Early the next morning, just as the day was dawning.
Jiang Lijin was woken up by a racket.
She irritably grabbed a handful of her messy hair and sat up in bed. She wondered if the soundproofing in this room was really that bad. The commotion downstairs was so loud it sounded like two fleets were launching a beach landing in the living room.
She changed her clothes, pushed open the door, walked down the stairs to the first-floor landing, glanced at the living room, and stopped dead in her tracks.
The spacious hall was currently split into two halves.
On the left, a squad of broad-shouldered, long-legged tough guys in dark blue combat uniforms was carrying heavy black super-alloy metal boxes, marching in unison toward the stairs.
On the right, several staff members in pure white uniforms stood in two rows, with several huge transparent anti-gravity packaging boxes hovering between them. Inside were the top-tier pieces of furniture that Tinia had been going on about last night.
"Careful! This is pure hand-tanned snow-fluff beast skin from Planet Alpha. If you ruin a single hair, can you afford to pay for it!" a white-uniformed foreman scolded his subordinates in a hushed voice.
Catching a glimpse of Jiang Lijin upstairs out of the corner of his eye, the foreman's expression instantly switched from stern to fawning, and he gave a standard ninety-degree bow. "Good morning, Ms. Jiang! I'm so sorry for disturbing your rest!"
"Sister! You're awake!"
A flash of dazzling golden yellow darted to the foot of the stairs. Tinia had changed into an extremely casual white hoodie today. His soft blond hair was a bit messy, and paired with those sparkling blue eyes, his whole being exuded a vibrant, bouncy energy.
"Look, Sister, all the furniture I ordered for you yesterday has arrived!" Tinia pointed at the hovering boxes like he was presenting a treasure. "That snow-fluff beast skin rug, I had them cover the entire second-floor hallway and your room with it. The material has a built-in temperature control system, so your feet won't get cold when you walk on it barefoot!"
Jiang Lijin's mouth twitched slightly. What was covering the floor wasn't a rug; it was burning Star Coins.
"Alright, go lay it out." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, bypassed Tinia, and walked straight to the open-plan dining room on the first floor.
In the dining room, Chiron was sitting up straight, eating his breakfast.
The hall was noisy and chaotic, but he seemed completely oblivious to it. He was wearing a finely textured light gray shirt, his slender fingers holding a sterling silver knife and fork as he unhurriedly cut the sunny-side-up egg on his plate.
"Morning." Hearing the footsteps, Chiron raised his eyes, a faint trace of a smile flashing in their depths.
"Morning." Jiang Lijin pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.
"Whirrr—"
The familiar sound of rolling tracks rang out. A round, white robot glided over, its mechanical arm steadily holding a cup of hot milk at the perfect temperature, which it placed by Jiang Lijin's hand. Its screen flashed a crescent-like smiley face: (＾▽＾).
"Good morning, Ms. Jiang!" a familiar, gentle mechanical voice sounded.
"Xiao Bai?" Jiang Lijin was a bit surprised.
"Since we plan to live here long-term, it's only natural to bring my life assistant over," Chiron put down his knife and fork, picked up a napkin, and elegantly dabbed the corners of his mouth. "It also has your dietary preferences and routine data recorded."
Jiang Lijin nodded, picked up the milk, and took a sip. This couldn't be better. When she moved out of Chiron's house, leaving Xiao Bai behind was what she had been most reluctant to do.
She looked around the hall, her gaze sweeping over the Federation soldiers. "Where is Baal?"
A burly man in uniform, who was walking by carrying a metal box half the height of a person, suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around, brought his leather boots together with a snap, stood at attention, and gave an extremely standard military salute.
"Reporting to Ms. Jiang, Commander Baal headed to the military headquarters early this morning to handle urgent military affairs," the soldier answered loudly, his voice so booming it made Jiang Lijin's ears ring. "We were ordered to move the Commander's personal belongings here. Furthermore, the Commander instructed us to pass a message on to you."
Jiang Lijin raised an eyebrow. "What message?"
"The Commander said that eighty percent of his personal savings has been fully transferred to the account under your name, please check it. The remaining twenty percent is reserved for military turnover and daily expenses." After reciting this word for word, the soldier saluted again, shouldered the box, and continued toward Baal's room.
