Chapter 42

42 Discipline and Newspapers

"I really... ah! I really owe you from my past life!"

"Are you my brother? You... ah! You are clearly here to collect a debt!"

"If I had known this earlier, back when... ah! Before you were even born, I should have... ah! I should have just fought you to the death!"

"Wuwuwu, I was wrong, Big Sister! I... ah! Hit me lighter, don't tire yourself out... ah!"

When Li Ang returned to Veteran's Alley carrying two stacks of newspapers, before he even entered the door, he heard his little sister's heart-wrenching cries from far away, as well as the crisp slapping sounds of hands hitting a bottom.

Besides that, there were six or seven little brats covered in stench, wiping away bitter tears while standing in the distance, clapping and cheering in the direction of his house.

"Wuwuwu, great, Big Sister Anna is finally back!"

"Yeah, yeah, finally waited until this moment!"

"I've been waiting for several days too, she's finally getting beaten!"

"Big Sister Anna must live a long life, otherwise there's no one who can control her!"

"..."

Alright... I probably know what happened...

Looking at the miserable little brats, and seeing the unrinsed horse manure in the teeth of one of them, Li Ang's face darkened. He hurriedly raised the newspapers he had gotten to block his face and slunk toward his front door.

Amidst the extremely regretful gazes of the crowd of little brats, before Li Ang could even get close to the door, the sound of hands hitting a bottom inside came to an abrupt stop. Anna, in a white dress, opened the door directly, walked out with red eyes, and called out to Li Ang.

"Big Brother..."

"Go inside and talk, go inside and talk!"

Feeling uncomfortable being watched by the resentful gazes of the little brats, Li Ang hurriedly supported Anna's shoulders, pushed her back into the house, and then hurriedly put down the boards covering the window, blocking the gazes of the little brats outside. Only then did he feel slightly better.

"Wuwu, Big Brother, I was wrong!"

After Li Ang and Anna entered the house, before Anna could start complaining, Melanie, who knew the procedure, hurriedly rushed over first, hugging Li Ang's thigh and refusing to let go.

Then, while dodging Anna's capture, she spilled the beans like a bamboo tube pouring out beans, explaining the cause and effect of the matter in a few sentences.

"How about... we stop here for today?"

After hearing the general reason, Li Ang looked at Melanie's eyes, which were crying like two little peaches, and couldn't bear it. He sighed and had no choice but to resign himself to being the peacemaker, bitterly persuading:

"Stuffing horse manure into someone's mouth is worth a beating, but it was those children who said things they shouldn't have first. Melanie can't be considered completely mischievous this time, and look at her crying like this, she should know she was wrong."

"She doesn't know she was wrong at all!"

Looking at Melanie, who was circling around Li Ang while secretly glaring at William, Anna couldn't help but wipe away her tears and said angrily:

"Big Brother! You don't know what's going on at all! Our family has been... able to hold on until today bit by bit, how much care have we received from our neighbors? And yet, is this how we repay them?

Don't stop me! Today she dared to stuff horse manure into someone's mouth, who knows what she'll do in the future! If I don't hit her hard enough today, she'll definitely dare to do it again next time!"

"Big Brother, Big Sister is right."

Just as the two sides were at a stalemate and Li Ang was hesitating whether to step aside, William, who was still sticking his bottom out nearby, suddenly turned his head and added seriously:

"Melanie told me at noon that she felt that after Big Sister came back, she would probably get beaten, but if there was another such incident, she would definitely still do it, but the method would have to be changed.

She felt that although the horse manure was large, it wasn't smelly enough and wasn't as good as cat or dog poop. So yesterday afternoon, she forced me to accompany her to pick up a lot of dog poop, and she insisted on hiding it in my old shoes, preparing to try it out tomorrow..."

"Big Brother,

I think you really should give her a good beating."

"..."

"..."

"Ah! I! I'll fight you to the death!"

Not expecting to be backstabbed at such a time, Melanie first screamed in despair, then let go of Li Ang's thigh and directly rushed toward William, baring her fangs and brandishing her claws.

However, her hands were short, her legs were short, and her movements were slow. She had only rushed out half a step before she was grabbed by Anna, flipped over, pressed onto her knees, and given a sound thrashing after her pants were pulled down.

"I'll let you fight him to the death... who are you going to fight? Huh?"

"I won't fight anymore, I won't fight anymore... ah! I was just saying it!"

"I'll let you say it... so saying you won't do it next time was also just saying it? Huh?"

"No, no... that one is true! Ah! That one is true!"

"That one is true? So trying it out with dog poop tomorrow is also true? Is it? Speak!"

"That one isn't! Ah! That one isn't! You're being unreasonable!"

"..."

Forget it, Anna is familiar with managing children, I'd better not meddle blindly. If I end up raising them wrong, that would be bad.

After pityingly looking at Melanie's swollen bottom, Li Ang turned his head to look at his younger brother, who was still sticking his bottom out, and couldn't help but remind him:

"How about... you pull your pants up first?"

"It's fine, Big Brother!"

Little William shook his head upon hearing this, counted on his fingers, and said confidently:

"I've calculated it, Big Sister still has to hit me fifteen more times. If I put them on now, I'll have to take them off again in a while. I'll put them on after she's done hitting me!"

"..."

Never mind how you calculated that number, just looking at the "battle situation" over there, I know Anna probably doesn't have the energy to beat you today.

"Fine... then be careful not to catch a cold..."

After giving his single-minded brother two words of advice, Li Ang held the two stacks of old newspapers and turned to walk toward his small bedroom.

According to Li Ang's original plan, he was actually prepared to buy some new newspapers, but he really had no money in his pocket. After calculating, it seemed it wouldn't be enough to last until payday, so he had to return to the Bureau to ask, and finally took some from the room of Senior Emma, who had the habit of subscribing to newspapers.

Anyway, Li Ang didn't want to get any news from the newspapers; he just wanted to find a few newspapers that were the least afraid of trouble through the reporting topics of each newspaper office, so he could blow up the Water Company incident. Whether the newspapers were new or old didn't matter; as long as there was something to read, it was fine.

Sitting on the old table with a broken leg, after placing the newspapers on it, Li Ang's expression quickly became serious. Amidst Melanie's cries, he flipped through the old newspapers he had gotten one by one.

"Corner Alley News," "Financial Times," "Dance and Entertainment News," "New Industry News"... forget these, they seem to be industry situations happening in their respective fields and don't report much on livelihood news.

"Pictorial News," "Critic's News," "The Sun" can also be forgotten. Among these three newspapers, the first two seem to have backgrounds of old nobles, and they are all full of praise for the old noble system. The last one is a bastard newspaper just by its name; it's clear it can't be chosen...

So it seems there are only three left to choose from.

After picking and choosing from a large stack of newspapers and finally selecting "Daily News," "Royal Post," and "Capital Evening News," just as Li Ang was hesitating about who to choose, the door to the secondary bedroom was knocked on.

"Big Brother, Big Sister is done hitting her."

William, who had pulled up his pants, appeared at the door. He first sniffed hard, then stood with his hands behind his back and his chest puffed out, suggesting like a little adult:

"Melanie is actually fine, Big Sister didn't have the heart to hit her too hard, so just letting her lie down and rest for a bit will be enough. But Big Sister went back to her room to cry after she finished hitting her. Do you want to go and comfort her?"