Chapter 46: The Enthusiastic System Peeks Over the Wall: Need Any Help?

"Jiang Xiaxia!"

Jiang Jing took a swift stride forward, reaching out to firmly grab Xiaxia's wrist.

At this moment, Jiang Xiaxia exuded a dangerous aura, locked in a state of high alert. Sensing that someone intended to stop her from killing Liu Meili, her once-bright eyes were instantly overshadowed by a thick, heavy murderous intent. She turned her head fiercely, her gaze resembling that of a cornered beast, looking entirely ready to bite anyone who dared to come close.

However, when she recognized that the person stopping her was her uncle, Jiang Jing, her ferocious expression instantly melted away. A wave of grievance welled up in her heart, her lips pouting, and she whimpered with a crying tone, "She said you died!"

Jiang Jing had been severely startled by the look Jiang Xiaxia had just given him. Only now, seeing her return to normal, did he belatedly feel a chill run down his spine, cold sweat soaking through his clothes.

"Isn't your uncle right here and completely fine? But if your hand had really come down, something terrible would have happened!" Seeing the little girl's emotions stabilize a bit, Jiang Jing turned serious, his gaze fixed intently on her as he said earnestly, "Jiang Xiaxia, do you know that hurting people casually is illegal? If you kill someone, you get arrested."

Illegal?

Jiang Xiaxia's pitch-black, night-like eyes rolled rapidly, glancing vigilantly toward the other side of the mountain from time to time. Her expression was the spitting image of someone plotting an escape route immediately after committing a murder.

Anyway, this place was close to Grandma's house. During the day, she could just hide in the mountains, and when night fell, she could come down to find Grandma. Wasn't that pretty much the same?

During the apocalypse, daytime climate changes were bizarre, and ordinary people hid at home during the day, only daring to move around in relatively safe zones at night.

"Even if you hide in the mountains, they will still find you!"

Watching the little girl's eyes darting around as she searched for an escape route, Jiang Jing felt the veins at his temples twitch uncontrollably.

After he finished speaking, he saw the little girl wearing an expression of complete nonchalance, clearly brimming with confidence in her ability to evade tracking. This only gave Jiang Jing an even worse headache.

Right at that moment, Jiang Hua, who had been standing quietly in front of the house, spoke up slowly. Her voice was steady yet carried an unquestionable strength: "If you break the law, I will also be implicated. Your uncle, your second uncle, and your older brothers and sisters will all be dragged into this because of you. Is that a result you are willing to see?"

Jiang Hua's words struck Jiang Xiaxia's heart like a heavy hammer. Her grip on Liu Meili loosened slightly: "Grandpa is an official!"

"Your grandpa doesn't have that kind of massive influence!" Looking at the little girl's ignorant and bewildered expression, Jiang Chuanguo guessed that those secret agents who had once abducted her probably hadn't bothered to hide their illegal and criminal activities from the child. Having witnessed the bloodshed and ruthlessness throughout her flight, the child had simply learned by imitation.

Jiang Xiaxia's hand finally let go completely.

She crawled off Liu Meili, walked with short steps over to her grandfather, and with an earnestness and maturity unfitting for her age, she said earnestly, "This is the prime age for making a breakthrough!"

Because of word limits and being unable to say the words "keep it up," she clenched her small fists and waved them vigorously, using this simple gesture to convey encouragement to her grandfather to work hard and persevere.

Watching this scene, Jiang Chuanguo's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, a lingering sense that the little girl's gesture inexplicably brought a massive wave of pressure.

Jiang Jing and Wang Junjun exchanged a glance of tacit understanding, each secretly speculating that within that spy organization, there must be a few elderly individuals.

For older agents to still be active at this time, the probability was high that they had infiltrated China before the founding of the nation.

Jiang Jing made a hand gesture indicating a report to Wang Junjun, and Wang Junjun understood instantly.

Taking advantage of everyone's attention being focused on Jiang Xiaxia, he turned quietly and walked quickly toward the back mountain.

Where they were stationed, there was no convenient way to transmit messages to the outside world, but Xia Ming's side had one.

The special operations forces possessed dedicated intelligence transmission methods and exchanged information at regular intervals. As for the exact method, other ordinary companies had no inkling of it.

Wang Junjun's quiet departure went completely unnoticed by everyone, save for Jiang Xiaxia, who gave him an inadvertent glance.

Once Jiang Xiaxia moved away from Liu Meili, Jiang Hua paced over to the doorway, helped up Liu Jinhua—who had collapsed to the ground in a daze—and said softly, "Alright, take the child inside first to change her clothes!"

Earlier, when Jiang Xiaxia made the motion as if to clutch her throat, the little girl had not only fainted from fright but had even wet her pants in terror.

With the support of her friend Jiang Hua, Liu Jinhua managed to stand up. Looking at the child lying nearby, she spat fiercely with utter disgust: "When her birth mother gave birth to her and saw it was a girl, she almost threw her into a nightstool to drown her. It was I who saved her little life. To prevent her from being bossed around at will by her birth mother or sold off by her maternal family, I even had her take my surname!"

Back then, her insistence on having a girl carry her own surname had drawn countless sideways glances and gossip in the village, with some people even whispering behind her back to urge her old man to properly straighten out family discipline.

After all she had sacrificed, what had this child just said?

With a pale face and despair in her eyes, Liu Jinhua looked at Jiang Hua: "Did you hear what she said just now? She said she was going to report me to the Education Committee and have me face a firing squad. This is the child I raised!"

Jiang Hua raised a hand and patted Liu Jinhua's shoulder as a gesture of comfort: "The child is still young and doesn't know any better!"

Even as she offered the comfort, she felt a pang of guilt.

"Still, this whole matter clearly wasn't an idea your Meili came up with on her own!"

Jiang Hua's reminder made Liu Jinhua wipe the tears from her face fiercely: "That's right, Educated Youth Qiu!"

She sneered coldly, "That little wretch actually dared to stir up trouble right in front of me, Liu Jinhua. If I don't beat her black and blue today, she won't know which way is up!"

"Three!"

Jiang Xiaxia trotted over to Jiang Hua's side with her short legs making pattering sounds. Hearing Liu Jinhua's words, she immediately raised three fingers and replied in a baby voice, "Beat someone up? Need any help?"

Giving her little hands a shake, Jiang Xiaxia put on an expression showing she was thoroughly reliable.

Only then did Liu Jinhua belatedly recall Jiang Xiaxia's recent "ferocity." She dryly uttered a "no need," and then stepped forward to haul Liu Meili up directly. Sneering, she said, "You said I favor boys over girls? Well, starting today, I'll show you what favoring boys over girls really looks like!"

With that, she dragged the person straight back into the house.

Jiang Xiaxia wanted to follow along to watch the commotion, but Jiang Hua pressed down on her head: "Stay honestly inside the house!"

Jiang Xiaxia twisted her head, trotted over, and climbed up the stack of firewood in the corner of the courtyard. She watched as Liu Jinhua led Liu Meili inside and directly locked her in the small shed used for storing firewood off to the side.

As soon as Liu Jinhua finished locking the door and turned around, she spotted a round little head perched on top of the wall, looking down at her with curiosity.

Noticing her gaze, the little girl flashed a toothy grin and once again warmly offered her invitation: "Need any help?"