A super-rich tycoon? No, just call me the gentlemanly gigolo.

Fortunately, Lin Wanxing wasn't walking very fast, and Jiang Ye caught up with her on the sidewalk not far from the bar entrance after only a few steps.

She had already put on that long down jacket, zipped it up to her chin, and was walking slowly in the cold night wind with her arms crossed and head down. Her back looked somewhat thin and lonely.

Jiang Ye quickened his pace to catch up with her and called out, "Hey beautiful! Wait a minute!"

Lin Wanxing stopped when she heard the sound and turned around with some confusion.

Upon recognizing the guy eating sunflower seeds in the bar, her brows immediately furrowed, her eyes filled with wariness: "What's up?"

Jiang Ye noticed the wariness in the other person's eyes and tactfully took half a step back to show that he meant no harm: "Beautiful lady, don't misunderstand. I just have a small favor I'd like to ask you for, just a small favor."

Lin Wanxing remained unmoved, her tone indifferent: "What busy?"

Jiang Ye pointed to her hair, trying to make his tone sincere rather than lewd:

"You...can I have one of those hair clips on your head?...Don't look at me like that! I'm not a pervert! I'm a legitimate collector! Really! I'm willing to pay for it!"

Lin Wanxing snorted lightly, her face clearly saying "You'd be a fool to believe that," and turned to continue walking.

"1000 yuan!"

Jiang Ye quickly raised his voice: "One thousand yuan! I'll buy you a used hair clip! Or something small like a hair tie will do!"

Lin Wanxing stopped again with a look of surprise, turned around, and carefully looked him up and down.

Seeing his serious expression, which didn't seem like he was joking, she suddenly laughed in exasperation. She reached into her hair, rummaged around, and took out a seemingly ordinary black bobby pin, waving it in front of him:

"You want this?"

Jiang Ye's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! This is perfect!"

Lin Wanxing nodded, then showed her phone's QR code for receiving payments, her tone slightly teasing: "Scan the code, one thousand."

"Okay! Coming right away!"

Jiang Ye, fearing she might change her mind, quickly took out his phone, scanned the QR code, and with a "beep," swiftly entered the amount and password.

[1000 RMB received via WeChat Pay.]

Upon hearing the clear notification sound of the funds arriving, Lin Wanxing was completely stunned, her face filled with disbelief and speechlessness.

She actually accepted 1000 yuan!?

Has flirting gotten this bad these days? Or... is this person really a bit off?

She looked down at the ordinary hair clip in her hand, the kind that could buy a whole stack for ten dollars at the night market, and tossed it to Jiang Ye with mixed feelings. She couldn't help but stand there and look at him a few more times.

But the man took the hair clip, didn't continue the conversation, but instead held it in his hands as if it were a precious treasure, and then...

He just stood there motionless, his eyes glazed over, as if he had fallen into some kind of dazed state and lost all reaction to the outside world.

"What a weirdo..." Lin Wanxing muttered to herself.

However, receiving 1000 yuan out of nowhere improved his mood considerably, which had been worsened by Zhang Wenhai.

It seems that while he's had a rough time in love, he's had some unexpected windfall luck? Although the money came out rather inexplicably.

She shook her head, ignoring the strangely behaving "collector," and turned to continue walking along the street, her figure gradually disappearing into the night.

At this moment, Jiang Ye had no mind to pay attention to the outside world; his consciousness was completely immersed in the system interface in his mind.

A series of pleasant system notification sounds rang out:

[Monthly Gentleman's Task: Collect three pieces of clothing worn by different women with a charm value of 85 or higher. (3/3)]

[Mission Complete!]

[Congratulations, host, on completing your first monthly experience task! Reward: +1 free refresh attempt!]

[The monthly task feature is now officially unlocked! Please accept and view the tasks yourself.]

"It's done!"

Jiang Ye felt a surge of excitement, followed by a hint of disappointment: "That's it? All this effort for just one free refresh? That's so stingy!"

but......

What does "officially unlocked" mean?

