Chapter 2: ; Having a Sister and a House

Only existing in legend, the top-tier survival state of a life winner: having a sister and a house, with both parents busy.

Chén Chén undoubtedly fits this lifestyle, since he has no parents, although even Chén Chén himself isn't quite sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.

If you ask where the sister came from, the story is short.

Picked up from the orphanage.

……

"Brother, it's time to eat!"

The black-haired, red-eyed girl before him is named Jiāng Jiāng, and the 'brother' she calls naturally refers to Chén Chén.

To solidify his identity as 'Chén Chén,' Chén Chén also needed someone who had a close relationship with him in his previous life; Jiāng Jiāng was one of the few friends Chén Chén had in the orphanage in his past life and the sole survivor of that incident.

Emmmm, is Chén Chén's previous life just Chén Chén himself?

Then it's fine.

Coincidentally, this sister Jiāng Jiāng's absolute trust and reliance on him make her the perfect tool for Chén Chén's human identity, and also the final piece of his protagonist template.

"Don't lie there, hurry up and get up to eat!" Jiāng Jiāng slammed the wooden door of Chén Chén's room twice, shouting at the top of her lungs.

My name is Jiāng Jiāng, the 'Jiāng' as in 'general', fourth tone; I'm sixteen and a half years old.

This person in front of me is my nominal older brother named Chén Chén, a completely conceited fool lacking any self-awareness.

Although he became an advanced student at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall at a young age, he completely lacks any self-awareness.

According to what I know from often asking instructors, above the advanced student level comes martial artist, then Warrior rank, General rank, War God rank, and beyond War God… each tier is one in ten thousand.

Even upon reaching War God, no one knows how many will die in battle each year, but only Chén Chén, this clueless oaf, would dare to slack off as an advanced student.

You should know, I've only been at the martial arts hall for less than a year, and my strength is just about that of an advanced student.

In that light, advanced students are completely a dime a dozen.

In order to do her best to preserve her and Chén Chén's lives, Jiāng Jiāng, whenever Chén Chén is away, exerts herself to train hard.

Jiāng Jiāng watched Chén Chén just put on a shirt, sighed deeply in her heart, and somehow her mood switched to a better one.

Who made this guy her lifesaver?

At the dinner table.

"Jiāng Jiāng, eat more of this; it's high‑grade ingredients I got for free while tutoring at a rich man's house, and eating more helps growth."

This is a lie, but a well‑intentioned one.

With Chén Chén's status, he naturally doesn't need to work a job; he'll never have to work again in this lifetime.

The ingredients given to Jiāng Jiāng to prepare are the most precious substances suited to her current growth, able to subtly strengthen the body of someone who hasn't cultivated source power; they are foods even the most elite families of the Human Alliance could not enjoy daily, and now they have been completely monopolized by Chén Chén, making them priceless yet unmarketable to the outside world.

"Brother, you should eat more too; you're about to undergo the martial artist practical assessment soon, and more strength means more security."

Unlike her carefree brother Chén Chén, Jiāng Jiāng has long figured out the standard for the martial artist practical assessment.

Although the mortality rate is extremely low, what if? For example, a sudden rampage of monsters, the examiner's dirty tricks, or a sudden beast tide! From a probability standpoint, these are all possible.

In short, danger is everywhere; with his brother's personality, if his strength isn't enough he'll definitely suffer a big loss.

More strength means more security.

As for the many ingredients Chén Chén brings back, they truly are things you never see in ordinary markets, and they really do have a slight effect.

But Jiāng Jiāng can be certain that this is also definitely not the usual fare of wealthy households; after all, she's never heard of these ingredients, nor anything as grandiose as dragon liver and phoenix marrow—perhaps they're just the leftovers the rich discarded.

Even scraps like these can let her outshine her peers at the starting line, which further shows that the conditions of upper‑class families far exceed the imagination of commoners.

Jiāng Jiāng silently vowed in her heart that once she becomes stronger, she will definitely eat better!

The warm scene of the siblings passing dishes to each other would be even cozier without all these complicated thoughts.

