221: Task 2 (Bonus Chapter)

As soon as these words were spoken, the car instantly fell silent.

The defiance and excitement on Tian Lijuan's face froze stiff.

She blinked, seemingly not quite processing it. After several seconds, she lowered her head and sighed with a hint of grievance:

"...Do you think I don't want to go? But... the pressure from my family is too great..."

Jiang Ye was slightly taken aback.

He had thought this girl would jump up and shout 'What's the use of going to university?' or continue making a fuss. He hadn't expected her to show such a bitter reaction.

Is her family... in trouble?

Did Old Tian's wife run off with someone? Is Old Tian buried in debt and can't make ends meet? Or does Old Tian have a terminal illness and is not long for this world?

Or perhaps, Tian Lijuan isn't even Old Tian's biological daughter. Maybe Old Tian is just a good man who raised her despite wearing the 'green hat,' so she doesn't dare ask for much?

Jiang Ye scratched his head and tentatively asked, "Pressure? It can't be that bad, right? University tuition isn't actually that high... Did you take the college entrance exam? What score did you get? Which university's admission letter did you receive?"

Tian Lijuan sighed softly again.

This sigh contained too many complex emotions, as if it had stirred up some unpleasant memories.

Jiang Ye was pondering whether he had asked too deeply and touched on a sore subject, thinking of changing the topic to ease the atmosphere, when he finally heard Tian Lijuan whisper a number with a breathy voice:

"...286."

"..."

Jiang Ye fell silent for two seconds, then expressionlessly unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, and yanked the door open:

"Come on, get the hell out of the car!"

He grabbed Tian Lijuan's arm and pulled her out of the car: "I actually felt a bit sorry for you just now, thinking it was some tragic story of a genius girl forced to give up her studies to save her father. Turns out you're just a damn academic failure! Get lost! Hurry up!"

Pulled and urged by Jiang Ye like this, Tian Lijuan instead got fired up. She clung to the car door, refusing to get out, and argued stubbornly:

"That... that was because I didn't want to study seriously back then! If I had put in the effort, I definitely could have done well! I just... just didn't want to put so much pressure on my dad. It's so hard for him to run a noodle shop alone to support my education!"

The more she spoke, the more justified she felt, and her voice grew louder again: "Besides, what's the use of going to university? Won't I just end up back here stretching noodles after graduation?"

"Stop using Old Tian as your shield!"

Jiang Ye couldn't be bothered to waste words on this rebellious girl anymore and directly cut her off: "If you could get in, I'd even pay your tuition and living expenses! Is it really about the damn money?!"

Tian Lijuan was stunned, as if knocked silly by this promise: "Are you serious? Then... what if I get into Havard?"

"It's called Harvard!!! And you want to get into Harvard? You'd be lucky to even drive a Haval in this lifetime!"

Jiang Ye almost spat out blood: "If you really could get into a world-renowned university like Harvard, I'd sell everything I have to send you abroad to study! Okay?"

Tian Lijuan's eyes instantly lit up, and she hurriedly confirmed: "You promise? When the time comes, Uncle... you'll go on a date with me?"

"..."

Looking at her instantly ignited, fiercely determined eyes and recalling her stubbornly low charm value, Jiang Ye's heart suddenly stirred, and he decisively nodded:

"I promise! As long as you can get into university, even a third-tier one! As long as you stop messing around outside and get on the right track! Forget a date, I'll even let you sleep with me! You can choose any position you want!"

"Deal! I'll definitely study hard and get into university!"

Tian Lijuan's stubbornness and rebelliousness seemed completely provoked, and she loudly agreed.

She let go of the car door, ran a few steps away, and waved her fist vigorously at Jiang Ye: "Uncle! Just you wait! I'm definitely going to sleep with you! Don't you dare go back on your word!"

After saying that, as if pumped with adrenaline, she hopped and skipped, disappearing into the darkness of the building entrance.

Jiang Ye looked in the direction she had disappeared, shook his head with a mix of amusement and exasperation, and got back into the driver's seat.

"Wanxing, let's head ba— Huh? What's wrong?"

"..."

In the back seat, Lin Wanxing, who had witnessed the entire scene, felt emotions so complex they were almost indescribable.

She had personally watched as the girl named Tian Lijuan, who initially just wanted to go out and have fun, ended up being manipulated by Jiang Ye's combination of coaxing, deception, provocation, and empty promises. He had somehow twisted "sleeping with him" into an ultimate life goal that required years of hard study to achieve... This bizarre chain of causality... She hesitated for a moment but couldn't hold back her curiosity: "Jiang Ye, are you... are you giving her a mission?"

Jiang Ye paused while fastening his seatbelt, taken aback: "What mission?"

"Making her... go to university."

"Ha!" Doing a good deed daily, motivating a lost girl to strive for a better life! Wanxing, you know me, I'm all about positive energy. I just can't stand seeing young people waste their youth."

"..."

Looking at Jiang Ye's smug, self-satisfied expression as if he had just done a great deed, and recalling Tian Lijuan's final declaration of "I'm definitely going to sleep with you," Lin Wanxing couldn't help but rub her temples.

If... if Tian Lijuan, this girl who seemed to lack both determination and direction, really turned over a new leaf because of Jiang Ye's half-serious, half-fake "motivation," studying day and night, and miraculously got into university... then in a sense, Jiang Ye truly would have done a great deed, saving a girl who might have gone astray.

But at the same time, once Tian Lijuan actually succeeded, her entire life—body, mind, and future—would likely be completely bound to Jiang Ye, never able to escape the web woven from "gratitude," "promises," and twisted "obsession."

This complex situation mixing "salvation" and "control" made Lin Wanxing shiver involuntarily.

This guy... his methods of stirring emotions and manipulating desires are truly terrifying.

She silently fastened her seatbelt, deciding that from now on, as long as there was no third person present, she would never say another unnecessary word to this dangerous individual.