He tentatively issued the command in his mind: "Accept the monthly mission."

The system interface refreshes immediately:

[December 2025 Monthly Mission: Urban Legend - The Guardian Knight of Shared Bikes]

Task: During the late night (23:00 PM - 02:00 AM), find a shared bicycle whose seat has been maliciously pierced with an embroidery needle, and safely remove the needle without damaging public property (i.e., without damaging the bicycle seat).

Task Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (Requires luck, attention to detail, and a pack of tissues)

Mission Description: Become a knight of the night in the city, specializing in dealing with all kinds of "immorality". This is not only gentlemanly conduct, but also a +1 merit.

Task Reward: [Universal Lock Picker] (a one-time use item that can open any non-electronic lock) or 60000 RMB in cash.

Jiang Ye: "..."

He looked at the mission description, and his lips began to twitch.

Spending 3 hours every night to search the streets for a shared bike that has been punctured with needles?

What incredible luck would it take to encounter such a thing?

And even if you find it, what if you're bent over pulling out the needle and people think you're hiding a needle and call the police to arrest you?

He didn't even bother to think about such a crooked idea as "finding someone to insert the needle so he can pull it out himself"—he knew from the warnings that popped up from time to time when he was doing cashback before that such opportunistic behavior was absolutely doomed to fail.

"Whatever, I just got a free refresh anyway, might as well use it."

Jiang Ye sighed and issued the command: "System, refresh the monthly tasks."

[Refresh successful! Free refresh attempt -1.]

[December 2025 Monthly Task: The Art of Reverse Following]

Mission Objective: Identify a woman with a charm rating of 85 or higher who is being followed by a suspicious individual. You must subtly "reverse-follow" this suspicious individual for at least 2000 meters, ultimately ensuring the woman's safe arrival at her residence or other secure location. You must remain undetected by both the woman and the suspicious individual throughout the entire process.

Task Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (Requires observation skills, stealth, and a bit of courage)

Mission Description: Go forth, our "Shadow Guardians," and let the light of gentlemanly conduct shine in the night of this city!

Task Reward: [Presence Reduction Aura] (One-time use item, greatly reduces others' attention to you for 60 minutes after use) or 80000 RMB in cash.

Jiang Ye: "..."

He felt his eyelids twitching.

Holy crap! What kind of hellish missions are these?!

The last one was like finding a needle in a haystack, this one is even more outrageous. It's about having him first discover a beautiful woman being followed by a pervert, and then having him follow the pervert himself?!

Buschgomen! Is this reasonable?

"System, how much does it cost to refresh the monthly tasks?" Jiang Ye asked, clinging to his last glimmer of hope.

[Based on the host's current account balance, refreshing the monthly tasks will consume 33.3% of the balance, which is 27267 yuan.]

Jiang Ye glanced at his WeChat balance of 81850 yuan and cursed under his breath, "As expected, each refresh consumes one-third of the current funds. This rule is really shady!"

But the problem is, where is he supposed to run into an 85-point beauty who happens to be being followed by a pervert?

The probability of that is even lower than finding a needle in a shared bicycle seat, right? Are we really going to spend over 27,000 yuan to gamble that the next task will be normal?

As he was debating whether to grit his teeth and accept defeat, and spend money to refresh the page, a slightly familiar male voice, suppressing anger, suddenly came from not far away:

"Damn it! Lin Wanxing! You bitch! What are you pretending to be, some innocent maiden?! You even guard your place like you're dealing with a thief! Fine! You're so tough! Today I'm going to sneak into your house and see where you can hide!"

Immediately afterward, a familiar figure—it was the same guy named Zhang Wenhai from before—passed by him, sneaking around and silently following the slender figure in a long down jacket who was waiting at the red light.

Jiang Ye: "..."

He stood there, watching Zhang Wenhai sneakily follow him away, then looked at the "Art of Reverse Tailing" task prompt in his mind, and his expression instantly became extremely interesting.

"Fine... I give up. I'll take this mission!"