Has the Little Money-Grubber Saved Enough for a 'Wife Fund' Today? - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Long Xi used her eyes to convey her grievances, accusing her mother of being cruel and heartless.

Shen Zaiqing paid her no mind. She leisurely put on her slippers, walked over to the sofa, and sat down. Noticing a bowl of washed Jabuticaba on the coffee table, she picked one up without a second thought, popped it into her mouth, and picked up the remote to continue watching her TV drama.

Dacai ran over and curled up at her feet. Shen Zaiqing teased him for a bit before picking up another Jabuticaba and placing it in Dacai’s mouth.

Long Xi’s heart ached even more. Those were her Jabuticabas. She had spent the whole morning painstakingly picking them.

As the saying goes: when your family can’t give you warmth, go focus on your career.

Long Xi decided to properly repay her boss, who had the keen eye to recognize her talent. She sneaked back into her room and began typing furiously on her communicator, honestly recounting the scene from just now. She edited a long paragraph of text and sent it to Mu Yiyan.

The gist of it was: The gift was taken by my sister; she won’t give it to me.

After sending it, Long Xi flopped onto her back on her soft pillow, clearing her mind and closing her eyes to rest. Her green short legs were propped up, and her resilient tail swept back and forth across the bed. On the twentieth sweep, the sound of a WeChat notification and a knock on the door rang out simultaneously.

“Tietie, open the door.” It was her sister’s voice outside.

Long Xi sat up abruptly, looking toward the door and then back at her hands. She suddenly felt like she was being attacked from both the front and the back. As expected, being a spy is not something an ordinary person can handle.

“Coming, coming!”

After making a sound, Long Xi quickly checked her WeChat. Her chat page with Mu Yiyan was very concise; the boss always gave instructions in a brief manner. This time, Mu Yiyan didn’t assign her a new task—like forcefully snatching the gift back. She simply replied with a short “Okay,” which presumably meant “Seen.”

Long Xi had known for a long time that to Mu Yiyan, whether she actually got the gift or not wasn’t important. What the boss wanted her to do was the specific act of reaching out to take it. Her sister, who usually had such a dull personality, actually knew how to guard her own things now; it was truly something to celebrate.

It had to be said that the boss was truly formidable, easily manipulating her sister.

After her silent praise, Long Xi slipped off the bed, preparing to deal with the person outside. She instantly transformed into her eighteen-year-old girl form, ruffled her messy hair, and walked behind the door to open it.

The dragon cub form was not serious enough. Standing there so short and small meant she had no human rights; even when she was fuming with rage, people would just say she was acting cute and coquettish. Since she had chosen her side, she had to work hard for the boss. This time, she definitely had to show her authority.

Setting her face into a stern expression, Long Xi pulled the door open and let her sister in.

To her surprise, the imagined internal struggle or war of words did not happen. Instead, something occurred that Long Xi could never have imagined even if she broke her head thinking.

Her “miserly” sister actually wanted to use money to bribe her?!!

This was as inconceivable as a dragon cub refusing to eat watermelon or Jabuticaba.

“Sis, do you dare to repeat what you just said one more time!” Long Xi sat cross-legged on the bed, a stray hair sticking up on her head, as she scrutinized her sister of over ten years with an incredulous gaze.

This sister of hers had a special fondness for the sound of money even before she had hatched from her dragon egg. After growing up, it became even more out of control. She not only loved wealth but was a hoarder of it. If her own younger sister asked her for financial help in an emergency, she would only reply with three words: “Get lost.”

The only moving part was that her two mothers and her younger sister, the bottom tier of the family, received equal treatment in this regard.

And do you know what she said just now?

She said: You’re going into the mountains in a couple of days. That van you bought second-hand was an accident vehicle; it’s very unsafe. I’ll buy you an off-road SUV.

She was even holding an electronic magazine, showing the pictures to Long Xi, saying casually, “Let’s just get this latest model.”

Long Xi felt that any past unpleasantness she had with her sister could be wiped clean with a single stroke. This included the current urge to curse due to the realization that her sister was even wealthier than she had imagined—it could all be cleared away instantly.

“Or do you like a different style? Want to switch for another one?”

Long Xi snatched the electronic reader from Long Xuan’s hands, clutching it tightly to her chest. Her head shook faster than a rattle-drum: “No, Sister! I think this one is very good!”

It cost several hundred thousand; it was more than enough for her. With this car, she could go to the highest mountains and harvest the best medicinal herbs. Would she still have to fear her medicinal material studio going bankrupt?

Long Xuan: “Mhm. There’s one condition.”

Long Xi stared at the magazine without blinking, feeling as if she were floating on air. “I can go through mountains of blades or seas of fire, as long as you don’t go back on your word, Sister.”

