The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 129

The next morning, Jiang Momo climbed out of bed.

Since the students hadn’t been released yet, she had no classes for the day. She tidied her sleep-ruffled hair, washed her face, and headed out to the Jiang family’s villa on Floating Island No. 76.

When she arrived outside the villa, she found the doors and windows tightly shut, with no light coming from inside. She nudged a pebble aside with her foot and reached out to press the doorbell.

The gentle chime rang out repeatedly.

No one answered.

She asked Little Eight in a low voice, “Is anyone inside?”

[No idea. After they got out of the detention center, they dismantled all the robots and surveillance at home,] Little Eight said, scratching its chin with its back leg.

[Why are you suddenly going to see the Jiang family?]

“Just swinging by. If they realize something’s missing and suspect me, I won’t even know what hit me,” Jiang Momo replied silently.

She then stepped back and called out loudly, “Jiang Zhang! Jiang Yuan! Jiang Yingying! Are you home?”

Her voice was powerful enough to open the window of the neighboring villa.

Jiang Momo fixed her gaze on the window, where a tall, lean shadow moved conspicuously.

“Jiang Zhang!” she shouted again.

Just as the words left her mouth, the villa door clicked open. Jiang Zhang stood there, face dark.

“Stop yelling. Did your noble status application go through?”

“Not yet,” Jiang Momo said, brushing past him into the house like she owned the place.

Jiang Zhang followed after her. “We had a deal. You’d get your shares and the factories only after your application was approved.”

“Did we really agree on that?” Jiang Momo shot back instinctively. She waved at Jiang Xian, who had just come down the stairs. “Good morning. Have you all eaten?”

“We have,” Jiang Xian replied coldly. She crossed her arms and sat down on the main seat on the sofa, accepting a cup of tea from Jiang Yingying.

Jiang Momo sensed something off about Jiang Xian’s attitude. Her heart sank a little. Tilting her head where they couldn’t see, she silently told Little Eight, “I knew I had to come. Something’s definitely wrong.”

She sat casually across from Jiang Xian, looking toward Jiang Yingying standing nearby. “A glass of juice, thanks.”

Jiang Yingying didn’t move.

Jiang Momo scanned the room again. No one spoke. The only sound was Jiang Xian’s slightly heavy breathing, as if she were suppressing something.

“Jiang Momo, did you submit the application?” Jiang Xian suddenly broke the silence.

Jiang Momo instantly relaxed a bit, smiling. “All this tension just over that?”

“You think this is a trivial matter?” Jiang Xian frowned.

Jiang Momo shrugged. “Of course. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. You’ve probably seen my name all over trending searches lately. I’ve been busy.”

Jiang Xian’s brows relaxed ever so slightly. “We’ve found another way, so return the thirty million.”

To Jiang Momo’s surprise, it wasn’t the request itself that shocked her. She had expected that kind of behavior from them, but Jiang Zhang’s reaction caught her off guard.

He stepped forward anxiously, saying, “Mom, Momo might have already spent that money. She’s out there alone and has expenses everywhere.”

Jiang Momo had been determined not to return a single star coin once the money was in her pocket, but seeing Jiang Zhang’s urgency gave her pause. Was that dirty money or something?!

Jiang Xian glared at him, furious. “Shut up. It’s not your place to speak. I know you care about Jiang Momo.”

Jiang Momo immediately understood.

So it was all an act.

She glanced between Jiang Xian, Jiang Zhang, and Jiang Yingying, finally catching on to Jiang Xian’s real goal.

They wanted her help transferring Jiang Yingying to a different department.

Sure enough, after a bit of back-and-forth between mother and son, Jiang Xian dropped the pretense.

“Just keep the money, Momo. Even though we haven’t lived together long, you’re still our flesh and blood. It’s just a pity that Yingying is still stuck suffering in that unfortunate Single Combat Department. If only she could switch, our family would be whole.”

“No worries,” Jiang Momo said sweetly. “Life’s full of regrets.”

Jiang Xian: “?”

Jiang Momo stood up. “I’ll keep an eye out for any transfer opportunities.”

Now that she was sure the Jiang family hadn’t suspected anything, Jiang Momo felt relieved and turned to leave without hesitation.

The three Jiang family members stood frozen, silently watching her go like stone statues.

***

Jiang Momo returned to the research lab.

Once again, it was Lu Feng who opened the gate for her.

