Chapter 174
Chapter 174: Always Fight Back When Beaten, and Let Older Siblings Protect the Younger Ones
Cheng Xiao Ting answered: “I’ll go ask my dad to do a night run with me. While we’re out, we’ll scout around in the mountains. Huang Da Zhuang will come with us.”
Huang Da Zhuang said excitedly: “Great, great. My supernatural abilities have awakened, but I haven’t really used them yet. This time I can finally put them to use.”
Yan Yu said: “I’ve already restarted the intel search and coverage.”
Zhang Ting Zhou said: “I’ve already started checking every building project covering the White Wolf Tribe settlement.”
Jiang Tea Tea said: “Keep in touch and stay safe.”
Sui Xuan Chu said: “Channel is shared. Stay safe.”
Cheng Lin Yue and the others also said one after another: “Be careful.”
Cheng Xiao Ting and Huang Da Zhuang went out, knocked on his parents’ bedroom door, and explained to his dad why he wanted to go on a night run.
Cheng Mian did not ask for details. He called Wolf Yin Feng, said a few words, asked a bit, and confirmed that it was fine to run in the mountains. Then he changed his clothes, took Cheng Xiao Ting and Huang Da Zhuang, shifted into beast form, and ran off with them.
Wolf Yin Feng and Wolf Luo Feng stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor, watching their figures sprint into the forest. Wolf Yin Feng said: “Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun really spoil Cheng Xiao Ting too much. He’s already an adult, yet they still let him fool around and take him out for night runs so late.”
“This isn’t strange. Only children from single births get spoiled like this. If they had five kids in one birth, or three in one birth, they wouldn’t spoil him so much.”
“You are right. A child can’t be spoiled. If you spoil them too much, they become weak and useless.”
“Look at our children. Every one of them is outstanding, thoughtful, filial, obedient, and sensible. No matter if they’re older or younger, they have never done something as childish as asking me to take them out for a night run.”
Wolf Luo Feng gazed at him with admiration and infatuation: “Our children are so sensible because you taught them well. It’s true, we only misjudged Tea Tea…”
Wolf Yin Feng denied it: “No, we did not misjudge her. When she was born and tested, there was no possibility she would awaken supernatural abilities.”
“When we lost her and she was taken in by the Jiang family, she suffered for three years. Only under extreme mental and emotional despair did she awaken her supernatural abilities.”
“This proves that if we had not lost her, if we had raised her with good food and clothes, she would never have awakened supernatural abilities. She would have been a useless person.”
“Every step we have taken has been correct. As long as we bring her back now, the small costs we paid will bring us huge returns. That is the most cost-effective, the highest return.”
Wolf Luo Feng leaned into his arms and looked up at him: “Including Tea Tea, we already have seventeen children. How about we have three more and make it a full twenty?”
Wolf Yin Feng put his arm around her: “When Jiang Tea Tea comes back, we’ll have more. Oh, and in a few days, let’s hold a dinner party at home and invite more people. We should make a grand introduction of Jiang Tea Tea.”
Wolf Luo Feng understood what he meant: “Okay, I’ll handle the arrangements…”
While Jiang Tea Tea listened to the scheming of Wolf Yin Feng and Wolf Luo Feng, the husband and wife, the “Fake Young Miss” finally welcomed her cheap brothers and sisters.
Except for Wolf Xin Rui and Wolf Xin Ping, the others came in one after another from oldest to youngest. Everyone had smiles on their faces and brought gifts for Jiang Tea Tea.
The gifts ranged from handmade crafts that cost nothing, to a bracelet worth a few hundred star credits, earrings worth tens of thousands of star credits, a mid-grade set of mecha armor worth several hundred thousand, ground vehicles, flying devices, and so on. There was everything you could think of.
Jiang Tea Tea did not reject anyone. No matter who gave the gift, whatever smile they showed her, she returned the same kind of smile to them.
The eldest of the Lang Family Estate, Wolf Xin Yi, was the last to give his gift, and his was the most expensive: a gemstone necklace worth over a million. The cut was very pretty.
