Role Swap, You Will Know What Cruelty Is

"I said no, and that's final. Our family doesn't have the extra money to send the two of them to school!" Tang Hao's tone radiated a firmness the others had never seen before.

"Besides, if they both leave, who's going to cook for me?"

"Tang Hao!" Old Jack stared at Tang Hao in shock, finding it hard to believe that such a father could exist in this world. However, despite his irritation with Tang Hao, he hadn't forgotten the purpose of his visit.

"Tang Hao, I've already decided. This year, the work-study student quota for Holy Soul Village will go to your family. I'm here to discuss how to allocate that spot."

"A work-study student?" Tang Hao paused slightly. As a Title Douluo, he wasn't truly stopping them from becoming Soul Masters because of money, but since Old Jack had put it this way, he had to come up with an excuse to stall.

In his eyes, Tang Sanmei was still easy to fool, even if her attitude toward him wasn't great due to the influence of her brother, Tang Yin.

Yet he could tell that deep down, Tang Sanmei still cared about and feared him as a father. The truly difficult one to handle was Tang Yin.

Tang Yin truly held no respect for him, wasn't particularly afraid of him, and hadn't even been fazed when he released a sliver of killing intent earlier that morning.

"Dad, give the work-study spot to my brother!"

Tang Sanmei's voice echoed through the courtyard, drawing the gazes of the other three, each of whom reacted with different emotions.

Old Jack nodded approvingly at Tang Sanmei. This was what he had been thinking as well; if they really had to choose one, it was natural to pick Tang Yin, who was more highly regarded by Lord Su Yuntao.

Tang Hao's expression softened for a rare moment, though he thought to himself, Ah Yin, our daughter is just as gentle and kind as you!

As for Tang Yin, he was thinking about how he had completely forgotten about the work-study quota.

"Tang Hao, what do you think..." Although Old Jack favored Tang Yin, the matter ultimately rested on the opinion of Tang Hao's family. Now that Tang Sanmei had taken the initiative, the matter would be settled as long as Tang Hao nodded.

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao first looked at Tang Yin. Seeing him remain silent, he frowned, feeling displeased with Tang Yin's current performance.

"Old Jack, you go back first. Our family needs to consider this further." After a moment of silence, Tang Hao waved his hand and turned to walk into the room.

Old Jack stomped his foot. In his view, since Tang Sanmei had already agreed, there was nothing left to consider.

"Tang Hao, you... sigh!" Old Jack finally sighed helplessly and left.

After the siblings saw Old Jack off and returned to the house, they found Tang Hao sitting at the table with a rare, serious expression. Seeing them enter, he said indifferently:

"Are you very disappointed, thinking that I am an incompetent father?"

"Pfft~" Tang Yin couldn't help but laugh out loud upon hearing this.

"Brother, why do you laugh?" Tang Sanmei acted as the straight man once again, and Tang Hao couldn't help but glance sideways.

"I'm laughing because the old man is overthinking it. I've never been disappointed in the old man."

Tang Sanmei's eyes widened in confusion, and even Tang Hao looked momentarily dazed.

Tang Yin, however, didn't care, patting Tang Sanmei on the shoulder: "Because I never held any expectations for him. If there are no expectations, how can there be disappointment?"

That's more like it! Tang Sanmei breathed a sigh of relief; she had thought her brother's brain had malfunctioned today.

"So that's how you see me!" Tang Hao also wore an expression that said as expected. For a split second, he had actually been moved to the point of tears, but fortunately, he had held it back.

"Sanmei, show me your Martial Soul!"

Tang Hao couldn't be bothered to deal with Tang Yin, his eyes turning to Tang Sanmei with solemnity and anticipation.

Tang Sanmei naturally sensed the unusual emotion in Tang Hao's gaze. Without a word, she opened her right palm, and a small, azure-blue blade of grass appeared in her hand.

"It really is Blue Silver Grass, just like hers!"

Tang Hao stared at the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul with soft eyes, muttering to himself.

"Sanmei, you should have another Martial Soul, right?" Tang Yin, standing to the side, grew impatient watching Tang Hao wallow in self-pity and directly pointed out the secret of Tang Sanmei's Twin Martial Souls.

