My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 57

On the quest panel, the main mission remained pinned at the top, a constant reminder of the time she needed to survive in this apocalypse. The two “Reunion” tasks that she had previously finished had vanished, and under the daily missions, one now bore the satisfying label: Completed.

This particular task one Chenxi hadn’t even realized she was working on required nothing more than making Mu Ning smile.

Back before the world ended, when Chenxi was desperately trying to grind for Mu Ning’s affection, this daily task would have been an absolute nightmare. In those days, Mu Ning was a permanent ice sculpture. Getting her to smile was impossible; getting her to say more than two words was a Herculean feat.

But now that the world had gone to hell, the former ice goddess had actually become talkative? And she smiled. Since reuniting, Chenxi had lost count of how many times she’d seen Mu Ning smile. Just during dinner last night, hadn’t she flashed another one?

Whatever. It didn’t matter how many times she smiled, as long as the task requirement was met once. If every daily mission was this easy. maybe this wouldn’t be so bad?

Staring at the purple glow of the Invisibility Card, Chenxi glanced at the other daily objectives. Her heart, betraying her pride, began to flutter with excitement again. Listen, she told herself, this is just for survival. It’s for the main quest. I am definitely not going back to being a simp for that block of wood! Exactly!

Based on how effortlessly she’d finished today’s task, she didn’t even need to try. She had just sold Mu Ning a generator at a discount and kicked out some annoying people—two small things that resulted in two smiles.

Trading simple, everyday favors for rare SR cards? That was a steal! As the saying goes: you’re a fool if you don’t take advantage of a bargain. And this wasn’t just any bargain; these were life-saving SR cards.

With that justification firmly in place, Chenxi’s restless heart finally calmed down. Right! It’s just an apocalyptic survival game. Daily tasks are there for the player to earn rewards. Besides, I have the final say. She would simply ignore the ridiculous ones—the ones about singing love songs, whispering sweet nothings, or “intimate late-night sessions.” As long as the tasks stayed decent and easy, she could handle them.

If she hoarded enough SR cards… she might actually have the power to solo that Level 7 giant octopus.

Wrapped in the sweet anticipation of tomorrow’s rewards, Chenxi let out a soft yawn, patted her cat, Tantan, and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Chenxi was licked awake by Tantan. The sensation was accompanied by the rhythmic sound of “kneading” against her pillow and a loud, vibrating purr. Out of old habit, Chenxi reached out to stroke the cat, murmuring sleepily, “Be good, Tantan… I’ll get your breakfast ready in a second…”

Back during her days at S University, Chenxi struggled to adjust to early morning classes. She used to set multiple alarms just to drag herself out of bed. Once she adopted Tantan, the alarms became obsolete. Tantan had just come home from the vet then and was still recovering; Chenxi never dared to miss a single meal for the cat. Whenever those “meows” started, no matter how much she craved the warmth of her blankets, she would cruelly peel herself away from her “gentle sanctuary.”

Within moments, she was fully awake. She pulled her clothes from her inventory and, while she was at it, checked the newly refreshed daily missions.

Okay, not bad. Aside from the bottom few that were too embarrassing to even look at, the top ones seemed. doable? For instance, the “Make Mu Ning Smile” task had refreshed again. Should she try for it immediately? Wait. did it matter how she made her smile?

Eyes fixed on the reward—an SR-tier Critical Strike Card—Chenxi hatched a little plan.

By the time Chenxi was dressed and carrying Tantan downstairs, the other girls were still fast asleep, likely exhausted from playing late into the night. Not wanting to disturb them, she headed to the kitchen. She needed to prep Tantan’s breakfast and see if she could knock out a second daily mission while she was at it.

As fate would have it, she ran right into Mu Ning at the second-floor landing. Seeing her “target,” Chenxi blinked, then quickly offered a friendly greeting: “Morning.”

“Good morning,” Mu Ning replied, clearly surprised but quick to respond.

However, a simple greeting wasn’t enough for the system.

Chenxi arched an eyebrow and said with a playful smirk, “That ‘good morning’ felt a bit half-hearted, don’t you think?”

“?” Mu Ning stared at her, confused. Was she trying to pick a fight? Her expression didn’t look malicious, but was she really being insincere? Heaven knew her heart was practically leaping with joy just because Chenxi had spoken to her first. How could that be insincere?

“If you’re greeting someone, you should at least do it with a smile. Why the cold face?” Chenxi grumbled jokingly, while secretly peeking at her mission panel.

Oh, so that was it. Mu Ning realized she was so happy on the inside that she had forgotten to tell her face. To clear up the misunderstanding, she very earnestly forced a faint, soft smile. “Good morning.”

