Sucking Up to a Rich Woman

"I thought... you stopped coming because you hated me..."

Jiang Mo looked at her lowered head, and a certain emotion welled up inside him.

He did not hate her. He just hated this place.

"How could that be?"

Jiang Mo looked into Bronya's eyes and said seriously,

"You're different to me, Bronya. You're special."

Hearing that, Bronya suddenly raised her head and looked at Jiang Mo.

Her little face reddened slightly, making her seem a little embarrassed, but her eyes shone with the joy of being acknowledged.

Some of the other children were watching from afar.

They had stopped playing, their eyes fixed on the incredibly delicious-looking ice mountain in Bronya's hands.

Some whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"What is that? It looks so good!"

"How does Bronya have something like that? Did that big brother next to her give it to her?"

"Isn't that the guy who wouldn't play with us last time?"

A few children who were usually more mischievous—and hungrier—grew more and more tempted the longer they watched.

A dessert worth fifty Winter City Coins was something they did not even dare dream about.

Jealousy grew in their hearts like venomous snakes.

Finally, one of the bolder children, a freckled boy, suddenly walked toward Jiang Mo and Bronya.

Two slightly younger children followed behind him.

"Hey!" the freckled boy shouted. "You... what is that? Can I have a bite?"

Jiang Mo turned his head and looked at them with a baffled expression.

That look made the freckled boy hesitate mid-step.

"This is for Bronya. There's none for you."

Jiang Mo looked stern, leaving no room for negotiation.

The moment he said that, the freckled boy's face flushed red. He felt humiliated.

"What the hell! Why are you only giving it to her?!" another child cried.

"Yeah! None of us got any!"

Jiang Mo did not answer. He simply sat upright on the swing, radiating an aura that made him hard to approach.

He had not deliberately done anything, but perhaps it was because he had experienced life-and-death battles, or perhaps it was some change brought by the system. Either way, he now felt completely different from the little homeless boy who had once struggled just to survive.

The more the freckled boy thought about it, the angrier he became, and the more unfair it seemed.

Why could they only eat dry bread while Bronya, that loner, got to eat something so good?

"Jiang Mo... right, I remember. Didn't Huzi and the others beat you up last time?"

The freckled boy suddenly remembered something and pointed at Jiang Mo as he shouted.

Jiang Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.

Huzi and his two companions occasionally came to this orphanage to beg for food. Although they were street thugs, Natasha had seen that they behaved themselves at the orphanage, so she did not drive them away and would give them a meal, only telling them to leave as soon as they had eaten.

Huzi had probably bragged to the children and made up that story before. What a bunch of rotten brats.

"Fuck off. None of your damn business."

Jiang Mo cursed at him directly.

The freckled boy shrank back under Jiang Mo's gaze.

But when he saw the ice mountain in Bronya's hand, his intense greed overcame his fear once more.

If he could not have it, he did not want Bronya to have it either.

His eyes shifted, and he suddenly bent down to grab a piece of gravel from the ground.

"You won't let me eat it, huh?! Then no one gets to eat it!"

He shouted viciously, raised his arm, aimed at the Soda Ice Mountain in Bronya's hand, and was about to throw it!

Bronya cried out and instinctively tried to dodge.

Living Off a Rich Woman

However, Jiang Mo reacted faster!

The instant the freckled boy raised his arm, it was as though something within Jiang Mo had awakened, and a burst of power erupted from him.

His body shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.

"Courting death!"

Jiang Mo growled.

He flashed in front of Bronya, thrust out his right hand like lightning, and caught the piece of gravel firmly before it could hit!

The gravel carried the freckled boy's resentment as it struck Jiang Mo's palm, sending a sharp pain through it.

But Jiang Mo did not let go. He clenched the stone tightly.

The freckled boy had not expected Jiang Mo to catch it. He froze for a moment, then tried to grab another stone from the ground.

How could Jiang Mo give him the chance?

He threw away the gravel in his hand, pushed off with his foot, and rushed straight in front of the freckled boy.

Then he raised his hand and drove a fist hard into the freckled boy's stomach!

"Urgh!" The freckled boy screamed miserably, his body folding over as he collapsed to the ground like a cooked shrimp.

