Chapter 142: Bian Da, Spit It Out If You Eat It

Bian Changxi raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, Qiu Yun burst out laughing, “Oh? From the way you talk, you’d think you used to take care of Miss Bian all the time. Stop pretending. Anyone could dig up your family’s dirty laundry just by asking around. Good dogs don’t block the way—don’t try to mess with me!”

Bian Changxi shot him a look—so much for the tough bodyguard image. With that mouth, he sounded more like a thug.

Bian Da, abruptly cut off, glared at the sunglasses-wearing bodyguard, then turned to Bian Changxi with displeasure. “I’m your cousin, after all. And you let a servant talk to me like that? Where’s your upbringing, Bian Changxi?” He paused, eyes full of contempt. “Forget it, I guess it’s not your fault. Blame your precious Captain Gu for saddling you with such an uncouth bodyguard. Who knows if he’s any good at protecting you, but he sure knows how to stir up trouble.”

Cousin?

Bian Changxi’s gaze grew even more disdainful.

Bian Kuang was the son of the ex-wife, who died young. Her uncle, Bian Guangyuan, quickly remarried the daughter of a business partner. The next year, they had a son who died in infancy. Two years later, Bian Wei was born. After Bian Wei’s birth, Bian Guangyuan suddenly brought home a child—this very Bian Da.

Bian Da resembled the stepmother, was two years older than Bian Changxi, and half a year older than Bian Kuang. Yet Bian Guangyuan insisted on having him recognized as part of the family, making the truth obvious to all. The scandal back then was huge. In the end, the old patriarch, pitying his eldest son’s desperate pleas, gave this extra grandson the name “Bian Da”—the characters for “expansive” and “reaching,” to appease both Bian Kuang and his maternal relatives. With the interests divided, everyone was more or less satisfied—except for Bian Changxi’s father, who, in a rare outburst, cursed, “Utterly ridiculous!”

From then on, her father treated Bian Kuang as his own and ignored Bian Da, no longer even acknowledging the step-sister-in-law. That’s why Bian Kuang and Bian Changxi were especially close, but it also led to a deep rift between the two branches of the family. After her father died, Bian Guangyuan, now head of the household, immediately started targeting Bian Changxi.

Naturally, Bian Da and Bian Changxi couldn’t stand each other.

Qiu Yun’s eyes widened and he looked ready to take off his sunglasses and step forward, but Bian Changxi stopped him, coldly rebuking, “Remember your place. Don’t stoop to their level—it’s beneath you!”

Qiu Yun paused, then grinned sheepishly. “You’re right, you’re right. Thank you for the reminder, Miss Bian.”

Bian Da and Bian Wei, hearing this, both stared at Bian Changxi in shock—Bian Da with anger, Bian Wei with hurt. “Sister Changxi, how could you say that? We’re family! Even if you have issues with us, you can’t just—”

Bian Changxi didn’t even look at her. Instead, she turned to Hu Aiquan, her tone and expression both icy. “Deputy Commander Hu, is this how you run the medical department? You let people with no authority or position barge in and make a scene? Or do you just let them form cliques and waltz in together? There are over a thousand patients and hundreds of staff here. Even if you don’t care about their safety, who’s responsible if medical work is disrupted and people’s health is put at risk?”

She had neither the status nor the rank to scold a deputy commander of a ten-thousand-strong military district like this, but she already knew Qu Shangjin had poisoned the people of Jiangcheng, and Hu Aiquan had enabled it, sitting back to watch the chaos and constantly tripping up Gu Xu. According to Qiu Feng, this guy’s days were numbered. He might have nearly ten thousand troops under him, but he could barely command a tenth of them. Since Gu Xu was about to take back the medical department, and Qiu Feng had told her not to show this man any courtesy, why bother holding back?

Besides, judging by how Bian Wei and the others acted, this wasn’t their first time pulling this stunt. Did they think the hospital was some kind of amusement park? Clearly, Hu Aiquan wasn’t doing his job.

Hu Aiquan’s face turned green and white by turns. He stared at Bian Changxi in disbelief—this girl was slapping him in the face in public? Even Gu Xu wouldn’t dare be so brazen, but she actually—

He glanced around and saw that many hospital staff and patients were nodding in agreement, which only made him angrier. “Miss Bian, this is an internal matter for Jiangcheng’s medical department. You’re not even part of the system, so you don’t need to—”

Bian Changxi cut him off. “Deputy Commander Hu, you’re the number two in the Jiangcheng Group, our helmsman, our leader. Even if you’re only in charge of the medical system now, medical affairs are a matter of life and death. I may be just an ordinary citizen with no official position, but that only makes me more aware of the struggles of ordinary people. When I see something unreasonable, I have to speak up. Are you really going to cling to bureaucracy at a time like this?”