"Brother, how did you know?" Tang Sanmei's heart skipped a beat. She was shocked that her brother had noticed a Martial Soul that even the Lord Soul Master hadn't detected, yet worried that the Twin Martial Souls would cause her to steal her brother's work-study spot.

"What! Sanmei, you actually have another Martial Soul!" Tang Hao's excitement overflowed, his hands trembling as he gripped Tang Sanmei's shoulders.

Seeing this, Tang Sanmei looked at Tang Yin. After seeing him nod with a smile, she finally raised her left hand.

A faint black light flickered from her palm, and then a pitch-black hammer appeared before Tang Hao's eyes.

"This, this is... Twin Martial Souls. I never expected that the child I had with Ah Yin would have Twin Martial Souls." Tang Hao's eyes filled with tears as he pulled the bewildered Tang Sanmei into a hug.

"My good daughter, truly Dad's good daughter!" Without noticing that Tang Sanmei's left hand was nearing exhaustion, Tang Hao displayed fatherly love for the first time.

"Alright, old man, do you mean to say that in your heart, Sanmei with only the Blue Silver Grass wasn't your good daughter?" Tang Yin couldn't stand it anymore and chimed in, then reminded the sweating Tang Sanmei:

"Sanmei, put your Martial Soul away first!"

"Right, right, good daughter, hurry and put your Martial Soul away." Tang Hao didn't bother responding to Tang Yin's sarcasm. Instead, he looked at Tang Sanmei with a solemn expression and instructed:

"Sanmei, remember, you must use the hammer in your left hand to protect the grass in your right!"

"Okay, Dad, I'll remember!" Sensing Tang Hao's uncharacteristic attitude, Tang Sanmei didn't argue and nodded in agreement.

"Good." Tang Hao revealed a rare smile and nodded in satisfaction, then, as if performing a magic trick, turned his face blank and looked at Tang Yin.

"Xiao Yin, these past few years, it is indeed I, your father, who has failed you."

Tang Hao paused here, seemingly feeling that his tone was too stiff. He squeezed out what he thought was a gentle tone, though to outsiders, it sounded incredibly awkward: "I think this work-study quota should go to Sanmei!"

Although Tang Yin had expected this—after all, if he had to choose one, he naturally hoped Sanmei would go to Nuoding Academy as in the original story—he knew that as long as the plot followed its course, Tang Sanmei was destined to become a god. Even if he couldn't become a god himself, he could ascend to the God Realm by riding his sister's coattails.

Still, Tang Hao's blunt tone, which left no room for discussion, made it hard for him to keep his composure.

Fine, I'll endure it.

Suppressing his inner displeasure, Tang Yin was just about to agree when Tang Sanmei, standing to the side, grew anxious.

"Father! I don't agree. If my future must be built upon the sacrifice of my brother, then even if I become the Title Douluo that Grandpa Jack speaks of, what is there to be happy about!"

Tang Hao's expression turned stern upon hearing this: "I am not here to discuss this with you!"

"You just asked me to promise to use the hammer to protect the little grass. I assume that little grass is the martial soul inherited from Mother, right!" Tang Sanmei was not afraid; instead, she brought up the matter from just moments ago.

"I have never seen Mother, but looking at Father's behavior now, Mother must surely be the most important person to you!"

Tang Sanmei was naturally intelligent, and combined with Tang Hao's subsequent reaction to her Blue Silver Grass martial soul, she had already formed her own conjectures.

"And what if she is!" Tang Hao saw Sanmei mention Ah Yin, and the anger that had previously filled his heart was quelled as he retorted with a question.

"If that is the case, then to me, Brother is the most important person." Tang Sanmei paused here and looked at Tang Yin with an unprecedented solemnity: "If today it required sacrificing Mother to achieve Father's goals, how would Father conduct himself then?"

Boom!

Tang Hao felt as if his brain had exploded in an instant. Memories flooded back of the past when Ah Yin had sacrificed herself to let him absorb her hundred-thousand-year soul ring to become a Title Douluo. His face turned deathly pale in an instant, and sweat poured off him like beans scattering across the floor.

"Ah Yin, my Ah Yin!"