……

After lunch, Chén Chén is about to go 'work'; whether internal or external, he claims to have sixteen part‑time jobs.

Although Jiāng Jiāng senses that Chén Chén is lying, since the household's income relies entirely on the older brother, she never inquires about his work.

"Brother, come back early."

"That's absolutely impossible!"

After Chén Chén leaves, Jiāng Jiāng washes the bowls and chopsticks, then rushes straight to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

Jiāng Jiāng doesn't need to go to school, nor does she need to work.

Regarding studies, Jiāng Jiāng and Chén Chén are completely in agreement.

Back at the orphanage she also enjoyed studying; moreover, both Chén Chén and Jiāng Jiāng's grades were decent—not top‑tier, but still at a level that often earned teachers' praise.

And those who ranked at the very top? Nowadays they don't even have a grave.

In this dog‑eat‑dog era, martial cultivation is the only way out; without talent for martial arts, there is no way out.

Fortunately, the siblings both have decent talent.

As for making money, Jiāng Jiāng had thought about it, but Chén Chén shot it down, saying according to him her ability to earn money is truly terrible.

Indeed, that's the case: compared to Chén Chén, Jiāng Jiāng's money‑making ability is less than one‑tenth of his, and that extra one‑tenth contributes little to their livelihood.

Anyway, Chén Chén can work and still keep training; Jiāng Jiāng isn't pretentious, after all we're one family—what's his is mine, and what's mine is his.

Only by striving to increase strength can she protect her dim‑witted brother Chén Chén… or rather, so she doesn't hold him back.

Upon arriving at the martial arts hall, some familiar fellow students also greeted Jiāng Jiāng.

The Extreme Martial Arts Hall considers Chén Chén a little celebrity; many know Jiāng Jiāng is his sister, and many senior students treat her quite well.

What these seniors don't know is that this girl before them already possessed advanced‑student level strength long ago.

Of course, Jiāng Jiāng doesn't plan to challenge the so‑called advanced students anytime soon; indeed, to hide her strength she hasn't tested her physical condition in the martial arts hall for a long time.

The vast majority of peers her age are still grinding as low‑level students; Jiāng Jiāng doesn't want to rush forward all at once, as that would be too conspicuous.

According to the story Chén Chén used to tell.

"The tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind"; as a background‑less civilian student, becoming an advanced student this quickly will undoubtedly invite jealousy.

What's worse, both I and Chén Chén are so outstanding that it's very likely to make others think our family has some treasure.

Chén Chén also said: 'An innocent man who possesses a jade is guilty.'

Jealousy and greed will bring all kinds of trouble to the brother and sister.

"So this is just the limitation of one's vision; merely a Senior Trainee, it could also invite jealousy." Jiāng Jiāng thought and thought, already letting out a faint sigh in her heart.

Anyway, Chén Chén is already a Senior Trainee; the educational resources that Senior Trainees can enjoy, the professional guidance of instructors, after returning home Chén Chén can give himself special treatment.

So far, my progress still far surpasses that of civilian peers my age, which shows that those privileges of Senior Trainees are actually unnecessary for me.

Upon careful thought, Chén Chén actually hardly ever comes to the Martial Hall to attend lessons and practice, which further shows that Senior Trainees are utterly useless.

However, Jiāng Jiāng felt no pride at all.

Because those who come to the Martial Hall to train are mostly from lower-class families ignorant of the martial world; in Chén Chén's words, they are 'Muggles'.

The stronger the parents, the higher the talent of their offspring generally; but I and my older brother Chén Chén were born 'Muggles', and although we stand out among civilians, compared to true geniuses we are certainly far behind.

Only by relying on effort can we catch up, and even erase that gap.

"Ah, Chén Chén is great in every way, just too showy."

In the training hall of the Intermediate Trainees at the Martial Hall, a room hundreds of meters long and wide is packed with over a hundred people; it's not very cramped, but performing any large movement is also inconvenient.

Jiāng Jiāng is a relatively quiet person, but she doesn't dislike liveliness.

Especially like before in the orphanage, watching Chén Chén alone fighting a group of people fiercely, seeing Chén Chén beat others until their noses are swollen and faces bruised, Jiāng Jiāng watches from the side with great enjoyment.

