He Wuning glanced wordlessly at the milk tea cart, now plastered with a big mocking “Tch.” Strangely enough, it actually looked a bit more pleasing to the eye than before.
Seeing that He Wuning was about to make milk tea, the chubby kid suddenly remembered something, happily ran over, and obsequiously offered up a pile: “Boss, we picked up all the materials you dropped earlier for you!”
He Wuning nodded and opened his job system for the first time.
Milk Tea Cart Level: 1 (EXP 0/10)
Unlocked Menu: Pure First Love Milk – Price: 8 coins
Required Materials: Tea Leaves ×1, Milk ×1
The price wasn’t bad—8 game coins. It wasn’t even worth a scrap of equipment, but for something with no special effects at all, this was about right.
He Wuning ignored the suspiciously named drink on the menu, stepped onto the cart, and lowered the glass panel to serve as an order counter.
The kids outside were wide-eyed with excitement. The chubby kid was the first to shout: “Boss! I want pearl coconut jelly tea!”
He Wuning mercilessly replied, “There isn’t any. Only the original flavor.”
Even though they’d gathered tons of materials, the menu wasn’t unlocked yet, so he couldn’t make anything else. The stuff would just sit in storage.
The chubby kid just yelled for formality’s sake, then easily settled for less: “The original flavor is fine too! I haven’t had milk tea in so long!”
Q-chan butted in, unwilling to be ignored: “It’s Pure First Love Milk, not original milk tea!”
He Wuning flatly refused to humor its nonsense: “It’s just tea and milk. Isn’t that original flavor?”
In the game, making milk tea only required tossing the ingredients onto the station and waiting for the progress bar. He Wuning tossed the items in and stood aside like a hands-off manager.
Q-chan sighed dramatically: “Sweetie, you’re really not romantic at all. Can’t you let the kids dream a little?”
Brother Long firmly took He Wuning’s side: “No, we don’t have that kind of dream.”
He Wuning made cup after cup, bored, and asked, “Can’t I make them all at once?”
Q-chan spun in the air and winked: “Once the host levels up, you can unlock batch production!”
He Wuning didn’t look pleased: “…You unlock that when I level up?”
Q-chan was momentarily at a loss, and Brother Long quickly comforted him: “It’s fine, Brother He. We all know this trash game’s like that—the more it tries to screw you, the stronger you must be!”
He Wuning handed out the finished milk tea. Thanks to these kids, the cart leveled up to Lv. 3, and his own level rose to 3 as well. Overflow experience hadn’t gone to waste—once his cap increased, he auto-leveled.
He Wuning had saved up plenty of EXP beforehand, just to make sure his awakening ability didn’t restrict his combat strength.
The half-grown kids hugged their drinks, sucking on the straws with satisfied faces.
The chubby kid looked blissful: “Ahhhh—”
“I don’t know if it’s just because I haven’t had milk tea in so long, but this is so good! The milk and tea taste so high-quality… as long as I don’t think about how it dropped out of a slime and got picked off the ground…”
Brother Long clicked his tongue and smacked him on the head: “Shut up and drink. Why talk so much?”
He Wuning handed the last cup to Yi Luo.
Yi Luo blinked in surprise: “I get one too?”
He Wuning held out his hand: “Not only do you get one, you also have to pay.”
Yi Luo didn’t mind his forced salesmanship. He thanked him sincerely and handed over eight coins.
He Wuning studied him casually. When Yi Luo had fixed the cart earlier, he’d rolled up his sleeves, revealing a smooth, toned forearm, the lean muscle defined and powerful—honestly pretty nice-looking.
He Wuning sneaked a glance at his own arm. …Looked thinner than Yi Luo’s.
He gave a disdainful little snort to himself, tugged his sleeve down to hide his arm, shut the counter, and called out to the kids slurping their milk tea: “Alright, hop in. I’ll send you back.”
The kids clambered on one by one, and though the cart wasn’t small, with milk tea in hand, they made it feel lively but not crowded.
Although the milk tea had no special effects, it was enough to cheer up the kids who hadn’t tasted anything sweet in ages. After all, even if supplies were brought in from outside, there was no way they’d include something like milk tea. They probably hadn’t had this kind of drink—so symbolic of a peaceful, ordinary life outside—in a very long time.
He Wuning slid into the driver’s seat, naturally putting his foot on the accelerator. Q-chan shouted: “Wait! Let me grab onto the sturdiest thing here first!”
It shot into the air, shamelessly dove straight into Yi Luo’s arms, and blinked at him pitifully: “Can you hold me? You make me feel sooo safe—”
He Wuning scowled, pulled it out of Yi Luo’s arms, and tossed it to Long Teng behind him: “Watch it. Don’t let it cause trouble.”
Brother Long nodded solemnly, as if entrusted with a great mission: “Got it. Leave it to me!”
Q-chan struggled desperately but couldn’t escape. It could only shoot He Wuning a resentful look and mutter: “You’d better buckle up and hold your milk tea tight. This guy’s driving skills are really—”
Before it could finish, He Wuning stomped on the accelerator without warning.
“Ahhhhhh—!” Q-chan’s familiar shriek filled the cart as everyone lurched around. The chubby kid clutched his milk tea like his life depended on it, cheeks puffed out like he was about to throw up: “B-boss, c-could you slow down a little!”
Yi Luo reacted quickly, grabbing the handle on the ceiling. He hesitated, then said: “…Want me to drive?”
He Wuning shot him a sideways glance as he casually rammed into a few slimes. “Why?”
