Chapter 140
Chapter 140: You Like Me and Want to Marry Me—Who Do You Think You Are?
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes practically popped out of his head.
A proposal?
He was actually watching his uncle propose to his roommate.
For the Emperor’s sake, for the Empress’s sake, for even the Beast God’s sake—when people proposed, they brought something. A rare-ore ring. A limited-edition flyer. A house. A planet. A mine. A deed.
At the very least, a bouquet.
But his uncle? That whole “proposal” felt like something he’d tossed out in a blink, like he was handling a trivial errand he didn’t care about.
And with a proposal like that, any woman already wearing rose-colored glasses for him would still say yes.
His roommate, though? Not a chance.
Jiang Tea Tea clicked her tongue and flicked her hand through the air like she was swatting off something filthy. “Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming, your abacus beads are clacking so hard they’re about to bounce into my face.”
“Want me to clap for you and tell you what a great job you did?”
“One minute you say you won’t fight me for the cub. Then you say you won’t snatch the cub.”
“Next minute you’re saying we should register a marriage and you’ll ‘take responsibility.’”
“Is that taking responsibility?”
“No. That’s you trying to take the cub from me in broad daylight.”
She was a demon tree. Her contract with the fake heiress had already tied her to this era. If she registered a marriage with him—formed a marriage pact—it would be like stamping a tethering brand onto her and binding her to this world.
Once that brand was set, she might never make it back to the Demon Clan. She’d be stuck here for life.
And her “one lifetime” was long. Long enough to outlive a hundred of him.
In three or five hundred years, he’d close his eyes, his tail would go limp, and that would be that. Meanwhile, she’d still be trapped here, with no idea when that tethering brand would finally fade.
And if their marriage pact ended up lasting forever…
Tsk.
Then she’d have to go find him in his next life.
Those days of searching would be “spectacular”—long, endless, and maddening.
Forget it. She couldn’t live that kind of “spectacular” life.
She’d learn from her grandmother: date them, sleep with male immortals, male ghosts, male demons—whatever. Just don’t form a marriage pact. Don’t take responsibility. Everyone stays happy.
Chong Ming didn’t look surprised by her refusal. He ignored her mockery and spoke with infuriating sincerity. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, single women giving birth and raising a cub alone is completely normal now.”
“Your abilities are excellent. Even without me backing you, you can still give the cub a comfortable life.”
“But the one in your belly is Gold Dragon Clan. A Gold Dragon Clan cub will be a target anywhere it goes. People will want it.”
“Asais sent bugs into the Royal Military Academy for one reason: to find the Crown Prince, kidnap the Crown Prince, and use him to threaten the Zhen Lin Empire.”
“So if you register a marriage with me, it can avoid a lot of—”
“Stop. Stop. Stop.” Jiang Tea Tea cut him off, lifting a hand like a traffic cop. “Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming, registering a marriage with you doesn’t avoid trouble. It makes trouble come looking for me.”
“And besides—just because you say my cub is Gold Dragon Clan means it is?”
“I can say it’s White Dragon Clan, Blue Dragon Clan, Flower Dragon Clan. It could even be not Dragon Clan at all.”
“Technology is so advanced. Medical care is so good. There are so many banned drugs. My roommate can turn into Red-Black Dragon Clan—why can’t my baby turn into Red-Black Dragon Clan too?”
Trying to cozy up to her, talking about avoiding this and dodging that—did he think she was some newborn baby demon, clueless about the world, easy to trick? One piece of candy and she’d scamper after him on two legs?
She was a great demon. She’d awakened intelligence long before she transformed, spent hundreds of years growing into a demon, and cultivated for ages after that.
Sweet-talk her and steal her babies?
Dream on.
The cubs were hers. Anyone who tried to take them would have to fight her to the death—biological father included.
Chong Ming’s golden eyes flickered. “You’re right. There are drugs that can change a Dragon Clan’s scale color and even blood color.”
“But those are typically used on Dragon Clan cubs from five to ten years old and up. A newborn cub can’t take them.”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t budge. “Small problem. If I have money and ability, I’ll find someone who can make a color-changing drug a cub can use the moment it’s born.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. You walk your road; I cross my bridge. If we meet, we nod and move on.”
Chong Ming’s gaze deepened. “Jiang Tea Tea, whether you admit it or not, I am the father king of the cub in your belly.”
“As its father king, my upbringing won’t let me ignore it. I won’t refuse to do a father’s duty.”
Jiang Tea Tea narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down. “You really want to do a father’s duty for it?”
Chong Ming nodded once. “Yes.”
A sly light flashed in Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes. “Then lend me a billion to spend first?”
Sui Xuan Chu nearly swallowed his tongue.
His uncle was stingy as hell with him, always raising him on the cheap. There was no way he’d casually hand his roommate a billion to play with.
Chong Ming lowered his head and opened his lightbrain. “I remember I shared my Empire Bank account with yours. Did you close it unilaterally?”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “What?”
Shared accounts?
Since when?
Why didn’t she know?