Jiang Momo looked at Lu Feng who was dressed impeccably, hair gelled to perfection, his face serious yet somehow giving off the vibe of a flamboyant peacock, and teased, “What, is Lieutenant General Lu going to open the gate for me every time now? I’m honored.”

“Of course,” Lu Feng replied, the corners of his lips lifting in a smile. He took a step forward, his military boots touching her toes.

And then Jiang Momo grabbed his wrist.

Lu Feng’s pupils shrank. It was an over-the-shoulder throw!

He immediately raised his arm to break free and instinctively shoved back with his palm.

Jiang Momo dodged and countered with a punch.

The two of them somehow ended up fighting at the base entrance. The corner of the soldier’s mouth, standing on guard, twitched but he kept his eyes straight ahead. They fought for ten minutes and it finally ended when Lu Feng accidentally injured the guard while grappling with Jiang Momo.

Lu Feng stood still, trying to catch his breath. He looked at the dazed soldier lying on the ground, who hadn’t gotten up after taking a few hits and said lightly, “You’ve got a week off. Don’t talk about this.”

At the mention of time off, the soldier jumped up, patted the dust off his pants, saluted, and quickly headed inside. “I’ll find someone to take my post right away.”

Once the poor guy left, Lu Feng glanced at Jiang Momo, who stood nearby with her head lowered, clearly reviewing the fight in her mind. He teased, “I was just joking earlier. Did you really have to react so strongly?”

“Huh? What joke?” Jiang Momo snapped out of her thoughts and asked instinctively.

Lu Feng laughed helplessly. “I mean when I suddenly stepped close to you. I didn’t know you’d react like that on reflex.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Jiang Momo rubbed her face, eyes gleaming as she joked back, “You teased me, so I retaliated. It’s totally normal. It wasn’t a reflex, I did it on purpose.”

“Teased?” Lu Feng blinked and then looked Jiang Momo up and down twice before it finally registered that Jiang Momo was actually a young girl.

Even though he’d always known her gender, she acted so rough-and-tumble that, when combined with his long-term military lifestyle, he unconsciously treated her like just another comrade.

“Sorry,” Lu Feng apologized immediately. “I’ll be more mindful next time.”

Jiang Momo waved it off. “I’m just messing with you, it’s no big deal. So, why are you dressed so sharp today?”

“Classified,” Lu Feng replied. “I won’t be going in with you today. You can find your way, right?”

“I got it, don’t worry.” Jiang Momo gave Lu Feng’s shoulder a buddy-like pat and walked through the base gate.

She made her way to the research lab like she’d done it a hundred times. As soon as she stopped at the entrance, she noticed the researchers all looking at her in unison, their expressions tense like they were facing a crisis.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Momo asked sharply, sensing something was off.

Scarface and Black Tiger exchanged a glance and then stepped forward with their heads down, clearly anxious. “Leader, we ran two tests overnight. Both were successful, but the results were the same as last time. So we adjusted the parameters again…”

Jiang Momo looked down at their tightly clenched fingers and cut in, “And you found out the results were even worse?”

Scarface looked up at once, smoothly launching into flattery, “Leader, your foresight is incredible!”

“It’s not just worse, they turned into complete scrap,” Black Tiger added.

“Did we waste a lot of materials?” Jiang Momo asked.

Black Tiger shook his head. “Not much. At our current stock and testing rate of once per hour, the materials will last about five years.”

“Then don’t worry about it. Keep going,” Jiang Momo said, puzzled. “So why does the atmosphere feel like someone died?”

Black Tiger looked equally helpless. “I was wondering that too. Everyone’s acting like the sky is falling. I thought something seriously bad had happened.”

“No big deal. Everyone’s probably just exhausted. Let’s take a day off and then continue,” Jiang Momo said, feeling a little bad after noticing the dark circles under the researchers’ eyes.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the entire group turned and started to walk off.

A sudden thought flashed through Jiang Momo’s mind. She looked at the researchers who were about to disappear from view and called out, “Wait a minute. Do we have anyone named Tang You among the researchers?”

The entire group stopped in sync and turned around silently.

Jiang Momo stared at the thinning tops of their heads.

No one answered.

After a long pause, she repeated, “Tang You. Is there a Tang You here?”

There was still no response.

“That’s weird,” she muttered, waving for them to go. “Could Lu Feng have another project going on?”