Chapter 83: Younger Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law

As the New Year approached, the siblings had already started their holiday and, at Liu Qingzhu’s request, returned to the villa for a family reunion.

Last week, after Zhang Cheng met with Lu Qiuchen and confessed everything, part of the emotional knot was untied. Although he still didn’t want to see Zhang Guang, considering their mother’s feelings, he reluctantly went home in the end.

Of course, there was another reason behind it.

“Sis, please help me persuade Mom! Let her help somehow…”

Zhang Cheng grasped his sister’s arm tightly, pleading.

Zhang Yu’s brows furrowed sharply as she scolded her brother, “Nonsense! You’re not a kid anymore. How can you still have such childish thoughts?”

That annoying little brother had been acting strange ever since he found Lu Qiuchen last week.

At the time, she had been a bit confused herself but, seeing how badly he wanted a quick promotion, she felt pity and hinted that their mother had strong connections within the group, suggesting Zhang Cheng could ask her for help with connections.

But Zhang Yu never expected that after learning the truth, her brother had developed a serious psychological problem — and now it had become hopelessly severe!

Just now, her brother mysteriously pulled her into the secondary bedroom on the first floor and actually said he wanted to take Lu Qiuchen’s place to go to the Other World, exchange places with him, and asked her to plead with their mother.

Zhang Yu couldn’t believe her brother was so obsessed that he would make such an irrational request.

She could fully understand Zhang Cheng’s guilt toward Lu Qiuchen. She was not a cold or heartless person, had a good impression of that shy and well-behaved boy, and felt sorry for what he had endured. At the same time, she had strong reservations about their father’s actions.

But even if she felt pity, she would absolutely not allow Zhang Cheng to risk himself to save Lu Qiuchen. After the group announced the list, their father had made many efforts, but at that time, Zhang Cheng was indeed the only one in the group who met the testing conditions.

Do you think this is something you can just change whenever you want? Dad also said this was a key experiment the group was focusing on.

In an emergency, Dad could only look outside for qualified candidates. Among the 3,000 internal testers selected for that phase, besides Zhang Cheng, only two others qualified.

Dad considered that Lu Qiuchen was a better match and more likely to pass the group’s approval. He took this desperate measure for Zhang Cheng’s safety, and it cost a lot of favors.

And the swap could be done before the experiment started, but now it was already halfway through. If you suddenly say you want to switch back, would the group agree?

Zhang Yu softened her tone, thinking her brother might have acted impulsively and was desperate because of dissatisfaction with Dad. She reasoned, “I feel the same pain about Lu Qiuchen, but everyone is selfish. You are my brother, and Lu Qiuchen is just a friend of yours. Family will always prioritize your safety.

“Dad also said the internal test was to preliminarily screen qualified candidates for this experiment, and Lu Qiuchen was inherently suited for it.

“Even if she wasn’t selected then, the group would keep an eye on her for future tests. If not, it would be a total waste of you.

“If an ordinary friend isn’t enough, then just make her family!” Zhang Cheng suddenly blurted, “She’s already become a dragon lady. Who knows? Maybe she’ll even become your sister-in-law someday.”

These words struck Zhang Yu like a bolt from the blue.

She took a step back, eyes wide in disbelief, staring at her brother.

“Zhang Cheng! What nonsense are you talking about?!”

Seeing that his words shocked his sister, Zhang Cheng snorted coldly, “No matter what, this whole thing started because I invited Lu Qiuchen to play the game. I filled out his application form, pushed him to get the physical test done, so I have to take responsibility.

“I’ve made up my mind: if I rescue Lu Qiuchen and there’s no place for him on Earth, then I will raise him myself.”

If I can’t save him later, I’ll apply to the group to become a test subject and enter that world to face it together with him.

He left the last sentence unspoken in his heart.

Zhang Cheng didn’t say this lightly. He recalled a saying from a thinker in the early last century: The temperament of Celestials tends to seek harmony and compromise. For example, if you say the room is too dark and you want to open a window here, everyone will refuse. But if you propose tearing off the roof, they’ll come to compromise and agree to open a window.

Of course, Zhang Cheng knew his initial request was excessive. He had spoken so firmly just now because he already knew their mother would never agree.

In the previous words, his desire to save Lu Qiuchen was true, but wanting to marry him was false. Mentioning the sister-in-law was partly to show his determination and partly to pressure his sister to plead for him with their mother. He hadn’t yet decided to act on it.

Although “dragon lady” really irritated him, if he actually married Lu Qiuchen back home, aside from other concerns, dragons and humans should be reproductively isolated, right? Oh wait, there were already half-dragons; so that’s not a problem.

