220: Task 1 (Bonus Chapter)

Following the location Tian Lijuan sent, the car quickly drove into an ordinary residential neighborhood that looked somewhat dated.

"We're here, this is the place." Tian Lijuan pointed ahead at a building.

Jiang Ye stepped on the brake, pulling the car over to the side and parking it steadily: "Alright, hurry up and go inside. Have your dad send me a WeChat message when you get home."

Tian Lijuan dawdled as she unbuckled her seatbelt, turning sideways to look over with eager eyes:

"Uncle, tomorrow... can we go out and play again tomorrow? We didn't have enough fun today."

Jiang Ye's mind was currently filled with that unfinished mission and the "Coach Lin" beside him who "could be seen but not touched," so he had little interest in continuing to hang out with the energetic young girl. He waved dismissively:

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go on, go on."

Tian Lijuan's eyes lit up: "Then let's go shopping tomorrow, okay? I know there's a newly opened mall with lots of free samples to try!"

"Sure, sure, shopping it is."

"Then it's settled! What time will you pick me up tomorrow?"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, if I have time."

Jiang Ye's dismissiveness was practically written on his face as he casually made up an excuse: "I have to go to the Soviet Union for a couple of days. Wait until I get back."

"???"

Seeing his utterly dismissive attitude, Tian Lijuan immediately got upset. Pouting her little mouth, her voice rose:

"Uncle! How can you be like this?! You're so hypocritical!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said wait until I get back... huh?"

Jiang Ye was halfway through his response when he finally processed what she said. Confused by this baseless accusation, he looked at her bewilderedly:

"I'm hypocritical? Hypocritical about what?"

"You are hypocritical!"

Tian Lijuan fumed, pointing at Lin Wanxing in the back seat who was silently looking out the window. Her tone was sour:

"With her! You're gentle, patient, and soft-spoken, even saying things like 'you're my source of courage'—so corny! But with me, it's either disdain or sarcasm! Why? What's so much better about her than me?"

"Tsk..."

Jiang Ye rolled his eyes in annoyance: "What do you know? I'm still chasing the one in the back, haven't caught her yet, so I have to sweet-talk her a bit. It's called strategy!"

Lin Wanxing, who had been silently gazing out the window while internally screaming "please end this farce already," suddenly felt a row of ellipses appear above her head. She barely managed to stop herself from throwing a punch right then and there.

Is this even human language? Couldn't you at least try to be a little subtle?

Talking so shamelessly right in front of the person involved... Who are you chasing? Who agreed to let you chase them?

Tian Lijuan glanced back at Lin Wanxing's darkened expression and became even more indignant:

"What's so great about chasing an old woman like that? If you want to date someone, chase me! I'm easy to catch! I have everything she has! Why bother with all that effort?"

"She has height."

Jiang Ye's gaze subconsciously swept over her deliberately puffed-out chest, then he curled his lip: "I just like tall girls. It's more exciting to carry them on my shoulders."

"..."

Tian Lijuan's breath hitched, her face turning red from frustration. After thinking for a while and failing to come up with a rebuttal, she simply resorted to being unreasonable:

"I... I'm still growing! Anyway... you're just hypocritical! You have to explain clearly—what exactly am I lacking? What's so great about a clumsy giantess anyway!"

Lin Wanxing's face darkened even further, and she began to wonder if these two had completely forgotten there was a third person in the car.

She couldn't help but cough heavily, trying to remind them of her presence and her current strong desire to punch someone.

Hearing the cough, Jiang Ye turned back and gave her a warm smile that said "don't worry, leave it to me." Then, turning back to the unreasonable Tian Lijuan, he sighed helplessly:

"Little Tian, hurry up and go inside. I really don't like your type. I like gentle girls, ones with refinement and depth, understand?"

"I can be gentle too! I can be refined! I'm deep too!"

As she spoke, Tian Lijuan suddenly seemed to grasp a key point, and her voice rose again: "Wait! Don't you have... that kind of preference? She's so old, she probably isn't a virgin anymore, right?! But I am!"

"Excuse me, you two..."

A vein throbbed at Lin Wanxing's temple as she was about to speak, but Jiang Ye turned back and waved at her, giving her a look that said "don't get angry, watch me shut her down for you":

"Little Tian, don't talk nonsense. Wanxing is. I can vouch for her on that, I've seen it."

Tian Lijuan was stunned: "You've seen it? Seen what?"

Jiang Ye clicked his tongue, wearing an expression that said "isn't it obvious?": "I've seen her..."

Before he could finish, Lin Wanxing, who had reached her limit, punched the back of his seat with such force that the entire car shook.

"Cough!"

Jiang Ye was interrupted mid-sentence by this sudden punch. Clearing his throat, he quickly tried to backtrack:

"Damn, you made me lose my train of thought! I meant her inner qualities! Her demeanor! Her... cultural depth! I like cultured, educated girls. Do you understand now?"

"How am I not cultured?! I can read! I don't care! Uncle! We agreed—if you're busy tomorrow, then the day after, and if not then, the day after that!"

Tian Lijuan stared straight at Jiang Ye with the stubbornness unique to young girls: "Uncle! I like you! I just want to hang out with you!"

"..."

Jiang Ye was suddenly hit with such a direct confession, and it would be a lie to say his heart didn't stir at all.

To say he wasn't interested in a busty young girl would be going against male instinct.

But there are plenty of good girls in the world—he couldn't just pursue every one he saw. Moreover, "meeting the system's cashback conditions" was the prerequisite and hard requirement for any "deep interactions" he engaged in.

Seeing that this girl was determined to cling to him, he had no choice but to resort to the "delay" tactic, along with a condition he considered impossible to fulfill, hoping to make her give up completely:

"Little Tian, I won't beat around the bush with you. To be honest, I don't like energetic young girls—I like college students."

Jiang Ye's expression turned "serious": "Innocent, with an aura, the kind that whimpers at a touch—got it? You want to make plans? Fine! Go take the college entrance exam! If you can get into a proper undergraduate program, then wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, I'll accompany you! How about that?"