35: Pickup - 1

Jiang Ye stood outside the tightly closed door, rubbed his nose which had almost been hit, and sighed somewhat gloomily.

It seemed the "bestie route" wasn't easy to take either.

He shook his head, carrying that bag of "worth ten thousand gold" socks, and walked toward the elevator resentfully.

He went downstairs and stood by the roadside waiting for a car.

As the cold night wind blew, Jiang Ye shivered, and his mind cleared up a lot.

Now that he had this huge sum of over 12,700 on him, there was absolutely no pressure regarding daily expenses; he could even live quite comfortably.

But the most urgent problem at hand was still that "Gentleman Quest"—collecting the intimate clothing of three goddesses with a score of 85 or higher.

Soon, a taxi stopped in front of him.

Jiang Ye pulled open the door, sat in the back seat, and gave the address of his residential complex.

The driver was a middle-aged man who seemed very eager to find someone to talk to, grumbling incessantly all the way about ride-hailing apps stealing business and the terrible road conditions.

Jiang Ye had things on his mind and was in no mood for small talk, so he just gave perfunctory responses like "uh-huh" and "oh" while lowering his head to take out his phone and open the Xianyu app.

Perhaps he could change his approach and see if he could find some clues on the second-hand platform.

He entered several keywords into the search box: "affordable luxury women's clothing," "designer dresses," and "high-end shoes and boots," setting the price range between 500 and 2,000.

Logically speaking, women who could afford these expensive clothes should be in good economic condition, and their overall quality and appearance might be relatively high, so the probability of encountering someone with a score of 85 or above might be greater.

He clicked on a few sellers who looked reliable and began to contact them via private message.

To further "verify their identity," Jiang Ye cleverly suggested during the chat: "Miss, is it convenient to see the effect of these shoes/clothes on your feet/body? Because I value the actual look very much and am afraid they won't fit once I buy them."

In his view, even if the other party sent photos with their face blocked or only showing half their body—or even just their feet—he could still infer the whole from the parts. After all, a goddess with a score of 85 or above should be perfect in every way.

As long as he felt the other party met the requirements, he could try to make a move and buy two or three items; the quest should be completed eventually.

However, while the ideal was plump, reality was skinny.

When they were discussing brands, condition, and price earlier, everything was quite normal, and most sellers were very easy to talk to.

But as soon as he brought up the request to "see the effect on the body," the tone changed immediately.

Some sellers directly sent Taobao model photos with a note: "Dear, the effect on the body is the same as the model's~"

Others simply read the message without replying and blocked him immediately.

There were even those with fiery tempers who retorted directly: "See my foot! You Pervert! Trying to trick me into sending photos, right? Get lost!"

After hitting several snags in a row, Jiang Ye was left completely bewildered and finally had to give up on this method... Just as Jiang Ye was sitting in the taxi at a loss, in Unit 1705 of Wanda Apartment, Su Ning was facing her computer screen, feeling a bit down.

Today was assessment day. Zhi Xia, Minnie, and several other sisters were all in the live-streaming room flirting with their 'Big Brothers.' Gift effects flashed on the public screen from time to time, making it very lively.

Minnie in particular, said something that made her Big Brother laugh heartily, and he casually gifted her four sports cars, drawing envious cheers from the other sisters.

Meanwhile, she had only received a few small hearts all day, and her only Big Brother, "Brother Ye," hadn't appeared at all.

Even though she passed the assessment, it still felt a bit miserable.

Su Ning looked down again at the chat box with the "A Bowl of White Rice" avatar on WeChat.

Inside lay seven or eight messages she had sent, ranging from the cautious greeting "What are you doing, Brother?" to the slightly coquettish "It's so boring in the room, I miss you so much," and finally the courageously mentioned "The Hall Battle is on the 5th of next month, the task is 5000, I'm a bit nervous..." The time span ranged from evening until now, but the other party hadn't replied to a single one.

She sighed speechlessly, her heart filled with frustration and immense confusion.

How could her "Brother Ye" be so unpredictable?

His attitude blew hot and cold; sometimes he was as passionate as a foolish straight man in love, and other times he was as cold as a haughty gay man.

It made her feel like a simp now, constantly worrying about gains and losses all day.

The most crucial thing was!

Clearly, he was the one who, in front of so many people in the room yesterday, heroically said that the assessment standard set for her was too low and "didn't look prestigious enough," demanding it be set higher next time.

Well, now the Hall Battle task really had increased to 5000, and when she bit the bullet to ask him for help, he actually pulled a disappearing act and didn't reply.

What on earth did this mean? Was he playing with her?

Su Ning scratched her head irritably, her gaze sweeping over a box of fresh hazelnuts her mother had just sent from her hometown on the desk, and her heart suddenly stirred.

Perhaps... she could take this opportunity to test the waters again?

She picked up her phone again and clicked on the avatar that made her feelings so complicated:

【Brother, my mom sent me some wild hazelnuts from my hometown. They're really fragrant. Do you want to try some? I'll call a delivery runner to send them to you?】

After sending the WeChat message, Su Ning didn't hold much hope and put down her phone, intending to wash up first.

As it turned out, just as she reached the bathroom door, she heard the WeChat notification sound crisp and clear.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly trotted back to the desk. She picked up her phone and looked—it was actually Brother Ye who had replied!

Brother Ye: 【Hazelnuts? Sure, send them over. By the way... bring me a piece of clothing you've worn.】

When Su Ning saw the word "clothing," she was momentarily stunned, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.

She rubbed her eyes and confirmed she hadn't misread it before replying doubtfully: 【Clothing? Brother, what kind of clothing do you want? New or old?】

Brother Ye: 【Anything is fine. Hair ties, hairpins, scarves, tops, pants, socks, shoes—anything is fine.】

Su Ning tilted her head and stared at the screen, several giant question marks seemingly popping up over her head.

This is... forget it, forget it, don't think about it. Anyway, even if she thought about it until the end, she definitely wouldn't understand.

She had plenty of hair ties and hairpins, and quite a few old clothes too. Since he wanted one, she'd just give him one, as long as it could maintain their relationship.

Yaoyao: 【Okay then, I'll call a delivery runner to send it to you tomorrow? Brother, give me your address.】

Brother Ye: 【It's not convenient. Tomorrow I'll call a delivery runner to pick it up at your door; send me your address.】

Su Ning nodded understandingly.

This Big Brother was quite guarded; he probably feared that if she knew his address, she would pester him or show up at his door later.

But this was also good; she hadn't intended to develop any offline relationship anyway. Keeping a distance was safe for both parties.

Hmm... the fake address she left last time was 1703; this time she'd change it to the neighboring 1704.