Her Mental Energy had already reached 27,000, and now she was striving for 28,000.
A’Diao felt she needed to quickly get a Spirit Core to upgrade her toilet; otherwise, seeing so much Mental Energy and being reluctant to use it was too tantalizing.
Upon entering the main hall, the old madam was sitting with a face full of displeasure, eating Ciga. Soft, glutinous rice balls were rolled in peanut powder, with some bean sprout bits, looking very tempting.
This old madam really knew how to enjoy food. At her age, she wasn’t even afraid of it sticking to her teeth.
“Hungry?”
The old madam asked her.
No matter how much she internally dissed the old madam, A’Diao put on an obedient facade. “Not hungry. Your granddaughter has only been thinking of you, Grandmother. Not hungry at all.”
The old madam remained unmoved, saying lightly, “Oh, then think some more. There’s no need to give you any food.”
With a wave of her hand, she had someone remove the food.
Ah! This old madam was just as nasty as she was over a decade ago, a typical villain from a household drama.
A’Diao felt frustrated internally but still asked cautiously, “Grandmother, you brought me back, was it to have Father help me with my school registration? Your granddaughter doesn’t want to force anything else, just a place to study.”
Whoever wanted to return to this wretched Chen family could return; she couldn’t care less. It was more comfortable outside anyway.
“He has already sent someone to handle it.”
“…”
A’Diao was very surprised. How could that damned rich Chen Ran do that?
“Was it you, Grandmother, who spoke up for me?”
The old madam glanced at her. “Guess how I put it.”
What was there to guess?
Just as A’Diao was about to play dumb, the old madam took a sip of tea, clearing her palate as she said, “If you guess correctly, I’ll give you something to eat.”
Am I short of your food?
However, since the matter wasn’t settled yet, A’Diao didn’t hesitate to flatter her. So she said, “You must have told Father that suddenly becoming a father in middle age isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it sounds quite festive.”
Anyone who didn’t know better would think Chen Ran had been cuckolded.
Luckily, he himself wasn’t present.
The old matron and maidservant at the side: “…”
Gaining Mental Energy by the tens was also quite good; it really was quite festive.
As A’Diao thought this, the old madam paused, her gaze deep. “You’ve been raised by that Old Daoist Priest all these years, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Does he often deliver babies and handle joyous occasions?”
“…”
Not really, but he often conducted funerals, that was true.
A’Diao couldn’t very well say that, so she just smiled obediently. Perhaps the old madam lacked energy, and coupled with her apparent dislike for this skinny third granddaughter who had seemingly returned from the dead, she let her leave.
As she left, A’Diao was not too happy. What about the food you promised me?
The old madam had tricked her.
The old matron walked ahead, leading her to the arranged courtyard.
Her lodgings were already arranged? Was the Chen family really going to accept her?
The courtyard was very secluded, clearly a shabby place to fob her off, but it was clean. It had been tidied up, and her luggage had been brought in.
Seeing A’Diao pouting, the old matron lowered her eyes and went to report. The old madam sneered, saying caustically, “Greedy thing, just like when she was little.”
Before long, the small kitchen sent over steaming hot glutinous rice balls fragrant with peanut powder.
“!!”
A delighted A’Diao spouted a mouthful of sweet, pleasing words, almost calling the old matron her own dear grandmother.
The old matron: “…”
How much hardship had she endured outside all these years? She wasn’t like this as a child, acting as if she’d sell herself for a bit of food.
Once the door closed, A’Diao started eating, feeling a pang of sadness as she ate: The glutinous rice balls actually had a delicious seafood filling! We are all children of the Chen family; while I was out digging sweet potatoes all over the mountains, my brothers and sisters were at home eating these good things?!
Her composure crumbling, she indignantly finished them all, licked her fingers, cursed Chen Ran as a damned rich man several times under her breath, and finally, relaxed her body and lay on the bed, thinking to herself that the old madam must have persuaded Chen Ran like this:
The old madam: “You have a daughter who came back from the dead.”
Chen Ran: “!!! Who?”
The old madam: “A’Diao.”
Chen Ran: “What Diao? What bird? Who?”
The old madam: “Chen A’Diao, your third daughter. What, you forgot?”
Chen Ran (actually having forgotten): “No, how could your son forget? What happened to her? Died? How did she come back from the dead? Could it be someone falsely claiming to be her?”
The old madam: “It’s true. Your wife has also seen the DNA report.”