Yi Luo met his eyes in silence for a moment before replying: “I have a license.”
He reached into one of the many pockets on his combat uniform and smoothly pulled out an ID from the thigh pocket. Opening it toward He Wuning, it turned out to be… a driver’s license.
One glance, and He Wuning thought he must have misread it. But no—that was a tank driver’s license!
He stared at him blankly: “…Are you sure that counts as relevant experience?”
“They’re all vehicles,” Yi Luo said seriously, nodding. He Wuning slammed on the brakes with clear reluctance. Under the eager looks of everyone else in the car, he finally gave up the driver’s seat.
Settling into the passenger seat, He Wuning watched as Yi Luo smoothly started the engine and pulled out. Yi Luo smiled at him: “Want to learn to drive?”
He Wuning pulled his gaze away. “I was just thinking—it’s surprising someone would carry a license around in the fallen zones.”
Especially a tank driver’s license.
“Oh.” Yi Luo nodded matter-of-factly. “In case I die outside, it helps with identification.”
He Wuning said nothing.
It was a cruel thought, but no one could deny the possibility.
The atmosphere grew heavy. He Wuning turned his head to look out the window.
Yi Luo drove steadily, smooth enough that He Wuning could actually take in the scenery. Transparent jelly-like slimes bounced by, and the familiar splat sound echoed.
Glancing at the ground, He Wuning saw the slimes had dropped… mechanical parts?
His expression turned strange. “…So even someone with a license still hits slimes?”
Yi Luo laughed. “I’ll fix it again later. Help me grind a skill while you’re at it.”
He Wuning gave a lazy hum in response.
The safe zone wasn’t far, just about five minutes’ drive. The milk tea cart soon reached the city’s edge.
He Wuning raised his eyes: “Stop here. You can head in yourselves.”
But Yi Luo didn’t stop. Without looking back, he said, “You need to go to the treatment center too.”
The treatment center was just inside the safe zone’s border. Yi Luo parked smoothly at its entrance, pressed a hand firmly on He Wuning’s shoulder, and said, “Let’s go.”
He Wuning tried to shake him off, but couldn’t—despite Yi Luo’s ever-smiling face, his grip was surprisingly strong.
Just as He Wuning darkened his expression, ready to resist, Yi Luo let go, turned, and grabbed Q-chan out of Long Teng’s arms: “Out. Or I’m taking your system with me.”
He Ning: “…”
“Eek—!” Q-chan actually played along, squealing, “He’s got me! Sweetie, save me—!”
He Wuning: “…Please throw it into the farthest corner of the universe, thanks.”
Q-chan: “Sob!”
“No system will actually get stuck at level one,” Yi Luo said, giving Q-chan a little shake. “Get out. It’s not like I’m dragging you into trouble—just a checkup at the treatment center.”
“Or were you planning to spend the night out there with that pathetic HP bar?”
He Wuning gave him a deep look, got out of the car without a word, and as he brushed past, muttered quietly: “You don’t mean to lump me in with the missing children too, do you?”
“How could I?” Yi Luo smiled. “I’d never mistake you for a kid.”
He Wuning shot him a sharp glance, then turned and got out without another word. Long Teng, thinking he was angry, hurried after him: “Brother He, where are you going?”
“The treatment center.” He Wuning shoved his hands in his pockets. “Can’t I go in on my own? Do I really need him to lead me like I’m in kindergarten—line up nicely and hold hands while we walk inside?”
Yi Luo rubbed his nose as he watched him go. “Does he kind of dislike me?”
“It’s just a boy’s delicate pride,” Q-chan patted him comfortingly. “Don’t worry, he’s like that with everyone—it’s not aimed at you.”
Yi Luo chuckled. “I see.”
He looked at He Wuning’s back. “That’s actually kind of cute.”
“Huh?” Q-chan blinked. “Am I misunderstanding the definition of ‘cute’?”
Yi Luo eyed its gaudy getup and said honestly: “Probably a little.”
Q-chan looked utterly devastated, its round eyes flickering with data streams: “System error correction in progress—updating definition of ‘cute’…”
Yi Luo ignored the system he had just driven into self-doubt and quickly followed after He Wuning.
It was as if He Wuning had eyes on the back of his head—he heard Yi Luo’s footsteps and instead of slowing down, sped up.
Yi Luo arched a brow, amused, and lengthened his stride to catch up.
The two of them went back and forth like in a race walk, neither willing to fall behind, until Long Teng couldn’t hold it anymore: “Uh, brothers, why are you walking so fast?”
Only then did He Wuning stop, blurting out faster than lightning: “Childish.”
He lifted his chin at Yi Luo as if saying it first meant he won.
Yi Luo couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head. “We’re the same—you’re at most half a year older than me.”
He Wuning stared straight ahead, refusing to engage.
Yi Luo: “No, wait, that’s generous. Half a day sounds about right.”
He Wuning kept his expression blank, as though distancing himself from the childish antics of just moments ago. “Who cares enough to compare with you?”
Q-chan stared at He Ning in a daze. Only one question filled its mind—Is this what counts as cute?
Is this… really cute?
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The author has something to say:
Unserious Mini Theater:
Q-chan: In what universe is he cute?! That smug, scowly guy—how is that cute?! I’m supposed to be the cuteness mascot here, damn it!
He Wuning: Are you sick?
Yi Luo: See? Isn’t he kind of cute?
He Wuning: …Shut up.
#AWorldWhereOnlyQChanSuffers#
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