Interstellar Power Couple
Translator: Mukyuu
Quality Check: Lala
First Published on Chaleuria
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Chapter 65: Buried Alive
Lei Jue never asked where Xiao Lingyu got his money. After all, as long as you had the skills, you could earn money regardless of who you were. And Xiao Lingyu definitely had the skills. But he was suddenly a little curious now, because no matter how much money they had, at the rate their sons were going, the future was looking to be challenging, and it’d be best for them to earn as much money as they could.
“Are you doing any investing? Or maybe financial planning?” Lei Jue asked. “If there’s anything that looks good right now, we should buy some more. There’s still a lot of money in the funds you gave me, might as well put them to good use.”
“I don’t do much investing. There are two entertainment companies, I’ve got 30% and 11% in each. And then there’s an aircraft manufacturer at 37%. These three are the big ones. There is a communications company but our stock there is relatively low, only at 6.5%.” Xiao Lingyu kept his head down and continued tapping away at the laser keyboard on his arm. Even though he was splitting his attention, Xiao Lingyu spoke with clear logic, “Is there anything you’re interested in?”
“Me? I don’t have the brains for business. If we’re talking about a guaranteed source of income then we should open up a hospital, since it’d be high income with almost zero cost. And if we can screw with some of the greedy businessmen, so much better. But the children are still young and need care, so it won’t be anytime soon.” Lei Jue quietened down and watched Xiao Lingyu work.
Xiao Lingyu successfully modified some of the photos of Lei Jianying undergoing torture, sent them off to the vice committe chair’s photon computer and then cleaned up all traces of himself. He never faltered even once during this entire process, and it was clear that he had done it a million times before.
“This probably isn’t enough for Committee Chair Li and the Vice Committee Chair to turn on each other, right?” Sending Lei Jianying’s photos to the Vice Committee Chair’s photon computer should leave enough clues for Committee Chair Li to find. They did this expressly to cause conflict between Committee Chair Li and the Vice Committee Chair, but Lei Jue felt like it wasn’t enough.
“If this was all of it, then all it would do is arouse a bit of suspicion at most, but I sowed a few other seeds beforehand.” Xiao Lingyu shut off the laser keyboard. Just as he was about to elaborate on what the ‘seeds’ were, a sudden explosion occurred upstairs. The basement shook, as if an earthquake was happening.
“No way!” The couple stared at each other and exchanged a big “godd*mn” with their gazes, before dashing towards the door. They tried pushing against it, only to find that it wouldn’t budge no matter what.
Were they trapped underground then?!
“Carrera, what’s going on?!” Xiao Lingyu felt exasperated. Because all Xiao clan heads in history have been strong metal elemental users, the Xiao ancestral home was equipped with everything necessary to withstand their powers. Their electronics were all custom made and there were motion sensor lights everywhere, specifically to prevent these clan leaders from destroying the house in their childhood with electric shocks or lightning strikes. In short, the Xiao residence was very sturdy. But the noise upstairs didn’t sound like just a bit of quaking no matter how he looked at it!
Carrera was also quite bewildered. “S-sir, the main building has collapsed. Both the young masters acted out at the same time, and the Marshal couldn’t hold them back.”
Xiao Lingyu spoke, “Anyone hurt?”
“Negative. The Marshal managed to get everyone outside in time, and the old madam is also safe.” Carrera replied. “I have rented three excavators, they should be here in about seven minutes to get you and the madam out. Please do not worry.”
“As long as everyone is okay.” Lei Jue rubbed at his temples. “How are Xiao Lei and Loquat?”
“Not hurt at all, but they are quite anxious because you’ve been buried underground. Xiao Lei is currently digging, and both Loquat and Curly are helping.” Carrera had to give it to the madam for his personal charm. Leave it to his pets to worry about him, seeing him trapped.
“Carrera, can you connect to the speakers on Lingyu’s personal aircraft?” Lei Jue asked. Once Carrera made the connection, he used them to tell Xiao Lei and everyone else that he was fine and that they shouldn’t worry.
Only then did Xiao Lei stop digging. He reluctantly returned to where Xiao Zhicheng was, helping shield the children from the wind, and tend to whatever else they needed.
Xiao Zhicheng didn’t want to bring them onto his fighter aircraft, because there were explosives stored onboard. An explosion there would cost them more than just a bit of money. So, for safety’s sake, they were left with no choice but to stand outside and shiver in the cold.
What a life, Xiao Zhicheng thought. He had a home but couldn’t go in, and he owned a fighter aircraft he couldn’t board.
Xiao Zhicheng hadn’t felt so helpless since becoming a Marshal.
