Don't Look at the Challenge

As the system's notification faded, Wen Nan fell into deep thought.

The first mission would conclude in twenty-five minutes, meaning he had to meet his final target—the Cold and Scheming Straight-A Student—within that timeframe.

This shouldn't be difficult. After all, not long ago, his phone had been flooded with messages from his various targets, and one of them was from that very student—

[Ye Jiu, nine o'clock tonight, back door of the classroom, waiting for you.]

It had already been over an hour since their nine o'clock appointment. Unlike Little Chili, who had "bombarded" him with messages to urge him to show up, this top student hadn't sent a single word since that first message. Even though Wen Nan hadn't given her any reply, she hadn't asked or followed up.

It seemed he would have to head to the classroom back door to meet this final target of his.

However...

There was still one tricky problem—his maxed-out charm stat was about to expire.

Heading to the meeting with only 4 points of charm, Wen Nan wasn't sure if the other party's attitude toward him would change because of it.

Regardless, he had to go.

But before that... he still needed to finish cleaning up the mess at the current scene.

School infirmary.

After the school doctor finished dressing the wound on Wu Yuwei's knee, he went off to attend to other matters, leaving Wu Yuwei sitting by the hospital bed, weeping silently.

Left alone in the quiet ward, the more she thought about it, the sadder and more aggrieved she felt. Tears streamed down her face like broken beads, unable to stop.

After an unknown amount of time, a figure slowly approached and sat down beside her.

Seeing who it was, Wu Yuwei lunged forward, hugging the person tightly as she poured out her heart: "He... he actually... rejected me..."

The person raised a hand, gently stroking the back of Wu Yuwei's head, and said softly, "Rejection is just rejection. You have plenty of other suitors anyway; you aren't lacking just him."

Wu Yuwei shook her head vigorously. "But I'm not reconciled to this. It was my first confession, I even gave him my first kiss. Why didn't he choose me? If he didn't choose me, fine, but why choose Liu Qi? How could I lose to a girl like Liu Qi? What do I have that's worse than her?"

The person listened patiently, then hit the nail on the head: "So, you're crying so bitterly just because you lost to Liu Qi, and not because Ye Jiu doesn't like you?"

Wu Yuwei was stunned by the question. "I, I don't know..." After a moment of thought, she asked, "Is there something wrong with not wanting to lose to Liu Qi?"

The person shook their head. "There's nothing wrong with that, but there's also nothing worth crying over."

With that, the person took out a pack of tissues and shoved it into Wu Yuwei's hand. "Alright, stop crying. Sitting here wallowing in self-pity won't solve anything. Tears are the epitaph of the weak and the useless. If you aren't reconciled, find a way to fight for it again. Wasting time here won't make Ye Jiu like you any more."

Although the words sounded harsh, Wu Yuwei gripped the tissues tightly, gritted her teeth, and truly stopped crying.

The person smiled with satisfaction, raised a hand, and gently wiped the tear stains from the corners of Wu Yuwei's eyes. "Good girl. Rest a little longer; I have something to do back at the classroom, and I'll be back to find you soon."

Having said that, the person stood up and walked slowly toward the door.

Wu Yuwei looked at the person's back, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "The thing you were looking for... did you find it?"

The person turned back, smiled, and nodded at Wu Yuwei. "Yes, I found it."

The moment the black mist in the sky dissipated, Little Chili, Qiqi, and Aunt Mei all returned to their original forms.

Qiqi hugged Aunt Mei's neck tightly, rubbing her cheek affectionately against her shoulder. "Auntie, what made you think of coming to the school now?"

Lin Xuemei raised a hand to ruffle her hair. "I was meeting a client near your school today, and since I finished early, I decided to drop by and see you."

As she spoke, she feigned annoyance and complained, "I didn't expect that you and Xiao Jiu would both be so busy. I sent you both messages, and neither of you replied! I waited in the car for a long time. If it hadn't been for a kind student with glasses who led me inside, I would have just gone home."

While Qiqi and Lin Xuemei were chatting, Wen Nan remembered Little Chili, who was still standing in the corner. He turned around, intending to say something to her, but to his surprise, he saw her hurrying away.

The aggressive aura she had when they first met had vanished without a trace.

Little Chili bent down to pick up her badminton racket, and with her long legs, she fled the playground as if escaping, looking so urgent that it was as if she were afraid Wen Nan might chase after her.

I don't eat people... is there any need to be as scared as a rabbit seeing a hungry wolf?

Wen Nan muttered to himself, shook his head helplessly, and turned to walk toward Qiqi and Aunt Mei.

Seeing Wen Nan approach, Aunt Mei's eyes immediately curved into crescents as she smiled at him, offering the pastries in her hand. "Xiao Jiu, I brought your favorite snow skin mooncakes. Why don't you take them to the dorm to eat?"

Wen Nan looked down, momentarily dazed.

Such white snow skin mooncakes—no, such round snow skin mooncakes—no, forget it...

Wen Nan finally locked his gaze on his own toes and said stiffly, "Thank you, Aunt Mei."

"Brother, why is your face red?"

Qiqi reached out and poked Wen Nan's cheek, only to have her finger caught by Wen Nan and shoved into his mouth.

"Hey! Are you a dog? Auntie, he bit me! Hurry up and discipline my brother!"

Aunt Mei shook her head with a helpless smile, long since accustomed to the bickering between these two kids. She remembered something else and looked toward the corner. "What about that girl from just now? Is she your classmate? Where did she go? Should we call her over to share some pastries?"

Thinking of the tall, long-legged, pretty girl from earlier, Qiqi immediately pouted. "She's not our classmate at all; she doesn't even go to our school."

"Is that so?" Aunt Mei looked at Wen Nan with a meaningful expression. "I thought she was Ye Jiu's new girlfriend."

Upon hearing this, Qiqi jumped up in a panic, grabbed Wen Nan's arm, and pulled him toward her. "My brother is mine! No one is allowed to take him away!"

Aunt Mei tapped Qiqi on the forehead. "You child." She then looked at the boy beside her, who was half a head taller than her, and asked softly, "School is out this weekend. Are you coming home?"

At some point, Aunt Mei had started using "home" to refer to her house when talking to Ye Jiu, instead of "my house" or "our house," as if that home belonged to the three of them—her, Qiqi, and Ye Jiu—all at once.

"Does that even need asking? Of course he's coming back," Qiqi answered for him.

Aunt Mei smiled at Qiqi, but ultimately kept her gaze on the boy's face and asked again, "Are you coming?"

Wen Nan nodded. "Yes."

The corners of Aunt Mei's eyes curved again. "Good, I'll be waiting for you."