Chen Ran: “Well… this matter is truly suspicious. We should investigate further. Even if she is my daughter, since she’s been living well outside, if we rashly bring her back, I’m afraid…”
The old madam: “Before, it was fine. Your situation was unfavorable, and having one more person would have been worse. Now, your fortunes have turned. If you don’t take her in, and rumors spread outside, it will be detrimental to your reputation and affect your official career. Your current excellent situation will surely suffer. After all, Zhao Yu has fallen, and those behind him suffered heavy losses; they might want to sling mud at you.”
Once it concerned his career, Chen Ran immediately perked up: “Yes, Mother, you are right. Your son will naturally bring her back.”
A’Diao imagined these scenes and couldn’t help but sigh: A man like Chen Ran is capable and gets things done, a good hand at being an official. Naturally, he is extremely concerned with his own interests. He already disliked this daughter of his, and now, forced by circumstances to take her back, he definitely wouldn’t dote on her, perhaps even too lazy to show his face. Sigh, I’ll just board at school when I get to high school. A simple person like me, without scheming thoughts, is not suited for household intrigue.
However, since my “good” father doesn’t like me, I’ll just make him repay the money.
A’Diao smiled and picked up her phone.
Meanwhile, Chen Ran, who was recuperating from his injuries, was also thinking about A’Diao.
He disliked this daughter one hundred percent, ever since she was little.
She wasn’t good-looking, hadn’t inherited any of his and her mother’s good looks. Being plain was one thing, but she was also sickly and brought all sorts of bad luck. She could nearly choke to death just drinking water, tripped and fell on flat ground countless times, and was always bruised and swollen. The maidservants and servants who attended her also suffered bad luck; one even drowned by falling into a latrine pit at night. For some reason, his official career was extremely unsmooth in the years after her birth, encountering setbacks everywhere. He naturally felt disgusted. Later, when she fell gravely ill and was on the verge of dying young, he had even felt a sense of relief deep down, though it wasn’t something to be told to outsiders.
Forget it, I’ll just raise her casually at home. When she’s old enough, I’ll marry her off.
Resources definitely couldn’t be spent on her.
Hopefully, she knew her place and wouldn’t vainly attempt to use the Chen family’s connections to find a good school.
As Chen Ran was lost in his own thoughts, his phone suddenly rang.
The message had only two words—REPAY MONEY.
Capitalized, an MMS, complete with a big red light, blood-dripping, and flashing effect.
It strongly resembled the violent debt collection tactics of certain illegal organizations, just short of throwing feces.
Chen Ran: “…”
Brother, I haven’t forgotten, but must you be like this? How many days has it even been!
Even visiting graves during the Qingming Festival isn’t this urgent!
From Chen Ran +666!
As the Mental Energy surged, Chen Ran’s text message also arrived.
“Your Excellency, I haven’t forgotten, and thank you for your assistance. Your Excellency is a talent. Would you consider coming under my command?”
A’Diao thought to herself: So hypocritical. Smiling on the surface, but internally, it was all MMP. Who knows how he’s cursing me, yet he still wants to recruit me.
I’m already living in your house, and I’ll have to call you Father from now on. Recruit, my ass.
A’Diao replied: “No need. I’m unrestrained and love freedom. The next time you encounter a situation where you’re about to lose your office, get demoted, have your property confiscated, and your family exterminated, I’ll find you then.”
My heavens, what a jinxed mouth!
From Chen Ran +666!
“Thank you for your righteousness, Your Excellency. As for the payment from last time, how about two hundred thousand Star Coins?”
A’Diao’s psychological price point was one hundred thousand. This damned rich man had suddenly raised it to two hundred thousand.
I can’t let him buy me out in one go, or he’ll think the price is always within his expectations.
A’Diao replied: “Not good enough.”
Damn it, is he going to ask for an exorbitant price?
Chen Ran hesitated.
From Chen Ran +344!
A’Diao replied: “Thirty.”
It’s only thirty! I thought he was going to ask for five hundred thousand!
Chen Ran heaved a big sigh of relief and readily agreed, “Alright, Your Excellency, then it’s settled…”
A’Diao replied: “Send the money.”
Chen Ran had wanted to chat a bit more to build rapport and deepen future cooperation, but seeing this message made him dejected.
This brother is probably really a grave visitor, in a hurry to buy joss paper.
Chen Ran gloomily transferred the money to A’Diao, contributing another hundred-plus Mental Energy in the process.
