My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 57
by Little PandaA Loving Breakfast
On the Quest Log Panel, the main quest—to survive in the apocalypse for a set amount of time—was still pinned to the top. The two completed reunion quests had already disappeared. Below them, one of the daily quests was now marked with the word “Completed.”
And this quest, which Ren Chenxi had no idea when she’d even finished, had simply required her to make Mu Ning smile once.
Before the apocalypse, back when Ren Chenxi was still trying to grind Mu Ning’s favorability value, this daily quest would have been absolutely impossible to complete. The Mu Ning of that time always had a cold expression for her. Forget making her smile—it was hard enough just to get her to say a few more words!
But now, in the apocalypse, the former Iceberg Goddess had become more talkative, and she even smiled. Ren Chenxi had lost count of how many times she’d seen Mu Ning smile since they’d met again. If nothing else, hadn’t Mu Ning just smiled at her during dinner?
Whatever, she thought. Who cares how many times she smiles? The quest only requires one smile. If there are simple dailies like this every day… that might not be so bad?
Gazing at the purple glow of the Invisibility Card, Ren Chenxi glanced at the other dailies and, disappointingly, felt her heart stir again. Right. This is just for the sake of surviving the apocalypse. It’s for the all-important main quest. It’s absolutely not about me continuing to fawn over that Wooden-head! Yes, yes! That’s the logic. Judging by how easily I completed today’s daily, I don’t need to deliberately suck up to Mu Ning at all. I just sold her a generator on the cheap and drove away someone I hate. Weren’t those two small things enough to make her smile twice?
Exchanging simple, ordinary tasks that were well within her ability for such a precious SR card—what a bargain! As the saying goes, only a bastard doesn’t take advantage of a good deal1. Besides, this wasn’t some minor perk; it was an SR card that could save her life at a critical moment!
Having reasoned it out, Ren Chenxi’s restless heart calmed considerably. That’s right! It’s just an apocalypse survival game. Since it has daily quests, aren’t they there for a player like me to complete and get rewards? And don’t I have the final say in which quests I accept? I can just ignore the more ridiculous ones—singing love songs, whispering sweet nothings, kisses, hugs, and lifting up high, deep exchanges seven times a night2, and all that other nonsense. But the proper, simple dailies that give rewards are still worth doing~
If she could save up more precious SR cards, then… she might just have the power to take on that 7th-order Octopus monster by herself.
With fond hopes for the rewards the next day’s quests would bring, Ren Chenxi gave a soft yawn, petted Tantan, and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
The next morning, Ren Chenxi was licked awake by Tantan. The sensation was accompanied by the soft purr purr of the cat kneading3 on the pillow beside her head. Old habits from raising Tantan kicked in, and in a sleepy haze, Ren Chenxi stroked the cat and murmured, “Be good, Tantan, I’ll get your breakfast ready in a minute…”
Back when she was still a student at S University, Ren Chenxi had struggled to get used to waking up early for classes again. She had set several alarms to force herself out of bed. But after she got Tantan, those alarms became useless. At the time, Tantan had just come back from the vet and was still recovering, so Ren Chenxi didn’t dare let it miss a single one of its three daily meals. Whenever Tantan started meowing to hurry her along, no matter how much she craved the soft comfort of her bed, Ren Chenxi would ruthlessly tear herself from its gentle embrace4.
And just like that, in a matter of moments, Ren Chenxi went from half-asleep to fully awake. As she opened her inventory to take out her clothes, she took the opportunity to check the daily quests that had refreshed for the day.
Hmm, not bad. Apart from a few ridiculous ones at the bottom that she couldn’t even bear to look at, the dailies at the top seemed… not too difficult to complete. For instance, the quest to make Mu Ning smile had refreshed again today. Should she try to knock that one out first? Wait… does it count as long as Mu Ning smiles, no matter how I do it?
Her eyes fixed on the SR-rank Critical Hit Card offered as the reward, and Ren Chenxi stealthily made a decision.
By the time Ren Chenxi had dressed and left her room with Tantan in her arms, the girls in the other rooms were still asleep, likely because they had stayed up too late playing around the night before. Not wanting to disturb their rest, Ren Chenxi carried Tantan downstairs. She would prepare Tantan’s breakfast first, and while she was at it, see if she could complete the second daily quest.
Her mind was on the two dailies she was about to attempt when, as luck would have it, she ran right into Mu Ning at the top of the second-floor stairs. Seeing her quest target, Ren Chenxi froze for a second before quickly offering a friendly greeting. “Morning.”
