Chapter 10: What did you just say was the mission?

Class was over.

Most majors had roughly the same dismissal time, so Lu Hang stood at the school gate, exchanging casual hellos with a few familiar faces.
Meanwhile, he stared at the twenty thousand yuan transfer from the goddess and her question, thought it over, and finally replied:

“Not even a little bit, big sis… I just feel like we normally cohabited, that’s all.”

“Huh? Really?”
She sounded genuinely baffled.

Lu Hang honestly didn’t understand what there was to be baffled about.

Where in the world was there a rule that living together for a week automatically sparked romance?
If things worked the way the goddess described, then every guy who shared a male dorm for four straight years would be running off to Chengdu to become superhumans.

With nothing to do after class, Lu Hang decided to wander around, strolling aimlessly along the road while replying:

“If I really did fall in love with someone and answered ‘yes’—if this mission actually made me develop feelings—would that mean it’s over? Would you be able to go back to the divine realm and call it mission complete?”

“No way.”
The goddess replied almost instantly:
“As a god, I know exactly what’s in your heart. I can read minds. Whether you’ve fallen in love or not, I see it crystal clear. Don’t you think I know my own performance review?”

“Then why even ask me?”
Lu Hang was starting to get impatient.

“Just checking task progress, that’s all. You lived with a girl for a whole week—there’s no way you didn’t feel even a tiny bit of something, right?”

She sent the message casually.

The goddess glanced out the window.

This was a rather upscale apartment, floor-to-ceiling windows.
She sat in a rocking chair replying to Lu Hang, her face carrying the compassionate expression of a saint in a mural—
except the glass coffee table was littered with takeout boxes, a complete mess.

Inside the apartment, several oversized bookshelves were crammed with every kind of romance manga imaginable.
Judging from the titles, they covered every age group and demographic.

She casually picked up one volume, propped her chin on her hand, looking a little troubled.

The first task she’d designed hadn’t made Lu Hang fall in love.

But she figured that was to be expected.

Falling in love wasn’t that easy.

After thinking for a moment, she set the manga aside and beckoned with her hand.
Another volume flew from the shelf into her grasp.

Before Lu Hang graduated, she’d just have to try every single romance trope in this entire room one by one.
Surely one of them would finally get him into a sweet, sweet relationship.

“You’d better take this seriously. If you still haven’t passed the final love assessment by graduation, I’ll summon great fortune and send you off for good.”
Seeing Lu Hang still pressing, she replied offhandedly:

“Anyway, keep at it. I’m going to study now. I’ll give you the next task before tomorrow… I’m a little short on inspiration right now.”

A moment of silence.

A while later, he sent a 60-second voice message.

The goddess didn’t even bother opening it.

There definitely wasn’t anything nice in there.

…

Seeing that the goddess stopped replying, Lu Hang took a deep breath.

Right now he felt nothing but regret.

Utter regret.
I’m such an idiot, truly.

He never should’ve joined the crowd on the rooftop to make a wish.
Who knew someone would actually hear it.

But looking at the very real forty thousand yuan in his WeChat—deposit plus mission completion reward—
after a moment of thought, his mind started to stir.

He messaged the goddess:

“This mission… it’s going to keep going until I graduate, right?”

“Yes.”
Instant reply.

“And there’s money for every one?”

“Yes.”
She answered.

Good enough.

A bold idea suddenly formed in Lu Hang’s mind.

He had zero interest in romance right now—he just found the whole thing troublesome.
But fortunately, the goddess’s money was very real.
As a god, she wasn’t short on cash, and her rewards were generous.
If he could knock out several more of these missions, he might save up quite a bit before graduation.

And if he managed to pass the goddess’s final assessment by graduation,
it would pave the way for the rest of his life.

For example—save up for a few apartments, become a landlord…

Finding a job as a college grad these days was tough.
Might as well take the money while it was being handed to him.

Thinking this, Lu Hang casually looked up local housing prices.
This wasn’t a first-tier city, but there was a university nearby—
renting near campus actually had a solid market.
If he could save enough for one apartment before graduation,
he could basically live the stay-at-home landlord life—money coming in while he did nothing.

Lu Hang felt a spark of excitement.

He checked the prices again—around one million or a bit over.
He counted on his fingers:
At the current mission completion rate,
he could probably save enough for one apartment in about half a year,
plus around one hundred thousand for renovations.
Basically enough to coast forever.

Spend college relying on the goddess to stack up properties,
then become a landlord near campus and live the ultimate lie-flat life.

The thought alone felt amazing.

“You can’t even buy me a bag. What right does a broke guy have to talk about love?”
His ex-girlfriend’s voice echoed in his mind as she broke up with him.

Lu Hang frowned.

A relationship that focused too much on material things wasn’t love—
it was just a transaction.

But there was no denying that living in this world required material support.
And right now, the goddess was providing exactly that.

After receiving the forty thousand, Lu Hang thought about splurging a little,
but considering his simple lifestyle,
he couldn’t think of anything to spend on besides ordering extra iced black teas while gaming.
He ended up awkwardly frozen.

