LWGP - Chapter 26
Chapter 26: So Cute
Until the wall clock emitted a cold, mechanical voice.
"The time is now 18:00, Beijing time…"
Zhang Dongcheng, who had been suffocating under the terrifying atmosphere, suddenly snapped awake. He subconsciously looked at Wang Jiu.
At this time, his wife and daughter should already be home. This six o'clock announcement was the couple's habitually agreed-upon time.
This was a time for family reunions.
Wang Jiu raised her face. Her previously wooden expression transformed before Zhang Dongcheng's very eyes, taking on a hint of the gentleness and composure he was used to seeing. "Sometimes I really envy you, Senior Brother. Even though you have no money, aren't good-looking, and are short, you have a wife and daughter. Every day you come home, there's someone to wait for, and someone waiting for you."
Was she even human?
Zhang Dongcheng was afraid of her. He said sheepishly, "Don't you have someone too…"
He suddenly realized: her husband had cheated, and they were divorced. Her only family was the Old Lady.
But now, the Old Lady was also…
Zhang Dongcheng's nerves throbbed. He felt that this Wang Jiu might have already gone to extremes. If that was the case, weren't he and his family in grave danger?
"Ah Jiu, I've already given you the video. I had no choice. Yang Yu threatened me. Their Yang family is too powerful. With just a little money, they could have my family of three killed. My daughter is still so young… I'm begging you, please, spare my family."
He had experience with the game and knew that people who survived the Tutorial Instance and successfully became registered players fell into three categories. The first were salted fish who lay flat and got carried. The second met the minimum standards and scraped by on their own. The last kind were the ones who could carry others.
The third type often obtained Attribute Points during the tutorial phase and already possessed abilities surpassing ordinary people.
Guessing with the same humble caution he'd had as a grassroots student taking the national college entrance exam back in the day, he knew that this Junior Sister Ah Jiu belonged to the third category.
Having survived in the capital for many years, Zhang Dongcheng had long been beaten down by reality into someone who knew his place. He knelt and begged for mercy, disregarding everything else.
But Wang Jiu revealed a puzzled and helpless expression. "Senior Brother, you're too timid. Do you really think I'm some kind of perverted serial killer?"
This expression was, in fact, infinitely close to the one Zhang Dongcheng had shown earlier—innocent, aggrieved.
The System had been silent for a long time. It now came online quietly: "You took out a lot of perverted serial killers today."
Wang Jiu ignored the System and continued with sincerity, "Besides, I'm just a divorced woman spurned by her man. I was originally an orphan from a small mountain village. I just got lucky and was adopted by the Old Lady. I have no power or influence. It's understandable that you're afraid of Young Master Yang with his big family and business, but being afraid of me is really unnecessary."
She was being so sincere, but it only made Zhang Dongcheng more afraid. "Ah Jiu, Junior Sister Ah Jiu, I'm begging you, don't hurt Duoduo and Jiaqi. They're innocent, you…"
Ding-dong. The doorbell rang.
Zhang Dongcheng suddenly fell silent and looked at the door.
Wang Jiu: "My people are probably back. I told you, I just sent someone to pick up your wife and daughter."
Zhang Dongcheng immediately stood up and rushed to open the door. "Honey, you guys…" His voice stopped abruptly. Before him stood a tall young man dressed like an elite, his suit and tie perfectly straight, looking very much like a refined scoundrel.
In the past, he would have had a very good impression of this type of person. But after witnessing his once-gentle and kind junior sister's face-changing-like skill, he was wary of such people. His first thought was—he was dangerous.
He was alone, and his clothes were stained with some red.
Zhang Dongcheng froze for a moment, then his eyes suddenly turned bloodshot. "Where's my wife! Where's my daughter!! What did you do to them! You bastard!!"
He lunged forward and grabbed Qi Jun's tie, furious and desperate.
