Familiar faces

Chi Lian moped as she walked home. As a soldier, she was trained to be constantly vigilant. She heard the footsteps of someone following her before she saw them.

She turned around and scanned her environment. Most of the houses were locked. The inhabitants of Muyu slum were too afraid of trouble to be outside at ten p.m. There was nowhere for her to hide.

Three thugs were making their way towards her. The leader was the man with a nasty looking scar on his cheek she assumed.

Chi Lian knew they were not planning on letting her leave any time soon. This body was weaker than her last one so she could not fight them. She would have to rely on tricks to escape them.

She recognized the leader from her memory. He was Rong Zhi, a local thug that had been trying to get his hands on her since her family moved here.

He approached her with a sleazy smile on his face. "What do we have here?"

Chi Lian changed her stance. She was poised and ready to attack if he or his men made any sudden moves.

"I am not looking for trouble Rong Zhi." She said.

"Why do you keep rejecting me Chi-Chi? I am just trying to protect you. Everyone knows that I Rong Zhi is the most capable man in Muyu."

Chi Lian was disgusted to hear him call her nick name which only her friends and family were permitted to use.

"Then find someone who desires your protection. I don't need or want it." She said.

Rong Zhi's nostrils flared. He was angry because she had humiliated him by rejecting him over and over again.

"If you don't want to come peacefully, I have no choice but to make you one of my women forcefully." He grabbed her shoulder roughly and pulled her.

Chi Lian knew what his nasty intentions were. If he managed to take her, she would be raped before morning came.

She punched him in the nose and kicked his balls. He howled like an injured wolf and fell to the ground.

While he struggled to get up, Chi Lian turned around and run in the direction of her home. It was only five minutes away.

"Get her." Rong Zhi ordered.

The other two came after her like a pack of hyenas hunting a deer.

She was losing strength very rapidly.

"Hey, Mr. Pet, your host is in trouble. Isn't now the time when the system gives its host some kind of powers or weapon for self -defense."

"The only weapon I can access at your level right now is a bat."

"I will take it." Chi Lian stopped and gasped for breath. All that running had exhausted her. "What a weak body. So pathetic." She said. She looked at her screen and tapped a box with the bat.

A long shiny metallic bat appeared in her hands.

"Yo, T4 are you sure this is enough?"

"My name is Tetris double four not T4. The bat you are holding is enough to stop an armored truck with one hit depending on the strength of its wielder. It's made out of the strongest steel alloy in the universe."

Chi Li was a bit worried now. Wouldn't she kill these men if she hit them? She did not want to end up in prison as a murderer.

"Your strength is not enough to kill them. However it will incapacitate them for an hour at least."

"Good." She said. She used to play baseball in her past life. These thugs were in for a night of pain.

When the first one came close to her, she swung and him in the stomach. She kicked the second one and hit him with the bat in the head.

They fell to the ground and groaned.

A whizzing Rong Zhi also arrived just in time to see his men on the ground.

"You bitch." He lunged at her.

She swung her bat, aiming in between his legs again. Clearly he needed another reminder.

Rong Zhi fainted from the pain.

She laughed with joy and pretended to be at a baseball match in the middle of a field, "And it's a home run Ladies and gentlemen." She bowed.

She caressed the steel pipe and kissed it. "I think I will name you wrath." she said.

She quickly made her way home and opened the door. Her family members were all up and waiting for her.

Chi Lian was stunned at the first sight of her parents. They were identical to her deceased parents on her original earth.

"How is this possible?" she asked.

A wave of painful emotions overwhelmed her. In her world, her parents died in a car accident when she was a child. Her aunt and uncle raised her. They gave her all the love in the world but she still felt that gap in her soul.

Like any other child, she craved for the love of her parents. She wanted to act like a baby and be carried by them. She longed to share a bed with her mother and share secrets about boyfriends and love.

She could never do that with her uncle and aunt. They tried but the gap could not be covered. It's the reason why she joined the army.

She was searching for something. She figured fighting for the country and helping those in war torn countries would fill some of that gap.

But now, here they were. Two people who looked like her parents.

"Chi-Chi, where have you been? We have been so worried." Her mother looked over her body as she asked. "Why is there blood on your shirt?"

She stayed silent and tears made their way down her eyes.

"What's wrong Chi-Chi? Say something? Were you bullied?" Her eldest brother Chi Wei asked.

He was ready to kick the ass of the person who had caused pain to his sister.

"Boo- hooo…." Chi-Chi wailed loudly very suddenly that her entire family was shocked.

"Mother, Chi-Chi missed you so much." She threw herself into her mother's arms.

Her mother hugged her tight and rubbed her back.

Her father who was limping joined them and hugged them both. His daughter's sobs were heartbreakingly painful. It was his fault that she was in pain.

"Daddy is sorry Chi-Chi. If I had not been conned by Zhi Hai we would not be living like this. You would not be running around looking for money."

After crying her heart out, Chi-Chi left her mother's embrace and looked at their house. It was so depilated and old that even mice would probably not want to occupy it. It was so tiny and her three brothers were sharing one room. She was the only one who had a room all to herself.

"I will find a way to earn money again. Don't go out again at night." Her father looked determined.

"I have already found a way to make money. Don't worry daddy. We will rise again." She assured him.

Her family was perplexed. Chi-Chi had no real life experience. She had also just graduated from school. Most of the high class society was isolating her family. Even her two brothers had failed to find good jobs. Where was she getting her confidence from?

Chi Lian saw the confusion on their faces.

"I have a friend that works as a paparazzo. He makes over twenty thousand yuan a month. And if he takes a juicy picture, he sells it to the entertainment company or the celebrity for as much money as he can. So i have decided to become a paparazzo as well."

"Eh." Her eldest brother Chi Wei's jaw almost hit the ground. "You used to hate them when we were still wealthy."

"And now we need money. I will bring our family back to the top. In fact, eldest brother and second brother should not worry too much about jobs. In just one month, we will open our own internet news website.

Then a media house. And an entertainment company."

"She is dreaming." Her youngest brother Chi Zimo said.

"You brat." she slapped him on the back of the head.

"Aww...mum she hit me." he looked at his mother for justice.

"Your sister should hit you some more. Why are you stepping on her ambitions." She looked at her daughter who for the first time in her life had a goal and an ambition, "I support you. Tell me if you need anything."

Chi Lian was now focused. In the beginning, she assumed she would not have any attachments to this family of strangers. But now, she felt a connection to them. They were her people. She would not allow misery to be part of their lives.