Jiang Lijin froze in place. Eighty percent?
She raised her wrist and tapped open her optical computer's virtual screen. In the unread messages list lay two glaring transfer notifications.
The first was from Baal's private account, amount: 80,000,000 Star Coins.
She had just finished his mental power purification yesterday, and the money arrived today? It seemed he was very satisfied... Thinking of how Baal looked yesterday, Jiang Lijin's face grew hot.
The other one was from half an hour earlier than Baal's.
Remitter: Yunlan Group Corporate Account.
Amount: 100,000,000 Star Coins.
[Message: The child is rowdy, please forgive him. Just a small token of appreciation, not worth mentioning. — Eileen]
Jiang Lijin gasped.
One hundred million!
Is this the weight of the richest person in the galaxy?
Baal, the Commander-in-Chief of the Federation Military, a 3S-level top combatant, who had braved death fighting the Zerg and lived on the edge of a knife for so many years, probably only had a total net worth of just over a hundred million.
Meanwhile, Tinia's mother casually tossed out a "small token of appreciation" that was a cool hundred million.
Damn capitalists!
Jiang Lijin turned off her optical computer, expressionlessly picked up her milk, and downed the remaining half cup in one gulp.
"Sister, what's wrong? Why is your expression so weird?" Tinia leaned in.
"It's nothing," Jiang Lijin said in a terrifyingly calm tone. "I just suddenly feel like I don't have to work hard anymore."
Tinia didn't catch the deeper meaning of this, but that didn't stop him from chiming in. "You never had to work hard in the first place, Sister! I'll provide for you! The latest quarterly dividends from Yunlan Group will arrive next month, and I'll transfer them all to you!"
Beside them, Chiron chuckled softly. "It seems your current mood is quite complicated."
Jiang Lijin turned to look at him, and seeing his breezy, nonchalant appearance, suddenly felt the urge to tease him.
She spread her hand out, thrusting it right in front of Chiron. She tapped her knuckles on the table, palm facing up, like a debt-collecting thug.
"They've all paid up. Where's yours?"
Chiron looked at the fair palm extended in front of him, paused for a moment, and then smiled helplessly.
"I certainly can't compare to Commander Baal, who holds military power and receives generous allowances," Chiron said in a mild tone. "Nor can I compare to Young Master Tinia's vast family fortune, where a casual gesture is worth a hundred million."
He looked into Jiang Lijin's eyes, his voice softening. "I'm just a researcher. What I can give you is indeed not much."
Jiang Lijin raised an eyebrow.
These lines! This tone! It was practically the standard opening move from the scumbag playbook! She was half expecting Chiron's next sentence to be—"But I will give you all of my heart."
Just giving things nobody wants!
Just as Jiang Lijin was about to pull her hand back, she saw Chiron unhurriedly tap open the optical computer on his wrist, his fingertips swiping quickly across the virtual screen a few times.
"Buzz—"
Jiang Lijin's optical computer vibrated, receiving an encrypted file.
"So, on the afternoon the Main Brain issued the matching notification, I took some time out to visit the Interstellar United Bank." Chiron picked up his coffee cup, his tone mild. "I transferred the ownership of the three core medical patents under my name entirely to you."
Jiang Lijin opened the document. It was filled with densely packed clauses and an asset list stamped with the Star Federation's highest level of certification.
Chiron took a sip of his coffee and continued, "In addition, all my future fixed dividends from the Imperial Central Hospital have been bound to your account."
Jiang Lijin stared at the total estimated value at the bottom of the screen, her fingers suddenly clenching.
"It's just that the monthly dividends aren't fixed. It's roughly around five million." Chiron looked at her, the smile in his eyes deepening. "That should be enough to cover your everyday monthly expenses."
She took back what she had just thought. How was this a scumbag? This was a sugar daddy!!!
"I wonder if this little bit of sincerity," Chiron leaned forward slightly, his gray eyes locked intently on her, "is enough for you to show me a little mercy when you try to kick me out?"
Jiang Lijin closed her optical computer and nodded with a solemn expression.
"It's enough," she answered in all seriousness. "As long as you don't blow up this house, you can stay for as long as you want."
