The time limit for the task was like a Mediterranean hairstyle: you couldn't say it was short, but you couldn't say it was long either.
Two months.
The more difficult part was that, just like the previous task of cleaning up the chicken farm, the system wouldn't prompt him when he encountered a task target nearby.
After all, if there was a target radar, it would be much easier.
Last time, he was able to complete it quickly because he had the help of his noble benefactor, Song Luping.
Eh.
Thinking of this, Lin Li fell into thought.
Can I still use Brother Ping this time? Go on another autumn outing?
—Knowledge point consolidation: A spring outing is for enjoying the greenery, so an autumn outing is for sweeping away pornography. (Translator's Note: "Ta qing" (enjoying greenery) and "sao huang" (sweeping away pornography) are both associated with outings).
Although the chicken farms in Xiling suffered a devastating blow in September, these chicken farms are like the male protagonists in hot-blooded anime: they will never truly fall. By shouting about love and bonds, they can stand up again.
As long as the "niuniu" (penises) haven't been eradicated, the "niuniu" (girls) will never disappear.
There will never be a day when they are truly defeated.
And as for Song Luping, since he has been out for a month now, based on my understanding of him, as long as he hasn't been caught again or left Xiling, he has probably figured out a new map of Xiling's chicken farms.
Send him in for another fifteen days?
Lin Li took out his phone and switched to his alt account.
In the friend request list, a friend request from "Fang." from seven days ago lay quietly—during this month or so, he would occasionally send friend requests.
Because Lin Li's alt account had never changed its nickname or avatar, Song Luping probably still held out hope that Lin Li wasn't deliberately ignoring him.
But he still didn't click accept for now.
Lin Li looked at the task.
In the task preface, there was a sentence: "The good deeds you can do are absolutely not just eliminating the foundation of the Joyous Union demonic cultivators."
Theoretically, with this sentence, the autumn outing shouldn't be included in the limited scope.
But after all, it wasn't explicitly written in the task.
Lin Li thought about it and decided to put this idea on hold. He hadn't thought of what to say to Song Luping yet, so he couldn't rush it.
If he still couldn't find other ways to complete the task after half a month, he would go try it. A dead horse is better than no horse.
The girls also came back, and the five of them took a taxi back to the library to continue studying.
...
The Nansang Library actually disappointed the Light of Xiling, Lin Li, quite a bit.
For a whole day, not a single criminal involved in minor crimes like murder, rape, arson, shooting, or drug trafficking appeared, let alone giving Lin Li a chance to administer justice.
And they still boast about being a top-ranked library in Pingjiang City?
What an ordinary but confident library, so disappointing.
Just like last time, everyone studied straight until past eight o'clock, when the library was about to close.
"Are we four continuing tomorrow?" Hearing the closing music and standing up, Lin Li asked the "Three People" opposite him.
"Sure, but why four? Who's not coming?" Ding Sihan nodded, but looked a bit confused.
"Bufan, of course. Let alone coming to study tomorrow, he probably won't even be able to stay awake," Lin Li lifted his chin towards Bai Bufan.
Facing everyone's gaze, Bai Bufan nodded: "I've already burned out, only snow-white ash remains. I can't continue studying, I need to go relax."
Suppressing the urge to use Fire Punch on Bai Bufan, Lin Li nudged him and asked casually:
"Bufan, are you going to my place to play later, or should I get you a computer at an internet cafe?"
"Internet cafe. I'm very noisy when I play games, and your computer is in your room. I don't sleep early, but you have to get up early tomorrow, so I won't torture you." Bai Bufan shook his head and said.
"But my house is quite big, I can show you around." Lin Li suddenly spoke in a Taiwanese accent.
This was a reward for a good dog.
"Then I fucking definitely can't go." Bai Bufan said in horror. Staying in the same house with Lin Li, his chastity would probably not be guaranteed.
"Heh—alright, seriously, are you coming? I can sleep in the master bedroom. That way, compared to going to an internet cafe, at least if you're tired you can sleep in my bed, instead of waiting for the school gates to open." Lin Li asked.
There's no turning back from an all-nighter. There are a few spots on the Nansang wall where you can climb over, but the main gate downstairs in the dorm building is locked. So if Bai Bufan goes to an internet cafe, he'll have to wait until five or six in the morning to get back to his dorm.
"Still the internet cafe, it has atmosphere. As for being tired, you're looking down on me a bit." Bai Bufan was very confident.
"Alright then." Lin Li didn't mind.
The five of them went downstairs. Sure enough, Chen Zhongping was still waiting, glaring like a tiger watching its prey, and took Chen Yuying away.