Luo Yuling draped her coat over her granddaughter, and Xiao Zhicheng held his two grandsons tightly.
Xiao Lingshu and Xiao Lingqi were close by and rushed over as soon as they heard the news. The two brought over food and some necessities, piling them around the family. They didn’t forget to order things online either, since online stores did robot deliveries 24/7.
Very soon, packages of various sizes arrived at the front door of the Xiao residence. Carrera scanned them one by one, and after eliminating any possibility of danger, indicated for the servants could bring them over.
In the Xiao’s’ yard, the rarely-used multi-functional mobile homes were put up, and everyone—sans Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue—were able to move into them.
Lei Jue and Xiao Lingyu were sat on the sofa in the basement, watching their children through the communicator. Lei Jue dragged a hand across his face with relief when he realized the children were all okay.
“I think we shouldn’t have any kids for the next three to five years.” This was too d*mn scary. No matter how much money they had, it wouldn’t be enough if this kept up. “Why don’t we seriously consider opening that hospital once we get out?”
Xiao Lingyu stuck a cigarette in his mouth. “No need. If we do you’ll have to spend your entire day healing god knows how many people. Even though it’s not hard, it’s still time-consuming and tedious. I don’t want you to do something you don’t enjoy. Besides, our financial situation isn’t that dire. If necessary, we can always sell our stock in the communications company. Relax, I can take care of all of you just fine.”
Lei Jue smiled, letting the matter drop.
By this time, the excavators had arrived and started digging. The commotion ended up attracting outsider attention. There were people who were merely there to observe and people from the media who had rushed over. They were all kept outside the property of course, and no one dared enter. But the Xiao’s have always been friendly, and when Xiao Zhicheng and Luo Yuling found out how many people there were, they realized they couldn’t keep a lid on the incident. So they directed Xiao Lingshu, their second-eldest, to go out and meet the crowd.
Xiao Lingshu was a generally courteous person, and coupled with his high EQ, he was the perfect person to deal with the public. Upon getting out, he briefly described to the reporters what happened, shared a couple of photos, and then politely asked people to disperse. He promised that those who wanted to see the children could come to their first-month celebration party.
Those who came for the excitement hadn’t anticipated getting anything, and the media crowd was here just in case they got lucky; the Xiaos weren’t just any family after all, and they counted themselves lucky they weren’t chased away immediately. They hadn’t expected the Xiao’s to be so gracious as to provide raw footage of the incident in addition to answers to their questions; it was amazing!
Needless to say, the netizens once again went into a frenzy, especially when they saw that the stately Marshal Residence had now become a pile of rubble. The hyped up “OMG, triplets!” comments had now turned into “LMFAO, their poor dads” ones.
Yes, their dads were screwed.
Sandalwood_Cherry: I feel so bad for my idols. They’re not going to go bankrupt, are they? lol
TripletFan: I’m trying real hard not to laugh but… sorry… LOLOLOL
Enoch: Oh my god, how much money will it take to raise the two kids? Thank goodness they were born to a Marshal’s family
PengPeng: Well, they’d be filthy rich if Lei Jue just opened up a hospital. But he’s chosen to work for the army instead. Good on him!
SouloftheGiantEagle: Yeah, Lei Jue has helped so many people, shouldn’t the Elemental User Council give them some kind of compensation? If not, they’re going to be so screwed ==;;
AiKe: LOLOL, am I the only one who noticed that our idols have disappeared?
XiaoLei_Forever: Oh yeah, where are they? Why aren’t they replying? They were so active a couple days ago.
Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue had been following the news from the basement, and responded by recording and posting a short video. In it, they sat on the sofa and waved at everyone, bathed in the light of LED lamps.
Xiao Lingyu said, “Hey everyone, Lei Jue and I are stuck in the basement. We’ve won the grand prize of being ‘buried alive’ by our two troublemakers.”
Lei Jue nodded. “The excavators are digging outside right now, we should be out in about 20 minutes.”
Xiao Lingyu smiled, “Thanks for your concern everyone.”
Lei Jue smiled along with him. “The house will need to be rebuilt. If any of you are in architecture and have tips on how to reinforce houses, please private message us thanks.”
Xiao Lingyu turned his head, “Babe, why don’t we just buy up those mobile multifunction houses? If they break, we could just buy new ones.”
Lei Jue looked at Xiao Lingyu. “Buy them wholesale?”
Xiao Lingyu laughed so hard his shoulders shook, “Yes, buy them wh-wholesale.”
Lei Jue shrugged, “Then please contact us if you work for a company that builds mobile multifunction homes. Thank you.”
