Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Other people coax their wife with flowers and money. Big Golden Dragon coaxes his wife by stretching his neck out for you to bite

Chong Ming saw her staring and pushed the bud closer. “If you want it, I’ll give it to you.”

Jiang Tea Tea snapped back. With one hand on her head, she grabbed the bud from him. “Who told you to be so handsy and pluck my bud?”

What did he mean, she wanted it?

It was hers in the first place.

Chong Ming frowned slightly, a bit unsure. “Wasn’t this a bud that fell on your head in the theater? Was it a decoration you wore when you went out?”

“What’s it to you?” Jiang Tea Tea’s voice went sharp. “I hate you. Get lost!”

She shoved open the flyer door, jumped out, and ran.

Chong Ming got out right after, but by the time he did, she was gone.

He stood beside the flyer, staring in the direction she disappeared, his expression heavy.

After a long time, he got back into the flyer. His face was blank, lips pressed tight. He logged back into the “pursuing pure human female” forum, anonymously described what he’d done, and asked for advice.

The moment he posted, the comments exploded.

“Pff, hahaha. You asked a pure human female out, then you got handsy and plucked the flower bud braided into her hair. If I were her, I’d be mad too.”

“Yeah. She dressed up to go out, and you just yanked it off. That’s flirting like a blind man. Anyone would be angry.”

“This reminds me of my first date with my partner. I did full makeup and bright red lipstick. He stared and asked if I’d just eaten a dead child, why my mouth was so red. Then he pulled out wipes to clean my lips.”

“My god. ‘Ate a dead child.’ I slapped him and left.”

“HAHAHA. Blazing red lips equals dead child. I’m sorry, my laugh point is low.”

“Seriously, sometimes I don’t understand how male brains are wired. Straight as a board.”

“Anonymous poster, she cursed you rightfully. You were handsy. Now look. You want to chase her? Hard.”

“Exactly. From your description, I can tell she really liked that bud. Otherwise it’s just a bud—she wouldn’t react that strongly.”

“Only if she liked it a lot, loved it, would she get that mad after it got yanked off casually.”

Chong Ming read the replies and matched them with Jiang Tea Tea’s angry exit. He concluded she really liked that deep green bud.

He posted another anonymous question: “How do I fix it?”

Comments flooded in.

“Fix it? I’ll boldly guess this anonymous poster is old, blunt, and has never dated.”

“No need to guess. We already know. Look at his browsing history. It’s all ‘how to pursue a younger pure human.’ That says either he’s rich and never dated, or he’s poor and never dated.”

“Or he’s high-status and clean in private life, with no romance strategist around, so he came to a forum to ask anonymously.”

“That possibility is basically zero, but since he’s humble enough to ask, I’ll still say a few words.”

“Fixing it is easy. If you have money, buy whatever she likes. The more expensive, the better.”

“If you don’t have money, buy something affordable and sincere, and apologize with words.”

“But you have to persist. One apology might not be forgiven. Also, if she likes you, she’ll forgive easier. If she doesn’t, you’re in danger.”

Chong Ming watched the comments drift off-topic and exited the forum. Since Jiang Tea Tea liked dragon blood and was interested in his meat, he knew exactly how to coax her.

—

Jiang Tea Tea flew to the school’s back mountain and tossed her lightbrain, storage button, and all electronics into the flyer.

She used magic power and shrink the earth to an inch, hopping deeper into the mountains. After setting up a barrier, she returned to her original form, rooted into the earth, and let her soul slip out of her body.

Hovering above herself, she inspected her branches.

Besides the bud Chong Ming plucked off, there were eight more tiny buds. They were so small you wouldn’t see them without looking closely. The biggest bud had been the one he took.

She was the tea tree clan’s only pride, living thousands of years. She’d finally grown buds, was going to bloom, was truly growing up—and he yanked one off in a single grab.

Too much.

Way too much.

The more Jiang Tea Tea thought, the angrier she got. But then a cold, uneasy thought surfaced.

A plant bloomed for pollination. For reproduction. For bearing fruit. Fruit dropped seeds, and seeds sprouted a seedling.

She wasn’t just a tea tree. She was a tea tree great demon. There wasn’t another tea tree great demon like her, so who would she even—

No. Still wrong.

She was a great demon, different from ordinary plants. If she suddenly grew buds and wanted to bloom and wanted pollination… that meant her heart was stirred.

It meant she was moved.

Her grandmother once told her: plants that cultivated into demons weren’t like ordinary plants.