The moment the words left Mu Ning’s lips, the “Make Mu Ning Smile” task flipped to Completed. Simultaneously, an SR Critical Strike Card slid into Chenxi’s inventory.

Satisfied, Chenxi continued, “You guys handled all the food yesterday, so I’ll take care of breakfast today.” Since the smile task was done, she moved on to the next: “Make an ‘Affectionate Breakfast’ for Mu Ning.” If she just made breakfast for everyone and included Mu Ning in the batch, the system would count it, right?

Mu Ning’s first instinct was to decline—she didn’t want Chenxi to go through the trouble—but then a thought struck her, and she nodded instead.

“Then… I’ll trouble you for it.”

“…” Chenxi paused. Wow, she really isn’t being polite at all, is she? Not even a ‘no, really, you don’t have to’?

Although Chenxi wasn’t very experienced with traditional country wood-stoves, she had watched Zhang Tongqi use them yesterday. Between starting the fire and boiling water in the large iron wok, she looked quite capable. After all, her “Handicraft” and “Cooking” skills were currently at max level.

As Chenxi was washing the rice, Mu Ning, who had been watching from behind, hesitated before asking, “Isn’t it a lot of work to cook for everyone? Maybe wait for the others to wake up so they can help?”

“No need!” Chenxi rejected the offer instantly. The “Affectionate Breakfast” task required her to do the work. If someone helped, and the system decided it wasn’t “hand-made” by her, she’d lose out on the reward—an SR-tier Explosion Card. She needed as many of those as possible. She wouldn’t let a minor mistake ruin her haul.

Seeing Chenxi’s firm resolve, Mu Ning paused, then added, “Then just cook for the girls. The guys can handle their own breakfast.”

Chenxi remembered that Chen Gu and the other boys were all decent cooks. Her goal was just to get Mu Ning to eat her food anyway, so the boys didn’t really matter. “Fair enough,” she agreed.

By the time Jian Dan, Song Xin, and Chang Ling stumbled downstairs yawning, the kitchen was already filled with the light, savory aroma of congee. The scent immediately snapped them awake.

Song Xin blurted out, “Is that mushroom and chicken congee?”

“Nope~” Chenxi smiled, carrying a bowl to the table. “It’s mushroom and goose congee.”

“Wait, goose? Like the mutated goose from yesterday?”

“Yep, I still have several chunks of it in my space.” She had the meat Zhang Tongqi and the others had carved, plus the drops she had gathered herself. “Go wake up Tang Ying and Lu Ping. It’s time to eat.”

“Help me wake up Tongqi and her group too, please,” Mu Ning added.

“You got it, Sis Xi!” “On it, Boss Mu!”

The girls, their stomachs already growling at the smell, scurried back upstairs to drag their friends out of bed.

While they were gone, Chenxi gestured toward Mu Ning. “They’ll be a while. Why don’t you have this bowl first?”

“This one is for me?” Mu Ning was genuinely flattered by the “special treatment.” She looked at Chenxi with a spark of hope, but when she saw Chenxi’s calm smile and those eyes that held no deeper emotion, her excitement cooled.

She remembered. This Ren Chenxi wasn’t the “Ren Muhui” who had once loved her.

Mu Ning carefully lifted the bowl and took a small sip. Just as she expected, a familiar flavor flooded her senses.

“It’s delicious… Even the taste is exactly like the congee Ren Muhui used to make.”

“Oh?” Chenxi noted that the “Affectionate Breakfast” task had completed the moment Mu Ning took that first bite. With another SR card in her pocket, she was in a good mood. She didn’t get angry at the mention of her past self; instead, she asked curiously, “You actually ate the congee Ren Muhui made?”

Didn’t she usually wait for me to leave and then give the food to someone else?

Mu Ning’s lips twitched into a bittersweet smile. “I did. During those few days when my stomach was acting up.”

Chenxi remembered that. When she found out Mu Ning had a stomachache, she had rushed to the school clinic for medicine, then hurried back to cook congee, worried that Mu Ning shouldn’t take medicine on an empty stomach. She had used whatever was in the fridge to make mushroom and chicken congee.

But… she thought Mu Ning hadn’t touched it. Mu Ning had taken the medicine, but the congee sat there, ignored.

Noticing the doubt in Chenxi’s eyes, Mu Ning bit her lip, sounding a bit embarrassed. “After Ren Muhui left, I was so hungry I couldn’t stand it, so I ended up drinking it.” That day, perhaps because she was truly famished, Mu Ning had finally given in. Despite her resistance toward Ren Muhui, she had unscrewed the lid of the thermos.

The moment it opened, the aroma hit her. Her protesting stomach won the battle of wills.

She had taken one small sip, and then, unable to stop, she had finished the entire thermos.

It was the best congee Mu Ning had ever had in her life.

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