Chapter 73: Thanks

Suddenly, a voice from outside shouted, "Captain Yang is back!"

"How so fast? Wasn't she still in Mist City this morning?" someone said.

Liu Liu Siyuan heard this, ignored the four people, and went out of the reception hall on his own to welcome Yang Yi.

Chen Chen Cuilan's face immediately changed; she tugged her husband's clothes and said, "We just came running over like this—will she... get angry with us? She's powerful now. I saw the news where she killed that Fire Demon, and my heart was pounding..."

"What's there to fear? She's just a little girl who grew up in our house. We fed her, clothed her, raised her this big, and even sent her to university! Never mind that she's now the number one Awakener; even if she became an immortal, if she dares to give us any attitude, we'll make the whole world see how ungrateful she is!" Yang Yang Guangchang snorted coldly, saying it without a care.

"Exactly. With her name so famous now, watched by the whole world, she's most afraid of scandals!" Yang Hui said, her jealousy overflowing, "To protect her good image, she'll have to support us for a lifetime! We'll make her watch our faces for the rest of her life!"

"Exactly! We came this time just to get Yang Ze an official post. He's young, his future is long, and he's the only heir of the old Yang family; the old Yang family will have to rely on him in the future! As for Yang Yi... I think it's doubtful; she's a Bai Yanlang. She only came back twice after university, and after graduating, she cut off contact with us... Better to state the conditions clearly to her!" Chen Chen Cuilan wiped the spittle from the corner of her mouth and started counting on her fingers:

"First, have her get Yang Ze a high-ranking official post. Second, arrange for Huihui to marry into a top-tier wealthy family. Third, get us several large villas in the capital and other first-tier cities. Fourth, give us several billion. Given her stubborn nature, that's probably the limit; I don't think we can expect more from her..."

"What? Is she going to ignore us?" Yang Ze said carelessly, "She got lucky and awakened superpowers. Since she could awaken, it means our family has that gene. If I awaken tomorrow, maybe I'll be even more powerful than her! Then, it won't be us begging her; it'll be her begging me!"

"So, what's wrong with having her arrange an official post for me first? Besides, even if I haven't awakened, she was raised by our family. Now that she's successful, arranging a good future for her whole family isn't for her own good?!"

The four of them were calculating their beautiful future in the reception hall when "Boom—" a huge explosion was suddenly heard outside, as if a massive boulder had fallen from the sky; the entire ground shook.

"What happened? What happened? Is there an earthquake in the capital?" Chen Chen Cuilan was startled; seeing her son and husband already scared out the door, she quickly leaned on her daughter and ran out as well.

Once outside, they saw that beyond the reception hall, in the courtyard, dust and smoke filled the air. The concrete on the ground had cracked nearly ten meters outward from the center of the dust cloud, as if a giant object had fallen from the sky, smashing out a huge crater.

Before the dust and smoke could clear, a figure slowly walked out of the concrete pit; it was Yang Yi. It turned out that this earthquake-like tremor was caused by Yang Yi landing on the ground from the sky.

Liu Liu Siyuan had thought Yang Yi saying she'd be back immediately meant returning by plane, but he didn't expect she flew directly back from Mist City.

The straight-line distance from Mist City to the capital is about seventeen hundred kilometers; even by plane, it takes two hours, yet she flew back like this! From the time she hung up the phone until now, it had been less than half an hour.

Liu Liu Siyuan hurriedly went over to meet her, pointed at the stunned Yang Yang Guangchang and the other three nearby, and briefly explained the situation.

Yang Yi ignored the crowd around her, walked over with a blank expression, glanced at them indifferently, and said in a flat tone, "Come over." Then, she walked into the reception hall alone.

The four people were frightened by Yang Yi's dramatic entrance; their expressions became somewhat unnatural. They exchanged glances and followed Yang Yi into the reception hall.

Yang Yi sat alone on the main single sofa, arms crossed, legs crossed, her upper body naturally leaning against the back of the sofa, assuming the posture of a comfortable host. "Everyone, sit!" She waved a hand casually toward Yang Yang Guangchang and the other three.

Liu Liu Siyuan stood behind her like a pike, hands clasped, hanging naturally, eyes lowered, silent as a stone.

With this posture displayed, the four people's spirits weakened by a third immediately.

"What brings you to the capital?" Yang Yi asked in a flat tone.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Yang Yi's current appearance was full of authority, completely different from before; they felt extremely unfamiliar with it and didn't dare to speak lightly for a moment.

Chen Chen Cuilan recalled the scene in the news where Yang Yi slew the Fire Demon; she couldn't connect this powerful young woman before her with the little girl they used to bully, and her heart weakened by a third first.

"Nothing much, we just haven't seen you in a long time. Everyone misses you, so we came to see you..." She seemed to be speaking to Yang Yi in such a gentle tone for the first time; for a moment, she felt a bit unaccustomed, and her expression was somewhat awkward.

"I'm doing well, better than ever." Yang Yi said. Beyond this light tone, there seemed to be more implied meaning, but no one was listening carefully at that moment.

"Is there anything else?" Yang Yi asked again, indifferently.

"What do you mean by that! What kind of attitude is that!" Yang Yang Guangchang finally reacted; feeling he had lost face, he flew into a rage, "I am your uncle! Is this how you treat your elders? Our whole family traveled thousands of miles to see you, and this is how you receive us? Do you believe that if I walk out this door, I'll let everyone see how the famous Yang Yi treats her elders!"

"Then," Yang Yi's lips curved into a slight smile; she asked sincerely, "How should we receive you?"

It seemed this gentle sentence made them misunderstand; they thought Yang Yi had finally learned to bow her head. The Yang Yi before them finally merged with the little girl from before who was always silent, timid, and evasive; they seemed to instantly return to the most common state at home, and their arrogance immediately flared up.

"Yang Yi, since you came to our house at three years old, having neither father nor mother, our family fed you, clothed you, raised you, and even sent you to school and university—even your Tanggetang sisters and brothers didn't have this treatment!" Chen Chen Cuilan, recalling how she had been humbled just now by Yang Yi's momentum, deliberately adopted a pretentious tone to save face.

"I remember, that's because they couldn't pass the exams." Yang Yi said, still smiling faintly.

"Even if you passed, our family let you go to university; how can you not be grateful?" Yang Hui suddenly became ashamed and angry.

"The various expenses during university, tuition and living costs, seem to have been earned by myself." She continued to state it indifferently.

"If we hadn't relented, you would have long ago been married to the fool in town; where would you have gone to university! Have you forgotten?" Yang Hui spoke without thinking, her jealousy making her forget that the current Yang Yi was no longer the same as before.

"Oh? So, I must thank you for not marrying me off to a fool to exchange for a bride price to buy Yang Ze a house, thank you for letting me earn my own money to go to school, and because of your kindness, I, Yang Yi, have today? Is that what you mean?" Yang Yi laughed, and her smile grew larger and larger.

"I must also thank you for tying me to the dog kennel at three or four years old and making me fight for food in the same bowl as the dogs, thank you for making me wash the whole family's clothes in the dead of winter until my hands froze and oozed pus, thank you for your Tanggetang pushing me into the river wanting to see me drown for fun, thank you for my aunt beating me with a clothes hanger because I burned the rice, beating me until I was covered in bruises, thank you for my uncle kicking me from the stool into the yard just because he couldn't stand the sight of me, thank you for frequently not giving me food, making me stand in punishment, making me kneel in punishment, beating me, and banging my head against the wall... Ah, so many things worth thanking you for; it's truly a stroke of luck that I'm alive; all of this must be thanks to your great kindness!"