When the video was uploaded, the netizens once again erupted with laughter.
LittleBaby: LMAO! The heck’s up with wholesale!
CasweirsLargestWholesaler: We can provide you gentlemen with the best wholesale details. Please contact us at xxxxxxxxx
A_Seal_For_Every_Year: LOLOL, don’t mess with them!
GreenGrassMilk_Official: Mr. Xiao Lingyu and Mr. Lei Jue, we are a branch company of Green Grass Dairy Products, responsible for the instant milk replacement products. If by chance the babies are eating our products, please contact our corporate account and we would be happy to provide you with the largest discount possible on future purchases.
All the companies who produced household items raced to offer Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue discounts, some even claiming they could provide certain items for free every month.
After all, Xiao Zhicheng was the Marshal of the entire BeiLing military region, Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue had just given birth to three S ranked elemental user babies, and Xiao Linghua was a world-famous idol. The Xiao family had countless fans, and providing them with free items was like getting free advertising. Only idiots would let this opportunity go by.
Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue looked at the offers, realising that if they did accept the offers of sponsorship from these various companies, they could save a huge amount on expenses. But they decided against it in the end.
Right then, the excavators arrived at the entrance of the basement. As soon as they were free, Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue rushed towards the children.
The three little rascals were all awake and crying. The two oldest were with their grandfather and youngest’s holding rights were being fought over by the others. As soon as their oldest son caught sight of Xiao Lingyu, he stuck out his two chubby arms and whimpered incoherently. It was clear to all that he felt sulky and wanted his father.
Xiao Lingyu’s heart clenched, and he hurried over to hold his son, “Oh my eldest, did you miss daddy?”
Xiao Xiao’s soft baby hands clutched at his father’s shirt, and he finally stopped his tears. Looks like he had indeed been crying because he missed his father.
Lei Jue picked up their second oldest and then stroked their daughter’s hair. “Father, Mother, Grandmother, why don’t you go stay at the mansion on Suspension Mountain? We can’t all stay here, there are too many of us.”
Luo Yuling considered it. They couldn’t do much even if they remained, and the children needed to be with their parents. On top of that, grandmother was old, and shouldn’t stay where it was so crowded. So she agreed and smiled, “You two let us know if you need anything.”
Then she looked at Lingqi and Lingshu, “Lingqi, Lingshu, you two stay here, since there are two houses. You two take the smaller one and lend Lingyu’s family a hand if they need it.”
Xiao Lingqi and Xiao Lingshu hadn’t had their fill of their niece and nephews yet, so of course they had zero objections.
In the end, Xiao Zhicheng boarded his fighter aircraft, taking his mother and wife to the home of their youngest.
Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue each held a child and Lei Jue said sheepishly, “I’m sorry Lingqi and Lingshu, I have no idea if the things in your rooms are intact…”
Xiao Lingshu was extraordinarily fond of his demure niece and smiled at the comment. “We’re family, there’s no need to stand on formalities.”
Some of their stuff wouldn’t be intact of course,, but since it was an accident, they just had to chalk it up to being the will of the gods.
Xiao Lingqi was helping draw the bath water. “Most of my things are in the lab. There’s just clothes here. Older sis has practically nothing here and it’s the same with Linghua. The important things have long been moved out, so don’t worry.”
Lei Jue smiled and nodded, dropping the topic. But he knew very well that their most important things had been kept here; there was no place in the world safer than the Marshal’s residence after all.
While the netizens’ conversations went on throughout the night, the troublemakers fell asleep at their usual bedtime. Surprisingly, they did not fry their instant milk replacement this time, so the family enjoyed an uneventful night.
The next day, Xiao Lingshu requested a day off and Xiao Lingqi likewise skipped going to the lab. Since it was his lab, missing a day was not a big deal. While the two were not ability users, they did possess S rank physical abilities, so they took up the tools and began digging for the important things like Xiao Zhicheng’s documents and medals, their mother’s jewelry box, and their grandmother’s fine china collections. In the end, they found that while the documents and medals survived unscathed, the jewelry and chinaware would definitely need to be remade.
Lei Jue looked at the smashed jewelry box and the decimated jewelry inside before pulling Xiao Lingyu aside and asking, “You sure I don’t need to open a hospital?”
Xiao Lingyu smiled calmly, “Would I lie to you? There really is no need.”
Lei Jue agreed: “Okay, your call.”
As soon as Lei Jue left however, Xiao Lingyu sneakily summoned Carrera, whispering orders quietly to her, “Carrera, accept all the job requests that came in yesterday!”