Ordinary plants grew buds and bloomed by seasons and plant traits.

But demon plants broke free of seasons. They still carried plant traits, but they didn’t easily bud or bloom—unless their hearts were stirred. Once moved, they would unconsciously grow buds, craving pollination, craving fruit.

Jiang Tea Tea sucked in a cold breath. Still wrong. Her belly already held five dragon hatchlings. That was fruit. So what kind of heart-stirring was this?

Who was she moved by?

Huang Da Zhuang—no. He was a dog.

Cheng Xiao Ting—no. He was a wolf. Wolves and dogs weren’t that different.

Sui Xuan Chu—also wrong. They saw each other every day. The only sparks were sparks of mutual disgust, not secret love.

Chong Ming, that Old Loach—impossible. She craved him because she wanted to eat him, wanted to bury his half-dragon, half-human form under her roots as fertilizer. How could she be moved by him?

Not this, not that. She’d met so few people. Who were her buds blooming for? Had she lived too long and mutated?

Jiang Tea Tea would rather believe she’d mutated and bloomed for no reason than admit she couldn’t name who she was moved by.

Her soul sank back into her body.

Her small body instantly grew into a towering tea tree. Roots extended endlessly, reaching deep for nutrients while her leaves drew in refined spiritual energy from the air.

Her green leaves looked like they were coated in moonlight, glowing softly. Deep in the primeval forest, she was unique and radiant.

Three hours later, Chong Ming called Jiang Tea Tea.

Her device was off. He couldn’t reach her.

He checked satellite monitoring next. He could only see her flyer parked in the school’s back mountain primeval forest.

The flyer was pitch-black inside. He couldn’t tell if anyone was there.

Chong Ming sent a message and kept working at the Military Department until dawn. She still didn’t reply, and the surveillance feed stayed black.

He couldn’t sit still anymore.

He flew out and landed at the spot where her flyer had come down. He opened the door.

No one.

Only a storage button, a lightbrain, and scattered electronics.

Chong Ming gathered the items. In the next instant, he transformed into a massive dragon body over two hundred meters long, nearly three hundred. He roared and surged into the air, soaring above the primeval forest.

All kinds of birds and aberrant beasts trembled under the dragon pressure, heads tucked and bodies shaking.

Jiang Tea Tea heard the dragon roar too.

A moment ago, she’d been Skywood, the forest’s one towering presence. Now she shrank instantly into a Little Tea Tree, only as tall as an arm, and hid beneath other trees until her glow vanished.

Chong Ming circled above the forest and still didn’t sense her. He returned to the landing spot by her flyer, jaw tight.

Jiang Tea Tea’s tiny body kept its long roots spread through the earth for over a thousand kilometers. The cubs in her belly stayed calm and quiet, not causing trouble.

One night passed.

At dawn, Jiang Tea Tea returned to human form. Her body felt comfortable, her thirty-five percent magic power full and abundant, and her cubs lively.

Her buds hadn’t grown big yet; you still couldn’t see them on her head. She soothed her belly, used shrink the earth to an inch again, and hopped back toward her flyer—only to see Chong Ming leaning against it.

Jiang Tea Tea’s mouth twitched. “Chong, why are you posing against my flyer so early in the morning?”

He wore a black military uniform, disguise gone. Golden hair, golden horns, arms crossed, eyes half-closed. When she arrived and spoke, he finally looked at her properly.

Chong Ming asked, “Where did you go?”

Jiang Tea Tea rolled her eyes. “Do you even have to ask? I was in the mountain. I didn’t go anywhere.”

Chong Ming’s golden eyes held her. “I didn’t see you.”

Jiang Tea Tea shot back, “Is that my fault?”

She was still mad. Mad that he plucked her bud.

He really hadn’t known it was hers. He thought it was some decoration that fell on her head.

Chong Ming shook his head. “Not your fault. My eyes are the ones that don’t work.”

Jiang Tea Tea huffed. “Good. Move.”

Chong Ming stepped aside.

Jiang Tea Tea opened the driver door, got in, and slammed it shut with two hard thuds. Then she twisted toward the passenger seat. “Who told you to get in?”

If she went back to school and he stood by the gate, the Starnet headline would be them today.

Chong Ming took off his uniform jacket, unbuttoned his shirt, and tugged it open with long fingers, exposing his chest. He leaned toward Jiang Tea Tea and offered his neck.

“Aren’t you interested in my meat?” His voice was low and hoarse. “Come on. Bite.”