Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Stirring Discord Until They Turned on Each Other—What a Show

Chu Ming and Mu Mei Xi rushed over in horror to check Jiang Yi Zhu’s hand.

Four fingers were broken at the second joint. Her thumb was snapped at the base. Each finger drooped at a sick angle, held together by little more than skin.

Chu Ming’s face darkened. In that instant, he forgot whose fiancé he technically was. He stabbed a finger at Jiang Tea Tea, as if she’d committed a crime. “Jiang Tea Tea! How can you be so vicious?”

“Do you even know she’s a B-rank water ability user? Her hands are worth a fortune. On the battlefield, those hands save lives!”

Mu Mei Xi looked pained, disgusted, and disappointed all at once. “Jiang Tea Tea, you hurt your sister right in front of me. You’ve gone too far. I’m so disappointed in you.”

Scumbag fiancé. Biased adoptive mother. Same breed, same rotten core.

Jiang Tea Tea blinked her big, watery eyes, innocent enough to fool a saint. Her voice trembled with grievance. “Mom… Brother Chu Ming… you’re saying I hurt Sister. Did you forget I never awakened an ability?”

“Fine. Even if you forgot, you still have eyes. You watched it happen.” Her lashes quivered. “From the moment Sister and Brother Chu Ming walked in holding hands, I’ve been sitting here. I didn’t move.”

“Sister rushed over to hit me. I dodged once. I never even touched her.”

“So tell me—how did I hurt her?”

Silence hit like a slap.

Chu Ming and Mu Mei Xi froze, their faces flushing in blotches, as if someone had struck them without a sound.

They always forgot Jiang Tea Tea had no ability.

Against a B-rank water ability user, Jiang Tea Tea didn’t have the ability to fight back. She only had the ability to get beaten.

Jiang Yi Zhu’s fingers had snapped because she slammed her hand into the sofa when she swung. It had nothing to do with Jiang Tea Tea. They’d simply shoved the blame onto her without thinking.

Jiang Yi Zhu’s face was paper-white with pain, but her mouth stayed filthy and stubborn. “Bitch! It was you! You did it!”

“Trying to wriggle out of it? Dream on!”

Only the incompetent screamed.

The truly capable took their time—turned the tables, cut slow, and made the dogs bite each other.

Jiang Tea Tea didn’t even look at Jiang Yi Zhu.

She stood, eyes reddened, voice catching like she was swallowing knives. “Mom… Brother Chu Ming… Sister spent fifteen years on Trash Planet. You feel sorry for her. You want to give her more love. I understand. I support it.”

“Since Sister came home three years ago, she wanted my room, so I gave it. She liked my clothes, so I gave them.”

“Sister said Brother Chu Ming liked her more. The two of them were always together at school. I never said a word.”

“Sister said I’m just an ordinary person with no ability, so I didn’t need money.” She swallowed hard. “The family stopped giving me even a single credit. I didn’t complain. I just went to work part-time.”

“I turned eighteen today. But I started working at fifteen. Fifty star credits a day. For three years, besides the Royal Military Academy uniforms they issued, I haven’t bought a single new piece of clothing.”

Tears trembled at her lashes. “Isn’t that enough compromise?”

“If it’s still not enough…” She drew a shaky breath. “Then fine. I’ll post on Starnet. I’ll declare I have nothing to do with the Jiang family.”

“And I’ll end my engagement to Brother Chu Ming, too.”

“If Sister likes something, she can have it. I’ll give it all to her. Everything.”

She looked at Chu Ming and Mu Mei Xi with tears that clung without falling—fragile, wronged, stubborn. The perfect white-flower act.

The original Jiang Tea Tea had swallowed everything without ever speaking. That silence had given Jiang Yi Zhu room to trap her again and again.

But this Jiang Tea Tea was a tree demon.

If she wanted, every branch could be a mouth. She wasn’t about to keep her mouth as decoration.

The moment Chu Ming heard “end the engagement,” his heart jolted—shock, relief, delight, guilt—twisting together. In his excitement, the hand gripping Jiang Yi Zhu’s arm tightened.

Great.

Finally, he could dump this useless, abilityless human and be with Yi Zhu.

Jiang Yi Zhu winced, pain flashing up her arm. “Brother Chu Ming…”

Mu Mei Xi noticed and hurriedly swatted Chu Ming’s hand away. “Chu Ming, you’re Tea Tea’s fiancé. Yi Zhu is your future sister-in-law. Keep your distance. Don’t let people misunderstand.”

Then she turned back to Jiang Tea Tea, guilt in her eyes. “Tea Tea… Mom didn’t know you suffered so much. Yi Zhu suffered for fifteen years on Trash Planet. I was so heartbroken for her that I… I forgot you for a moment.”

“Don’t worry. From now on, whatever living expenses Yi Zhu has, you’ll have the same. Mom will love you like before.”

“And don’t say things like posting on Starnet or cutting ties with the Jiang family. Don’t say things like ending your engagement. Don’t say such nonsense again.”

They still needed Jiang Tea Tea.

If she posted that she wasn’t their daughter anymore, and that she wasn’t Chu Ming’s fiancée anymore, then she would no longer be tied to the Jiang family at all. If the Jiang family tried to “send her out” for profit, it would be a crime—and she could report them with one call.

Worse, their precious Yi Zhu would be smeared with an ugly reputation: stealing someone else’s fiancé.

Chu Ming edged closer to Jiang Tea Tea. When he met her tearful gaze, his heart skipped. She looked prettier like this—more fragile. More tempting.

Jiang Tea Tea spoke softly, each word landing like a blade. “I don’t want Mom’s money.”

“I want Mom’s love.”

Mu Mei Xi went rigid, like she’d been struck by lightning.

Jiang Yi Zhu had been ignored from start to finish. Combined with the beating outside, her rage finally burst. She lunged at Jiang Tea Tea, not even caring about her broken fingers. “Bitch! Who taught you this fake, flowery nonsense? Trying to fight me for Mom? Trying to steal Brother Chu Ming? I’ll beat you to death!”

Jiang Tea Tea gasped and bolted, lifting her skirt as she fled. “Sister, don’t hit me! Sister, don’t hit me! I was wrong—I was wrong!”

The original Jiang Tea Tea couldn’t outrun Jiang Yi Zhu.

But Jiang Tea Tea, with only twenty percent of her magic power recovered, moved like a slippery loach. Jiang Yi Zhu couldn’t touch her.

Jiang Tea Tea shot outside, climbed into a flyer, and blasted straight into the sky, escaping with perfect timing.

Jiang Yi Zhu ran out, threw her head back, and screamed at the night. “Jiang Tea Tea! You bitch! I won’t let you go! You can run, but you can’t hide! Just wait—when we get back to school, I’ll kill—”

“Enough.”

Mu Mei Xi cut her off, voice sharp with anger. “You’re a Jiang family young lady. Every other word out of your mouth is ‘bitch.’ Have three years of upbringing been fed to the dogs?”

Jiang Yi Zhu stared at her mother, stunned. “Mom… you…”

Mu Mei Xi snapped, “Your fingers broke because you tried to hit her and missed. What does that have to do with her? She’s an abilityless human. Do you really think she can hurt you?”

“I let your nonsense slide most days. But this time, I told you again and again: bring her back. She’s useful to the family—useful.”

“And you still had to compete with her.” Mu Mei Xi’s eyes went cold. “Have you really not shaken that Trash Planet stench?”