Chapter 7
Chapter 7: If You Want to Sell Me, Then I’ll Slaughter You Like Pigs
Chu Ming’s lightbrain was on speaker.
Every smug, dripping-sweet word Jiang Tea Tea spoke carried perfectly to Mu Mei Xi and Jiang Yi Zhu.
Jiang Yi Zhu nearly shattered her teeth.
Who was clinging to whom?
Chu Ming was supposed to be hers. If Jiang Tea Tea hadn’t stolen her life and occupied her place for years, would she have needed to “steal” anything at all?
Chu Ming, however, looked faintly pleased. Two women fighting over him—one on-screen, one right here. Even through a speaker, it fed his ego until it swelled.
He tilted his chin and spoke with lazy superiority. “Mm. As long as you understand. Tonight at 7:40. Meet at the First Hotel on the capital planet.”
Jiang Tea Tea gasped. “Tonight? That’s so fast!”
“It’s not fast,” Chu Ming coaxed. “I just want to marry you sooner.”
The original Jiang Tea Tea’s account had been pitiful—3,895 star credits. Money she’d scraped together from part-time jobs, soothing beastfolk and half-beastfolk, saving every bite she didn’t eat.
As a great tree demon who could turn stone into gold at the peak of her magic power, Jiang Tea Tea had never been this broke in her life.
She rolled her eyes, then softened her voice into a strategic retreat. “Brother Chu Ming… I know you want to marry me sooner, and I want to marry you sooner too, but… can we wait a few days?”
“You know Mom and Dad stopped giving me allowance after Sister came home. I have to rely on myself for everything. I don’t even have a decent outfit or a proper gift.” She let a breathy little pause hang. “If you give me a few days, I can save up more and buy your Dad and Mom a meeting gift—”
“No money?” Chu Ming cut in. “I’ll transfer you some.”
Jiang Tea Tea put on the perfect voice of reluctant virtue. “How can I do that? How can I spend your money?”
“We’re going to be a family. My money is your money. What’s wrong with spending it early?”
“Brother Chu Ming, you’re so good to me.” Her voice warmed into honey. “But when you transfer it, you have to write ‘voluntary gift.’ Otherwise if Sister sees me eating in the cafeteria, she’ll say I’m spending your money before I even marry you.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll do it now.”
“Thank you, Brother Chu Ming. I’ll go buy gifts for Uncle and Aunt. See you tonight.”
“See you tonight.”
The call ended.
Chu Ming looked at Mu Mei Xi with satisfaction. “Aunt Mu, I’ve got her. Tell Uncle Jiang to bring the person in charge directly to the First Hotel and book the room. Just wait there.”
Mu Mei Xi nodded, delighted. “Good. I’ll tell him right away. And the shopping money Jiang Tea Tea asked you for—I’ll transfer it to you.”
Chu Ming waved it off grandly. “How much can she spend shopping? I’ll just give her some pocket money.”
Mu Mei Xi smiled, pleased. She patted Jiang Yi Zhu’s shoulder. “Chu Ming, you’re truly good. Yi Zhu being liked by you is her blessing.”
“Being able to like Yi Zhu is my blessing too,” Chu Ming said smoothly.
Then he leaned toward Jiang Yi Zhu and added, as if clearing his conscience, “I said a lot of things I didn’t mean to trick Jiang Tea Tea. Yi Zhu, don’t take it seriously.”
Jiang Yi Zhu lowered her eyes, cheeks pink. “I understand.”
With Mu Mei Xi openly supporting her, Jiang Yi Zhu’s heart soared. By tomorrow, Jiang Tea Tea would be a used toy. What would she have left to fight over?
To make his act convincing, Chu Ming gritted his teeth and threw money at the problem: one million star credits, transferred to Jiang Tea Tea.
Jiang Tea Tea watched the money hit her account.
Not bad.
But if you were going to slaughter pigs, why stop at one?
She called Mu Mei Xi.
Mu Mei Xi had just gone upstairs, preparing to tell Jiang Zong Shen that Jiang Tea Tea would be at the First Hotel at 7:40, when her lightbrain rang. Seeing the caller, she veered into a side room.