But when Chén Chén can't win, Jiāng Jiāng isn't very happy either, because I'm too frail; going up I can only hinder.

In the Intermediate Trainees' training hall, not all trainees are diligently training.

Especially many sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boys and girls, at an age of scattered thoughts, few can focus on training for more than an hour.

And Jiāng Jiāng is also extremely out of place among peers her age, to the point of being said to have very poor social connections.

Jiāng Jiāng herself is an outsider, and she doesn't have friends from childhood.

After arriving at the Martial Hall, aside from training it's just complete relaxation; there's no time to make friends, and Jiāng Jiāng is quite happy with that, because it's always been that way.

In private gossip, there are also many saying that Jiāng Jiāng wants to catch up to Chén Chén, but her talent is too poor; she just pretends to work hard all day, while actually it's just idle chatter.

This is precisely the so-called jealousy at work.

However, these words never reach Jiāng Jiāng's ears, after all she has Chén Chén as her backing, so few dare to provoke her.

But even if Jiāng Jiāng knew, she wouldn't care much either.

"Jiāng Jiāng, is it really okay for you to do such high-intensity training every day?"

"You should know that overtraining actually harms the body; if you want to get stronger, you must also maintain the proper degree."

"Sister Yang Qing, don't worry, I've always been regular." Jiāng Jiāng paused her rest, adjusting her breathing as she replied.

This Yang Qing older sister in front of me is already twenty years old; she gave up the martial artist dream a year or two ago and is now studying at a liberal arts college.

The reason I come to the Martial Hall to train is: first, to strengthen the body; second, to find a boyfriend who has the chance to become a martial artist.

That's right, she is one of the pursuers of my older brother Chén Chén; she found out my identity early on, so she looks after me extremely well.

But this one obviously has no chance to compete to become my sister-in-law.

In this world, a martial artist taking a non-martial artist as a wife is undoubtedly a very dangerous thing.

The martial world: survival of the fittest, the weak are prey to the strong, natural selection, the adaptable survive.

In the process of becoming stronger, there will always be all kinds of interest disputes—killing for treasure, killing for treasure, killing for treasure everywhere; and on the path to strength, one's hands will inevitably be stained with blood, and one will inevitably feud with all sorts of people.

And if one's lover is an ordinary person, they will certainly become that martial artist's weak point; Chén Chén dislikes weak points, and I dislike them as well.

Because Chén Chén's weak point will inevitably become my weak point as well.

Therefore, Jiāng Jiāng has secretly set a standard for her future sister-in-law: at the very least, she must be able to defeat me.

Yang Qing smiled helplessly, took out from behind her a plastic bottle with very nice packaging:

"Here, this is the Element Replenishing Vitality Water I bought with my saved pocket money; it helps restore condition after intense exercise."

Jiāng Jiāng took the water bottle, opened it and drank with a gurgling sound; if following Chén Chén's saying, not taking advantage of a bargain makes one a scoundrel.

After drinking most of the water, Jiāng Jiāng then said to Yang Qing: "Give it up, you and Chén Chén have no chance."

Yang Qing let out a puff-laugh and said: "You're young but scheming; can't I just be purely concerned about you?"

"Mm, thank you."

Jiāng Jiāng can owe others favors herself, but she cannot repay favors on behalf of Chén Chén; even if Chén Chén doesn't mind, it's still not allowed.

However, I advised her not to keep fantasizing about being with Chén Chén; without a doubt that saved her time, so now we are even.

"I'm going to continue with the next set."

Jiāng Jiāng drove people away without mercy; Yang Qing made a cheering gesture and then left sensibly.

Seeing Yang Qing's departing back in her peripheral vision, Jiāng Jiāng immediately began the next set of training movements.

Just like the reasoning for my future sister-in-law, I train hard so as not to become Chén Chén's weak point.

With Chén Chén's personality, sooner or later he will stir up huge trouble.

As the only family Chén Chén has in this world, I must become his strongest support, his most reliable family.

Only in this way can I continue to stay by Chén Chén's side.