Chapter 20: Guarding Against One’s Brother Is More Important Than Guarding Against One’s Enemies

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On this particular day, the forum of the Alliance’s First Academy exploded.

A photograph of Zhao Weining kissing a girl had been pinned to the top of the forum. Clearly, the girl was not Li Na.

Below it was a string of comments:

**Forever Eighteen:** Zhao really has some nerve, huh? I wonder if the real girlfriend has seen this!

**Steady and Sensible:** Is this photo genuine?

…

Meanwhile, in a corner of the campus, Li Na had actually joined Chen Jiaojiao.

“Did you do this?” Li Na asked.

“So what if I did? Don’t tell me you still want to protect him at a time like this?” Chen Jiaojiao lifted her little chin as she spoke.

“What do I care what happens to him?” The more thoroughly he was ruined, the better. Did he really think she cherished a scumbag? Betraying Li Na without paying a price? As if that were possible!

A little damage to his reputation was far too lenient.

“I’m giving this to Hua Yun. Help me pass it on to her.” Li Na had been worrying about how to find Hua Yun; the two of them had never had much contact.

“What is it?” Chen Jiaojiao asked.

“Why do you ask so many questions?” Li Na suddenly snapped. “Oh, and this is yours.”

Li Na knew who the true culprit was, and she also knew that Hua Yun had been dragged into the matter because of her. Chen Jiaojiao, meanwhile, had exposed Zhao Weining’s sinister intentions and had, in a way, helped her. But Li Na was far too proud to say any of that aloud.

“These are all things I don’t want anymore. If you don’t like them, just throw them away.” As soon as she finished speaking, Li Na seemed to remember something urgent and turned to leave.

“Jiaojiao, you have a package.” Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice reached Li Na’s ears.

Immediately afterward came Chen Jiaojiao’s familiar reply. “It must be something Yun Yun sent me. I’ll go get it right away!”

The delight in her voice was impossible for Li Na to ignore.

What was so special about that? Her own friends would give her things too. It wasn’t as though she were the only one with friends!

Chen Jiaojiao did not notice Li Na’s complicated feelings at all. She happily went to collect the package.

“Huh? Why is there one for Big Brother too?” Chen Jiaojiao looked at the two packages in confusion for a moment. But since Yun Yun had sent it, there had to be a reason.

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Since that was the case, she happened to be going home today anyway. She could simply bring it to her elder brother.

When Chen Xuyang received the package, he was still bewildered. “It’s for me? Go on, tell me. What do you need my help with this time?”

Whenever his little sister sent him something, it was never for any good reason.

“I didn’t give it to you. Yun Yun sent it. She asked me to thank you on her behalf for helping her.” As she spoke, Chen Jiaojiao gave Chen Xuyang an aggrieved look.

“You only agreed to help because I put in a good word for you with our parents. Yet Yun Yun insists that she was troubling you and even prepared a gift for you!” Whenever her elder brother had to deal with something at home, she was always the one who smoothed things over.

“Yes, yes, yes. I stole your credit!” Chen Xuyang naturally knew that Chen Jiaojiao was only joking.

“But my package is bigger than yours!” With that, Chen Jiaojiao produced another, even larger package and began opening it.

She had no idea what was inside, and at that moment she felt the same delight as someone opening a mystery box.

The large package was divided into two sections. One side contained a box. Without hesitation, Chen Jiaojiao opened it.

“Is this the dried meat Yun Yun mentioned?”

“What dried meat?” Chen Xuyang asked. At the same time, he opened the package in his own hands.

“Looks like ours are about the same. What’s this?” There was a sheet of paper inside, and Chen Xuyang took it out immediately.

“A test report?” Chen Xuyang glanced at the report, then at the dried meat. “Is this edible?”

“Of course!” Chen Jiaojiao’s nose twitched. It smelled so good. What was she supposed to do? She could hardly resist.

