To Wash, or Not to Wash

[(ρ`)]

[ヽ(oo)ノ]

[That's a female ghost boss, are you guys actually able to bring yourselves to do it?]

[The bros are truly starving.]

[For a female ghost of this level, I'm game.]

[Anyway, with Big Brother Ye here, there's no fear of her manifesting her true ghostly form.]

[Exactly, hanging out with a big shot comes with perks.]

[Thank you, Big Brother.]

[dlnb]

[dlnb]

By the kitchen sink, after a moment of ambiguous silence, Lin Xuemei picked up a small dipping sauce bowl from the side, trying to change the subject:

"I remember you and Qiqi loved this little pink rabbit bowl the most when you were kids. Every time you came over for dinner, you two would always fight over it. In the end, you, being a precocious little brat, would give the bowl to her, then hug her and say: 'The bowl is yours, and you are mine.'"

Reminiscing about the past, Lin Xuemei laughed as she spoke, but as the laughter faded, she fell silent again.

She gripped that little pink rabbit bowl, her eyes suddenly clouded with gloom, as if she were troubled by some heavy thought.

Seeing this, Wen Nan leaned in closer and reached out to take the bowl, "Auntie, let me wash it."

His palm brushed against Aunt Mei's slender, delicate fingers, jolting her back to reality. She pulled her hand away in a flurry and retreated to the side.

"Right, you—you go ahead. I'll... head out first."

With that, Lin Xuemei left the remaining two bowls in the sink for Wen Nan and walked out of the kitchen without looking back.

Wen Nan stood by the sink alone, feeling quite perplexed.

What was the reason for Aunt Mei's sudden shift in mood?

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

9527: [Main Mission 2, current completion: 65%]

The completion percentage was stuck.

Wen Nan looked at the little pink rabbit bowl in his hand, feeling a bit dazed—what was going on? A single bowl had made Aunt Mei's mood plummet, causing her to hide away even her deepest, most secret desires?

After washing the dishes and putting them away in the sterilization cabinet, Wen Nan walked out of the kitchen and saw Qiqi lying on the sofa watching TV.

"Hurry up! Brother! The second half just started, you made it just in time!"

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

He turned to look at Qiqi, "I don't remember you liking soccer, do I?"

Qiqi replied without batting an eye, "I don't like watching soccer, but I do like watching tight little butts."

Wen Nan stared at Qiqi in disbelief, seriously suspecting that beneath her pure and cute exterior lay a filthy, corrupted soul.

Qiqi felt a bit shy under Wen Nan's gaze; she cupped his face in both hands and turned it straight, "Don't look at me, look at the game!"

He was here with a main mission, and while the mission did require watching the game, it certainly wasn't the ball on the soccer field.

Thinking of this, Wen Nan looked around, "Where did Aunt Mei go?"

"She said she went to tidy up your bed," Qiqi replied casually, her eyes glued to the screen. "Brother, you're sleeping at our place tonight, right? Just like before, the guest room is yours."

Wen Nan didn't say anything, but since he had always crashed and eaten here in the past, he certainly didn't have any objections now.

He pondered for a moment, stood up from the sofa, and wanted to see if Aunt Mei needed any help. He had only taken two steps when he bumped into her coming out.

Lin Xuemei lowered her eyes, her gaze catching on Wen Nan's pants. She paused, pointed to a spot below his waist, and asked, "How did your pants get dirty?"

Wen Nan looked down and realized there was indeed a row of dried, dark brown stains on his crotch.

Recalling the moment, Wen Nan realized it must have been the water splashes from when the fat guy had lunged toward him when the black mist suddenly erupted in the teaching building on his way to class that morning.

He had thought they weren't visible once they dried, but it seemed they had left a mark after all.

"Uh, I accidentally splashed something on them at school," Wen Nan replied.

Lin Xuemei stepped forward and gently patted the waistband of his pants, "Take them off, I'll wash them for you."

Wen Nan instinctively refused, "No need..."

Thinking he was worried about having nothing to wear, Lin Xuemei smiled and said, "The pants you changed out of last time are still in the wardrobe. You can just wear those this time, it's fine."

As she spoke, she glanced at the row of stains again and added, "In that spot, I'm afraid your underwear underneath is dirty too. You should change that as well. We don't have any men's underwear here, so I'll order two pairs of disposables for you, or... it's fine to go without for now."

A heat flushed across Wen Nan's face, "No, really, there's no need."

After a moment's thought, Wen Nan said, "My house is right next door, I'll go back and change."

With that, Wen Nan turned and walked toward the door.

"...Xiao Jiu?" Lin Xuemei took two more steps forward, wanting to call him back, but seeing Wen Nan already at the door and looking determined to leave, she had no choice but to ask, "Are you coming back tonight?"

Wen Nan turned his head back and replied, "Mm, I'll be back."

[(ˇˇ)]

[(..)]

[Big Boss Jiu Cilang, why have you turned coward?]

[He's actually slipping away?]

[Aren't you going to let her wash it?]

[Don't be a wimp, come back!]

[I honestly don't think he should let her wash it. Have you forgotten Big Bear's skills? Last time, with that Ice and Fire Dual Heaven, she even managed to freeze Little Chili. At such a high level, her freezing abilities are extremely potent. If she takes the streamer's pants and, say... adds a little something of her own to them... and the streamer puts them back on, it'll freeze his manhood right off!]

[Hiss, is it that terrifying?]

[This is a four-and-a-half-star female ghost boss, after all.]

[Exactly. A boss of this level is no joke. If you let your guard down for a second and fall into her honey trap, you're finished.]

[But those breasts, those legs, that ass—if I were to fall into it, I'd stay there.]

[Better to die under the peony flower; even as a ghost, one would be romantic.]

[You guys are truly hopeless.]

[It's just for fun, brother, why so serious?]

[Exactly, the fanservice is for us anyway. It's the streamer's manhood that's getting frozen, we only stand to gain.]

[That's right.]

On the other side, after leaving Lin Xuemei and Qiqi's home, Wen Nan consulted the system in his mind, successfully located his own place, and opened the door to enter.

This room must have been vacant for a long time; as soon as he stepped inside, a musty smell hit him, and the room was covered in dust.

Wen Nan held his breath, walked into the bedroom, and opened the wardrobe. He randomly picked out a pair of pants to change into, but just as he was about to toss away the dirty pair he had been wearing, a system notification echoed in his mind.

9527:[Main Quest 2, current completion rate: 63%]

Wen Nan:...

What the hell?

It's one thing for the character affection level to drop, but the quest completion rate can drop too?

So this quest is different from the first one—in the first quest, as long as Wen Nan kept his mood pleasant, the completion rate would only rise over time. But for this quest, he absolutely has to satisfy TA, otherwise, the completion rate will decrease.

Now it has suddenly dropped by two percentage points...

Could it be because Wen Nan refused to let her wash his underwear?!