The Longing in the Heart

Wen Nan knocked on the neighbor's door again.

Lin Xuemei opened the door to find Wen Nan holding a bundle of the pants he had changed out of, offering them to her.

"Aunt Mei, I... I'm not very good at washing these myself. Could you help me with them, please?" Wen Nan asked tentatively.

Lin Xuemei was slightly taken aback for a moment, then began to smile.

She reached out to take the bag of clothes and stepped aside to clear the way. "Qiqi is inside doing her homework. She said there's a new set of practice papers that are very difficult, and she can't figure them out. She wants you to take a look, so why don't you go straight in? Just leave the pants with me."

Wen Nan nodded in agreement and walked into the room.

The apartment wasn't large—two bedrooms and a living room. Lin Xuemei usually slept in the master bedroom, while the guest room served as Qiqi's bedroom and study.

A desk ran along the entire wall opposite the bed, with two chairs placed side by side.

Seeing Wen Nan push the door open, Qiqi immediately pulled out the chair next to her. "Brother, come sit."

Just as he would at school, Wen Nan sat down beside Qiqi. He watched as she mysteriously pulled a booklet from the drawer under the desk, leaned in close to him, and lowered her voice. "I just got this. It's the collector's edition. For you."

Wen Nan looked down and caught a glimpse of the provocative cover and the striking title—The Testament of Sister New Devil.

Wen Nan was startled. He looked at Qiqi with a meaningful gaze, gaining a new perspective on his exclusive childhood sweetheart...

"Is this the 'very difficult' new set of practice papers you wanted me to help you with?"

Qiqi giggled, ignoring the question, and simply shoved the book into Wen Nan's hands. "Just study it, okay?"

Wen Nan spread the book open, preparing to study it properly, when the system's notification sounded in his mind.

9527:[Main Quest 2, current completion: 62%]

Wen Nan: ?

He had already brought the pants back and handed them to Aunt Mei, so why hadn't the completion percentage gone up? In fact, it had even dropped by 1%.

Was it because he had neglected Aunt Mei by coming into the room?

Thinking of this, Wen Nan gave Qiqi a word, set the book down, and stood up to head out toward the bathroom.

"Aunt Mei, is there anything you need help with..."

Wen Nan said as he opened the bathroom door.

Lin Xuemei hadn't expected Wen Nan to barge in suddenly. She hurriedly plunged his pants back into the sink, turned around, and smiled. "Why did you come out? There's nothing here that needs help. You and Qiqi should just focus on your homework in the room; don't worry about things out here."

Wen Nan felt very confused.

When he walked in just now, he had seen Aunt Mei standing by the sink, clutching his half-washed pants like a statue, standing perfectly still and wondering what she was thinking.

Was she spacing out over his pants, and that was why the quest completion had dropped by 1%?

This was too strange.

However, if Wen Nan insisted on washing the pants himself, the completion percentage would drop even further. After weighing his options, he leaned against the glass door and looked at Lin Xuemei earnestly. "Aunt, is something on your mind? Can you tell me?"

Lin Xuemei lowered her eyelashes, pondered for a moment, and then smiled again. "No, it's rare for you two to come back on the weekend. I'm just happy, so what could be on my mind?"

"But..."

"Alright, go back and do your homework. Don't get in the way here. I still have to prepare dinner after I finish washing these." Aunt Mei raised her hand and gently pushed Wen Nan out.

At dinner, Wen Nan volunteered to help Lin Xuemei, just as he had at lunch.

The kitchen was too small, and physical contact was inevitable as they moved about. Every time Wen Nan accidentally brushed against certain plump and elastic areas, the quest completion displayed in the system would briefly rise by two points. But soon, Aunt Mei would turn away to dodge him, and the completion percentage would fall back by one point.

With this back-and-forth, the quest completion remained at 68% by the end of the night, refusing to rise any further.

Seeing that it was already late, he feared that at this rate, they wouldn't be able to finish the main quest before they had to return to school tomorrow afternoon.

However, Lin Xuemei's attitude kept fluctuating, and Wen Nan truly couldn't figure out the trick to it.

After midnight, Qiqi's eyelids grew heavy with sleep. She went to take a shower first, then bid Wen Nan and Aunt Mei goodnight before collapsing onto the big bed in the master bedroom and falling fast asleep.

In the living room, only Lin Xuemei and Wen Nan remained, and the atmosphere turned somewhat silent.

Lin Xuemei said softly, "Xiao Jiu, why don't you go wash up first?"

Wen Nan shook his head. "I just remembered I need to go out for a moment. Aunt, you go ahead."

Lin Xuemei wanted to ask why he was going out so late, but she didn't ask in the end. She simply gave Wen Nan the keys and told him to return early.

Wen Nan went to the fruit shop downstairs and returned shortly after.

As he opened the door, Wen Nan froze at the sight before him.

Lin Xuemei had just stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped only in a white bath towel. She stood not far away, still radiating the steam from her shower.

She clearly hadn't expected Wen Nan to return so quickly, and she stood there stunned, forgetting to respond.

Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, and water droplets kept falling from the damp tips, sliding down her collarbone and gathering in the hollow at the center, soaking the towel there into a dark patch.

Wen Nan's gaze followed the trail of water droplets all the way down. His throat bobbed, and he inexplicably felt a bit thirsty.

After a moment of stalemate, Lin Xuemei feigned composure and smiled. "Y-you're back so soon? I'll go in and change into my pajamas..."

"Sister."

Wen Nan called out to her from behind, changing how he addressed her.

9527: [Main Quest 2, current completion: 69%]

Wen Nan paused for a moment, then continued, "Sister, there's no need to go inside and change. It's just the two of us here, no outsiders."

Lin Xuemei turned back and offered Wen Nan a gentle smile, her arched brows and eyes masking the flustered look deep within them.

Wen Nan walked over to the sofa, sat down, and said with eyes full of sincerity, "I have something on my mind and I'd like to talk to you. Could you sit down and keep me company?"

Meeting the young man's earnest and beautiful eyes, Lin Xuemei found it impossible to refuse. She lifted her hand to hold the edge of her bath towel, walked cautiously over to Wen Nan's side, sat down, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wen Nan opened the fruit platter he had brought back and held it out to Lin Xuemei. "The fruit shop downstairs was about to close, so I only managed to get two kinds. Do you want a banana or a navel orange? Pick one."

Wen Nan's tone was so firm that Lin Xuemei didn't even realize she could have refused.

A banana or a navel orange?

After a moment's thought, Lin Xuemei chose the navel orange.

She picked up a peeled orange segment and popped it into her mouth.

9527: [Detected that the contestant is using an item—Truth Serum—on the target, Lin Xuemei.]

9527: [Item is taking effect, please wait...]

9527: [Item successfully used!]

Wen Nan turned slightly, looking straight into Lin Xuemei's eyes, and asked, "Sister, what is it that you truly want, deep down in your heart?"

Lin Xuemei gazed back at Wen Nan, her heartbeat inexplicably becoming rapid and heavy.

She didn't want to answer, yet the thoughts from the bottom of her heart spilled out:

"I want you to... f*** me."