Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  After 10 in the evening, there were fewer pedestrians on the streets. Two figures left the pet shop quietly. The door closed loudly, and the lights on the first floor of the pet shop turned off, but the lights in the room upstairs were still on.

  It was a cold night, but the two figures were strong guys who didn’t need much cover. It was Binhai City, after all, not Northeast China nor Alaska. They wore knitted hats over their foreheads, gloves, winter jackets, and masks that covered everything, but their sneaky eyes. They each had a stack of colorful stickers under their arms.

  The two guys were Wang Qian and Li Kun, sent by Zhang Zian to post sticker ads. They didn’t dare posting them during the day, in case they got caught by police.

  “Bro, where shall we start?” Wang Qian, who wasn’t good at using his brain, asked.

  Li Kun thought for a second and said, “Master made it clear to post them in schools. We can’t sneak into elementary schools without being seen as perverts. It’s tough to get into high schools, too. Let’s post them in our university. We could walk along the road going west, post them around campus, then come back from the east, make a full circle.”


  Wang Qian agreed with the genius plan. However, neither of them thought of a reason why they should go back to the pet shop. Why not head straight home?

  They were both Otakus in the past. Apart from occasional night outings with friends, they barely went outside at night alone. Dongcheng District was an old urban area with lots of schools and universities. Night life wasn’t as colorful as downtown, especially during the Spring Festival when most late night shops were closed for business. Only a few stores were still open, which made their outing convenient.

  Bam! Bam! Bam!

  As they walked, they posted the stickers on sidewalks, utility poles, door steps and public bathrooms. The key to posting ads was keeping a low profile. Otherwise, the ads might be peeled off by those who didn’t like them.

  Two thousand ads was a lot, they wouldn’t use all of them if they only posted them in the streets. They walked into the familiar Binhai University, passing the main classroom building, where the lights were still on. They slowed their pace, as they were about to embrace the biggest challenge of the mission, the girls’ dormitory.

  Why the girls’ dormitory instead of the men’s? Obviously because guys were occupied with games all day and ate at the cheap school cafeteria to save money. They’d rather eat ramen noodles than spending time and money to eat outside. Although, they thought to post a few ads in the boys’ dorm, just in case some guys noticed the ads.

  To guys, the girls’ dorm was a forbidden city, as inaccessible as the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain or the Lop Nor desert. Before any guy even entered the building, the doorwoman was alerted each time a guy passed by.

  Speaking of doorwomen, their combat level t in Binhai City was probably next to Master Zhang Zian. They had strong arms and loud voices, and nobody could escape them. The doorwomen could spread the scandal across the city, ruining their reputation.

  They had to obey the Master’s order. Zhang Zian clearly instructed them to post more ads near the girls’ dorm, since university girls were the demographic of the snack bar. A cheap yet fancy snack bar should attract girls who loved cats, but weren’t allowed to keep them in the dorms.

  Wang Qian and Li Kun gasped at the girls’ dorm. Most girls had gone home for the holiday, only a few of them stayed to prepare for grad school exams or part-time jobs. The lights were on in the doorwomen’s room, and a few chubby figures were visible through the windows.

  “Bro, what should we do?” Wang Qian grabbed Li Kun, and squatted in the dark shadow away from the street lamps.

  Li Kun scratched his head. Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t an option, so they had to be creative. He saw a bike shed near the building, with bicycles and motorcycles parked there. There was even a few colorful bikes from the bike sharing program. The shed blocked the street lamp, casting a shadow underneath.

  Li Kun suddenly had an idea, and said, “Bro, how about posting the ads on the bikes? The girls will see them when they use their bikes. The shed is a good cover, so we won’t be spotted easily.”


  They agreed, then bent down, snuck under the bike shed, and started posting from oppposite ends, meeting in the middle.

  They posted the ads between the handlebars on the regular bikes. For the shared bikes, they posted them on top of the QR codes, so that the users couldn’t ignore them.

  It was too dark under the shed. As Wang Qian was working, his pants were caught by the back of a bike, making the bike fall on its side. Despite his effort to catch it, it hit the bike next to it, and made a loud noise.

  “Bike thief!”


  A loud cry came from the doorwomen’s room, as loud as gunshots. Immediately, a few sturdy figures came out of the building. They heard the noise from the bike shed and formed two teams to cover both sides. The team work was impressive.

  Crap!

  Wang Qian and Li Kun panicked. There was nothing, but open space around the bike shed, no place to hide. If they were mistaken for bike thieves, nothing could prove their innocence.

  As they were about to be captured, a rustling sound came from the woods at the other side of the building, as if somebody was running away.

  “Over there!”


  The doorwomen heard the sound, and dashed towards the other side. One of them said loudly, “Some of us should go back to the building to protect the girls, just in case they were distracting us to sneak in!” They were clearly experienced in fighting off horny boys.

  Two doorwomen ran back to the building, while the others chased after the rustling sound. Despite their age, they were fast and vanished in a second.

  Wang Qian and Li Kun hesitated. Did someone save them, or was it a coincidence?

  Nonetheless, they weren’t stupid enough to wait for the doorwomen to come back. They snuck out of the chaos.

  After they had left, the doorwomen returned to the building in disappointment after a fruitless hunt. None of them noticed a small shadow wearing a bamboo hat suddenly jumping off a branch to fade into the darkness, leaving the branch swinging in the wind.