CH 35.2

Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC.

Chu Rong: Marshal ML.

Fan Xiangnan: ML’s second-in-command.

Chu Yan: ML’s younger brother. Is the same age as MC, currently attending intermediate college.

Chu Huai: ML’s older brother, he’s in politics.

Xiang Kun: Chu Yan’s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui’s younger brother.

A1: A household robot in ML’s house

Sang Bu: MC’s roommate. Information System major.

Yun Xiachu: MC’s classmate, a first-grader at intermediate college.

Ning Kongran: A fifth-grader at intermediate college.

During dinner, Qiao Zhiya had an extra background song of Chu Yan’s endless diatribe1the original is “108 angry curses”. The number 108 is very significant in many Asian cultures. I personally didn’t know much about it, so I don’t dare to tell you here. about the very riveting topic of “Xiang Kun is despicable”. It was quite the entertainment, and Qiao Zhiya had to ask, “Why did your fight escalate anyways? You said he’s despicable, can you tell me more about it?”

Honestly, shouldn’t Xiang Kun be the wronged party this time? He was blamed for many things he might not even know about. Why was Chu Yan the one who was this angry?

“Why is he despicable, you ask?” Chu Yan slapped the table again, rattling the silverwares and plates on the table. The ill-tempered young master’s wrath was about to rise to the heavens. “That brat Xiang Kun is so stupid that he has become a pig! This time he came to fight with me and was obviously instigated by his family members, because of course. His empty brain makes him the perfect lil’ goody-goody for his family. Bah!”

“That bastard Xiang family wanted to get rid of us with this one stroke, so we exposed that matter about the mine and your patent. And they dare to twist it by saying it’s ‘all the children’s nonsense!’ Ptooey! Scheming, slimy shits! Who is a child? I’m a whole-ass adult! Let’s see if they still can use this ‘children’s nonsense’ and ‘making things worse that they are seems’ next time to cover up their fuck-ups!”

Chu Rong, who came out just in time bringing the dishes with A1, heard Chu Yan’s colorful rant. As a responsible adult brother of that brat, he scolded him with a shout, resulting Chu Yan to turn around. With a horrified look, he saw Chu Rong’s very strange yet spine-chilling look. The young master swallowed the rest of his rant, and even took the initiative to help Chu Rong with the dishes.

With Chu Rong in charge, the dinner was very quiet again. After eating, Chu Rong stuffed the two of them into the hover car and sent them back to school.

“Dage is a little busy this weekend, and he said that he’ll invite you to play next week.” In the car, Chu Yan finally calmed down and explained with more grace than he used to display. After all, he didn’t want Qiao Zhiya to think that he was this low-brow brat with a foul mouth.

Qiao Zhiya hurriedly waved his hands to indicate that it was okay. He then glanced back and forth at the two brothers, leaned closer against Chu Yan, and said, “Xiao Yan, explain the rumor to me again. I want to understand it thoroughly, so that I can respond properly next time. You said that Xiang Kun deliberately wanted to fight with you, what is his purpose? Can this really expose this matter?”

Although he had heard bits and pieces about the whole shitstorm from Xiao Yan, it was ultimately interrupted by Chu Rong. Therefore, he still hadn’t got the full picture.

One of his goals for going to school was to learn mecha manufacturing, and the second was to get familiar with the twists and turns among the upper echelons of the Federation as soon as possible. He had serious gaps of knowledge to fill.

There’s no such thing as “retreat” in a dwarf’s dictionary! If he didn’t know, then he would just learn it!

Chu Yan, who had already been warned twice by Chu Rong because of this incident, went to see his erge carefully. Seeing that the other party only gave him a faint look, he didn’t mean to stop Chu Yan. He even seemed to be in a good mood.

The young master cursed in his heart about this blatant double standard. Then, he turned to face Qiao Zhiya and explained to him in a more objective fashion.

Basically, the Xiang family originally wanted to use Qiao Zhiya to dig a pit for the Chu family. So, they tested the water by telling that teacher to imply that Qiao Zhiya was stealing patents to get into school. However, they didn’t expect that Qiao Zhiya was very treasured by the family, and would tell them everything about this incident immediately. In the end, before the Xiang family finished digging the said pit, Chu Yan killed their effort by making a fuss and basically exposed their whole “mishaps” about the mine and patent thing. He even added a bit of spice by implying that the Xiang family was prejudiced against Exoplanet Natives. It was a very serious accusation, to say the least.