"See you tomorrow."
"Bye-bye."
"Eh, aren't you two going to the internet cafe? Why are you still walking towards the school?"
After waving goodbye to Ding Sihan, Qu Wanqiu looked at Lin Li and Bai Bufan walking with her in confusion.
"He has to put his backpack and stuff back in the school first. He can't take a bunch of textbooks to the internet cafe, right?" Lin Li looked ahead and answered first, then looked at Qu Wanqiu:
"Besides, no matter what, it's night now. It's not safe for a girl like you to walk alone at night. What if you encounter a murderer, rapist, arsonist, shooter, or drug trafficker?"
"How bad does my luck have to be to encounter these criminals in Xiling! I have no grudges or enmity with anyone, I wouldn't provoke them at all!"
"Maybe it's an indiscriminate murderer."
Qu Wanqiu opened and closed her mouth, frowned, looked at Lin Li, and asked unconfidently: "Lin Li, why do you seem to be looking forward to it?"
"Haha, is it that obvious? Sorry." Lin Li apologized.
"You even admitted it!? What are you 'haha'-ing about! Isn't it just because I gave you black silk? Do you have to hate me this much!"
Qu Wanqiu walked behind Lin Li, raised her leg high, kicked Lin Li's backpack, and scolded with a smile.
Bai Bufan, who caught the keyword, widened his eyes and looked over, staring at Lin Li's pant legs, suspecting there were pants hidden inside his pants.
"Just purely caring about you."
"Who cares like this? Besides, the road from the library to the school is a main road, brightly lit. Who would dare to commit a crime." Qu Wanqiu said speechlessly.
"True."
Hearing this, Lin Li rubbed his chin. Eh, he actually had an idea on how to complete Task 3.
Since criminals aren't coming to him, how about he goes looking for criminals?
...
Nansang Middle School.
Downstairs at the boys' dormitory, Lin Li frowned at Bai Bufan, who ran out panting, and asked in confusion:
"Why did it take you so long to come down?"
"Wang Yuezhi's fault." Bai Bufan sneered, his voice full of hatred.
"What does it have to do with him?" Lin Li was even more confused upon hearing this.
"Phew—I just realized I didn't bring my key," Bai Bufan gritted his teeth and explained:
"Then I came down to ask the dorm auntie for it. After getting it, I went up and opened the door, then came down again to return the key to the auntie. When I went up again, hey! Guess what?
The door was closed!
"When I was fuming, Wang Yuezhi, who had just fetched hot water, walked over, saw me, and even exhorted me—
"'Next time you go out, remember to close the door. This time I helped you close it, next time you won't have such good luck'.
"Fuck, damn it! When I went to ask for the key for the second time just now, the auntie was really looking at me like I was an idiot. Yes, yes, yes, exactly the look you have now, you imitate it so well. Lin Li, you also looked just now... No, no, no! Lin Li, what the fuck does your look mean!"
Bai Bufan jumped up and down in anxiety towards the end.
"Wang Yuezhi is also doing it for your own good. If someone dares to steal takeout in the school, someone dares to steal things. Let's go, let's go." Ignoring the barking behind him, Lin Li smiled and walked ahead.
It seemed Wang Yuezhi really wanted to win, he actually stayed at school.
Or maybe he often stayed, just that Lin Li never noticed.
Soon, the two found an internet cafe, or rather a slightly more upscale internet cafe, not far from the school.
Unlike in the past when you had to go to a private room if you didn't want the smell of smoke, in today's internet cafes, the smell of smoke is actually heavier in the private rooms.
After all, if someone smokes in the main hall and no one cares, if other customers report it, they'll be fined without mercy. In the private rooms, however, they can turn a blind eye.
Lin Li walked to the front desk: "Manager, new user, top up a hundred for me."
"Okay, wait a moment." The manager took the ID card and started operating.
"There's 220 in internet fees inside now." Soon, the ID card was returned to Lin Li, along with a piece of paper: "And this is the password for your ID card, case-sensitive."
The other party actually noticed Bai Bufan, but didn't care.
Just like a customer just now, who actually asked if he could smoke in the private room. After he said no, the customer asked why he saw someone smoking in the private room.
Why? Because the other party didn't ask.
"Buffett is also stupid. Struggling in the stock market for decades, the average annualized return is only twenty percent. If this old boy had topped up all his assets in the internet cafe, wouldn't the return rate be directly 120%?" Lin Li and Bai Bufan walked into the internet cafe and wondered.
Bai Bufan: "..."
"You really know how to make money. If you manage a fund in the future, tell me, I'll sell my house to follow you."