He did not put it in a box. He held it in his hand and gave it directly to Jiang Tea Tea.
Jiang Tea Tea took it, glanced at it, and silently compared it with the gem in Old Mud the loach’s room where Chong Ming lived. In front of that gem, this one was like cheap junk. It did not shine, it was not big, and it was just plain white with no color.
When Wolf Xin Yi saw her casually put the necklace into her space knob storage device, he froze for a moment and asked: “Tea Tea, do you not like the necklace I gave you?”
His voice was very gentle, and there was a faint sadness deep in his eyes.
Jiang Tea Tea gave him a slight smile: “I like it. But I want a necklace that is even better and even brighter than this. As long as I call out once, countless people will bring them to me to choose from.”
Wolf Xin Yi’s heart trembled. He stared at her in a daze.
Jiang Tea Tea closed the door behind him and said: “There are no monitoring devices in this room, and no listening devices either.”
Wolf Xin Yi’s pupils shrank sharply: “You…”
Jiang Tea Tea finished his sentence for him: “I am a first-year student at the Capital Planet Royal Military Imperial Academy. I am in the mecha armor department, the reconnaissance specialty, the command faculty, the combat department, the healing department, and so on. I am a student in seven departments.”
“I have studied much more and much wider than what you managed to find out about me. After studying for more than half a year, when I come to a strange place, my first instinct is to check if there are any monitoring devices or listening devices.”
Wolf Xin Yi’s fingers trembled slightly, and he blurted out: “Tea Tea, leave. Hurry up and leave. Get away from here and never come back. Never recognize our parents. Go, take your schoolmates and go.”
Jiang Tea Tea shook her head with a smile: “I’m not leaving.”
Wolf Xin Yi grew more anxious: “Even though we have never spent time together, and I’m more than twenty years older than you, please believe me. I will not harm you. Please go.”
“Go back to Capital Planet and study hard. Commander in Chief Chong Ming values you. Work hard and show him your results. Stand high above and become the master of your own fate.”
If Commander in Chief Chong Ming valued her, as long as she wanted to leave, Dad and Mom would not be able to stop her, would not dare to stop her, and would not dare to do anything to her.
But if she wanted to stay in this home and change her surname to Lang, Dad and Mom could easily control her.
This house was a pit of fire, a furnace burning with the blood and flesh of their brothers and sisters. They could not escape, and he did not want her to fall into it.
Jiang Tea Tea did not feel any malice from him. All she felt from him was urgency, panic, and fear: “I know you won’t hurt me. I also know what kind of life you all live at home.”
Wolf Xin Yi stared at her in shock. “You…”
Jiang Tea Tea ignored his words and paused for a moment. Then she slowly stated a fact that sounded like it had nothing to do with her: “When you were little, if you disobeyed, you were beaten. If you did badly in school, you were beaten. If your supernatural ability level was not high enough, you were beaten. If you failed to take good care of your younger brothers and younger sisters, you were beaten.”
“They locked you up to beat you. They beat you in front of everyone. They made your younger brothers and younger sisters hit you. They made you hit yourself…”
Wolf Xin Yi’s voice shook. His eyes reddened at once as he cut her off: “How do you know that?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s lips curved slightly: “Don’t ask me how I know. I only want to ask you: do you want to change?”
Wolf Xin Yi froze: “Change?”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded: “Yes. Change. Change your entire way of living now. Break away from the White Wolf Tribe. Take your children and leave. Take your partner and leave. Or divorce your partner and go find that sweetheart who has been waiting for you for many years, whose hair has already turned white.”
“You…”
Jiang Tea Tea did not let him speak at all: “I’ll tell you the truth. Your dad and mom are suspected of very serious crimes. But the Imperial Authorities have not found solid evidence yet, so they cannot arrest them or convict them.”
“I came here to find evidence of their crimes. As soon as I get that evidence, they will either be exiled or executed by firing squad.”
Wolf Xin Yi asked in disbelief: “Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Dad and Mom?”
