Chapter 345: Is She My Sister?

The man was wearing an olive drab military uniform and looked like a tough guy. His eyes beneath the brim were beautifully shaped, and his pupils were black.

Right now, he was tugging at the communicator that was pinned on his collar.

The temperature dropped below zero as his footfalls pervaded every inch of the hall.

There was a dignified aura about him, and every cadet’s heart was in their throat. The man following him was none other than Jiang Jinshu.

When Ouyang Ya saw him, tears gushed out of her eyes as she shouted, her voice laced thick with emotion and aggravation.

“Brother!”

Ouyang Yue frowned.

He peeled his eyes away from his step-sister and barked out in an angry voice, “Can any of you tell me what the hell is going on here?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Li Nanli replied, his voice grim. That said, he still had an amiable smile on his face as he filled Ouyang Yue in on the whole story. “My girlfriend was kind enough to warn Ms. Ouyang about the flaws of her rifle, but she didn’t listen. Not only that, but she also wanted to have a battle with her. Does she not know that my girlfriend is a frail, fragile little girl who can’t even open a can by herself? Well, that doesn’t matter, as my girlfriend won the battle in the end. The main point is that she couldn’t accept her defeat and she even tried to ambush my girlfriend. Well, I’ve always heard of the Ouyang Family’s great education, and this is indeed an eye-opener for me.”

Although most of the people in the hall felt that he was right, his words still stung. Besides, they did not agree with the part about his girlfriend being a frail, fragile little girl who couldn’t even open a can by herself.

‘How can you lie through your teeth when you’re the president of a large company? Did you not see her punch and smash Ms. Ouyang against the ground as if she was a ragged doll?’

After hearing Li Nanli’s words, the commanding officer of the training camp stepped forward and chipped in, “Nonsense! There’s nothing wrong with the rifle. I’m sure someone must have tampered with it. That’s why it misfired!”

However, Li Nanli did not say anything in return. He just kept a smile on his face and looked silently at Ouyang Yue.

Ouyang Yue’s face turned grave. As the head of the Ouyang Family, he knew very well that a mere commander talking back to Li Nanli would only bring disgrace to the Ouyang Family.

His face was sullen as he kicked the commanding officer’s knee.

“Get down on your knees!”

The commanding officer could not avoid the blow in time and dropped to the ground. His knees knocked on the hard surface, and a loud thud resounded in everyone’s ears.

Li Nanli lifted his eyebrows and said, “We’re living in a society governed by laws, so what are you doing?”

“I believe in President Li, so I’m sure you wouldn’t stoop to an underhanded method to frame the Ouyang Family…” Ouyang Yue paused and looked at the commanding officer. He knew this commanding officer was very close to Ouyang Ya, but he would not be lenient with anyone that did the wrong thing. Thus, he ordered, “Apologize to President Li.”

The commanding officer could do nothing but comply with Ouyang Yue’s order. With a dark expression, he said reluctantly, “Please forgive me, President Li…”

Jiang Jinshu felt his head begin to ache again.

Wherever Fu Zhi went, problems followed.

Then, Ouyang Yue turned to Ouyang Ya and asked in a serious voice, “Is what President Li said about you wanting to harm people true?”

Ouyang Yue had always been strict, and he paid a lot of attention to the character of the people around him.

Ouyang Ya’s heart palpitated, as a feeling of fear swept over her. The footage of the surveillance camera could be recovered, so she could not tell too many lies. “I… I just got nervous when Ms. Fu arrived at the destination first, so I fired a shot to warn her. I didn’t mean it!”

“Ms. Ouyang shot an unaware and innocent girl in the back, which is the most disgraceful act one should commit on a battlefield. If my girlfriend had not dodged it in time, I dare not imagine what would have happened to her, yet now you’re telling me that you didn’t mean it? Do I look like an idiot to you?”

Ouyang Ya was stumped.

Fu Zhi poked her head out of the white towel and looked at Li Nanli.

It seemed to her that Li Nanli was angry right now when she saw his tightly set jaw, so she figured that she should do something to quench his anger. She raised her hand, patted his chest, and said, “Alright, calm down. It’s not that big of a deal, so there’s no need to get all hot and bothered.”

Fu Zhi did not want Li Nanli to get angry because she felt that it was unnecessary.

She then suggested, “Everything that can be settled with money is not a problem. We can ask them to pay me some money as compensation and then go on our merry way. So, let’s calm down first, alright?”

Li Nanli was left speechless.

Everyone else did not know what to say.

‘Are you sure that’s the right thing to say in front of everyone?’