And because Chu Yan was the one who performed the “exposé”, the Chu family didn’t cut off all Xiang family’s way of retreat. Chu Yan was still considered a junior, and therefore, his words weren’t very reliable. This meant that the Chu family was kind enough to give the Xiang family a warning, and with the added bonus of reminding them about the mine-stealing incident.

Now that the Xiang family knew what was going on, they didn’t dare to come out to clarify the matter of the mine-stealing thing. They were afraid that it would become darker and murkier, and Chu family actually had means to completely exposed it into the public and fucking them up. So, they asked Xiang Kun to confront Chu Yan, divert the attention of the public and control the narrative. They claimed it was just the children’s slapstick, as you know, they’re hormonal and too angry, so of course it’s normal for them to speak nonsense to make things bigger than it seems. In the end, the Xiang family narrowly escaped.

Furthermore, Xiang Kun and Chu Yan’s public fights were infamous. They would say all kinds of outrageous things during such fights. Using this as an excuse made it credible. All the Xiang family needed to do was to endure the storm, be nice in public, and this matter would eventually pass.

Luckily for the Xiang family, the Chu family understood that it was not the time to destabilize the current power balance between the Four Great Family and the government, so they agreed with the “children’s nonsense” excuse. The public was successfully fooled, and everyone laughed at the spectacle.

In short, at the end of the matter, no one’s reputation was affected, only Chu Yan became an entertainment for the public again, as usual. This happens everytime he fights Xiang Kun.

“–and that’s probably all. I’m used to this, the Xiang family has used me this way many times already.” As he spoke, Chu Yan’s face darkened again. He wanted to curse the Xiang family to the heavens, but seeing that Chu Rong was within hearing range, he behaved himself.

Seeing Chu Yan’s aggrievedness, Chu Rong gave him a rare gentle comfort, “Don’t worry, although the Chu family can’t really confront the Xiang family in this situation, the Xiang family will stumble. Dage won’t let your effort be in vain.”

Chu Yan’s eyes lit up when he heard those words. He eagerly asked, “How?”

The moody Qiao Zhiya was at a loss again. He curled up his fist into a ball, and his ears were slightly droopy2it’s like, when a dog or a cat was disappointed/scared/sad, their ears would also flatten.—it seemed that he still had a lot to learn.

After returning to school, Qiao Zhiya found that the attitude of his classmates towards him had changed again. They were no longer hostile, but began to approach him with a strange curiosity.

The first graders were young and not good at concealing their thoughts, so whether they were genuinely curious or not, Qiao Zhiya could know it after just a little observation. However, despite this newly-found interest in Qiao Zhiya, the blond half-elf was still a loner, putting all his energy into his studies, only chatting with Yun Xiachu, and treating other people’s approach with courtesy and distance.

So his classmates began to say that he was arrogant and difficult to get along with. Qiao Zhiya pretended not to hear those remarks. He only let his grades show them his attitude about this matter – so what if he was “arrogant”? His arrogance was founded on his effort and honest grades, unlike those so-called elites who need to rely on their family’s wealth to buy them good grades; and could only gossip all day without studying.

Two days later, Chu Yan took the time to find Qiao Zhiya’s classroom and came to play with him. He showed his intimacy and familiarity with him in public. He even gave the little carrot heads a few warning glares, scaring them out of the classroom. They no longer dared to provoke Qiao Zhiya again.

And in the dormitory, Sang Bu, who had only recently came back crawling from the torture chamber laboratory, gave Qiao Zhiya an icy look when they met. With a mocking tone, he left Qiao Zhiya a sentence before going back to his room to catch some much-needed sleep: “You just come back in such a miserable state. What kind of thigh can you hug? Such nonsensical gossip.”

In short, Qiao Zhiya’s life was not affected by the rumors, and it was even a blessing in disguise. He reaped Yun Xiachu’s acidic friendship and Sang Bu’s not-so-comforting consolation.

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday again. After finishing the morning class, Qiao Zhiya still chose to stay in the classroom to review his self-study. Now he has started to study the next stage of material processing on the Internet. He knew that he needed to exert more effort, because the AI teacher had become “stupider” recently. Whenever there’s a thing he doesn’t understand, the AI can’t give him a proper explanation. He needed to explore the answer by himself.

Just as he was concentrating on his studies, the window next to him was knocked twice. He turned his head, and smiled when he saw Ning Kongran. He opened the window to greet the older student, “We meet again. Are you going to eat?”

Ning Kongran nodded, observed his expression, and started carefully probing, “How is your week…?”

Rumors spread like a wildfire, especially since there’s someone fanning the flame from behind the scene. Even if he stayed inside the laboratory every day, he still has heard a couple of things.