Even though Lu Qiuchen had transformed into a beautiful mature woman, thinking about their former sibling relationship made the idea feel weird during intimate moments.

Zhang Cheng found a reason for himself, barely convincing himself. Ahem, back to the main point.

Threats were just a means. His real goal was to gain their mother’s support.

So he quickly added, “If Mom doesn’t agree, we can find another way. I don’t have to enter the Other World. I can take it slower, relying on my own efforts to rescue Lu Qiuchen, but that would require Mom to give me more funding and connections.”

Zhang Yu snapped back to reality and glared at Zhang Cheng again. This little brat was really scheming. His words just now gave her quite a shock.

“Choosing the lesser of two evils, Mom will pick the latter.”

Just as Zhang Yu thought this, the bedroom door slowly opened. Liu Qingzhu appeared in the doorway and walked toward them, her expression complex.

“Mom!” Zhang Yu was startled. Although she hadn’t practiced much, Half-elves naturally had excellent hearing. Yet she hadn’t heard her mother’s footsteps until just now.

Hearing the door open and her sister’s exclamation, Zhang Cheng turned to see their mother had already entered the room and stood behind them, her expression complicated. For some reason, her body suddenly shuddered.

“Mom, you heard everything?” Zhang Cheng lowered his voice, feeling a bit guilty.

This was the first time in his life he had threatened his parents, especially getting caught red-handed by Mom.

“Cheng’er has grown up and learned to be tough at home, huh?” Liu Qingzhu said softly, lifting her hand to rest on Zhang Cheng’s still motionless shoulder.

Zhang Yu watched this scene silently, swallowing her saliva and not daring to speak, mourning for her brother in her heart.

This “heartwarming” scene exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure and dissonance. Today, Mom’s way of addressing Zhang Cheng had changed. She usually called him “Xiao Cheng,” but now it was “Cheng’er.” Although the voice was gentle, it sounded somewhat rehearsed.

Liu Qingzhu looked at her two uneasy children and suddenly smiled brightly, “You haven’t done anything wrong, so what’s there to fear? I just happened to overhear your conversation and think what Xiao Cheng said is very right. A man has to take responsibility.

“Xiao Cheng, don’t feel burdened. If you like her, then boldly pursue her. Mom will support you! I’ll also help with funding and connections. Just focus on it!

“Cross-species love isn’t a big deal. Your father and I are no different. Just look at you two, and you’ll know how open-minded we are.

“Besides, I’ve looked into Qiuchen before. He’s a good kid. It’s a pity he met this kind of trouble… Hmm, maybe it’s also a kind of blessing.

“But for him to become like this, your father and you share the responsibility. Your father and I have been thinking about how to compensate him. Now that you have this idea, I’ll leave it to you.”

After hearing this, Zhang Cheng was left completely at a loss.

How could Mom react like this? I really didn’t mean it like that! And calling me so affectionately…

Zhang Cheng wanted to explain but was interrupted by their mother.

Liu Qingzhu looked at the hesitant Zhang Cheng and said gently, “Xiao Cheng looks like you have something to say? Say it. As long as it’s reasonable, Mom will support you.

“But I hope the son I raised wouldn’t say something like, ‘I was lying before just to get resources from my mother, I have no responsibility, and I won’t own up to what I said.’ Right?”

Zhang Cheng twitched the corner of his mouth and swallowed his words. Mom must be getting back at him for his earlier threat.

But if this really worked and he actually married a wife with a male soul, wouldn’t Mom feel uncomfortable?

Fortunately, his sister had the same question and helped voice it.

“So what? You think your mother was born female?” Liu Qingzhu said with mock surprise.

The impact of those words was huge. The siblings were stunned.

It took Zhang Yu a long time to recover, her tongue trembling as she thought: Mom actually had gender reassignment? Then what about Dad…

Liu Qingzhu saw their dumbfounded looks and laughed happily in the room. The previously perfect wife and mother image vanished, replaced by the mischievous grin of a successful prankster.

“Honey, they actually believed it~” Liu Qingzhu was laughing heartily but stopped, covering her mouth and chuckling quietly. Without looking back, she somehow knew Zhang Guang was behind her and turned into her husband’s arms.

Zhang Yu had once asked their mother’s age privately, and now she suddenly understood.

Although Mom was the mother of two children, once her disguise was removed, she looked almost the same age as them.

Mom was still not even two hundred years old. For an elf who could live seven hundred years, that’s equivalent to only her twenties in human years—prime youth and passion.

All these years, she had always put on the perfect wife and mother act in front of her children. That must have been exhausting and hard.