Chapter 42

“I’m totally… ah! I must’ve owed you from a past life!”

“Are you my brother? You… ah! You’re clearly here to collect debts!”

“If I had known this would happen, back then I shouldn’t have… ah! Even before I was born, I should’ve… ah! Just fought you head-on!”

“Waaaah, I’m sorry, Big Sister! I… ah! Could you please lighten up on the hitting? Don’t… ah!”

As Leon returned with two stacks of newspapers to Veteran’s Lane, even before he reached the door, from far away he could hear his little sister’s heart-wrenching cries and the crisp slapping sounds of palms meeting butts.

On top of that, there were six or seven smelly little brats wiping their teary eyes while standing at a distance, clapping and cheering towards his house.

“Waaaah, finally, Anna-nee is back!”

“That’s right, we’ve waited for this moment!”

“I’ve been waiting for days; she finally got what she deserved!”

“Anna-nee must live a hundred years, otherwise no one can handle her!”

“…”

Alright… I roughly know what happened…

After glancing at the pitiful little brats and spotting horse dung still stuck in one of their teeth, Leon couldn’t help but turn pale. He quickly raised the newspaper to cover his face and sneaked toward the front door.

In the midst of the disappointed gazes from the little brats, before Leon could get near the door, the sound of slapping suddenly stopped. Anna, dressed in a white dress, opened the door, her eyes red, and called out to Leon.

“Brother…”

“Let’s talk inside, inside!”

Uncomfortable under the resentful stares of the kids, Leon quickly supported Anna by the shoulder, pushed her back into the house, and hurriedly closed the window shutters, blocking the children’s gazes outside. Only then did he feel slightly better.

“Waaaah, Big Brother, I’m sorry!”

Before Anna could complain after both Leon and Anna entered, Melanie, who already knew the drill, rushed over first and wouldn’t let go of Leon’s leg.

Then, while dodging Anna’s pursuit, she spilled everything like beans falling out of a jar.

“How about… we stop today?”

After hearing the general story, Leon glanced at Melanie’s swollen eyes, resembling two small peaches, and sighed with some pity, reluctantly stepping into the role of a mediator:

“Shoving horse dung into someone’s mouth deserves punishment, but those kids also said things they shouldn’t have. Melanie isn’t entirely mischievous this time, and look how she’s crying—she probably knows she’s wrong.”

“She doesn’t know she’s wrong!”

Looking at Melanie, who was circling around Leon while secretly glaring at William, Anna couldn’t help but wipe her tears and angrily said: “Brother! You don’t know what happened! Our family has… barely managed to survive until today, receiving so much help from our neighbors. Is this how we repay them? Don’t stop me! If she dares to shove horse dung into someone’s mouth today, who knows what else she’ll do tomorrow! If we don’t make her feel pain this time, she’ll definitely do it again!”

“Brother, Sister is right.”

Just as the two sides were at an impasse and Leon was hesitating whether to step aside, William, who was still sitting on his haunches, suddenly turned his head and seriously added: “Melanie told me at noon that she thought Sister would probably beat her after coming home, but if such a thing happens again, she will definitely do it again, just with a different method.”

“She thinks horse dung is too big but not smelly enough, dog feces work better, so yesterday afternoon she forced me to accompany her in collecting a lot of dog poop and insisted on hiding it in my old shoes, preparing to try it out tomorrow…”

“Brother, I think you guys should really give her a good beating.”

“…”

“…”

Unexpectedly betrayed at such a crucial moment, Melanie screamed in despair, then immediately let go of Leon’s leg and lunged at William with flailing arms.

But due to her short arms and legs and slow movements, she was grabbed halfway by Anna, who flipped her onto her knees, pulled down her pants, and gave her a thorough spanking.

“I dare you to fight… who do you plan to fight? Huh?”

“Not fighting, not fighting… ah! I was just joking!”

“I dare you to joke… so next time when you say you won’t do it, that’s also a joke, huh?”

“No, no… this one’s true! Ah! It’s true!”

“True? So trying out dog poop tomorrow is also true, isn’t it? Speak up!”

“That’s not true! Ah! That’s not true! You’re being unreasonable!”

“…”

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Well, Anna knows best when it comes to handling kids, so I’d better not meddle unnecessarily. It’d be bad if I mess her up.

After casting a sympathetic glance at Melanie’s swollen butt, Leon turned to his still squatting younger brother and couldn’t help but remind him:

“Maybe… you should pull your pants up?”

“It’s fine, Brother!”

Little William shook his head upon hearing this, cracked his knuckles confidently, and said: “I calculated that Sister still needs to hit me fifteen more times. If I put them on now, I’ll have to take them off again soon. I’ll wear them after all the hits are done!”

“…”

Regardless of how you came up with that number, judging from the heated ‘battle’ over there, I know Anna probably won’t have time to hit you today.

“Alright… just be careful not to catch a cold…”

After giving his stubborn younger brother some wordless advice, Leon picked up the two stacks of old newspapers in his hands and walked toward his little bedroom.

According to Leon’s original plan, he actually intended to buy some new newspapers, but he didn’t have any money in his pocket. After calculating, it seemed he wouldn’t last until payday, so he went back to the Clearing Bureau, asked around, and eventually fetched some from Emma Senior’s place.

Anyway, Leon wasn’t looking for any particular news from the newspapers. He just wanted to use the topics chosen by various newsrooms to find the most fearless ones and stir up trouble regarding the Water Power Corporation issue. The age of the newspapers didn’t matter much; as long as he had something to read, it was fine.

Sitting heavily on the wobbly-legged old table, Leon arranged the newspapers on it and quickly became serious. Amidst Melanie’s cries, he began flipping through the borrowed old newspapers one by one.

The *Horn Alley Report*, *Financial Times*, *Dance Entertainment News*, *New Industrial News*… these are irrelevant; they seem to be mostly industry updates within their respective fields, not reporting on public-interest news.

The *Illustrated News*, *Critic’s Report*, *Sun Newspaper* can also be ignored. The first two apparently have old aristocratic backgrounds, full of praise for the old noble system, and the latter has a ridiculous name—it’s obviously untrustworthy…

So, the only options left seem to be three.

Picking and choosing among a large stack of newspapers, Leon finally selected (zhai) the *Daily Highlights*, *Royal Post*, and *Capital City Evening News*. As he was hesitating which one to choose, a knock came from the next room.

“Brother, Sister has finished.”

William, having pulled up his pants, appeared at the door. He sniffed loudly, then stood upright with his hands behind his back, giving advice like a little adult: “Melanie is okay; Sister didn’t hit her too hard. Let her rest face down for a while. But after hitting her, Sister went straight into her room and started crying. Should you go comfort her?”

(End of Chapter)