Chapter 96: Marked.
Chapter 96: Marked.
Hao Ren stood before Han Lingshi, looking at her from outside the door. He wanted to call her for breakfast, but the system had issued a task for him. Thinking about this, how could it be so simple for him to go in. Han Lingshi was not impolite, yet she had not called him inside, it meant she was very private about this.
He smiled and asked, "Lingshi, are you not even going to invite me inside the room?"
Han Lingshi was stunned and then she asked, "Why do you want to come inside, Ren? This is just like any other room."
Hao Ren pinched his chin before he said, "It doesn't matter if the room is just like any other, what matters to me is that its your room."
Han Lingshi smiled and leaned against the door as she asked, "Well, since you know it is my room, that means it is my personal space. Why shall I allow you inside?"
Her voice had a teasing tone to it. She was messing with Hao Ren while masking her intentions of keeping him out with a joking tone. Han Lingshi was a shy person and inviting someone to her room was a bit too difficult for her. Last night, she was prepared for this but her grandmother unintentionally caused all her courage to go down the drain.
The second attempt on such things needed a lot of courage, Han Lingshi did not have such courage in her heart. Hao Ren looked at her face, and revealed a bitter smile. He then nodded and said, "I shall get going. The breakfast is ready."
He turned around to leave, but the droopy shoulders made Han Lingshi's heart ache. She reached out to grab his arm and asked, "Ren, what is the matter? Tell me."
Hao Ren shook his head but the lady asked insistently, and after a few minutes he said, "I just thought we have no walls among us. We have limits, they are necessary, but walls. It's a bit hurtful. Don't worry, I will be fine soon."
He smiled but his eyes were almost briming with tears. Han Lingshi felt her stomach clench and she said, "You are right, we should have limits, but no walls."
The next moment, she led him inside her room. Hao Ren found that it was really like any other room, but then his gaze fell on the pictures Han Lingshi had stacked on a wall. He looked at her and asked, "May I?"
The lady nodded and Hao Ren moved closer to the wall. He looked at all the pictures, sometimes with a smile, and sometimes with questions. These pictures were of Han Lingshi, it seemed as if all the important moments of her life had been pasted onto the wall.
Han Lingshi observed his changing expressions with a faint smile. She could tell that Hao Ren was really looking at the pictures and realized that she was just being stupid by keeping him from entering. Hao Ren questioned her about the pictures and unknowingly the two of them were standing in each others embrace.
Han Lingshi was a few years older than him, but she was being teased by him as if he was the elder one. Their laughter was echoing through the corridors and the people who came over to call them could not bear to disturb the couple. To the staff, Miss Han never had such a cheery smile on her face.
After half an hour, Han Lingxue called them on phone and the two woke up from their leisure. Hao Ren suddenly asked, "Can I have a place on your wall?"
Han Lingshi was surprised but then she smiled and said, "Yes, just a minute."
She quickly rummaged through her cupboard, and fished out a polaroid camera. The set up was simple they were standing before the photo wall and camera was set on timer. Soon, a click was heard accompanied by a flash.
However, in that exact moment, Hao Ren held Han Lingshi's face and kissed her. The gesture took the lady by surprise. Then the young man retrieved the picture from the camera slot and shook it while he said, "I leave my mark on your soul, as you have left yours on mine."
Han Lingshi looked at him and then rolled her eyes before she said, "Third class poetry will not get you anywhere with me, Mister. I shall have my revenge."
Hao Ren raised his brow and then found the lady kissing him in return. However, before the former had any chance to return the favor, the door was knocked and Han Lingxue said, "You better come out, or grandma will bust this room open."
The couple broke away from the wandering hands of each other, and sorted their clothes. Han Lingshi pasted the picture on the wall before Hao Ren opened the door and the two of them followed a glaring Han Lingxue with silly smiles on their faces.
Hao Ren heard the notification in his mind, *Ding: Task completed, as a reward, monthly lottery section is activated.*
These words almost made Hao Ren trip in the corridor. He did not expect there to be such a thing. The two reached the dining room, and found the entire family sitting around the table, waiting for them. Hao Ren and Han Lingshi apologized for the delay and they sat down to eat.
The meal was quick, and afterward, unable to contain his eagerness. Hao Ren kissed Han Lingshi on her forehead and said, "I have to go and meet the security team coming over to the office today. I cannot delay it anymore. Can you handle the dinner between the two families?"
Han Lingshi held his hand and smiled as she said softly, "Don't worry, I will handle it all."
Hao Ren kissed her forehead one more time before he greeted the elders and left the place. His actions caused the elders to be shocked. After he left Han Lingshi asked, "Are you shocked that he kissed my forehead before you?"
Old Master Han unconsciously nodded and Han Lingshi said, "He has the guts to do it before the entire city, why can he not do before you?"
Han Tong snorted and said, "Vulgar!"
Han Lingshi sneered and said, "Old Boys, you men do not understand the difference between the expression of love and trust and the expression of lust."
The women in the house supported her.
...
Hao Ren got inside the car and drove out while thinking, 'System, can you tell me what is going on? What is this monthly lottery? What is the gold task?'
*Ding: The level of the tasks vary not in difficulty but in importance. Growing a bond closer to your wife, that is the primary objective and you entered her private quarters, thus you completed a golden task. The rewards for the Golden Tasks are much more valuable than the rest of the tasks*
Hao Ren nodded in understanding as he asked, 'Okay, so can I try the reward now?'
*Ding: To start the lottery, just say, Withdraw the monthly lottery prize. The rewards are one of a kind and cannot be repeated.*
Hao Ren thought for a bit and said, 'Withdraw Monthly Lottery prize.'
The young man heard a mechanical voice in his mind as if a roller machine in the casino has turned on. After a few moments, the voice stopped and Hao Ren heard the system say, *Ding: Congratulations, host, for winning the spatial augmentation.*
Hao Ren was driving and hearing this he almost ran his car into the divider. He took a deep breath to calm his mind, the rewards were too overwhelming for him. He asked, 'System, what might this be?'
*Ding: You can select one object of any type and then it will be augmented with space attribute that could serve as your secret vault and is only accessible to you.*
Hao Ren did not even hesitate to think about it before he said, 'The jade ring on my hand, I want it to be augmented.'
*Ding: Augmenting the jade ring.*
The next moment, Hao Ren sensed a warm sensation flowing through his ring finger. The white jade ring turned slightly golden and then it returned to normal. The system announced that the augmentation was complete. Hao Ren looked inside the car and found a few coins laying in the cup holder on the side.
He placed his left hand in the cup holder and tried to think that the coins were absorbed by the ring on his hand. Then after a few minutes, he sensed something that could not be explained in words. In his mind, he saw a place as a garage, and there were two coins laying on the ground.
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Then Hao Ren thought that the coins were pushed out of the ring before they re-appeared on his palm. He sucked in a cold breath before trying the same thing for a few more times. Then he placed the coins back in the cup holder. His lips were curled on the corners because he was having a ball.
The space augmentation tool was something that would come in handy in places where he could not even begin to imagine.
With this, he drove his car to the office of the Thunder Technologies.