155: The play is more important than anything - Part 1 (Bonus Chapter)

Jiang Ye put the basin back in the bathroom and strolled back to his bedroom. He closed the door and sank his consciousness into his mind.

"System, accept the new mission."

[January 2026 Monthly Mission: Guidance of the Lost Item]

Mission Content: Help a woman with a Charm value > 80 recover a lost item of great significance to her. You need to provide key clues or directly find the lost item through communication, reasoning, or observation.

Mission Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (Tests insight, information integration skills, and even a little bit of luck)

Mission Description: Some values cannot be measured by money. Helping her reclaim those precious memories or emotions is a priceless treasure in itself.

Mission Rewards:

A. [lucky echo compass] (One-time use item): After activation, the compass needle will point to the precise direction of the person or object the host currently needs (or wants to find) most. The effect lasts for 3 hours.

B. Cash reward of 260,000 yuan.

Jiang Ye rubbed his chin and smacked his lips.

It was another one of those missions that didn't look hard, but he didn't know where to start for the time being.

Forget it, I'll just leave it active for now. Anyway, today is only the first, there's still plenty of time.

I'll wait until one of them loses something, or find a chance to ask later.

Having made up his mind, he stretched, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the bedroom again.

In the living room, Lin Wanxing had already returned to her room to "calm her mind."

After all, having a man hold her foot and massage it for a long time—even through gloves—was a first for her. She needed some time to digest the embarrassment.

Su Ning was pouting in front of the coffee table, using a stack of wet wipes to carefully wipe two sticky puddles of orange juice off the carpet.

Although this method was time-consuming and laborious, and the effect might not be great, she felt this "clumsy method" was more practical than dragging the whole carpet to the bathroom for a major wash.

Jiang Ye walked over to the sofa and sat down. He glanced at the drama queen girl next to him, who was working with a long, aggrieved face, and asked casually:

"Little Su, have you... lost anything lately? The important kind."

Su Ning's wiping motion paused. Without looking up, she blurted out in a resentful tone, "I lost it."

"Oh? What did you lose?" Jiang Ye immediately became interested.

"I lost..."

Su Ning looked up, gazing at him with watery eyes, and let out a long sigh. "My husband's love."

Jiang Ye: "..."

His mouth twitched violently. Forcing down the urge to roast her, he followed her lead and asked, "The husband you're talking about... is that online dating partner of yours?"

"Mhm..."

Su Ning lowered her head again, scrubbing the carpet hard with the wipe, sighing deeply:

"Yeah, I don't know what big business he's been busy with lately, he hasn't had time to pay attention to me. He's slow to reply to messages, and he doesn't pick up voice calls... Sigh..."

She paused, adding in a "I'm very aggrieved but I'm very sensible" tone, "But men... they should be busy. It's good to be busy... it shows he has a career mind... Sigh..."

"..."

Seeing her complain while casting subtle glances her way, Jiang Ye was caught between laughter and tears. He simply picked up his phone to browse TikTok, intending to end this bizarre conversation of "me talking about myself."

"Oh, I see. Then you really should be understanding."

However, Su Ning, having finally caught a chance to be alone with him, clearly didn't intend to let him off so easily.

How precious a chance to be alone was! She had to make full use of it to build her presence and subtly express her "yearning"!

She began to "talk to herself," her voice just loud enough for Jiang Ye to hear:

"Sigh, I wonder if he's finished with his work yet... Let's see if he has time to pay me a little bit of attention..."

As she spoke, she picked up her phone, opened the pinned WeChat chat for 'Brother Ye,' held down the voice recording bar, and sent one message after another:

"What are you doing, Brother? Did you miss me? Your baby misses you so much~"

"Brother, can we have a voice call in a bit? Baby ran into something really scary yesterday and hasn't told you yet. I want you to comfort me~"

"Brother! Hehe~ You must be thinking of me too, right?"

Jiang Ye: "..."

He watched the WeChat notifications pop up one by one on his phone screen while Su Ning's live broadcast of cloying coquetry rang in his ears. He felt goosebumps rising layer after layer.

This experience of being "simped for" simultaneously online and offline was truly... mind-blowing!

Su Ning sent several voice messages in a row and threw in a few cute emojis. Only then did she act as if she just realized someone was sitting next to her. She hurriedly put down her phone and gave Jiang Ye a shy smile that said "sorry for disturbing you":

"Little brother, sorry about that, I've made a fool of myself... My husband and I... we're usually like this, a bit clingy."

Jiang Ye's eyelid flickered. Trying his best to maintain his facial expression, he responded dryly:

"It's fine. I can tell you and your husband's relationship is... quite good."

Su Ning immediately beamed like a flower and nodded vigorously. "Of course! He's my spiritual pillar! If it weren't for him, I might have quit being a streamer long ago. How could I have made it to today?"

She changed the subject, starting to lead the conversation toward "business":

"For example, our guild has a very important Hall Battle on the 10th. If he doesn't back me up, I'll definitely lose miserably and lose face in front of my sisters and the management..."

Jiang Ye: "..."

Su Ning: "..."

After she finished speaking, a brief silence fell between the two.

Their eyes met, then they both quickly shifted their gazes away awkwardly, simultaneously pretending their throats were uncomfortable and letting out a series of dry coughs.

Jiang Ye was truly impressed by this schemer.

Having a Hall Battle was a good thing; it would force her to quickly "make an offering."

But... wasn't this notification method a bit too damn forced?

One moment she was acting cute and saying she missed her "husband," and the next she was reporting mission targets?

Beside him, Su Ning was also so embarrassed her toes were curling.

But she was really out of options. The online "Brother Ye" was playing dead; his replies were either "Mhm" or "Oh," and nine times out of ten, he wouldn't pick up voice calls. She simply couldn't catch him.

With the online channel completely paralyzed, she could only seize the opportunity of being alone offline and bite the bullet.

Even if the method was a bit clumsy, it was better than just waiting!