Qi Jun was stunned for a second, but then seemed to have an epiphany. He looked up into the room and saw Wang Jiu with her back to the evening glow from the window. The light reflecting off her glasses cast a yellow halo, obscuring her eyes and expression.
All he could see was that she had her legs crossed, holding a strange tablet in one hand and sipping water from a cup in the other.
Perfectly calm.
But before Zhang Dongcheng could raise his fist to hit him, Qi Jun said, "Uh, Mr. Zhang, this isn't blood on me, it's ketchup. You can smell it… But if you really do hit me, I don't mind putting down what I'm holding to have a little spar with you. By the way, I've practiced Muay Thai."
Zhang Dongcheng was dumbfounded. He could indeed smell ketchup.
Of course, after regaining his senses, he also noticed the other man's 183-centimeter height and powerful chest muscles.
Fine. Zhang Dongcheng slightly loosened his grip on the man's collar, and then he heard sounds coming from the stairs below.
"Mommy, I can't climb anymore."
"You can do it, sweetie. Want Mommy to carry you?"
"No, no, I can still do it. Mommy, do you want some milk?"
"No, you drink it, sweetie. But don't spit it out. Look, the nice uncle treated you to a meal, and you got ketchup all over him. That's so impolite…"
Jiaqi gently instructed her daughter as they slowly climbed up from below, while Qi Jun had already come up first, carrying things in both hands.
It dawned on Zhang Dongcheng. He let go, his face a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. He turned to look at Wang Jiu. "What is this…?"
Wang Jiu: "Do you know why the Old Lady adopted me?"
Zhang Dongcheng didn't speak. He couldn't just say it was out of pity because she was an orphan; he didn't dare offend her. What if he angered her?
Wang Jiu: "It was pity, but not just because I was pitiful. It was mainly because she was pitiful too."
She looked at the wall clock that had just announced six o'clock. It was cute, a children's model, an indirect manifestation of the continuation of family bloodlines and love.
Zhang Dongcheng: "I've heard the story. Back in those days, to support the country's medical development, she often worked away from home when she was young. But later, her daughter, who she'd left at home, was abducted by human traffickers. She searched for a long time afterward. It went from many people helping her search, to just her searching everywhere alone. And then, she brought you home. Actually, many people… myself included, we all thought you were her granddaughter."
He knew that bringing up such a past now could easily stir Wang Jiu's emotions and likely deepen the grudge over the Old Lady's death. But he couldn't hide his own guilt, nor his respect for the Old Lady's character.
She was a person whose character and achievements shone brightly in her era, but she seemed out of place in today's society.
The world had changed, but it wasn't a recent change.
Wang Jiu didn't mention whether she was actually the Old Lady's blood relative. She just withdrew her gaze and said faintly, "Humans are fragile creatures. Whatever they lack, they yearn for. She lacked a family, so she deeply cherished and longed for the completeness of other people's families. She mentioned you, and your family. She said your life was actually very good, but I don't think it's good at all."
"But she said that in the mundane affairs of mortals, there are always difficulties and imperfections. To not be separated in times of hardship is already the best destination one can have in life."
Zhang Dongcheng was stunned. He saw Wang Jiu turn to look at him and smile faintly. "So I won't kill you."
Just then, Jiaqi came up with the little girl. She thanked Qi Jun and asked why he wasn't coming in. When she took off her shoes at the entrance and saw Wang Jiu, she didn't seem surprised, as Qi Jun had mentioned it. She smiled warmly at Wang Jiu. "Ah Jiu, you're here! Look at you, being so polite, even having Qi Jun come pick us up. Hey, Lao Zhang, what happened here? Where's the coffee table? How did it explode!"
Of course it exploded! The Ah Jiu you're talking about blew it up with a single light punch!
"I don't know, an accident, an accident…" Zhang Dongcheng didn't dare tell the truth and could only give a dry laugh. He changed the subject, asking if the mother and daughter had eaten.
"No, and you! Ah Jiu is here and you didn't even get her anything to eat."
