Twenty Tasks

It seemed Li Daxing had a terrible reputation throughout the whole freshman year. When the five first-year students in front of him learned that Su Ke was the one who had beaten Li Daxing to a pulp, fear and hesitation showed in their eyes. The girl who had been sneering a moment ago hurriedly took a step back..

"Just you wait!" The girls still made sure to threaten them as they left, glaring fiercely at Wang Huan a few times. Su Ke didn't care. It was best if he scared them off. Otherwise, was he really supposed to go over there and do the dirty with all of them?

"You two should hurry back, too!" Su Ke turned around. Only then did he notice a scratch on Wang Huan's cheek, with a little blood slowly welling up. He added, "Wang Huan, you've got a cut. Go to the infirmary and get it treated first!"

"Huh?" Wang Huan's little face immediately darkened. "Those little bitches! I'm going to make them pay!" She could feel her cheek stinging now, and, not bothering with anything else, she pulled Li Yan along and left. It seemed she really cared about her face.

"Su Ke, thanks!"

Su Ke waved at them and turned to go into the classroom. Everyone in the hallway had kept well away during the commotion, but Wang Xiaogang suddenly popped up again. "Su Ke, was that fun just now?"

"Get lost. Why didn't you come out and help?" Su Ke punched Wang Xiaogang on the shoulder.

"How could I dare? I'm nowhere near as strong as you. Those moves of yours were incredible! First, the Clothes-Removing Hand. If you hadn't switched moves halfway through, that girl's belt would've fallen off. Then the Nine Yin Butt-Grabbing Hand, fierce and thunderous—someone's butt is probably bruised now. And finally, the Divine Dragon Breast-Grabbing Hand, appearing out of nowhere and hitting friend and foe alike!"

Wang Xiaogang struggled to hold back his laughter, his whole face scrunched up like a blooming chrysanthemum..

Su Ke was left awkward by his words. He really had been acting out of necessity. If he'd actually used Military Boxing, those girls probably would've all gone down, sprawled out like fallen geese.

"Get out of here!" Su Ke said as he walked into the classroom. Sure enough, the moment he entered, he saw Wei Lan glaring at him. Her rosy little face was taut, her lips pursed, as if she had some deep grudge against him.

"Heh!" Su Ke hurriedly smiled at Wei Lan, but got only a cold snort in response. Wei Lan immediately turned her head away. The task of helping Wang Huan out of trouble was done. The remaining tasks were to invite Liu Qingqing to eat and to put out Wei Lan's anger.

He smiled awkwardly and scratched his head, then went to his seat. He'd be going home with Wei Lan after school anyway, so he could say a few nice things to her then. Surely it would be fine.

The bell rang, but this time Su Ke couldn't settle into class right away. His thoughts were in a jumble. Ever since he'd inexplicably acquired this Flower Picking System, it seemed his whole world had changed.

Had he gotten more handsome? Su Ke could only tell himself that.

Before, no girls had ever spoken to him first. They'd treated him like he was invisible, not giving him a second thought. But now there were Wei Lan, Li Feifei, and Liu Qingqing, who had suddenly confessed to him today. Whatever the reason, Su Ke now had some kind of connection with these girls.

But he still knew nothing about the Flower Picking System. All he knew was that he had to accept and complete each task passively. They weren't particularly difficult, but nobody wanted to be manipulated like a puppet.

Su Ke propped his chin on his right hand and stared at the blackboard, pretending to listen attentively. Then he entered the Flower Picking System's space again. The electronic screen in front of him listed three unfinished tasks.

"Task: Obtain Wei Lan's first kiss; reward: Advanced Proficiency in High School Science Subjects (Intermediate)."

"Task: Invite Liu Qingqing to lunch; reward: RMB 500."

"Task: Calm Wei Lan's anger; reward: RMB 300."

Where did these tasks come from? Su Ke wondered. But other than displaying the tasks, the electronic screen showed nothing. Surely there should at least be some kind of introduction!

"Hm?" Su Ke was muttering to himself when he suddenly froze. He noticed a tiny box in the lower-right corner of the screen, with the word "Help" on it.

Su Ke was certain that box hadn't been there before. Back then, he'd spent half the night examining everything from top to bottom, front to back, and hadn't found a single clue.

At last, something new! Without a moment's hesitation, he clicked on the Help box.

Beep!

Nothing happened. He clicked again.

Beep!

Still nothing. Su Ke grew furious, anger rising involuntarily in his chest. The sound was like a computer error message. Just as he was about to curse, a prompt appeared at the bottom of the electronic screen.

"The Help function will unlock after you complete twenty tasks!"

"Current: 17 tasks; 14 completed!"

"Damn!" Su Ke couldn't quite believe it. Counting from the first day he'd accepted a task, he went through it on his fingers. Sure enough, with the three unfinished tasks included, there were seventeen in total!

"Inviting Liu Qingqing to eat and soothing Wei Lan are both easy enough, but that only brings me to sixteen. I still need four more tasks?" Su Ke grew anxious, though no matter how impatient he was, he still ruled out the task of getting Wei Lan's first kiss.

Human curiosity and thirst for knowledge were endless. They were important forces driving scientific progress and social development. Now Su Ke's own curiosity had him so agitated he could barely think. If he wanted to figure out the origins and workings of the Flower Picking System as soon as possible, he had to complete twenty tasks quickly.

But all Su Ke could do was wait for the system to issue tasks. Staring anxiously wouldn't help at all.

At last, school let out. Su Ke packed his bag, looked up, and saw that Wei Lan had already left the classroom.

"Wei Lan!" Su Ke called out hurriedly, but she didn't stop or even turn around. Instead, she walked even faster.

"Damn, she really is mad!" He stuffed everything into his bag in a rush and sprinted after her. Su Ke was counting on completing the task. If he let Wei Lan get away, he'd be stuck.

"Wait! Hey, would you wait for me?" Su Ke panted as he followed behind Wei Lan, but aside from turning around to glare at him once, she completely ignored him.

"Come on, the lovely Miss Wei, what's got you so angry?" Su Ke stepped in front of Wei Lan and held out a hand to block her path.

"Hmph! Tell me, what's going on with Li Feifei? What about Liu Qingqing? And why were you touching that girl? Why did you touch her breasts?" Wei Lan's little face was tense, utterly expressionless.