It was only then that Ouyang Yue noticed the young girl beside Li Nanli.

When his gaze fell on her face, he was stunned, and he could not come around to his senses for a long while.

Then, he looked at the remnants of the 658 rifle and asked, “What are these?”

“This is the rifle that got destroyed by Ms. Fu. She said that the rifle would explode or go off accidentally after the tenth shot!” an instructor explained.

Ouyang Ya hastily chimed in, “Don’t listen to her, brother. This is just a coincidence. How is there any chance that the rifle I designed would have a problem like that? What’s more, she fired her last shot inside the water. Everyone knows that a rifle tends to have some issues when it’s fired underwater.”

Fu Zhi did not want to explain to her anymore. She pointed at another 658 rifle in the hall and said, “Since you have so much confidence in your rifle, how about you take that rifle, go outside, and fire 10 times at high speed? Let’s see who is right and who is wrong.”

“I…” Honestly, Ouyang Ya did not dare do it.

This was not her design to begin with, so her confidence began to waver after she heard what Fu Zhi had said.

Sensing her reluctance, Fu Zhi pressed on. “What? Are you not gonna do it? Wasn’t this rifle designed by you? Why are you afraid of standing up for your own design?”

Ouyang Ya gritted her teeth. Everyone was watching her right now, and it would make her look really bad if she did not do what Fu Zhi said. Just as she was about to pick the rifle up, Ouyang Yue chimed in, “Alright, that’s enough. Xiao Ya, apologize to Ms. Fu.”

The Ouyang Family was no longer the most powerful family in the capital, though they were still considered a force to be reckoned with. However, if they did not want to get sifted out, then they had to cooperate with other elite families, and the Li Family was the best option for them.

Besides, they were at fault as well. After all, firearm malfunction was not a matter that should be taken lightly.

“Brother!” Ouyang Ya looked in disbelief at Ouyang Yue. She could not believe that Ouyang Yue would want her to apologize to Fu Zhi.

She despised Fu Zhi. After all, she had earned her status through her own effort, while Fu Zhi had earned it by relying on Li Nanli. She was a parasite. She had latched onto Li Nanli like a leech attached to its host to suck blood, so why must she apologize to her?

“I won’t repeat myself. Apologize to Ms. Fu. Now!” Ouyang Yue’s face turned grim, and his voice was stern.

Ouyang Yue did not want to leave a bad impression on Li Nanli, so he’d decided to sacrifice her. Ouyang Ya saw through her brother’s intention, and her eyes turned red around the rims.

“But brother…”

However, no matter how reluctant she was, there was nothing she could do about it. There was no way the Ouyang Family would have a fallout with the Li Family for her considering the fact that she was adopted.

Most importantly, Ouyang Yue had always believed he had a real cousin. He was certain that Ouyang Zhui’s daughter was still alive, so despite treating her well, he had never addressed her as his sister.

Ouyang Yue’s father had been looking for the true heiress of the Ouyang Family in Country F as well.

Ouyang Ya’s blood turned colder and colder as she was looking at Ouyang Yue’s expressionless face. After a short contemplation, she turned to Fu Zhi and said, “Please forgive me, Ms. Fu. I let my emotions get the best of me, and I shouldn’t have had a match with you. I hope you won’t take it to heart.”

Fu Zhi replied flatly, “Of course I will take it to heart. You almost killed me! I have all the evidence to prove it, so if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison, you have to give me money.”

Ouyang Ya was speechless.

‘Is she for real? Even if she gives the recording to the police, there’s no way they are going to charge me with murder, right?’

Ouyang Ya countered her words. “But you beat me as well. Have you forgotten?”

“I was just defending myself. You’re weak, you don’t have the right combat skills to back yourself up, and yet you like to challenge other people. so it’s normal for your opponent to beat the hell out of you.”

Fu Zhi frowned in displeasure when she realized Ouyang Ya was reluctant to pay her money. “Not only are you refusing to compensate me, but you don’t want to admit to the murder attempt either. I don’t know about you, but as humans, we should all stay down to earth and admit our mistakes. We should always reflect on ourselves so that we can become better people in the future, and we…”

“Alright, alright, alright. I will pay you. Can you please shut up already?” Ouyang Ya interrupted Fu Zhi forcefully, for she did not want to listen to Fu Zhi babbling anymore.

It was only then that Fu Zhi stopped talking. She tugged at Li Nanli’s sleeve and said, “Let’s go home. I will buy you dinner tonight.”

