"Come in." A crisp, melodious voice laced with youthful charm rang out.
Pushing the door open, Chen Luo was greeted by a maid in pristine white stockings.
The maid appeared only slightly older than him, with delicate features and a figure that could make heads turn—especially the white silk stockings below the absolute domain, which made people want to lick it.
Chen Luo had long suspected this maid's uniform wasn't exactly "professional," but he lacked concrete evidence.
What kind of proper maid wears a miniskirt?
Had her employer been male, Chen Luo would've pegged them as an old pervert. Unfortunately or fortunately, her mistress was a woman whose beauty and grace matched—if not surpassed—the maid's own.
"Sister Meng." Chen Luo handed over the bag of oranges.
"I've told you a thousand times, no need to bring gifts every visit. Miss never finishes them anyway," the white-stockinged maid chided, though she accepted the fruit regardless.
"Then you eat them. How can a grown woman be defeated by a bag of oranges?" Chen Luo retorted, utterly unrepentant, before shifting his gaze to the figure reclining on the hospital bed.
A cascade of silken black hair framed a face buried in a hefty tome, exuding an aura of scholarly refinement—though her pallid complexion betrayed prolonged illness.
A delicate, bookish beauty with… substantial assets. The trope stacking was real.
With her refined features, she'd be the archetypal "senpai heroine" in any anime.
"How's the body holding up, Lian'er? Any improvements?" Chen Luo asked gently.
Two years ago, when he'd first read to her, she'd looked exactly this frail. Two years later, nothing had changed.
"Much better, thank you." Yun Lian'er lifted her head, offering a soft smile.
"How much better? Two years, two whole years, you said this two years ago. I swear this hospital's scamming you—how can anyone stay this sick for so long?" Chen Luo scoffed, his skepticism blatant.
His first visit had been during a high school volunteer program during his first year. Now, with summer break of the second year of highschool, it really had been nearly two years.
Chen Luo knew her family had money—only the wealthy could afford this penthouse suite for years.
And poor households didn't employ white silk maid.[1]
Of course, Chen Luo's family is not poor, it's just Chen Luo himself who is poor. So Chen Luo did not covet anything from her family background.
"Enough grumbling. You complain more than the actual patient," Yun Lian'er said, her smile unwavering. She knew his gripes came from concern.
"So, what's today's pick? One Hundred Years of Solitude?"
"Hard pass. Last time I barely made it thirty pages before forgetting the plot. Masterpiece or not, it's unreadable." Chen Luo shook his head.
The literary merit of One Hundred Years of Solitude was undeniable, but its appeal wasn't universal. Besides, who could finish it in two hours?
"Then what do you want to read?" She nodded in agreement with Chen Luo's statement and asked.
"Just... the theory of relativity." Chen Luo raised his head confidently.
"…You absolute—fine. I just happen to have this book." Yun Lian'er burst out laughing.
"Sister Meng, go look for it on the bookshelf." Yun Lian'er looked at the white silk maid.
"Okay, Miss." The maid nodded and glided toward the floor-to-ceiling bookcase dominating the suite's wall.
"I'm curious, why do you want to read the theory of relativity?" The girl expressed her doubts.
"It is said only geniuses are supposed to understand it. I think I qualify," Chen Luo declared.
"You'll last five minutes at most, and you will give up before five minutes." Yun Lian'er shook her head.
"No, I think at least 6 minutes." Chen Luo said confidently.
Three minutes later…
"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?" Chen Luo's eyes were fixed on the preface of the first page of the theory of relativity. As it turned out, Chen Luo couldn't even last for three minutes.
The girl who was reading seriously glanced at Chen Luo who was in a daze, smiled, and continued to read.
The reason why Chen Luo can persist in reading at this book now is entirely because of the commission.
[Ding! New commission!]
[Reading Companion] (Repeatable)
Objective: Accompany a "sickly" girl with a delicate body to read for at least two hours, and do not cause her to feel irritated during the process.
Reward: 100 Primogems + Random art-related skill
Difficulty: Two stars
When Chen Luo received this commission, he was shocked.
Good guy, is the reward for this commission so high? It actually gives 100 Primogems.
He'd always known that accompanying her would increase the progress by 0.2 each time. Which was definitely more than ordinary commission, but he didn't expect it to be so much more. And the difficulty of that commission was also a bit crazy.
What does two stars mean?
It means this is the most difficult commission Chen Luo has done.
Is she a scourge? Or is she bad-tempered, or is she picky, and not everyone can accompany her to study? Or maybe it's because it is a repeated commission.
Thinking about it carefully, he had been doing this every Saturday morning for two years—sometimes Sundays for extra commissions. During winter and summer vacations, if there are no commissions, he would come more frequently.
After all, this kind of job that offers this mix of high reward, low effort, and proximity to home is really rare.
But the "no irritation" condition meant Chen Luo could only stare at this damn relativity book in a daze.
I dare not move, I dare not move.
100 Primogems equaled 20 lollipop heists or 10 delinquent beatdowns.
Chen Luo, who was in a daze, saw a shadow fall across the page. sister Meng materialized beside him, stealthily sliding a copy of Story Club magazine[2] atop Einstein's masterpiece.
"Angel…" Chen Luo looked at her with emotion, and even had the illusion that an angel's wings were spreading behind her. Then, Chen Luo sandwiched the Story Club magazine in the middle of the theory of relativity.
To be fair, the theory of relativity is really profound and unfathomable. Chen Luo couldn't understand it at all. The preface alone had turned his brain to soup.
Of course, while reading, Chen Luo couldn't help wonder what the Herrscher of Sentience was doing? Is she hungry? Has she caused any trouble?
Two hours passed like this.
[Ding! Commission complete.]
The heavenly chime snapped Chen Luo from his rigor-mortis pose, who had been sitting stiffly for two hours.
TL Note:
[1]: maid with white silk stockings
[2]: A popular Chinese pulp fiction magazine—the literary equivalent of junk food.