Chapter Fifteen: The Jiang Family—You’re the One Who Doesn’t Belong

“Woman!”

Jiang Xiaxia tugged at her young uncle, seeing that he had stopped talking. “Bad person!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jingwen raised an eyebrow and looked at the little girl as if to say, How could you not have seen it? Then he deliberately asked, “Why? Didn’t they say there was something wrong with Qian Gong? The woman hasn’t even appeared yet, so why do you think there’s a problem with him?”

Jiang Xiaxia opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but there were too many things she wanted to express all at once—she simply couldn’t say them all in one go!

So Jiang Jingwen and Jiang Hua watched as the little girl opened her mouth, then pursed her lips, then opened her mouth again.

This repeated back and forth three or four times, until her cheeks ached and she finally hung her head in frustration.

Jiang Hua originally wanted to tell his son to stop teasing the child for no reason, but seeing his youngest son’s expression, it seemed he had other plans, so he didn’t interrupt.

“Oh, I forgot—our Xiaxia is smart, it’s just that she can’t speak. What a pity!” Jiang Jingwen said, looking at the little girl who hung her head silently. He had wanted to tease her a bit more but worried that too many words might really hurt the child, so he changed his tone and continued nagging, “But if you could read and write, then you wouldn’t have to worry about these things, right?”

Jiang Xiaxia gave Jiang Jingwen a doubtful look. As the strongest commander of the apocalypse, how could she not recognize characters?

She had read far more books than her uncle.

Only… it seemed she didn’t know how to write!

Stunned, she looked down at her small, claw-like hands, her pupils flickering as she realized she might never have written a single character before!

“Why? Don’t want to study?” Jiang Jingwen frowned at the little girl’s expression of great shock.

Jiang Hua quietly asked him from the side, “Why did you suddenly think of making her study?”

“The comrades at the police station said that when Xiaxia waited for us at the door, she was so obedient she didn’t even change her posture! Mom, I think that’s not good—she needs to have her own things to do!”

Jiang Jingwen whispered to his mother, “But I didn’t expect that the idea of studying would hit her so hard!”

The little girl’s eyes went blank, as if she had been frightened.

Before, Jiang Xiaxia might have overheard the conversation between Jiang Jingwen and Jiang Hua, but now all her attention was on the fact that she couldn’t write—maybe she was a useless commander. Plus, Jiang Hua and Jiang Jingwen were both safe and close to her, so she wasn’t distracted by them at all.

Jiang Hua noticed Xiaxia’s daze and couldn’t help but curse quietly, “Those damned traffickers. Those damn spies!”

What had they done to such a good child?

Stepping forward a few steps, Jiang Hua picked up the still dazed Jiang Xiaxia, gently patting her small forehead. “You’re still young. If you want to study, go back and find your second cousin from your second uncle’s family. He loves reading; he can give you a good start!”

Seeing the little girl still a bit dazed, Jiang Hua smiled, “Our Xiaxia is so smart, learning this won’t be a problem!”

Encouraged by her grandmother’s praise, Jiang Xiaxia finally snapped out of her daze, staring blankly at her grandmother for a while before nodding enthusiastically, “Yes!”

Then, as if recalling something, she pointed toward the police station ahead.

Jiang Hua took the little girl back to the police station entrance, where she immediately found the gatekeeper and pointed to the newspaper in his hands.

Jiang Jingwen’s eyes flashed with a faint light—it seemed Xiaxia recognized more than they had guessed.

Spending a small amount, they bought two old newspapers from the gatekeeper.

Jiang Xiaxia stood on tiptoe, looking at the newspapers for a while, then stretched out her little finger to point at a page with large characters:

“I can’t speak or write, but I recognize characters!”

“Uncle is the fool!”

Jiang Jingwen’s face darkened. He reached out to ruffle the little girl’s hair but was stopped by Jiang Hua with a single hand.

“If you want to say something in the future, just find it on this newspaper and show it to us!”

Jiang Hua folded the newspaper and placed it into the little girl’s pocket, then glanced at their youngest son: “Stop messing around; let’s talk business!”

This matter of studying might lead to other issues later on.

The old lady now felt that having the little girl by her side wasn’t so bad after all.

Jiang Jingwen’s lips twitched. He was about to say something when a police officer suddenly ran out from inside the station.

This was one of the officers who had met them at the station earlier.

“Comrade Jiang, it’s good you haven’t left yet! Your captain just called again—there’s an urgent matter that needs you!”

Jiang Jingwen’s expression changed. He looked back at his mother and the little girl, and after seeing his mother wave him off, he immediately ran into the station.

“Captain!”

After answering the call, Jiang Jingwen had just spoken when he heard Bai Chu’s low sigh: “I’ve already contacted people back home and extended your mother’s certificate by half a month. Looks like you’ll have to stay in Wucheng for a few more days!”

Jiang Jingwen frowned. “Captain, if there’s a mission, I can ask the comrades here to send my mother and Xiaxia back first!”

Bai Chu was silent for a moment before speaking again softly: “There is indeed a mission, but it’s for Xiaxia. And Xiaxia can’t be separated from your mother! So—”

Actually, the biggest problem here was him!

Jiang Jingwen’s eyelid twitched. “Captain, what exactly happened?”

Bai Chu sighed. “Two things. First, the traffickers you caught earlier have been fully investigated. Do you remember the trafficker caught at our hospital?”

Jiang Jingwen frowned. “The whole gang?”

“Yes.” Bai Chu tugged at his collar, feeling this was absurd. “Not only were they a gang, but the man was the leader. The few you caught were captured by the military and thought to be finished, so they planned to leave here quietly.”

When they ran, they intended to make one last big score and then lay low for a year or two.

The reason they bought night tickets was to take advantage of the relaxed vigilance at night when train inspectors were less strict.

Who would have thought their tickets weren’t even on the same train, yet they ended up in the same carriage!

Jiang Jingwen was silent for a moment, at a loss for words. He could only say these traffickers had done too many evil things and had finally met their comeuppance by crossing paths with Xiaxia.

After a pause, he changed the subject, “So leaving Xiaxia here is—”

“You asked the comrades to investigate Qian Neng, which alerted the national security officers. They contacted me, saying this comrade is their surveillance target! But their main suspect right now is the deputy factory director who studied abroad. Qian Neng is just a side concern! They fear that if you investigate Qian Neng, it might alert the deputy director. So they asked me to inform you!”

Jiang Jingwen raised his brow. “What does that have to do with Xiaxia? If national security has already stepped in, there’s no need to keep Xiaxia here!”

“They—want Xiaxia to make contact with the deputy director.”

“Dream on!” Jiang Jingwen’s expression froze, and he scolded angrily, “Xiaxia is just a child! If the other party really has problems, isn’t that just sending Xiaxia into the tiger’s den? Captain, you didn’t agree to this, did you?”

Bai Chu didn’t want to agree either, but after learning about the traffickers’ coincidence, he asked curiously, “Tell me, if Xiaxia really makes contact, do you think it might wipe out the enemy agents there?”

Jiang Jingwen: “...”