"Did the landlord agree?"
"Introduce your track record, and they will agree."
"Alright," Lin Li nodded with a smile, then stopped: "Do you want the main hall or a private room."
In this internet cafe, after activating the ID card, you choose the machine yourself.
"Why would one person need a private room, isn't that wasting money? The main hall is fine. Get me a six-yuan machine, the specs are enough." Bai Bufan glanced at the price list and area map on the wall and said to Lin Li.
"Don't save money for me. I'll directly get you a 15-yuan machine. This way, counting the overnight discount, the 220 on the card is enough for you to play until tomorrow morning. The extra money is just right for you to buy late-night snacks and breakfast."
Hearing this, Lin Li waved his hand unquestioningly. The private rooms smelled of smoke, so he directly chose a corner seat in the high-spec area of the main hall.
Waiting for the computer to boot up, he signaled Bai Bufan to sit next to him first.
Looking at the wealthy Lin Li, Bai Bufan wasn't polite either, just sighed enviously:
"It's so good to have money. Your wallet is now as plump as Baowei, while my wallet is as flat as Erii. Life, ah, fleeting, fleeting."
Lin Li: "?"
Lin Li turned his head to look at Bai Bufan, seriously put his arm around his shoulder: "Bufan, the headlights on my semi-trailer are broken. When you have time later, can you stand in front and take a look for me?"
"My bad, my bad." Bai Bufan chuckled.
Lin Li was entering the password to log in. Bai Bufan had nothing to do, so he reached out and touched the keyboard of the unbooted machine in front of him, moaning with a lewd face:
"Ah~ I touched JK's slit~ As expected of an internet cafe~ It feels so good~"
—Bai Bufan's fingers slid up and down between the "J" and "K" keys on the mechanical keyboard, using his middle and ring fingers.
Lin Li looked at Bai Bufan like he was looking at an idiot, and sighed deeply.
"Bufan, touch further down, there's also nm's slit."
"...Let's skip this one, it's not very polite." Bai Bufan knew this one and responded with a smile.
"Then touch further to the upper left, there's also 8u's slit."
"Eh?" Bai Bufan was stunned, looked down, and there really was.
"If you touch further to the upper right, there's also op's slit you can touch."
Bai Bufan: "..."
"So JK is under the left and right siege of 8U and OP. Then this life is over." Bai Bufan smiled.
The computer had successfully booted up, so Lin Li got up and gave up his seat:
"Keep the ID card with you first, in case the machine has a problem later and you can't change machines, which would be awkward. Remember to return it to me tomorrow."
"So warm, bro. OK, OK, don't worry. As long as the person is here, the card is here. If the person dies, the card dies."
Bai Bufan was very moved. He put Lin Li's ID card in his pocket and nodded heavily.
An ID card is actually a very magical thing. Although it's very important, sometimes it can be lost for half a year, and perhaps the owner hasn't even realized it yet.
"Alright, see if there's anything else you need me to do. If not, I'll go home first."
"Okay, Lin Li, are you going to play games when you get home later?"
Bai Bufan had already started adjusting the sensitivity of the peripherals, looking at the screen and asking casually.
"Me? I probably won't play. I will devote my limited time to infinite causes." Hearing this, Lin Li shook his head and said.
Lin Li indeed had his own arrangements.
"Sigh, I knew you, this useless guy, couldn't be relied on. Then I'll ask them." Bai Bufan took out his phone and sent a message in the gaming group.
As a dog admin, he went up and did an @everyone.
Very prestigious. Group member Lin Li replied in seconds with a "Not playing".
And only Lin Li replied.
"What is everyone doing, what are they doing," Bai Bufan was also impatient. He directly switched to WeChat calls and dialed out, "Baowei! Play games."
"No, today is my partner's birthday, I'm busy celebrating for her." Zhou Baowei's fat-oppressed voice came from the other end of the phone.
Lin Li, Bai Bufan: "?"
Lin Li, who originally saw that Bai Bufan was fine and had already put on his backpack preparing to leave, was abruptly stopped by Zhou Baowei's sentence.
"Where the fuck did you get a partner?" Returning to Bai Bufan's side, the two questioned in unison.
"Lin Li? Why are you here too? Bufan, didn't you go back to school?" Hearing Lin Li's voice, Zhou Baowei asked in confusion.
"That's not important. First explain where the fuck you got a partner? How the fuck can you have a partner! When did this happen?" Lin Li's voice hid a lion.
"Met on Taobao last year." Zhou Baowei answered.
Lin Li: "(；☉_☉)?"
"Is her surname Chun?" Lin Li narrowed his eyes.
"Mhm."
