Chapter 184
Chapter 184: Showing Off Your Love—No One Asked You, So Who Are You Trying to Piss Off?
“No.”
Jiang Tea Tea refused so cleanly it was almost violent. Inside, she wished time could rewind so she’d never sent that message.
“Do your work. I’ll do mine. You don’t need to come find me.”
Chong Ming blinked. “You’re not afraid of starving you and the cubs anymore?”
Jiang Tea Tea slapped her belly and tilted the camera so he could see the huge food crate beside her.
“This scale,” she said, “three days apart is fine.”
Besides the dragon blood, the crate held fried, roasted, stewed, and braised dishes. It had to weigh at least fifty pounds.
A crate like this every three days, plus dragon blood, and she didn’t need Chong Ming’s psychic-force soothing at all.
Chong Ming’s mouth curved. “I thought you preferred biting my neck directly. I was even thinking of sending my neck to you to chew. But I guess you don’t want it.”
As if.
A living Big Golden Dragon was pure yang—an absolute tonic.
Biting his neck and drinking fresh blood was obviously better than drinking it from a bottle.
She missed it. Craved it. If he were in front of her, she’d cling to him and bite without thinking.
Jiang Tea Tea cleared her throat. “Same, same. It’s all the same. I’m not picky. You don’t have to come—just send the stuff.”
Chong Ming fell silent for a beat, then said, “All right. If you don’t want me to go, I won’t. When you reach Ri Pan Star, someone will be assigned to receive you and arrange everything.”
“If you need anything, call me or message me. If I see it, I’ll reply.”
Jiang Tea Tea sighed. “I know. You’re so annoying.”
“Mm.” Chong Ming’s gaze lingered. “Goodbye.”
The call ended.
A voice immediately complained from across Chong Ming’s screen, sour as spilled vinegar.
“Oh, wow. You left me hanging here for ages. Couldn’t you turn around and look at me?”
It was Zhong Li He, the chief executive of Da Xi Nation, watching Chong Ming with exaggerated bitterness, like the whole galaxy’s vinegar jar had tipped over.
Chong Ming turned. “Look at you? What’s there to look at?”
Zhong Li He clicked his tongue. “Oh? My dear Chong Ming, Commander-in-Chief, Your Highness… when did you become such a love-brained idiot? How did I not notice?”
Chong Ming lifted his gaze. “You’d like to have that kind of potential. Too bad no female wants you. No mate means no love brain.”
Zhong Li He rolled up his sleeves on the screen. “You want to fight?”
Chong Ming’s tone stayed lazy. “You can’t beat me.”
Zhong Li He corrected him. “I couldn’t beat you before. Doesn’t mean I can’t now. Your ability rank went up, sure. Mine’s rising too.”
“Let’s go. One match. If I don’t punch you in the face, I won’t sleep for days.”
Chong Ming replied, unbothered, “You can’t sleep? How is that my problem? I have a mate and cubs. I sleep great. I sleep soundly.”
Zhong Li He looked like he’d swallowed a mouthful of blood and couldn’t spit it out or swallow it down.
He clenched his fist, teeth grinding, pointing at Chong Ming through the screen. “You should be grateful this is a call. If you were here, my fist would already be in your face.”
Chong Ming gave a cool little “oh.” “Chief Executive Zhong Li, your ability turbulence has always been hard for anyone to calm, and your mental sea is hard for anyone to comb. Listen to me—don’t get too irritable. It’s bad for you.”
“After all, you’re over a hundred years old. No female wants you. No mate. No cubs. If you ruin your health too, what will you do then?”
Zhong Li He choked. “You—”
“Oh,” Chong Ming continued, as if they were having two different conversations, “you mean the shallow marks on my neck?”
“These aren’t from being beaten. My mate left them on purpose—bite marks. It’s been a week, so they’ve faded a little. Sorry if you thought someone injured me.”
Zhong Li He’s eyes bulged. He slapped the call off.
What was wrong with him?
Who asked about his neck?
Having a mate and cubs—was that supposed to be impressive?
Showing off right in Zhong Li He’s face like that. Who was he trying to piss off?
Jiang Tea Tea pulled every dish from the crate. The insulation was excellent. The food looked and smelled like it had just left the stove.
She laid everything out, then messaged Sui Xuan Chu and the other six to come eat.
Sui Xuan Chu arrived first. The moment he saw the spread, he clutched his chest like he’d been stabbed.
“Roommate… my uncle doesn’t love me anymore. He always told me males should be raised rough—clothes as long as I’m not naked, food as long as I’m full. When I was hungry, he’d toss me a tube of nutrient gel.”
“But you—he made you ten dishes, three desserts, four kinds of fruit, and juice. I can’t live like this.”
Jiang Tea Tea lifted her eyelids. “If you can’t live like this, the door’s open. Roll.”
Sui Xuan Chu whined, “I’m not rolling. I’m eating.”