Jiaqi said this as she was about to head to the kitchen to cook, but Wang Jiu stood up and politely declined.
"Not eating? How can that be? But there's not much to cook at home anyway. Lao Zhang, let's go out to eat…"
"No need. I just got back, and I still have a lot to do."
Thinking of the Old Lady's death, Jiaqi's mood also sobered. With a touch of sadness, she offered a few words of comfort to Wang Jiu.
Zhang Dongcheng watched his wife comfort Wang Jiu. The atmosphere between the two women was especially warm and friendly. His heart pounded, but he didn't dare break the mood. It wasn't until he saw Wang Jiu about to leave, telling Qi Jun to put down two expensive gift boxes, that Jiaqi became even more grateful and guilty, and had her daughter thank Wang Jiu and say goodbye…
Zhang Duoduo was very well-behaved and had a natural fondness for aunties with superior looks like Wang Jiu. So she said softly, "Thank you, Auntie Ah Jiu."
Wang Jiu smiled, bent down, and reached out her hand…
Zhang Dongcheng subconsciously took a step, almost wanting to shield his daughter.
Dangerous. Too dangerous.
But before he could move, he saw Wang Jiu gently stroke Zhang Duoduo's tender cheek and say, each word distinct, "So cute."
Zhang Duoduo blushed.
Zhang Dongcheng, who had been so frightened by Wang Jiu's meaningful words that his soul nearly left his body, saw his daughter's shy and fidgety appearance. He slapped his forehead in utter despair.
The entertainment talent shows of this era were toxic, turning innocent children into "face-cons." His daughter was particularly naive and sweet. He and his wife had long suspected that if a human trafficker were just a little better-looking, their daughter would follow them away…
Reality told him—Old buddy, you're right. Not only would she follow, she'd remember to bring her Peppa Pig doll with her.
"Senior Brother, that's all for now. I'm leaving. Oh, right, remember to call me."
"Ah? Okay."
The couple saw them to the door. After Wang Jiu and the others left, Zhang Dongcheng saw his wife's expression harden. She asked, "Why did she come looking for you? And why did she tell you to call her when she was leaving!"
Zhang Dongcheng thought his wife had discovered something. To keep her from worrying, he said, "It was about the Old Lady…"
"It's not because you two have some other kind of relationship?"
"???"
Zhang Dongcheng was dumbfounded, but he saw the melancholy and unease on her face as she said, "She's divorced…"
A young, rich woman who was talented, beautiful, had an outstanding temperament, and was still radiant even after a divorce—what married, sallow-faced housewife wouldn't see her as a dangerous beast?
"What are you talking about! How is that possible!"
Zhang Dongcheng felt his wife's imagination was more terrifying than that horror game.
Jiaqi sized him up and suddenly came to her senses. "You're right. She wouldn't be interested in a bald, beer-bellied old man like you anyway, especially when there's a handsome young guy like Qi Jun right beside her."
Then she went to cook with her mind at ease, even scolding Zhang Duoduo not to pick her nose midway through.
Zhang Dongcheng: "…"
Damn, this day has been so exhausting.
Women truly are terrifying creatures who can turn hostile in an instant.
While the small family was "happy and harmonious" in their apartment upstairs, down in a car on the street, Wang Jiu's expression was dark and unreadable.
She was watching another car parked at a distant street corner. Someone inside was taking pictures with a camera.
They were photographing Zhang Dongcheng's home, and also the car she was in.
Wang Jiu lowered her eyes. Sent by Yang Yu.
So cautious. It seems he's not just a second-generation rich kid who likes to play with women.
That makes sense. You have to be ruthless and decisive enough to get the biggest prize in the end.
As Wang Jiu thought this, she had no intention of telling Zhang Dongcheng about it. She was waiting, waiting for him to send her a text first.
The previous deal had been completed. This was the second deal, and she had to wait for him to take the initiative.
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