"You motherfucker! An airplane cup is an airplane cup, where did the birthday come from?" Hearing this, the two first breathed a sigh of relief, then laughed and scolded.
"Isn't there a production date on it."
Zhou Baowei's questioning voice immediately came over, flat but certain.
For a moment, Lin Li and Bai Bufan's brains crashed.
Then, the two felt the wrinkles in their cerebral cortex instantly smoothed and stretched out. There was a sudden relaxation, as if strolling in a Norwegian wood, and suddenly everything was relieved.
"You're crazy, Zhou Baowei."
"Your mom."
But they couldn't flame him, this was a real birthday.
"So are you really not playing? Or what?" After laughing, Bai Bufan returned to the main topic.
"I'm waiting for my late-night snack, starving to death. Let's play after twelve o'clock. Can you still play then? The background is so noisy, internet cafe?" Zhou Baowei asked.
"Yeah, I'm pulling an all-nighter tonight." Bai Bufan nodded.
"Baowei, what fucking late-night snack, it's only nine o'clock now. Are you going to have a late-late-night snack at twelve o'clock? After playing at three or four o'clock, is there a late-late-late-night snack?
"Stop eating. If you keep eating, what will you do when you look down and can't see your chicken one day?"
Lin Li smiled and habitually attacked Zhou Baowei.
As the saying goes, for a girl, looking down and not seeing her toes is an absolute beauty in the human world.
But the Sichuan dialect says it even better: for a boy, burying his head and not seeing the tip of his chicken, that's the absolute beauty of Chengdu! (Looking down and not seeing the chicken tip is Chengdu's absolute beauty).
The other end of the phone fell silent.
"..."
"..."
"What the fuck do you mean looking down and not seeing the chicken!"
"Lin Li! Are you even human for saying this? It's too terrifying. It scared me so much that I just stood up and specially took a look. Fortunately, I can still see it."
After a rustling sound, Zhou Baowei's long sigh of relief and angry voice came from the other end of the phone.
"You fucking actually looked—"
Lin Li and Bai Bufan instantly laughed like crazy.
Lin Li then asked with a smile:
"No, Baowei, you're like this and still talking about a partner here. Do you know, if you keep eating, and you really have a partner in the future, when you lie on it and let her get on top and move herself, what will she say to you?"
"I don't want to hear it! Shut up! Bufan, tear his mouth apart for me!" Zhou Baowei roared.
But it was too late—
"Your partner looks at you and says with a troubled face, 'Brother Baowei, this concubine cannot sit on it'."
When the final blow was delivered, there were unclear sounds of breathing through the nose on both ends of the phone—Bai Bufan and Zhou Baowei laughing after understanding.
"Damn it, if I knew Lin Li was on the other end of the phone, I wouldn't have answered this call. This son of a bitch's mouth is really poisonous. Hanging up, hanging up. Bufan, I'll find you later when I'm done."
After Zhou Baowei laughed and scolded, he hung up the WeChat call with a ding.
Went to take a shower to cool down.
Then Bai Bufan made a few more calls, but they were either already playing and had to finish the game first, or had something to do and couldn't come right now, having to wait a bit.
"Forget it, forget it, I'll play some single-player games first. Since I can't play 'Astro Bot', then 'Sekiro'. I still haven't beaten it yet, I'll just beat it today."
Bai Bufan didn't care either. He opened Steam, looked at the large pile of exclusive games that appeared in the list because he was in an internet cafe, and said.
"Where are you at?" Lin Li asked curiously.
"I played until Sekiro's arm was cut off and then stopped playing." Bai Bufan turned his head and said while waiting for the page to load.
Lin Li: "..."
"So you fucking haven't even finished the prologue, what the fuck have you been playing." Lin Li laughed and scolded, "Bufan, do you watch 'One Piece'?"
"I do."
"Did you stop watching after seeing Roger die?"
"Yeah, isn't Roger the Pirate King? The protagonist is dead, I was too sad, I couldn't keep watching." Bai Bufan nodded with a smile.
"Makes sense."
Lin Li smiled and shook his head. Then, seeing the game start, he sat down curiously and watched Bai Bufan play for a while.
When he saw the red word "Death" appearing on the screen more and more frequently, and Bufan's face turning red along with the screen, Lin Li got up and decided to leave in satisfaction.
"No wonder netizens say 'Sekiro' is not as good as 'Shadows Die Twice' among Souls-like games, there must be a reason. What kind of bullshit difficulty is this set to, but I must beat it today."
Bai Bufan, who opened Bilibili and started searching for wheelchair tutorials, cursed.
(End of Chapter)