One of the Four Great Families3he’s referring to the Xiang family.? What a joke.

Qiao Zhiya heard his unfinished question. He was grateful that this acquaintance was tactful enough to only hint at it. He replied, “It’s okay, thank you for your concern. The snacks you gave last time were also delicious, let me thank you again.”

Those snacks were quite special. It should be infused with some kind of compound with a soothing effect on spiritual power. It really could relieve fatigue after eating it, which was amazing. If he had time this weekend, he wanted to try to make some for the White-Haired Monster.

“I’m glad you like it,” Ning Kongran was relieved when he heard the blond student’s words. He paused for a bit, as if he was thinking about something. His smile was still pure, and he politely commented, “I’ve seen your patent, it’s very powerful.”

With that, he nodded at Qiao Zhiya, gave him another snack box, then left without waiting for another reply.

Qiao Zhiya didn’t expect him to leave without saying goodbye. He hurriedly stuck his body out in the window to shout another thanks, but he could only see Ning Kongran’s figure disappearing around the corner. He shrank back, picked up the box of snacks, ears twitching in confusion.

‘Ning Kongran seemed to be a very good person…. Did he come here specially to comfort me this time?’

Because Qiao Zhiyan was going to Chu-dage’s house this weekend, Chu Yan rushed over from Campus A after school and went to the south gate with him.

In the car, Chu Yan got excited again, he started rambling.

“Hahaha, Dage is so handsome, he actually changed his law-making proposal directly! He used the matter of ‘your patent being unreasonably suspected by your teacher’ to insinuate that this actually may have happened many times. After all, Exoplanet Natives really didn’t know much when they first got to live in the Federation, so these things might have happened in the past. He proposed a new law to rectify this problem; that is, to help Recluses and citizens in need protecting their intellectual properties against… uh.. you know, those people with power? He also proposed to investigate the shady bureaucracy of the patent certification! I heard that when Dage made that proposal, that old fart’s4most likely Chu Yan was referring to the Xiang family’s representative in the legislation. face turned black. Hahaha, he deserves it! His shitty family must’ve the most shady patents, so that’s why he was so worried! Tsk tsk tsk, what goes around, comes around indeed.”

Chu Yan said with such exuberance that he looked like about to kowtow to Chu Huai in respect.

Qiao Zhiya’s eyes lit up when he heard this. He was happy if this incident could somehow help other Recluses like him in the end.

“That piece of shit teacher also left. The one that accuses you of the whole patent theft thing.” Chu Yan slung his arm around Qiao Zhiya’s shoulder, and said with suppressed excitement, “In short, thanks to your response to that teacher, we can win this big! Hahaha, that fake teacher failed so hard in prying at your weakness and gave him a solid reason to attack you. Great!!”

Qiao Zhiya blushed at his praise and shyly smiled in response. He silently vowed to be more careful about his words and actions in the future.

“No need to be overly careful.” Chu Rong, who had been quietly listening to their troubles, suddenly opened his mouth. As if he had read Qiao Zhiya’s mind, he reached out and brushed at the youth’s bangs as he continued, “Just do what you like.”

Qiao Zhiya was caught off-guard by this constant reassurance. He looked at Chu Rong, pursed his lips, and returned the brushing gesture by rubbing his head into Chu Rong’s palm like a spoiled cat.

Chu Yan withdrew his arm silently, moved to the side, turned his head to look out the window.

‘Let’s just pretend I am not being a lightbulb.’

The hover car stopped directly at the main residence of the Chu family. After getting out of the car, Qiao Zhiya looked around at the magnificent buildings around him, his ears perked up because of tension—he had heard that the Chu family had a profound heritage, but he didn’t really realize the actual scale of it until now. It was beyond extravagant or opulent. They were rich enough to use actual magic stones as the material for their stairs.

“It was made by my great-great-great-great-grandfather. He had this grand vision of a mansion, but he died before seeing it happen.” Chu Rong’s gaze was fixed on the black jade steps, and it was filled with visible disgust.

Chu Yan pulled Qiao Zhiya to his side and whispered, “Actually, everyone doesn’t live here. Dage and Dasao5大嫂 “dàsǎo”, it means eldest brother’s wife. It’s from 嫂子 “sǎozi”, which means older brother’s wife. This would be the way Chu Yan call QZY when he’s married to Chu Rong lol. And as for how Chu Huai would call QZY, it would be 弟媳 “dìxí” younger brother’s wife. live in a separate house because it’s convenient to go to work there. Erge also lives near the military headquarters for convenience. And as for me, I usually live in the school dormitory, and live in my own separate house during weekends. Everyone comes back here only during holidays, like, once or twice a year. Well, since Dage specially called everyone to gather, so he chose this main residence, I guess.”

