[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-the-cleanup-crew":3,"chapter-i-m-the-cleanup-crew-i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-42":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm the Cleanup Crew!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2285878,4472,"Chapter 42: 42 Discipline and Newspapers","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-42",42,"\u003Cp>42 Discipline and Newspapers\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I really… ah! I must’ve owed you in my past life!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you my brother? You… ah! You’re clearly here to collect a debt!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I’d known this would happen, back when I hadn’t… ah! hadn’t even given birth, I should’ve… ah! I should’ve fought you to the death right then!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wah-wah-wah, I’m sorry, sister! I… ah! Go easy, don’t tire yourself out… ah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Li Ang returned to Veteran Alley carrying two stacks of newspapers, long before he reached his door, he heard his little sister’s heart-wrenching wails and the sharp, crisp sounds of slaps landing on her bare buttocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond that, six or seven stinking little brats stood at a distance, wiping their tear-streaked faces while clapping and cheering toward his home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wah-wah-wah, it’s great—Anna-sis is finally back!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes yes, we’ve finally waited for this moment!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve been waiting for days—she finally got whipped!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Anna-sis must live a hundred years, or no one else can control her!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alright… I think I know what happened…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After glancing at the miserable little brats and spotting un-rinsed horse dung stuck in one of their teeth, Li Ang’s face darkened. He quickly raised the newspapers to shield his face and slunk toward his front door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the disappointed stares of the little brats, before Li Ang could even reach the door, the slapping stopped. Anna, dressed in a white dress, opened the door herself, eyes red, and called out to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come inside, come inside!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overwhelmed by the accusing glares of the little brats, Li Ang quickly gripped Anna’s shoulders and pushed her back inside. He hurriedly lowered the wooden shutters, blocking the children’s stares, and finally felt a little better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wah-wah, big brother, I’m sorry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Anna could even begin her complaint, Melannie—who knew the routine—rushed over the moment the two entered, clinging tightly to Li Ang’s leg.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While dodging Anna’s attempts to grab her, she spilled the whole story in a rapid, unbroken stream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe… we should call it a day?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing the general account and seeing Melannie’s swollen, tear-streaked eyes like two little peaches, Li Ang sighed, reluctantly taking on the role of mediator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Putting horse dung in someone’s mouth deserves punishment, but those kids started it by saying things they shouldn’t have. Melannie’s actions aren’t entirely mischievous, and look how she’s crying—she clearly knows she’s wrong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She doesn’t know she’s wrong!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Melannie circle Li Ang while secretly glaring at William, Anna wiped her tears and snapped:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, you have no idea what happened! Our family has barely survived this long—how much have neighbors helped us? And this is how we repay them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t stop me! Today she shoves horse dung in someone’s mouth—tomorrow, who knows what she’ll do? If we don’t make her feel the pain now, she’ll do it again!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, sister’s right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the two stood locked in argument and Li Ang hesitated whether to step aside, William—who still had his pants down—turned his head and said seriously:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Melannie told me at lunch that she figured Anna-sis would beat her once she returned, but if something like this happens again, she’ll still do it—just use a different method.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She thinks horse dung is too big but not smelly enough; dog shit works better. Yesterday afternoon, she forced me to help her collect a bunch of it and insisted on hiding it in my old shoes to test tomorrow…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think you really should give her a good beating.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah! I’ll fight you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unexpectedly betrayed at this moment, Melannie screamed in despair, let go of Li Ang’s leg, and lunged at William with flailing arms and legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her arms and legs were too short, her movements too slow—she’d barely taken half a step when Anna grabbed her by the hair, flipped her onto her knees, yanked down her pants, and delivered a furious barrage of slaps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told you to fight him… who are you fighting? Ah?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I won’t fight! I won’t! Ah! I was just joking!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You say you were joking… so next time you won’t do it again—that’s also just a joke, right? Hmm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No no! This time I mean it! Ah! I really mean it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You mean it? So tomorrow trying dog shit is also real? Is that it? Speak!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s not true! Ah! That’s not true! You’re being unreasonable!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget it—Anna knows how to discipline kids. I’d better not interfere; I might raise a monster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After pityingly glancing at Melannie’s swollen buttocks, Li Ang turned to his brother, still kneeling with his pants down, and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe… you should pull your pants up first?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s fine, brother!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>William shook his head, counted his fingers, and replied with full confidence:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I calculated it—Anna-sis still has fifteen more slaps left for me. If I put my pants on now, I’ll just have to take them off again. I’ll wait until she’s done.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Never mind how you came up with that number—just looking at how fiercely she’s beating Melannie, I know Anna won’t have time to hit you today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine… just don’t catch a cold…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After muttering a helpless warning to his stubborn brother, Li Ang picked up the two stacks of old newspapers and walked toward his small bedroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, Li Ang had planned to buy new newspapers, but his pockets were empty—he couldn’t even afford to last until payday. So he went back to the Cleaning Bureau, asked around, and took some from Emma, a senior who subscribed regularly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang didn’t care about the news in the papers—he just wanted to pick out a few newspapers that were least afraid of controversy, to amplify the water company scandal. Whether the papers were new or old didn’t matter; as long as he could read them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat heavily in front of his wobbly, broken-legged table, laid the newspapers on it, and his expression turned serious. Amid Melannie’s wailing, he began flipping through the old papers one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Corner Alley News,” “Financial Times,” “Entertainment Weekly,” “New Industry Gazette”… skip those—they mostly cover industry news, not daily life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Illustrated News,” “The Critic,” “The Sun”… skip those too. The first two have old noble backgrounds and are full of praise for the old aristocracy; the last one’s name alone is a piece of trash—definitely not an option.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So only three remain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After sifting through the pile, he selected “Daily Headlines,” “Royal Post,” and “Metropolitan Evening News.” As he hesitated which to choose, a knock came from the side room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, Anna-sis is done.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>William stood at the door, pants pulled up. He sniffed loudly, then stood tall with hands behind his back, like a small adult offering advice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Melannie’s fine—Anna-sis didn’t hit her too hard; she just told her to lie down and rest. But Anna-sis went straight to her room and started crying. Shouldn’t you go comfort her?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1147,"2026-06-20T03:18:28.556Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","372ae7e1c543d417071f3555c335fb4c8d2b8361cf8c812502a02cd9c4dc1041","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-43","i-m-the-cleanup-crew-chapter-41",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-the-cleanup-crew-cover.jpg"]