This was a critical juncture that could not go wrong. Long Xi’s expression turned solemn as she asked Long Xuan seriously, “Sis, are you sober right now? Are you in a state where your word is your bond?”

Despite the lack of sleep and her head throbbing with pain, Long Xuan was certain she was more sober than ever. She told Long Xi word for word: “I am very sober. My word is my bond.”

Long Xi threw down the item in her hand, straightened her back, and bowed to her sister. “Whatever needs to be done, just say the word. I won’t hesitate even if I have to lose my head or shed my blood.”

Compared to the over-excited Long Xi, Long Xuan appeared much more composed. She quietly observed her sister and said, “It hasn’t reached such a serious level. I just want you to help me find out a few things. It should be very simple for you.”

Long Xi nodded like a woodpecker, immediately selling out the boss she had just been worshipping. “Whatever you want to know, you can ask me.”

The trade was very cost-effective, and the transaction proceeded smoothly. Long Xi wanted to permanently tattoo this current smile onto her face.

“I’ve already paid the deposit. Tomorrow, you go to this place to ask how to pick up the car. After you go into the mountains, you must also keep in touch with me.” A weight had been lifted from her heart, and her mind felt clear. Long Xuan felt she could finally get a good night’s sleep because she had obtained extremely crucial information from her sister.

“No problem! Sis, you’re going back to rest now, right? Do you want me to help you back?”

Long Xuan waved her hand, saying it wasn’t necessary.

“Then I’ll roll around a couple more times to digest this. I won’t see you out!” Long Xi instantly transformed back into the 40-centimeter dragon cub, rolling back and forth on the bed while clutching her blanket.

“Go ahead and digest. I’m going back to my room.” Long Xuan thoughtfully closed the door for her.

As it turned out, this wasn’t something that could be “digested” in just a few rolls. Long Xi couldn’t hide the excitement in her heart. She twisted the doorknob, squeezed through the crack, and darted to Shen Zaiqing’s feet, usurping the “nest” and forcefully squeezing Dacai away.

The over-excited dragon cub, actively seeking trouble, turned her back toward Shen Zaiqing and arched against her feet, wearing an expression that said she would enjoy being kicked or scolded. “Ma, give me a couple of kicks.”

Shen Zaiqing was engrossed in her TV show and didn’t want to be disturbed. She used her toes to gently shoo her away. “Get lost.”

Long Xi directly hugged her leg and said, “If you kick me twice more, maybe I’ll even be able to buy a house this year.”

She felt that it was thanks to her mother stepping on her twice that this good fortune had landed on her head. If she had used too much force earlier and fallen out with her sister, that off-road vehicle would definitely have had nothing to do with her. At a time like this, not praising her dear mother would be a violation of the laws of heaven.

When things are abnormal, there must be a catch. Shen Zaiqing paused the TV, moved her gaze to the dragon cub, and asked, “What did your sister talk to you about just now?”

Tietie’s face was brilliant with joy as she lied through her teeth: “She was discussing with me what to eat for dinner!”

Shen Zaiqing’s hand moved past the dragon’s horns and settled on the scruff of her neck. Her eyes narrowed slightly, conveying the message: Do you think I’ll believe that?

Long Xi tried to make up another one, putting on a full performance: “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you the truth. Sister came over to tell me to wake her up tomorrow morning because she wants to get up early. She set thirty alarms but still felt it wasn’t safe. It’s more effective if I call her.”

Shen Zaiqing judged immediately: “Fake.”

Long Xi frowned as a sense of crisis washed over her. She thought she had found a good excuse and could celebrate freely; how could she have forgotten that her mother was not easily fooled? Her eyes darted around as she searched her brain for a suitable excuse. Before she knew it, Shen Zaiqing’s hand had grabbed her dragon whiskers, winding them around her fingers circle by circle.

In their house, grabbing the dragon cub’s whiskers usually represented the final stage of an interrogation—the highest level of questioning. The whiskers were sensory organs more useful than the nose, eyes, or ears, packed with sensory nerves. At the same time, they were the most fragile part of a dragon’s body; their sensitivity to pain was incomparable to any other organ.

By winding them around a finger, one didn’t need to use much force; just a little bit of pressure would make the dragon cub kneel and beg for mercy.

Long Xi hadn’t been prepared for her mother to use this move. Had she known, she would have tucked her whiskers away in advance so her mother wouldn’t have the opportunity. It was too late now. Seeing that her mother was about to pull hard, Long Xi prioritized the “big picture” and immediately surrendered. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

After saying it, Long Xi felt she had lost so much.

Sister Mumu wanted to bribe her and spent a huge amount of money to invest in her studio. Her sister wanted to bribe her and took out her hidden assets to buy her a car. But her mother wanted information from her and directly used maternal authority to oppress her!

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