“Good morning.” Mu Ning was also clearly taken aback, but she quickly returned the greeting.
However, a simple greeting wasn’t enough.
Ren Chenxi raised an eyebrow at Mu Ning and said with a smile, “Your ‘good morning’ is very insincere, you know?”
“?” Mu Ning stared at her, baffled. She couldn’t figure out what Ren Chenxi meant. Was she trying to pick a fight? Her smile suggested otherwise. So was it really her own lack of sincerity? But she had replied with heartfelt sincerity! Heaven knew how happy she was that Ren Chenxi had greeted her first! How could she possibly be insincere?
“If you’re going to say good morning, you should at least smile when you say it, right? What’s with the cold face?” Ren Chenxi grumbled playfully, secretly opening her quest log.
So that was it. She had probably been so happy that she’d forgotten to control her expression, leading to a misunderstanding. After hearing Ren Chenxi’s small complaint, Mu Ning very seriously pulled her lips into a faint smile. “Good morning.”
The moment the words left her mouth, the “Make Mu Ning Smile” quest in the log switched to “Completed.” At the same time, the SR-rank Critical Hit Card appeared in Ren Chenxi’s inventory.
Pleased, Ren Chenxi nodded and continued speaking to Mu Ning in a friendly tone. “You all took care of dinner yesterday, so leave today’s breakfast to me~” Since the smile quest only needed one smile, then for the “make a loving breakfast for Mu Ning” quest, she just needed to make breakfast for everyone as an excuse and include a portion for Mu Ning. That should be enough to complete it, right?
Hearing that Ren Chenxi was going to make breakfast, Mu Ning subconsciously wanted to refuse, not wanting to trouble her. But then a thought occurred to her, and she nodded in agreement instead.
“I’ll leave it to you, then.”
“…” This woman really doesn’t stand on ceremony, does she? Couldn’t she at least offer a few more polite refusals?
Although Ren Chenxi wasn’t very familiar with the rural earthen stove, she had watched Zhang Tongqi and the others use it yesterday. Now, whether it was starting the fire, adding firewood, or boiling water in the large iron wok, she managed to look the part. After all, Ren Chenxi was now a little kitchen goddess with maxed-out Handicraft and Cooking skills.
As Ren Chenxi was washing the rice, Mu Ning, who had been watching from behind, hesitated for a moment before asking, “Isn’t it a lot of trouble to cook for so many people? Why don’t we wait for Zhang Tongqi and the others to wake up and help?”
“No need!” Ren Chenxi refused flatly. The quest to make a loving breakfast for Mu Ning required her to do it herself. What if someone else helped and the system decided she hadn’t made it personally, causing the quest to fail? The reward for this quest was an SR-rank explosion card! She needed as many of those as she could get. Ren Chenxi wouldn’t allow the slightest mistake to jeopardize her mission.
Seeing Ren Chenxi’s non-negotiable expression, Mu Ning paused, then said, “Then just make breakfast for us girls. The guys on the other side can sort themselves out.”
Ren Chenxi remembered that Chen Gu and the other men were indeed all capable of cooking. Since her ultimate goal was just to get Mu Ning to eat breakfast made by her, it didn’t really matter if she cooked for the men or not. With that, Ren Chenxi agreed to Mu Ning’s suggestion.
By the time Jian Dan, Song Xin, and Chang Ling came downstairs yawning, a faint aroma of congee was already wafting from the kitchen. The appetizing scent instantly woke the three girls up. Song Xin blurted out, “Is that Shiitake Mushroom Chicken Congee for breakfast?”
“Nope~” Ren Chenxi emerged from the kitchen with a smile, carrying a bowl of congee, which she carefully placed on the table. “It’s Shiitake Mushroom Goose Congee~”
“Eh? Goose meat? Is it from the mutated goose yesterday?”
“Yes, and there are quite a few pieces! I still have them in my space.” There was the goose meat that Zhang Tongqi and Chen Gu had carved off themselves, as well as the meat Ren Chenxi had collected as drops from the mutated goose. “Can you help wake up Tang Ying, Lu Ping, and the others? Then come and eat.”
“Please help me wake up Zhang Tongqi and the others, too,” Mu Ning added immediately after.
“You got it, Xi-jie~”
“Okay, Mu-jie~”
At the mention of breakfast, and with the delicious aroma filling the air, the girls’ stomachs began to gurgle gurgle unconsciously. They turned and rushed upstairs at top speed, eager to drag all the other sleeping girls from their beds.