Jiang Mo did not stop.

Seeing the freckled boy struggle to get back up, his eyes turned cold, and he threw two more punches at the freckled boy's face as he lay on the ground!

"Ah!" After several more cries of pain, the freckled boy stopped moving completely, only clutching his face and groaning on the ground.

"Stop!"

At that moment, Director Natasha rushed over.

Her face was full of anxiety. Seeing the child on the ground and Jiang Mo's condition, she immediately understood what had happened.

Only after seeing that the freckled boy could no longer get up did Jiang Mo withdraw his fists. His fierce gaze swept over the other two children, who were trembling in fear.

When the two children saw him looking at them, they ran away in a panic as though they had seen a ghost.

Natasha hurriedly crouched down to check on the freckled boy.

Only after confirming that his life was not in danger did she breathe a sigh of relief.

She looked up at Jiang Mo, her eyes carrying reproach, but even more helplessness.

She did not scold Jiang Mo right away. Instead, she first carried the injured child and hurried into the orphanage infirmary.

Jiang Mo stood where he was, breathing slightly heavily.

Even he had been startled by that sudden outburst just now.

This time, he had not used Berserk.

Jiang Mo felt that his body seemed to possess some sort of instinct—or perhaps talent—that had been suppressed when he was hungry.

After eating his fill, it seemed easier to draw on that strength.

He looked at his fists, then glanced at where the freckled boy had fallen, and sneered.

Jiang Mo turned back to look at Bronya.

Bronya was still sitting on the swing. Not a drop of the ice mountain in her cup had spilled.

Her eyes were fixed on him without blinking.

There was no fear in those eyes, only a dazzling light.

At that moment, Jiang Mo looked to her like a little hero who had descended from the sky—powerful and dependable!

Jiang Mo walked up to her and asked,

"Are you okay?"

Bronya shook her head and hugged the cup in her hands tightly.

"I'm fine... and the Soda Ice Mountain is fine too."

Jiang Mo sighed in relief and looked at the cup in her hands. "Finish it quickly. It's going to melt."

They sat back down on the swing.

Bronya continued eating the ice mountain, though her eyes still occasionally drifted toward Jiang Mo.

"Thank you... Big Brother Jiang Mo."

Jiang Mo merely smiled and said, "It's nothing."

The Soda Ice Mountain was soon finished, leaving only melted liquid in the cup.

Bronya looked like she still wanted more and carefully put the little wooden spoon back into the cup.

Seeing how reluctant she was to part with it, Jiang Mo felt that the time was right.

So he looked into Bronya's eyes and said seriously,

"Bronya, I'll come see you again next time."

"And I'll bring you something even more delicious."

Bronya's eyes lit up. "Really?!"

"But you have to promise me one thing..."

Jiang Mo paused and watched her reaction.

Bronya immediately grew nervous and nodded hard.

"Then I promise first! Tell me, Big Brother Jiang Mo!"

Jiang Mo smiled faintly, thinking that this child was far too easy to fool.

"You have to take good care of yourself and live well."

"That way, we can leave this place together someday and go see the outside world."

Bronya froze upon hearing those words.

Leave this place? Go to the outside world?

She had grown up in the orphanage, and her understanding of the outside world was limited. She only knew that this was Rivet Town, that Boulder Town was nearby, and that farther away, aside from the Upper District that she had never seen, such places only existed in the fantasy novels Natasha usually read to them.

That book described a magical city of ice and snow, grasslands as warm as spring, even a legendary nation of lava, and distant realms beyond the heavens.

Although it was only a story, Bronya vaguely believed that the outside world truly was like that, because Jiang Mo had told her before that it really was.

"Is there... really a way to get out?" Bronya asked softly.

"There definitely will be."

Jiang Mo looked into her eyes, utterly resolute. "Believe me."

Bronya looked at him. Jiang Mo's eyes were always so special, always so reassuring.

She nodded firmly. "Mm! I'll definitely stay alive! Big Brother Jiang Mo, we'll go outside together someday!"

Jiang Mo stood up. Seeing the trust in her eyes, he felt relieved.

Good. The plan had successfully taken its first step.

Jiang Mo stood up, looked at the trust in her eyes, and the corners of his lips curved upward.