Chen Guangfu, despite his reservations, couldn't outargue the young man in the end.
He paid for Ouyang Meihua to drive him out of Ku Mountain in her truck and to the town to make a phone call.
...
When Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo finished their tasks and returned to Ku Mountain, they found seven more people waiting for her.
"Big sister."
"Big sister."
"Big sister."
"Big sister."
"Big sister."
Five calls of "Big sister," spoken with a warmth as if Tian Jing had grown up with them.
Tian Jing pursed her lips and smiled. She had thought the matter of the Beijing courtyard would be settled too quickly, severing any connection with this family of seven.
Little did she know they would be "delivered to her doorstep."
The youngest, Chen Shaohuang, was already fifteen. What other tricks could these people possibly have for her?
Seeing the smile on Tian Jing's lips, Chen Yaoming believed this move had been the right one.
"Jingjing, we still don't have a place to stay. You see..."
Tian Jing turned and looked at Chen Yaoming and Guo Xiaoli.
"Comrade, twelve years ago, you came here to claim your daughter and caused the death of an old man."
"This time, you're affectionately calling me Jingjing. May I ask, whose daughter am I? The Tian family's or the Chen family's?"
"Of course, the Chen family's," Guo Xiaoli quickly answered.
Tian Jing curved her lips upwards. "This female comrade, you've only been apart from me for twelve years, how did you turn yourself into an old woman?"
"Look at Comrade Chen Yaoming beside you. A handsome and mature man, his refined demeanor radiating to the highest degree, attracting the gazes of many women."
"For instance, Comrade Xiao Wei over there is looking quite intently."
Tian Jing gestured towards Xiao Wei at the entrance of the small Western-style building. Since they had all come together, she might as well stir up some trouble.
"However, looking at her, and then looking at you, comparing the two, any discerning person would see that Chen Yaoming looks more like a couple with her."
"The old woman beside Comrade Xiao Wei is her lifelong nanny. You, on the other hand, look like Chen Yaoming's nanny."
"Their mindset is something an ordinary person like you can never comprehend."
"What they want is a sense of ceremony, a sense of superiority from being surrounded by people, being served tea and water."
"You wouldn't understand even if I explained. You've never experienced a life of high-class sophistication, so you can't imagine it. That's why you've reduced yourself to a nanny."
"And only a nanny would rush to answer before their master, to show their loyalty and competence, lest they be replaced."
"You?"
Guo Xiaoli, whose figure was severely distorted by her weight, turned ashen at Tian Jing's taunts.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the rage about to erupt.
"What if you're sharp-tongued? You still have to call me 'Mom,' the person you consider a nanny!"
"Hahaha."
Tian Jing let out a cold laugh. "Xiao Wei hasn't even earned that title, so why should you? Besides, I never acknowledged Chen Yaoming."
"Furthermore, twelve years ago, there were two people who voluntarily called me 'Mom.' If I hadn't responded, it would have been a disservice to their excitement."
"You?"
The embarrassment of that impulsive utterance back then being brought up again made Guo Xiaoli's face turn from pale to red with anger.
"Chen Jing, no matter how you deny it, you are the Chen family's daughter, that's an undeniable fact."
"Legally speaking, your father and I should be supported by you in our old age."
"This broken village is quite well-developed. This building will belong to us."
Guo Xiaoli pointed at the village committee's small Western-style building behind them, then at the five young men and women surrounding Tian Jing.
"And your five younger brothers and sisters, each gets a building."
Her mouth opened wider than a lion's maw!
The surrounding villagers gasped.
"Legally speaking?"
Tian Jing scoffed. "Since you want to talk about the law, then let the law deal with me."
"Otherwise, all sorts of random people will come claiming to be my relatives."
"Even if I robbed every bank in the country, it wouldn't be enough to pay the messy support fees for the so-called relatives who abandoned or abused me. Security team."
"Here."
"Here."
The security team members responded with their loudest voices.
Tian Jing raised her finger, pointing at the seven members of the Chen family. "Escort these people who are shamelessly claiming kinship, trying to take advantage, making outrageous demands, who don't know their place, and her family out of Ku Mountain."
"Tell the bridgehead guards not to let anyone in carelessly. Our village has changed a lot, and too many people are envious."
"I am clearly the Tian family's daughter, yet people are impersonating me and shamelessly asking me to support them, and not just them, but their brats too."
"Anyone who can come up with such a fantastical plot is practically mentally ill. Letting them in would be unsafe."
"Add two more people at the bridgehead, or even two more dogs."
"Dogs are more loyal than people, more honest, and won't make crazy demands."
The security team members gritted their teeth hard to keep from bursting into laughter.
"Yes."
"Yes."
The watching villagers couldn't hold back.
"Hahaha."
"Hahaha."
This laughter, combined with Tian Jing's subtle insults, made not only the Chen Yaoming family of seven but also Chen Guangfu and Xiao Wei's expressions extremely grim.
"Jingjing."
Chen Yaoming growled in shame and anger, "I am truly your father."
"Sigh~" Tian Jing sighed with feigned regret. "This old gentleman, you said that twelve years ago."
"That year, I was twenty-three, and it was the first time I heard I wasn't the Tian family's daughter."
"That year, after I drove you away, you never reappeared."
"Twelve years have passed, and you're saying that again. To acknowledge a daughter, do people only come to do it once every ten or twenty years?"
"I'm thirty-five now. It doesn't matter whose daughter I am anymore."
"You come to acknowledge a daughter without any anguish or longing. Only a fool wouldn't see your motive."
"Besides, your nanny already said to prepare five more small Western-style buildings for her brats to live in."
"Since you understand the law, I'll wait for you in Ku Mountain with the judgment."
"I want to see which court dares to rule that a daughter abandoned by her birth parents must support her so-called birth father, and his entire entourage."
"Big sister."
"Big sister."
Chen Xue, eighteen, and Chen Xiang, seventeen, seeing their parents unable to assert their authority over this eldest sister they had never met, exchanged a look. Each took one of Tian Jing's arms.
"Big sister, our parents are senile. Please don't hold it against them."
"We're not here to take advantage; we just came to see if you're doing well."
"Seeing you speak like the highest leader in this village puts us at ease."
Tian Jing couldn't help but chuckle. They were truly more skilled than their teachers.
It seemed these two sisters had honed their verbal skills over the years.
"Hey! How are you two sisters talking? What do you mean 'like the highest leader'? Your attempts at sowing discord are too crude."
Sister-in-law Niu stepped out from the crowd. "Tian Jing is the head of our village's seedling cultivation group. Seedlings are our village's greatest asset."
"The highest leader is just that, a leader. Leading means guiding a direction."
"The real work is done by us villagers. And we villagers fully support the seedling cultivation group and its leader."
"Moreover, our village's regulations allow any group leader or villager to reasonably command the security team."
"Because the security team is here to protect our village and villagers. If we can't mobilize them, what's the point of having them? Wouldn't we just pick up brooms and shovels and go ourselves?"
The villagers immediately chimed in with Sister-in-law Niu.
"That's right. The security team is meant to protect us."
"Exactly. You two girls are no longer young; don't say such crude, divisive things. It's embarrassing. Even a three-year-old in our village speaks like that."
"Indeed. When our village is working ourselves to death, we rely on witty remarks to lift our spirits. What you're saying is child's play."