She reached out with her small hand, took a piece of dried meat, and put it into her mouth. A fragrant, spicy flavor spread across her tongue. Unable to hold back, she bit into it twice. It was wonderfully chewy, with a distinctive texture.

Before long, the piece was gone. Chen Jiaojiao was left wanting more, and she stuffed another piece into her mouth.

It was spicy—so spicy! Goodness, how could it be this delicious?

“Jiaojiao, how can you eat it without checking first?” Before he knew it, his little sister had already eaten two pieces. Chen Xuyang could not help marveling at how fearless she was. This had been made from a wild beast. What if—

Although it smelled truly wonderful and he was finding it difficult to resist himself, surely one ought to exercise at least a little self-control!

“Come on, Big Brother. I know what you’re going to say. Yun Yun eats it herself, so she would never harm me.” Chen Jiaojiao paused, then added inwardly that something this delicious was worth taking a little risk for.

“Big Brother, do you not like it? If you don’t, give it to me!” Hua Yun had not sent much, and Chen Jiaojiao already felt that her own share was insufficient. If her brother did not want his, that would be perfect.

“I’ll eat it!” Chen Xuyang immediately replied. If there was any danger, he certainly could not let Jiaojiao have it. As her elder brother, it was his duty to protect her!

Yes, that was exactly why he was eating it. It absolutely was not because the fragrance was too tempting, or because Chen Jiaojiao’s reaction had made it clear that the food was delicious.

He was merely a caring elder brother. He would never fight his little sister for food.

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With that thought in mind, Chen Xuyang also picked up a piece of dried meat and tossed it into his mouth.

He froze.

He had never tasted anything so delicious in his life. The food he usually ate could not compare to this at all.

“Big Brother, do you not like it? Then give it to me,” Chen Jiaojiao said.

“No need. It was a thoughtful gift, so we mustn’t waste it,” Chen Xuyang replied. “Besides, your sister-in-law was saying recently that nutritional liquid doesn’t taste very good. I’ll take some home for her to try. Jiaojiao… You seem to have quite a lot here. You couldn’t possibly finish it all by yourself…”

Before he could finish, Chen Jiaojiao had already stored the dried meat in her spatial storage device.

“Big Brother, what were you saying?”

At the sight of her movement, the corner of Chen Xuyang’s mouth twitched. Was that really necessary?

“Jiaojiao, there’s still some here that you haven’t opened. Why don’t you give it to me?” The box looked considerably larger than the one on the other side, so there ought to be quite a lot inside.

“Big Brother, how can you be like this?” Chen Jiaojiao glared at him indignantly. “This isn’t dried meat.”

As she spoke, she opened the remaining section.

Inside the transparent box was a tiny tree with purplish-brown branches and long, oval leaves. Pink blossoms dotted the spaces between the leaves.

“Wow! It’s beautiful!”

Chen Xuyang’s eyes widened. “Jiaojiao, be careful!”

The unfamiliar plant immediately put him on alert. It was not among the cultivable plants officially released by the authorities. In other words, it had most likely come from the wilderness.

“Big Brother, Yun Yun would never harm me. Besides, I don’t sense any danger!” Chen Jiaojiao was a student of the College of Botany, after all. She possessed at least enough basic judgment to tell whether something was dangerous.

“I really love it. I’m going to keep it by my side.”

While Chen Xuyang remained on guard, Chen Jiaojiao was already thinking about where she would raise it.

“Jiaojiao!” Chen Xuyang trusted his sister, but perhaps they should have it tested first, just to be safe.

“All right, we’ll test it first.” Chen Jiaojiao gazed at her elder brother with pleading eyes. “But it’s mine. No matter whether there’s anything wrong with it, it’s still mine!”

She was not stupid. Her sister-in-law loved unusual plants most of all. Even when some were dangerous, she would specially build a botanical garden to raise them. Her elder brother could forget about presenting this one to his wife and taking the credit!

Chen Xuyang: …

Why was it more important to guard against one’s own sister than against an enemy? Whose sister was this, anyway?

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