She stopped just short of saying outright: “Even if your authority is pitifully small, Hu Aiquan, you still have to take responsibility. Don’t act all high and mighty, stuck in your bureaucratic ways, thinking you’re the most important person in the world.”

Though she was scolding Hu Aiquan, her words were really aimed at Bian Wei and the others. She was surprised to see them here, but quickly figured it out. These finance types had some influence at first, investing in or sponsoring projects in the base to build connections and curry favor. Jiangnan Medical likely benefited from their support, too. That gave them an excuse to show up from time to time, flaunting their contributions and hoping to catch the eye of some bigwig.

But every time they came, the local procedures had to be adjusted, efficiency dropped, and everyone had to fawn over them or risk souring the mood. It was infuriating.

Now, after Bian Changxi’s outburst, everyone looked at the group blocking the courtyard. Not only were they attracting a crowd, but they were seriously hindering staff movement and communication—clearly interfering with life-saving work. The onlookers immediately started murmuring among themselves.

Bian Changxi curled her lips. Trying to play the family card? Trying to paint her as cold and ungrateful? Ridiculous. If they liked putting on a show in public, they’d better be ready to be treated like actors on a stage.

She could be polite with people like Zhu Yunhua, since she didn’t know their background. But with the Bian family? No need to hold back. She’d keep her emotions in check with Bian Kuang, but he wasn’t here. Why bother restraining herself? If anything, she hated the Bian family more than Zhu Yunhua. As vicious as Zhu Yunhua was, their relationship was like business partners—betrayal was just a matter of clashing interests, and she could only blame herself for picking such a scumbag.

But the Bian family was blood. To use the guise of kinship to commit all sorts of nasty, underhanded deeds was especially revolting. After her father’s death, their heartless scramble for shares at the funeral made her loathe them to the core. Not to mention, in her previous life, Bian Kuang’s death was, in a way, caused by the coldness and ambition of these so-called relatives.

They could hurt her, but if they touched the people she cared about, she’d never forgive them.

So seeing these two now, she couldn’t suppress the chill in her heart.

“Deputy Commander Hu, do you still need to help arrange those twenty patients, or should we just select them ourselves?”

Hu Aiquan was furious but didn’t dare show it. With Gu Xu backing Bian Changxi, if he couldn’t win against Gu Xu, he couldn’t afford to burn all his bridges. He took a deep breath, ignored these useless rich kids, and stormed off.

Bian Da and Bian Wei looked even worse. Bian Changxi didn’t spare them a glance, just turned to leave. But then someone muttered, “How impressive—living off others, unable to support herself, yet acting all high and mighty.”

Bian Changxi stopped in her tracks and looked at the speaker—a young man clearly following Bian Kuang’s lead. When her gaze swept over, he ducked behind Bian Da and shouted, “What are you looking at? I’m just telling the truth. Yesterday your family sent you a whole truck of supplies—everyone knows it. You take the benefits without gratitude, and now you’re acting all stuck-up. You’ve got some nerve.”

He turned to Bian Da. “Bian Da, why do you even bother with a relative like her? Let her starve. Giving those supplies to a dog would be better than giving them to her.”

The crowd’s attitude shifted from hostility toward Bian Da’s group to looking at Bian Changxi with curiosity.

Though Bian Changxi was famous, it was only within certain circles. Gu Xu hadn’t made a big show of recruiting her, so most people didn’t realize this outspoken woman was a powerful wood-type ability user—someone who, in the eyes of ordinary people, could decide life and death with a thought.

Bian Da was secretly pleased. Running into Bian Changxi was unexpected, but he’d long known how to deal with this cousin. The Bian family didn’t have many people, and ability users were even rarer—same as most families. He was valued for his speed ability, but Bian Kuang was a wind-type, growing more prominent by the day. If Bian Changxi returned, and she and Bian Kuang teamed up like siblings, where would that leave him?

Bian Changxi absolutely couldn’t come back to the Bian family.

Luckily, given her personality, she’d never return—Bian Kuang couldn’t even persuade her. All he had to do was put on a show of family concern and guilt-trip her, making her even more alienated from the Bian family.

He didn’t care who was backing Bian Changxi—Gu Xu or Li Xu. Even if he wanted to, would she treat him kindly in return? The future was too uncertain, the world too chaotic. He only cared about the present.

He raised his voice, “That’s not fair. Changxi is family—my little sister. Even if she has issues with us, we can’t just abandon her.”

How could they abandon her? Whatever she’s taken, she’d better cough it up. That was a whole truckload of supplies! Even if Bian Kuang worked hard to bring in most of it and was told by the elders he could distribute it as he wished, anything that entered the Bian family belonged to all. Who did Bian Changxi think she was? His tone was full of feigned sorrow.

Bian Changxi met Bian Da’s gaze coldly, and slowly let out a mocking laugh.