“Tea Tea?” Mu Mei Xi’s voice turned gentle instantly. “Did you make it back to school? Don’t forget to go to the clinic and change your medicine, okay?”
“You didn’t awaken an ability. You’re not like ability users who heal naturally. Don’t let it scar.”
Humans really were a fascinatingly fake species.
One second, they plotted to sell you. The next, they played caring mother like nothing happened.
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t waste time. “Mom, Brother Chu Ming is taking me tonight at 7:40 to meet his Dad and Mom to discuss our marriage.”
“I can’t go empty-handed. I want to buy his Dad a mech, and his Mom a precious energy stone necklace.”
“I already picked them out. Together, they’re twenty million. Mom, can you transfer me twenty million?”
Twenty million?
Mu Mei Xi’s vision went black.
On the far side of the call, her face twisted—but her voice stayed smooth. “Tea Tea, Chu Ming’s parents are reasonable people. They aren’t shallow, the kind that only cares about appearances.”
“You’re meeting to discuss marriage. The thought is what matters. It doesn’t have to be so expensive.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s voice dropped into heartbreak, perfectly controlled. “Oh… I see.”
“I thought Mom asked Sister to bring me home today because you were finally treating me like your own biological daughter.”
“Looks like I was thinking too much. I’m not your real daughter, after all.” Her sniffle was soft, practiced. “Mom bought Sister a flyer worth millions.”
“Forget it. I’m not the Jiang family’s true heiress. I can’t afford a proper gift. Brother Chu Ming’s parents already dislike me for not awakening an ability—now they’ll dislike me even more.”
“I’ll call Brother Chu Ming and tell him I’m not going. I’ll set him free. I’ll annul the engagement.”
Mu Mei Xi’s heart lurched.
They’d finally tricked Jiang Tea Tea into going to the First Hotel. If she refused now, everything would collapse.
Mu Mei Xi swallowed, forcing the words out. “Tea Tea, don’t be childish. Chu Ming is willing to marry you and bring you to meet his guardians—how can you not go?”
“Twenty million, right? It’s nothing. Mom will transfer it. Mom loves you and Yi Zhu equally.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s voice instantly brightened into sweet, crisp cheer. “I knew Mom was the best. I love you the most, Mom.”
Mu Mei Xi’s smile felt stapled onto her face. “I… love you too, Tea Tea.”
“I’ll wait for the transfer. Bye, Mom.”
The call ended.
Mu Mei Xi stared at the dark screen, jaw clenched, then transferred twenty million star credits from her private stash.
Afterward, she went straight to Jiang Zong Shen’s study, smiling like she’d performed a miracle. “Husband, I handled Jiang Tea Tea. Before eight, just take Director Zhou to the First Hotel and wait.”
She didn’t mention the twenty million.
She didn’t dare.
Jiang Zong Shen’s eyes lit up—then his lightbrain rang.
Jiang Tea Tea.
He hesitated, then answered.
On the other end, Jiang Tea Tea used the exact same method she’d used on Mu Mei Xi.
Only she asked for more.
Fifty million.
Jiang Zong Shen knew immediately what was happening. Chu Ming had sold her, and she didn’t even realize it. But if he refused her now, she wouldn’t go—and they couldn’t risk alerting her.
So he forced a smile into his voice and agreed.
Mu Mei Xi, watching him hang up, went tense. “Husband, who called? Who asked you for fifty million?”
Jiang Zong Shen’s expression was ugly. Only after he finished transferring the money did he look up at her. “Who else? Jiang Tea Tea. She opened her mouth and demanded fifty million.”
Mu Mei Xi’s face went pale. “She asked you for fifty million—and you gave it to her?”
Jiang Zong Shen snapped, “If I don’t give it to her, she won’t go to the First Hotel. You had Chu Ming trick her with that ‘meet the guardians’ story. She’s simple-minded and told me everything.”
“The moment I heard it, I knew why she’s willing to go at 7:40. If I don’t give her money, how do you think she’ll willingly walk into that hotel room?”