Sui Xuan Chu looked like he’d been struck by lightning.
His uncle gave him pocket money once a month—a tiny top-up for his meal card—always saying a man had to be raised poor.
But for his roommate, he shared accounts?
So who was the real family here?
After checking, Chong Ming looked up. “The shared account is still active. Normal operation.”
“If you need money, use my funds directly. No threshold. No limit. Spend one billion, two billion—whatever you want.”
Jiang Tea Tea lifted her wrist and opened her personal account on her lightbrain.
The billion the Jiang family had paid as compensation—she’d donated it.
The hundred million she’d won from beating up the Insect Clan today—she’d donated that too.
Her account was as clean as a freshly swept floor.
Sui Xuan Chu leaned over to peek at his uncle’s private stash. Jiang Tea Tea stared at the screen like it was written in alien code.
He sighed, reached out, and tapped her lightbrain twice, pulling up the shared account.
Jiang Tea Tea stared at the balance. She tried to count the zeros, failed, and turned to Sui Xuan Chu. “Your uncle is so rich!”
Sui Xuan Chu huffed. “I’m only ‘borrowing your light’ to learn how rich my uncle is.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes gleamed. “If I donated all his money, would he freak out and slaughter me?”
Sui Xuan Chu, bold as hell, grabbed the back of Jiang Tea Tea’s head and turned her toward Chong Ming. “The person involved is right in front of you. Ask him. Why are you asking me?”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked at Chong Ming. “If I donated all your money, what would you do?”
Chong Ming let out a long, helpless sigh. “If I opened a joint account with you, then it’s yours to spend. Yours to donate. You don’t need to ask.”
Sui Xuan Chu leaned in, whispering, “Roommate, send me an 880,000 star credits red packet so I can get a taste?”
Jiang Tea Tea replied without looking up, “In your dreams.”
Sui Xuan Chu rolled his eyes. “It’s my uncle’s money. Why are you so stingy?”
Jiang Tea Tea flicked her wrist and shut down the shared account. “You know it’s your uncle’s money. If you want to spend it, go ask him. Why are you asking me?”
Money she earned herself didn’t stick her with karma.
Money spent from someone else’s account—even a shared one—did.
She wasn’t about to entangle herself with Chong Ming, that Old Loach, over something as stupid as money.
Like a scholar saving a fox spirit. Then the fox spirit owed a life. It would suffer through cultivation, finally enter the ranks of a half-immortal, and the Heavenly Dao would thunder down: you still owe a life.
Then, bang. Off it went to repay the debt.
Back and forth, the fox spirit would suffer body and heart, and if it was unlucky, it would die for it.
Not worth it. Too dangerous. Completely against what a modern tree demon should be doing.
Chong Ming heard the soft chime of the account closing. He looked at her, puzzled. “Why did you close it? Aren’t you short on money?”
Jiang Tea Tea waved a hand and lifted her chin. “If I’m short, I’ll earn it. I’m not spending yours so you can point at me later and say, ‘I paid to raise the cub, so the cub belongs to me.’”
“To keep you from going back on your word, I won’t spend a single coin of your money.”
“And also—send me back to school. I’m not going to the Imperial Palace for an exam. Thanks.”
Chong Ming’s face stayed calm, but his tone sharpened. “If you’re that wary of an exam, you should know the school’s equipment isn’t secure. The results could leak.”
“The Imperial Palace medical room has the top equipment in the galaxy. The security level is the highest. The people examining you are Cheng Lin Yue and her uncle Cheng Yuan—people you trust.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s voice dropped. “So you’re saying you won’t take me back to school and you’re going to force me back to the Impe—”
“Roommate. Roommate.” Sui Xuan Chu grabbed her arm, cutting her off. “Don’t be mad, don’t get worked up. It’s just a checkup. Just to see if my brother or sister is healthy. Small thing. Really small.”
Jiang Tea Tea yanked her arm away. “You backstabbing traitor.”
Sui Xuan Chu swore like he was taking an oath. “For my brother or sister, I can bend my elbow toward you. Believe me!”
Jiang Tea Tea shot Chong Ming a hard look. “I’ll go with you to the Imperial Palace once. Next time, get as far away as possible.”
Chong Ming’s voice went low. “We’ll discuss that later.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes flared. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” Chong Ming said evenly. “Don’t misunderstand.”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at his calm, steady face and wanted to tear it apart. But she couldn’t beat him, so she swallowed it.
Fine. She’d go for the exam.
But she absolutely couldn’t let Old Loach Chong Ming find out she had multiple cubs inside her. One cub already made him this unreasonable—if he found out there were several, he might try something even worse.
Chong Ming spoke again, annoyingly persistent. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, I hope you’ll consider my proposal to register a marriage.”
He still wasn’t giving up?
Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth twitched. She tossed the question out like a casual joke, straight from the soul. “You want to register a marriage with me so badly… are you in love with me or something?”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes sank. He stared at her for a long moment, then admitted it without flinching. “Yes. I like you.”