Li Nanli nodded. His hand hovered over Fu Zhi’s midriff as he prepared to leave.

Ouyang Ya did not dare let Li Nanli go just like this.

She had left a bad impression on Li Nanli, and she figured that she should do something to save her image. Thus, she went up to him and looked at him fondly. “Nanli, please don’t misunderstand me…”

Tears began to flow out of her eyes. “I really didn’t mean it. I just wanted to win.”

Normally, Li Nanli would not waste his time on her. However, when he thought that Fu Zhi still had not realized what it meant to be his girlfriend, he stopped and pretended as if he cared about Ouyang Ya a lot, as he wanted to see Fu Zhi get jealous.

However, Li Nanli was destined to be disappointed. Fu Zhi turned her head back and forth between him and Ouyang Ya, walked to the corner, and began playing with the sand.

Li Nanli did not know what to say.

He walked away from Ouyang Ya and went forward to pick her up from the ground. Then, he looked into her eyes and said, “Zhizhi, stop playing with the sand.”

He looked both exasperated and helpless as he added, “You should have gotten jealous now.”

Fu Zhi was dumbfounded.

“But I don’t like to get jealous.”

As he looked at her bright, clear eyes, Li Nanli’s heart skipped a beat. Then, he said, emphasizing every syllable that came out of his mouth, “As someone’s girlfriend, when you see your boyfriend flirt with another woman who wants to destroy your relationship, you should get jealous. The first thing you should do is walk up to the girl and ask her to stay away from your boyfriend!”

Fu Zhi replied, “Well, you’re right, but according to the book, a good boyfriend should not flirt with another woman to make his girlfriend jealous.”

Even though Fu Zhi had never been in a relationship, that did not mean that she was oblivious to how a relationship worked.

After a short pause, she added, “The book also said that if I ever come across a situation like this, I should break up with my boyfriend and never see him again for the rest of my life.”

Li Nanli was left speechless.

‘Just what kind of books has she been reading?’

Then, Li Nanli said, “But you should protect me from getting assaulted by a pervert!”

It was Fu Zhi’s turn to be speechless this time.

‘Well, you’re the boss.’

*

At the same time, inside the hall…

Ouyang Yue still had other matters to attend to, so he sent Jiang Jinshu to the meeting room.

The recording of Fu Zhi competing with Ouyang Ya in the swamp was played again. Fu Zhi’s movements had been clearly captured by the camera in high resolution.

She had not tampered with the rifle before jumping into the water tank. However, when the water tank exploded during the 10th shot, he was flabbergasted.

He thought for a moment and then ordered a few artificial intelligent robots to do a rapid-fire test in an open space with the 658 rifle.

As expected, six out of the ten robots had problems with accidental discharge.

Even though this kind of malfunction was random, it was lethal.

Ouyang Yue’s heart skipped a beat, and his blood turned cold.

He did not know where Fu Zhi had learned about the structure of the rifles, but he did not have time for that now. To prevent any bad things from happening, he ordered the cadets to cancel the competition.

At the same time, he summoned Ouyang Ya. “Didn’t you say there was nothing wrong with your design? How come you didn’t know about the accidental discharge and explosions, huh?”

Ouyang Ya’s expression froze. “Brother… As you know, firearm designers are not too keen on having any problems with their personal designs. I… My pride got the best of me. I already knew something was wrong with the rifle when I designed it, but when the elders didn’t notice any problems when they tested the rifle, I thought nothing would happen…”

“Then, what about the 927 sniper rifle? Is there anything wrong with it?”

“Erm… Just, just some material issues. If the materials are not good enough and don’t match the design, accidental discharge may happen as well…”

Ouyang Ya remembered that Fu Zhi had said both her rifles had problems, so she did not dare push her luck and blurted everything out.

While designing the rifles, she had just focused on the design. She had not cared about any problems that might arise, and she did not know how to solve them at all.

“I will apply to revoke the use of these two rifles. This is your mistake, though, so you have to apologize to everyone.”

Gritting her teeth, Ouyang Ya nodded.

The silver lining was that she still had Ouyang Zhui’s note in her hand, and there were plenty of sophisticated designs there. She could look through them one by one and use them as her trump card so she would be the successor of the Ouyang Family.

Ouyang Ya then left the hall.

Ouyang Yue replayed the recording and stared at Fu Zhi’s face.

After he got a load off his mind, he realized something was wrong.

Fu Zhi’s face looked a lot like the face of his uncle, Ouyang Zhui. Besides, she had pointed out the problems of the two rifles.

Did that mean that she was his sister?