While the others were upstairs, Ren Chenxi called to Mu Ning. “They’ll probably be a while. Why don’t you eat this bowl first?”
“This bowl is for me?” Mu Ning was truly overwhelmed5 by this “special treatment” from Ren Chenxi. She looked at her excitedly, but when she saw the faint smile on Ren Chenxi’s face and the complete lack of emotion in her eyes, her own blazing heart instantly cooled.
She remembered. The Ren Chenxi of today was not the “Ren Muhui” who had once loved her.
Carefully lifting the bowl of congee, Mu Ning lowered her head and took a small sip. Just as she expected, a once-familiar taste rushed into her mouth.
“It’s delicious… Even the congee you make tastes exactly the same as Ren Muhui’s.”
“Oh?” The moment Mu Ning took her first sip, the “make a loving breakfast for Mu Ning” quest in Ren Chenxi’s log showed as completed. With another SR explosion card in hand, Ren Chenxi was in a good mood. When Mu Ning brought up Ren Muhui again, she wasn’t angry. Instead, she asked curiously, “You’ve had Ren Muhui’s congee before?” Didn’t you give it away to someone else the second I turned my back?
Mu Ning’s lips twitched into a bitter smile. “I have. Back when I had that stomachache for a few days.”
Ren Chenxi remembered. After discovering Mu Ning had a stomachache, she had run to the school clinic to get her medicine. Worried that Mu Ning hadn’t eaten all morning and that taking medicine on an empty stomach would be bad for her, she had rushed back to cook some congee, put it in a thermos, and brought it to the classroom for her. At the time, using the leftover ingredients in the fridge, she had made Shiitake Mushroom Chicken Congee.
But… hadn’t Mu Ning refused to eat it? She had only taken the stomach medicine; she hadn’t even touched the congee!
Noticing the doubt in Ren Chenxi’s eyes, Mu Ning pursed her lips and explained, a little embarrassed, “After Ren Muhui left, I was so hungry that I ended up drinking the congee.”
That day, perhaps because she was truly starving, Mu Ning had finally given in. No matter how much she resisted Ren Muhui in her heart, she couldn’t stop herself from twisting open the lid of the thermos.
The moment the thermos was opened, the faint aroma of food rushed into her nostrils. Her stomach, which had already been protesting, couldn’t resist the temptation and urged her to take a sip.
For once, Mu Ning had followed her heart. She hadn’t been able to resist the allure of the food and had taken a tiny sip of the broth.
After that, she couldn’t stop. She drank every last drop of congee in the thermos.
It was the most delicious congee Mu Ning had ever had in her life.
The author has something to say:
Xixi: I’d rather die than do dailies! …This is actually pretty good.6
Wooden-head: I don’t think this daily quest is well-designed…
Xixi: I agree! What is all that ridiculous nonsense!
Wooden-head: It would be better if you just got rid of the word ‘breakfast’7!
Xixi: ???…!!
Footnotes
- Original: yǒu piányi bù zhàn wángbādàn. A common, slightly vulgar saying that literally means 'one who doesn't take advantage of a good deal is a tortoise egg'. 'Wángbādàn' is a strong insult equivalent to 'bastard' or 'son of a bitch'.
- Original: qīn qīn bào bào jǔ gāo gāo. A popular set phrase describing a series of cutesy, affectionate actions between a couple. The list continues with 'shēnrù jiāoliú yīyè qī cì' (deep exchange, seven times a night), a common euphemism for having sex all night.
- Original: cǎi nǎi. The Chinese term for the motion cats make with their paws when they are content, as if kneading dough.
- Original: wēnróu xiāng, literally 'the homeland of tenderness'. A classical and poetic term for a place of comfort and pleasure, often associated with the company of a beautiful woman, but here referring to her warm bed.
- Original: shòu chǒng ruò jīng. A four-character idiom meaning to be overwhelmed by an unexpected favor, as if in a state of shock.
- Original: zhēn xiāng. A massive internet slang term meaning 'it's actually really good' or 'so fragrant'. It comes from a viral clip of a man vowing not to eat something, only to immediately eat it and declare 'zhēn xiāng'. It's now used whenever someone eats their words or gives in to something they previously rejected.
- In Chinese, 'make a loving breakfast' is zuò àixīn zǎocān. Omitting the word for 'breakfast' (zǎocān) leaves zuò àixīn, a pun on zuò'ài (to make love).
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