Su Ke saw the words on the electronic screen in the space inside his mind: "Task: See Liu Mengmeng's panties; reward: 200 yuan."
"Good grief, this is deadly!" Just reading the task made Su Ke's heart race and his mouth go dry. His instincts told him not to do it—absolutely not. His parents were right there, after all. If they caught him, he'd never be able to show his face again.
But another impulse urged him to complete the task. Su Ke knew his family's shop inside out. A row of shelves ran down the middle, with merchandise lining both sides. If he stood across from Liu Mengmeng, there was every chance he'd get a look.
Of course, Liu Mengmeng had to crouch down first.
He glanced over. Good grief, Liu Mengmeng really was crouching to pick out something. Based on Su Ke's experience, he should've known what was stocked in that section, but his mind had gone completely blank. Sis, you don't have to make this so easy for me!
One step, then another. Su Ke shuffled to the middle of the aisle, with Liu Mengmeng right across from him. He pretended to organize the merchandise. Since he always worked as a stocker at the family supermarket, he looked perfectly natural.
"Smack!" A bag of rice crackers slipped from his hand and hit the floor. Su Ke bent down to pick it up, his palms slick with sweat. His movements were even stiffer than those of someone with a slipped disc.
He furtively peered down through the gap between the shelves.
Sure enough, Liu Mengmeng was crouching on the other side. Her smooth, long hair fell forward as she leaned over, the fullness of her chest almost spilling out. Her movement had also hiked up the hem of her pencil skirt, nearly to her upper thighs.
Her skin was as pale and smooth as jade. Su Ke swallowed hard.
Unfortunately, he'd wasted too much time getting ready. His fingers had already picked up the bag of rice crackers. To avoid arousing suspicion, he had no choice but to stand and put it back where it belonged.
"Phew!" Su Ke tried to steady his breathing. He'd been so close to getting a look. Then the task would've been complete, and he would've earned the 200 yuan.
Luckily, Liu Mengmeng hadn't stood up. She simply shuffled one small step to the side while still crouching.
"Crash!" For some reason, just as Su Ke put the rice crackers back, several packets of instant noodles slid off the shelf below.
Su Ke instinctively crouched down and picked them up one by one, returning each to the bottom shelf. Then a line suddenly came to mind: This is fate's doing. Fate knows best!
He carefully put the instant noodles back. Then, as naturally as he could, he looked through the gap between the shelves.
There were those pale thighs again. His gaze followed them up from her knees. Liu Mengmeng had one leg bent, while the other seemed almost to be kneeling on the floor, causing her skirt to gape open.
Black lace, patterned with cutouts. Through the gaps, he could just make out a dark patch. If the lighting hadn't been so soft, Su Ke might even have seen its shape.
His heart was in his throat. For a moment, he forgot how to move. He couldn't stand up or take a step, frozen like an idiot. Su Ke could hear his own ragged breathing.
At last, the cold, mechanical voice snapped him out of it.
"Task: See Liu Mengmeng's panties (complete). Reward: 200 yuan."
"Please claim your reward!"
Liu Mengmeng across from him didn't seem to realize that her underwear was showing. She kept the same pose, but Su Ke couldn't take it any longer. For some reason, he felt his little brother slowly pitching a tent.
Trying to steady his breathing, he stood up and pretended to straighten the goods on the shelves. Then he hurried back to the storeroom, grabbed his schoolbag, and called to his parents, "Mom, Dad, I'm heading home!"
"Mm. If you get hungry, just heat up the food!" Su Ke's mother had barely finished speaking before Su Ke dashed out the door. After all, the tent his little brother had pitched hadn't gone away yet.
Su Ke lived in Building 10 of the residential complex, only about ten minutes from the family shop. Even so, with his heart still racing, he almost got lost on the way home.
The image of that black lace kept spinning through his mind, while the two hundred-yuan bills in his hand felt so real. What an incredible day.
When he got home, Su Ke didn't heat up dinner or do his homework. He went straight to the computer. It was because of this old clunker that the Flower Picking System had appeared in the first place.
He remembered how a browser game had popped up that night. It hadn't shown anything too revealing, but the artwork had been exquisite. It read: "The zither plays three tunes beside high mountains and flowing waters; the moon is bright, the breeze is cool, and wine fills the cup. To live carefree is life's greatest joy; a hundred flowers bloom, all gathered in one."
As if possessed, Su Ke had clicked to enter.
Then.
The computer had frozen.
But that very night, a strange space had appeared inside his mind, constantly urging him to complete tasks. Everyone knew what happened next: after holding out for five days, Su Ke had finally reached out with his lecherous hand.
He turned on the computer, logged into his account, then casually opened No. 17 High School's Tieba forum. The forum meant a lot to Su Ke. It was where he'd learned the ranking of the school's ten great beauties, and he'd also found Li Feifei by looking at the photos there.
He browsed one thread after another. It was boring, but it helped his tent-pitching little brother calm down a bit and drove the fluttering image of the lace from his mind.
"Describe your homeroom teacher in one sentence!" Boring. Su Ke skipped it and continued to the next thread.
"Does anyone know a certain Zhang?" Still dull!
Su Ke's eyes suddenly widened as he stared at the screen, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He hurriedly moved the mouse and clicked on a post titled, "Help Identify This Pervert! Pervert Spotted at No. 17 High School This Afternoon—Groped a Girl's Butt."
"Before the first class this afternoon, a female student was groped from behind on campus. The pervert's identifying features: about 176 cm tall, roughly 50 kg, short hair, fair skin, bright eyes, and blushes easily. Please help identify him, everyone. There'll be a generous reward!"
Even though he was at home, Su Ke felt his hands and feet go weak. I'm done for, I'm done for! Li Feifei is ruthless—she's actually trying to track me down!
If he got caught, he'd really become famous at No. 17 High School. What was he supposed to do?
What was he supposed to do about the next task?
The electronic screen in the strange space still displayed: "Task: Touch Li Feifei's butt; reward: 200 yuan."
The task he'd peeked at earlier had disappeared from the screen because he'd completed it.
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