Strange. He had clearly gotten rid of Zhao Yu and was about to get promoted and make a fortune, yet he inexplicably couldn’t feel happy.
A’Diao had originally planned to take an afternoon nap, but soon she received a reminder from the steward, saying that the Ministry of Household Registration had sent back an official letter.
“Third Miss, there are no longer any issues with your student registration and identity. Your information has also been re-entered into the official records system. Now, you just need to go to a high school to register and wait for the entrance examination.”
The steward didn’t ask which school she planned to apply to, clearly under Chen Ran’s instruction. Did he have no intention of managing her studies?
A’Diao immediately perked up. “I’ll go register now. By the way, I have something I want to ask Father.”
Here it comes!
The steward thought to himself that his master had predicted correctly; the Third Miss indeed wanted the family to help her get into a good school. It made sense; suddenly coming from a small place, she would definitely want to go to the best high school in Jinling.
But she didn’t consider how scarce educational resources were in Jinling City. Moreover, with time dragging on like this, many schools had already filled their reserved spots. To get into a school, one could only pass the entrance examination, a competition as fierce as thousands of soldiers crossing a single-plank bridge.
But the steward was soon stunned.
“What did you say? She just said she had no money and asked for living expenses? She didn’t mention anything about her studies?”
The steward shook his head. “She only asked about living expenses. As for her studies, she said she would go register herself. I did remind the Third Miss to act according to her capabilities and not choose those top high schools, and she agreed.”
Chen Ran was noncommittal. “As long as she doesn’t cause trouble, it’s fine. Coming from Qishan, it’s no big deal even if she can’t get into a good school. As for her living expenses…”
Since he had already accepted her into the family, Chen Ran wouldn’t be stingy and create differential treatment in this matter, giving others grounds for gossip in the future.
“Give her the same as the Second Miss, five thousand Star Coins per month.”
In reality, the young masters and misses in the residence didn’t rely on this allowance at all; they all got money from the businesses controlled by their own mothers. This allowance didn’t even count as pocket change. However, Chen Ran wouldn’t say this, and the steward naturally had no authority to manage it.
“By the way, did she ask about her mother and younger brother?”
The steward shook his head. Chen Ran immediately frowned, his expression turning sour.
So this daughter wanted to enter the Chen family just for student registration and living expenses?
Could she be an ungrateful wretch?
What else!
If A’Diao knew Chen Ran’s thoughts, she would definitely reply with those two words. However, suddenly receiving five thousand Star Coins still made her very happy, as if she had found money on the street. Even though her current assets were already considerable—while not fabulously wealthy, she could look down on some young scions of prominent Jinling families among her peers.
Of course, she had also achieved food freedom.
The next day, A’Diao went out. She took the fastest hovercar to a relevant service point of Lingcheng’s Ministry of Education to register online. It only cost a little money, and she didn’t need to endure the hardship of traveling to Jinling to register. After all, a single high school couldn’t accommodate so many people—usually, entire families accompanied their children, making the school chaotic. So, there were two registration methods, online and offline. Online was convenient and allowed for cross-regional registration, but it cost a bit of money.
Then, A’Diao went to the mall to eat, eat, eat, and happened to see a reassignment notice on the public screen in the square.
Chen Ran was promoted to Lingcheng Cishi, Regular Fourth Rank, in charge of Lingcheng.
Feng Ting, as Danzhou Garrison’s Lingcheng Defense Junior Guard, Regular Fifth Rank, concurrently Commander of the Lingcheng Garrison.
Others in the Provincial Sima’s Office and under the Lingcheng Garrison also received promotions.
Overall, their alliance had won.
When one person attains Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.
Now, their official positions were already quite high. They were considered pillars of the imperial court and influential figures in the region, not to be underestimated.
In other words, if A’Diao now wore an official’s robe and went to the Lingcheng docks, borrowing their authority, she could make many travelers feel awe and respect.
The promotions were public knowledge, but outsiders didn’t know the specific benefits.
After A’Diao met Feng Ting at the agreed-upon location, he handed her a bag and transferred 1 million Star Coins to her.
Now, A’Diao’s account balance jumped to over 16.3 million. She opened the bag and saw 30 Spirit Cores inside.
She had thought he would only give her a part, but unexpectedly, he had gathered them all.
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![The Rebirth of the Last Days and Return to [Fang] Hao](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image_2021-09-11_143139.png "The Rebirth of the Last Days and Return to [Fang] Hao")