“Then why are you complaining?”
He grinned. “Because I’m happy. Because I can. I can’t stand his double standards. I want to complain.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes flicked. “Want to complain again? I’ll record it and send it to him. Maybe he’ll start raising you gently too.”
Sui Xuan Chu waved his hands frantically. “No need. We’re roommates. Same roof. I can complain to you. That’s enough.”
Jiang Tea Tea snorted. “Coward.”
Sui Xuan Chu stared.
Coward? Of course he was a coward. His uncle really did hit him. Really did kick him.
His roommate could stick her belly out and his uncle would hesitate. His uncle was wary of her.
Sui Xuan Chu couldn’t do that.
A moment later, Huang Da Zhuang, Cheng Lin Yue, Cheng Xiao Ting, and the other three arrived. The instant they saw the food, they cheered.
“Sister Tea, this lunch is crazy! Where’d you buy it? It looks so fancy. Smells so good.”
“Yeah! Sister Tea, is this from a restaurant on the capital planet? I’ll ask if they deliver. I want some too.”
“I haven’t even eaten and the smell already tells me it’s delicious.”
Jiang Tea Tea immediately teased Ju Que. “Ju Que, if you think it’s delicious just by smelling it, then don’t eat. Just smell. We’ll eat.”
Ju Que howled and shoved his way in, grabbing a small lamb leg and tearing into it.
Sui Xuan Chu and Cheng Xiao Ting scrambled for seats. Chopsticks and forks and knives flew. Everyone ate with zero dignity.
Jiang Tea Tea sat between Sui Xuan Chu and Cheng Lin Yue. She barely had to move—every time those two fought over dishes, they “helped” by shoving portions toward her.
She’d already downed dragon blood, so she wasn’t starving. She ate and drank lightly while the others ate like they’d been starving for years.
After they finished, they cleaned up and collapsed on the floor. Some shifted into full beast form, others into half-beast. Not a single one of them looked fully human anymore.
Jiang Tea Tea stared at them. If conditions allowed, she’d have shifted into a tree and just stood there, soaking up whatever she could absorb in space.
The trip from Barley Star to Ri Pan Star took three days. They passed through a small space jump along the way and arrived three hours early.
Chong Ming had told Jiang Tea Tea he’d arranged someone to receive them.
She hadn’t expected it to be his deputy general—Xia Wei Yi.
Xia Wei Yi wore combat gear, hair tied high, legs long, insignia bright against sharp features.
After the captain of Cruiser 003 completed the handoff, Jiang Tea Tea waved at her.
“Deputy General Xia, long time no see. You’ve gotten even prettier.”
Xia Wei Yi smiled. “You too. You’re more beautiful every time I see you, Jiang Tea Tea, classmate.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes curved. “Thanks. So the Commander-in-Chief sent you to pick us up—meaning we’re under you now?”
Xia Wei Yi nodded. “Yes. I’m your direct leader. All your actions will be arranged by me.”
Jiang Tea Tea said, “We’ll follow your arrangements.”
Sui Xuan Chu and the others echoed the same.
Xia Wei Yi took them off the station and onto a warship. She had them change into military department combat uniforms, put on caps, apply camouflage paint, strap guns to their waists, and hold rifles in hand.
Jiang Tea Tea’s magic power still hadn’t fully recovered. In her current state, she had to admit modern weapons had a point. If her magic power returned to its peak, these guns would be scrap iron in her hands.
Cheng Xiao Ting and the others thought they looked unbelievably cool, stroking their rifles like treasured pets and praying for a few star pirates to show up so they could practice.
Once everyone was geared up, Xia Wei Yi took them in a military flyer, left the warship, and flew them above the Space Weapons Exhibition site.
She spoke loudly and clearly.
“This Space Weapons Exhibition is hosted on our Zhen Lin Empire’s Ri Pan Star, but participating exhibitors include the Insect Clan, Da Xi Nation, the Xi Ling Republican Federation, the Ke Lai Te State, and more—twenty-three countries total.”
“The people each exhibitor nation sent are all top leadership—princes, princesses, officials with real authority. They handle procurement and sales of space weapons.”
“Two hundred and eighty-one countries are coming to buy weapons. In addition, the exhibition opens to ordinary citizens across the galaxy, with daily visitor slots of one hundred thousand people.”
“This is the Zhen Lin Empire’s fiftieth Space Weapons Exhibition—its fiftieth anniversary.”
“Every time the exhibition opens, violence breaks out—incidents from various countries.”
“This time, for the fiftieth anniversary, Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief, does not want violence.”
“The military has deployed five hundred thousand personnel to ensure the safety of the exhibition and Ri Pan Star.”
“You eight are part of that five hundred thousand.”
“Starting tomorrow morning at eight, you will patrol and maintain order at the exhibition.”
“If you witness violence—no matter who it is, what country they’re from, or what started it—put a round in them and expel them from Ri Pan Star.”