Jiang Tea Tea looked at him calmly and smiled: “The slap mark on your face has not disappeared yet. You got beaten again today, right?”
Wolf Xin Yi subconsciously raised his hand to cover his face. After he covered it, he slowly put his hand down again. “You are stronger and tougher than I imagined.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes curved: “Thank you for the praise. You are the oldest child of your dad and mom, the eldest son of this family. You know more than anyone else.”
“I’ll give you three days to think about it. Think about whether you want to change your life now, or tell your parents that I am here to take them down.”
Wolf Xin Yi looked at her for a long, long time. He said nothing. His body trembled as he turned, opened the door, and left.
In Jiang Tea Tea’s earpiece, Yan Yu and the others spoke up: “Sister Tea, not bad. You locked onto a helper this fast.”
“Sister Tea, do you think he is reliable?”
“What if he sells us out?”
“And he seems really close to his second younger sister. What if he tells her you are here to bring their parents down, and she tells their parents? Then we are done.”
Jiang Tea Tea said confidently: “He won’t. He will be our most capable helper. All we need to do is wait.”
Orange Sparrow, Cheng Lin Yue, and the others stopped asking questions. Jiang Tea Tea opened the window, sat cross-legged on the bed, and started meditating and cultivation practice, drawing in the nutrients in the air that were useful to her.
Time passed bit by bit. Her light-brain wrist terminal received several messages, but because it was on silent, she did not see them.
Far away at the Imperial Military Headquarters on Capital Planet, Chong Ming was working overtime. He checked his light-brain wrist terminal from time to time, but he never received a reply.
Since Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu were not in the Imperial Palace, he did not go back there. After midnight, he directly slept in the bedroom attached to his office.
It was not until three thirty the next morning that he got a reply from Jiang Tea Tea: “I went to sleep early last night and just saw your messages. The little brat was very good and did not cause trouble. My mental state is also very good, and my appetite is normal.”
After Chong Ming read her reply, his sleepiness vanished. He got up to wash, went into his office, turned on the lights, and started working.
Last night, Cheng Xiao Ting and Huang Da Zhuang went out night running with his dad. They darted through the forest, running at least two hundred kilometers.
In the mountains about eighty kilometers in a straight line from the White Wolf Tribe settlement, they smelled something different and saw an artificial landing pad for flying devices.
The place was covered by an electric fence. They did not find a chance to get in. They just looked from a distance, then returned and reported what they saw to Jiang Tea Tea and the others.
Jiang Tea Tea had originally wanted to run out there at night herself. But then she thought again and decided that if you are too impatient, you cannot eat hot tofu. She would wait a bit longer.
She did not expect that when she woke up a little after three and saw Chong Ming’s messages and replied to him, her door would be knocked on.
She opened the door and saw Wolf Xin Yi and Wolf Xin Wei, the brother and sister, standing at her door in the same casual clothes they had worn last night.
She was not surprised to see them at all. She opened the door wider and invited them in. Then she tapped the invisibility earpiece at her ear and connected to the shared channel with Sui Xuan Chu and the other seven.
After Wolf Xin Yi and Wolf Xin Wei came in, they sat down on the sofa in her room, looking a bit tense.
Jiang Tea Tea reached back into her space knob storage device, took out a bottle for each of them, and poured them some leftover tea brewed from the old tea leaves of her true body: “Have some water first.”
Wolf Xin Yi and Wolf Xin Wei reached out to take the bottles and took a sip. Their minds cleared, and even the restless agitation of their supernatural abilities calmed down.
They looked at the liquid in their bottles. It was a bit greenish, a bit yellow. They took another drink, and sure enough… the water was rich in plant-type spiritual power that soothed them.
After they finished the tea, they looked at Jiang Tea Tea, took a deep breath to steady themselves, and asked: “If the two of us give you Dad and Mom’s criminal records, their crime locations, all the bills for their ill-gotten gains, and the list of people involved, can you guarantee that our younger brothers and younger sisters will not be implicated and that we will be innocent?”