

She slowly turned around and spoke in a cold voice.

"You're cooking? That doesn't sound like you."

Her peerlessly beautiful face showed not the slightest trace of emotion, and her lovely eyes radiated a chilly frost.

Cool and elegant, yet undeniably alluring!

Li Ran's heart began to race, and his blood surged.

Before this, he had wondered if his wife might be plain-looking. As long as she wasn't His Highness Qiao, he'd be fine.

But when he saw his ex-wife's face, he became even more certain of his original conviction.

If someone of the opposite sex makes your heart race, then overcome every obstacle and sleep with them, so you won't regret it for the rest of your life!

[Mission complete: Bring Li Ziyang home]

[Reward: Mysterious Power +10, 100 points]

[New mission triggered: Repair the broken family. Time limit: seven days.]

[Reward: Mysterious Power +50, 500 points.]

[Failure penalty: Death!]

The mission notification pulled Li Ran back from his brief daze.

Everyone started with zero Mysterious Power.

Li Ran's Mysterious Power: 10

Mysterious Power was the strength used to resist Mental Infectors in the instance. The higher one's Mysterious Power, the stronger one was.

The increase wasn't much, but Li Ran could feel a faint warmth flowing through his limbs, strengthening his body and mind.

Points could be used to exchange for items and equipment in the shop.

But a hundred points wouldn't get him anything good.

Li Ran smiled bitterly to himself, protesting the stingy reward. "Heh, ten Mysterious Power? That wouldn't even be enough to twist one of my son's thighs."

To defeat his son, a C-Class Infector, Li Ran needed at least sixty Mysterious Power. Only after that would weapons, equipment, and items matter.

Even a one-point difference in Mysterious Power could be an insurmountable gulf.

Just then, a status panel appeared above his ex-wife's head.

(Name: Su Bingyao)

(B-Class Mental Infector)

(Mysterious Power: 100)

(A lonely woman who no longer believes in her husband. She cannot forgive him for what he did to her. If it weren't for her child's "happy" family, she could deprive you of the happiness below the waist at any moment.)

(She has a cleanliness obsession and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. She cannot tolerate even the slightest imperfection, and in her eyes, even the tiniest mistake is magnified without limit.)

(She is very hungry but doesn't want to eat takeout. If you have excellent cooking skills, you may be able to bring the two of you a little closer.)

(If you want to regain her trust, do not cross her boundaries. Do your best to act like a qualified husband.)

Good grief. A Mental Infector with a hundred Mysterious Power, and a B-rank one at that!

What terrible thing had his predecessor done?

Li Ran suddenly felt a chill below the waist. Did his ex-wife no longer want a married life?

He took a deep breath and had no choice but to accept the facts before him.

The mission had to continue. If he failed, he'd die.

Did he have a choice? No.

Still, after seeing the status panel, Li Ran felt a little less threatened.

He couldn't boast about much else, but his cooking...

Kids from poor families learned to fend for themselves early. In his previous life, he'd already been a great cook by the time he was eight. These days, his cooking was so good it could make you cry.

"After tonight's dinner, I'll make you look at me in a whole new light," Li Ran said confidently.

Su Bingyao sat elegantly on the sofa, one hand supporting her temple as she watched Li Ran coldly.

She hadn't taken his words seriously at all. Compared to the cold, disgusting takeout on the table, she would rather eat her ex-husband.

In the kitchen,

Li Ran opened the refrigerator.

"Good grief, it's full of fresh ingredients, and you still made me eat bugs?"

Li Ran deftly took an apron from the wall and tied it on. Then he calmly took ingredients from the fridge, arranging them neatly in a vegetable basket, one by one...

A burst of clattering came from the kitchen.

Su Bingyao's icy eyes narrowed as her gaze swept over the knife rack. Her ex-husband had taken a kitchen knife from it, leaving a gap in the previously symmetrical arrangement of knives.

Seeing that gap felt like a claw scratching at Su Bingyao's heart, making her irritable. She wanted to smooth it over, or take another little bite from the other side to make it symmetrical and put an end to her agitation.

Just as her gaze turned cold and killing intent flashed in her eyes, Li Ran took a knife from the other side, making the two gaps in the rack symmetrical.

The killing intent in Su Bingyao's eyes gradually subsided. If her ex-husband made this kind of mistake again, he was dead!

A little while later,

the kitchen filled with the rhythmic clatter of a horse-hoof knife.

Li Ran was using two knives to mince garlic.

Bits of minced garlic and garlic skin flew from the cutting board, falling to the ground one piece at a time, each speck and flake clearly visible.

The once-spotless floor was now covered in bits and pieces.

Su Bingyao sprang to her feet. Her whole body felt uncomfortable. As she looked at the scraps on the floor, it felt as though countless ants were crawling over her. The sensation was unbearable.

In the end, she could no longer tolerate the man before her.

He was still the same as before. He hadn't changed a thing for her. He was still so selfish and disgusting, completely indifferent to how she felt.

At the thought of having to endure this maddening torment day after day, she felt she was about to lose her mind.

The last trace of affection she'd had for him as a husband vanished completely in that instant!

A layer of icy frost appeared on her flawless face, and intense killing intent flashed in her eyes.

Her pale neck stretched, her peerlessly beautiful features bulged, and her waist slowly warped. Her fitted slip dress slid to the floor as her body lengthened and twisted.

Large, palm-sized white scales appeared on her skin. Her hands melted into her white torso, and her legs pressed together, growing white, ragged tissue before transforming into a horrifying white tail.

In the kitchen, Li Ran's hands moved deftly and rhythmically as he minced with the horse-hoof knife, cheerfully whistling.

He had no idea that a terrifying white creature had appeared behind him!