Qiao Zhiya felt flattered when listening to the explanation. He withdrew his eyes from looking at the servants, and replied, “There is no need for such special hospitality, and I’m not a distinguished guest.”

“It’s not for you to decide that, right?” Chu Yan knew the blond youth was becoming nervous, so he patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, “Also, no need to worry. Dage chose this house because it’s the one big enough to house us all, as there are many rooms here. See that tall building over there? That’s our own mecha training hall, how cool is that? I’ll ask Erge for a duel later, so you can see how powerful we both are~”

Qiao Zhiya looked in the direction he pointed, and his nervousness eased. He now was very much looking forward to the promised mecha battle. Last time, he only saw Chu Rong operating his mecha in the cockpit, and he had never seen Chu Rong driving the mecha outside. It must have been an amazing sight.

When the three of them arrived at the gate of the main residence’s courtyard, Chu Huai had already waited there with his wife by his side.

“Dinner is ready. Your Dasao cooked a big feast for all of us.” Chu Huai greeted them immediately when he saw them. The joy on his face couldn’t be suppressed, and they could see flowers6you know, like in those anime/manga, where a character was so happy they were drawn with flowers framing them? appearing on his face. The eldest Chu looked at Chu Rong with a loving, brotherly gaze in his eyes. It was clear what this gaze meant – not to Qiao Zhiya, though.

“Dage.” Chu Rong nodded to him as a greeting, then looked at the tall, slender woman beside him. With a more relaxed expression, he greeted, “Dasao, long time no see.”

“Ah, so you know it’s been a long time.” Gu Yan’an, the wife of Chu Huai, reprimanded him kindly. Her eyes were also equally loving and sisterly, “The last time we ate together was during the Lunar New Year7…tbh, do they have the same “moon” here? Idk, but the other option then would be “Chinese New Year” and they’re not technically in China anymore so… Lunar New Year it is.. And now, didn’t you say that you…”

Chu Huai coughed and interrupted her.

Gu Yan’an shut up. She side-eyed her husband and stopped talking about the apparently-taboo topic now. However, no amount of sneaky coughs could stop her from taking glances on Qiao Zhiya behind Chu Yan and Chu Rong.

Sensing her gaze, Chu Rong leaned slightly, pulled Qiao Zhiya in front of her, and introduced, “Dasao, this is Qiao Zhiya. Qiao Zhiya, call her Dasao.”

“Good evening, Dasao.” Qiao Zhiya hurriedly greeted politely, his voice a little soft from his shyness.

After that awkward greeting,  he looked at Chu Huai again with a blushing face, and called out in almost a whisper, “Chu-dage.”

He finally had enough courage to call Chu Huai that, after much prodding from Chu Yan. In the past, he used to call Chu Huai with ‘xiansheng8先生 “xiānshēng”, could be translated as “Mister/Sir/Gentleman”. It’s a very polite/respectful way to address a man.’.

“Qiao got a little fatter than when we met last time. It seems that he had a good meal at school.” Chu Huai patted Qiao Zhiya’s head affectionately. With this gesture, Chu Rong’s expression also became gentler – he was clearly pleased. He also exchanged glances with Gu Yan’an, who already knew how to interpret his wordless communication.

Gu Yan’an then proceeded to welcome them all in.

Chu Yan, who was ignored from the beginning to the end: “…” He was indeed the actual picked-up child!

1the original is “108 angry curses”. The number 108 is very significant in many Asian cultures. I personally didn’t know much about it, so I don’t dare to tell you here.2it’s like, when a dog or a cat was disappointed/scared/sad, their ears would also flatten.3he’s referring to the Xiang family.4most likely Chu Yan was referring to the Xiang family’s representative in the legislation.5大嫂 “dàsǎo”, it means eldest brother’s wife. It’s from 嫂子 “sǎozi”, which means older brother’s wife. This would be the way Chu Yan call QZY when he’s married to Chu Rong lol. And as for how Chu Huai would call QZY, it would be 弟媳 “dìxí” younger brother’s wife.6you know, like in those anime/manga, where a character was so happy they were drawn with flowers framing them?7…tbh, do they have the same “moon” here? Idk, but the other option then would be “Chinese New Year” and they’re not technically in China anymore so… Lunar New Year it is.8先生 “xiānshēng”, could be translated as “Mister/Sir/Gentleman”. It’s a very polite/respectful way to address a man.