He’d originally thought about bringing some food back for Bai Huang…
but then remembered Young Master Bai didn’t need him spending money.
His forty thousand was probably less than one month of her pocket money.
Awkward again.

He didn’t know how to spend money.

After thinking it over, Lu Hang sighed, opened his dad’s WeChat, hesitated, and transferred ten thousand.

“Dad, take this and spend it.”

He’d been spending his family’s money all this time.
Now that he could earn some, he wanted to give a little back to his old man.

Right after the transfer went through, before he could head home,
his dad called immediately.

“Hello?”
Lu Hang answered lazily.

“You rob a bank or something?”
His dad sounded extremely anxious on the other end:
“Where’d the money come from?”

“Part-time job earnings.”
Lu Hang lied with his eyes wide open, but his voice still shrank involuntarily.
One, explaining was troublesome; two, he couldn’t exactly tell his dad he was making money by cohabiting with a girl—
sounded like some shady profession:
“Just made a bit. You take it and buy whatever.”

His dad was silent for a long time on the phone, then took an obvious deep breath, clearly moved:

“Don’t give it to me. Keep it for yourself.
College kids need money for food and clothes.”

“I eat either way.”
Lu Hang didn’t think much of it:
“Instant noodles or takeout box—same thing.”

“Let’s put that aside for now… by the way, you need to find a girlfriend.”

The topic shifted instantly to the one direction Lu Hang least wanted to hear.

On the other end, his dad spoke earnestly:
“Can you bring a wife home to show me before you graduate?”

Lu Hang was stunned speechless:
“…Where am I supposed to get a wife for you?”

“What are you talking about? Your dad married your mom at twenty-three.
If you pull this modern ‘no kids’ nonsense, how am I supposed to face our ancestors when I die?
Do I have to go down and tell your grandpa the Lu family line ends here?”
His dad was getting worked up:
“Besides, didn’t you say last time you found someone? Where’s that girl?”

Lu Hang was instantly speechless.

Last time his family kept pressuring him so hard he couldn’t stand it,
so he lied and said he was dating a girl—said she was very pretty, great family upbringing, etc.
To make the lie convincing, he even Photoshopped a photo and sent it to his dad,
who was over the moon.
He figured he could just say they broke up at graduation and smooth it over.

Lu Hang had genuinely planned to coast through four years of college with this lie,
enjoying four years of peace and quiet.

He never expected that the moment he sent money over,
his dad would pivot and start interrogating him about it.

“That girl… we’re still together.”
Lu Hang started scratching his butt, feeling uncomfortable all over.

“This winter break is coming up, right? Bring that girl home so I can meet her.”
His dad’s tone softened a little:
“From the photo you sent last time, she looked really nice.
Let your dad take a look and check her character.”

Lu Hang panicked:
“She’s busy—how’s she supposed to come back during winter break?”

“You’re not fooling me, are you?”
His dad was starting to sound suspicious:
“Did you just make her up? Grab some random photo online and Photoshop it to trick me?”

“…”

Lu Hang broke into a cold sweat.

Even his dad knew about Photoshop these days.

“That’s it. Bring your girlfriend home during winter break so we can meet her.
Don’t give me ‘she’s busy.’
You’re a man—you’re supposed to be the head of the household someday.
If you can’t even convince one little girl, what kind of ability is that?”
His dad brushed it off:
“I’m going to play mahjong. Hanging up.”

Lu Hang was stunned.
He opened his mouth to say something, but his dad had already hung up with a beep.

Ding.

His phone chimed again.
Looking down, his dad had transferred the full ten thousand back untouched,
leaving a voice message with the clatter of mahjong tiles in the background:
“Keep the money and buy yourself something nice to eat.
During winter break, remember to bring that girl home.
Your mom really wants to meet the girl you’re dating too.
Don’t forget, okay?”

Lu Hang stared at his phone helplessly, yet his heart warmed at the same time.

He let out a long sigh.

But seriously—one after another, whether gods or humans, why was everyone pushing him to find a girlfriend?!

Sighing and grumbling, he headed home, wondering what Bai Huang was up to right now.

Probably sprawled out on the bed, wearing his loose clothes, legs crossed, scrolling on her phone.

For dinner tonight, maybe hotpot lamb or grilled skewers…

While thinking, his phone chimed again.
Lu Hang took it out, expecting another nagging message from his dad,
but this time it was from “Omniscient and Omnipotent Goddess”:

“Lu Hang Lu Hang, I know what your next mission is going to be!”

No end to this, huh?
Didn’t she say she had no inspiration?

But Lu Hang’s heart remained calm.
After surviving the absurd mission of cohabiting with a girl for a week,
he felt like no matter what came next—dates, holding hands, or whatever nonsense—
he had built up plenty of mental resistance.

After all, none of this was for free.
There was real money involved.
For the sake of stacking up a few apartments by graduation and living the landlord lie-flat life afterward,
whatever effort he had to put in, he’d put in.

“What’s the mission? Tell me.”
Lu Hang took a deep breath:
“Is it holding hands with a girl or going on a date?”

“The next mission is:
within three days, you have to walk in on a girl using the bathroom…”

“?”