Chapter 41

41 Returning Home and Getting a Beating

You say your birthday isn't today? You're joking!

After hearing Li Ang's questioning, the black goat couldn't help but curl its lip:

"Don't be silly, either you remembered it wrong, your parents got it wrong, or the person who registered your birthday in the Kingdom wrote it wrong. Your birthday is definitely today."

"But..."

"Stop overthinking it, there are no 'buts'."

The black goat asked with certainty:

"Do you think it's more likely that you, your parents, or that registrar remembered the date wrong, or that the authority of a True God went wrong and set your correct star palace wrong?"

"..."

That's true...

Recalling his birthday from his previous life and confirming that the date didn't match either, since all possible explanations had been ruled out, Li Ang had to accept the black goat's statement, feeling that his younger sister must have gotten his birthday wrong. As for why he didn't remember it wrong himself...

That was naturally because he didn't remember anything at all!

When he "came" three years ago, he was completely a blank slate. Let alone things like birthdays, even his own name was something he only knew after hearing Anna mention it.

Hmm... I'll ask her again when I get back.

Although the exact date of his birthday wasn't a big deal, if he could really use that 【Star Chart Protection】 to obtain a degraded version of the ability to get what he wished for on his birthday, he really should confirm it properly.

After keeping this matter in mind, Li Ang took out a folded piece of straw paper from his bosom and started sketching on it with a piece of charcoal.

Practice shooting to brush badges — reached Bronze

Visit the nurse named Hanna — discovered the Happy Apartment

Buy cigarettes for the black goat to brush the Demon Badge — reached Silver, no money in his pocket to brush anymore for now

Investigate the water pipe incident, strive to obtain evidence of illegal operations —

Find the black goat's "Seven Sheep Mix" —

Hmm... looking at it this way, the things I wanted to do before have almost all been completed!

Satisfied, he put a checkmark next to the water pipe incident and drew a heart next to the "Sheep Mix" item, indicating that the whereabouts of the sheep heart had been found. Li Ang clamped the Witch's Broom between his legs and added three more items to the straw paper with the charcoal.

Investigate the situation of the blond middle-aged man from the Laien family, look for news about the sheep heart —

Find Anna to confirm his birthday, see if he can utilize the strong luck on his birthday next year —

Find a newspaper office with a background and guts, and without exposing his own identity, poke the water pipe incident out —

Hmm... that's all for now!

After staring at the straw paper and pondering for a while, the thoughtful Li Ang held the charcoal and drew a black circle around the words "newspaper office".

It just so happens there's still some time today. I'll go to a few newspaper offices later to buy some newspapers, read their news selection, and see which one dares to stir up trouble!

Although the theft of the Charle Water Company's data wasn't a small matter, for a super-metropolis with a population of over ten million, this little disturbance couldn't stir up much of a splash. The entire Capital continued to operate steadily and normally.

And as the sun in the sky slowly sank to the west, this noisy city, known for being composed of "factories, smog, and crowds of people," finally quieted down bit by bit.

As the noise and roar of the machines gradually stopped, countless hardworking and tired industrial gears began to file out of one factory after another, and under the dim illumination of the streetlights, they stepped onto the road home with exhausted faces...

Hasn't Big Brother finished work yet?

Not waiting for Li Ang to pick her up, she carried her change of clothes and luggage, left the hospital, and returned to Veteran's Alley. Looking at the pitch-black window of the secondary bedroom at home, Anna couldn't help but bite her lip subconsciously, then took out the key, opened the door, and walked in.

"It's Big Sister! Big Sister is really back!"

"I knew Big Brother wouldn't lie to me!"

Hearing movement at the door,

the two little ones were initially a bit scared, but seeing that the person who arrived was actually Anna, who had been gone for several days, they immediately rushed over in surprise, hugging her thighs like koalas and refusing to let go, as if she would run away if they let go.

"Mm, Big Sister is back."

Dragging the two little koalas forward two steps, after laboriously placing the luggage in her hands on the table, the sickly girl, like a mother returning home from work, affectionately stroked the heads of her younger brother and sister twice, then leaned down and kissed each of them, asking with a smile:

"In the few days I was away, were you two good? Did you cause trouble for Big Brother?"

After hearing Anna's question, the atmosphere in the room stagnated slightly. The two little ones instinctively looked at each other, and then, amidst Melanie's panicked expression, the honest-looking William spoke up honestly:

"We were very good, but... um..."

"No, no! We didn't do anything!"

"..."

"Hmm?"

Looking at her sister's suddenly narrowed eyes, Melanie, who had covered her mouth too late, couldn't help but turn her little head, glared fiercely at her honest brother, and then confessed with a face full of frustration:

"It's not really causing trouble... it's just that Jack and the others are very annoying, insisting that Big Sister, you... you definitely wouldn't be able to come back this time. We were really angry, so we just... just played a small prank on them..."

"..."

After hearing Melanie's explanation, looking at her sister's aggrieved little appearance, Anna's heart couldn't help but ache slightly, and she reached out to touch her messy blond hair.

This matter really couldn't be blamed entirely on them for being mischievous; if anyone was to be blamed, it should be herself.

A few days before this onset of illness, she had already sensed that she might not be able to come back, so she had discussed it with the families in the alley in advance, hoping they could help keep it a secret so that her brother could continue to collect her pension.

That Jack was also a child in the alley, and he was one of those families. It was likely that the adults let it slip, the children heard it, and then they talked about it while playing, which angered Melanie and the others.

And William's personality was relatively steady and quiet; he probably would only hold his anger inside and complain after she returned. But Melanie, who had a quirky personality and was a bit petty, would definitely find a way to retaliate directly.

Hmm... if her guess was correct, she probably even used the name of "protecting her younger sister" to coax the honest William into doing it together. Looking at her stammering appearance, they probably gave the other families a hard time these past few days.

"You, oh you! Sigh!"

After lightly pinching her sister's little face, which was even more tender than a cooked egg, the sickly girl shook her head helplessly. Seeing that these two little ones had been scared out of their wits these past few days, she originally wanted to handle it lightly, but in the end, she hardened her heart and shouted with a straight face:

"Don't try to brush me off! Confess honestly! What have you two little brats been doing these past few days!

If it wasn't too excessive, Big Sister will take you to apologize to them tomorrow and that will be it. If it was even more excessive than last time, then no matter the reason, you'll both get a beating today!"

After hearing Anna's words, Melanie couldn't help but tremble, her little hands clutching her skirt, her eyes darting around as she said:

"This... if you say it wasn't excessive... it seems it was indeed a little excessive, but if you say it was excessive, it... it wasn't particularly excessive either. Mainly... um... that..."

"Stop with the 'this' and 'that'. When we stuffed horse manure into Jack's mouth, I knew this beating was something we definitely couldn't escape!"

After pulling on her sister, who was still putting up a desperate resistance, little William skillfully took off his pants, directly revealing his bare bottom. Then he turned his little head and seriously suggested to the two sisters behind him who were full of shock:

"Big Sister, I've already calculated it. If you're going to hit me, just hit me twice the amount as last time. As for Melanie... you should just hit her five times as much!"