After waiting outside the door for a moment, Cheng Jinyang pushed it open and went back inside. Yang Wangshu was now wearing her mask and typed:
"You're back?"
"Discharged smoothly," Cheng Jinyang said with a smile.
"That's great." Xiao Wangshu then pulled up a chair to sit next to him and began typing away, chattering non-stop, "While you were away, Sister Qingqing and Sister Jinqi had terrible fights. No one could hold them back."
"Sister Jinqi complains that Sister Qingqing is too violent, always charging straight in during raids and never playing stealthily. Sister Qingqing says Sister Jinqi's skills are terrible, always shooting her in the back during stealth missions... Now neither of them is willing to raid with me at the same time!"
Even though the voice was a mechanical electronic one, Cheng Jinyang could hear a hint of grievance in it. He could only comfort the little sister, saying:
"Wangshu, if they don't get along, why force them to play together?"
"Because in your harem, they're the only ones willing to play games with me." Yang Wangshu typed in response.
Cheng Jinyang: ?
What the heck, harem! If I weren't in a wheelchair, that mask of yours would be flying off right now!
"Brother Jinyang~" Yang Wangshu began to act spoiled, "Next time you pull someone into the dream, can you find an experienced otaku girl? She doesn't need to be very into it, just knows a bit about comics and games, and can play with me."
"No way, not happening, get lost!"
"Hmph." Yang Wangshu stood up in a huff, walked to the study door, and turned back, saying, "Just keep pulling random people in! One day, when the sisters have had enough, they'll dismember you in a fit of rage!"
"Say that again!" Cheng Jinyang was enraged and stood up, but Yang Wangshu, seeing him rise from the wheelchair, quickly slammed the door and ran off.
That little brat!
Cheng Jinyang felt that during his two months in the hospital, being taken care of by the girls in shifts, his authority had weakened significantly.
Tsk.
I don't even need a wheelchair, you know?
He snapped his fingers, and his body lifted from the wheelchair, hovering in the study for a moment.
Nope, still a bit dizzy...
So he returned to the wheelchair, feeling that the great battle two months ago, and the mental fusion with the girls, had indeed greatly overtaxed his mind, causing a persistent headache when he tried to process things.
It would be nice to continue using the girls' computation network. It's like, as if I wore a black communication electrode collar around my neck and let them help me calculate whenever I needed to use my powers.
And Su Lili...
Putting aside those bothersome thoughts, Cheng Jinyang went to the computer to check the current state of the family.
Financially, things were much better than before the war. Most of the family affairs and income sources had returned to normal.
However, the loss of manpower was a significant problem: compared to pre-war, the family population had shrunk to just over 600 people, meaning nearly 40% of the family members had perished in the war, with the mid-level seventh-grade members taking the hardest hit.
Thanks to the current external attention, although no one openly mentioned it, the bloody fight of the Shendu Cheng family, and their post-war population decline, had not gone unnoticed by the aristocracy. Hence, no one was discussing whether the Cheng family "deserved to be a fifth-grade family."
After all, respecting the dead is paramount, and if the Cheng family, having lost so many, were to be immediately demoted to commoners, what would the dead think? Even aristocrats need to save face.
Cheng Jinyang rubbed his temples, feeling that the benefits gained through such sacrifices wouldn't last long, and he needed to enhance his strength quickly.
Moreover, with the severe loss of young and mid-level supernaturals, should he consider implementing some policies to encourage childbirth?
For instance, requiring all married family members to sign a promissory note for 200,000 yuan as a "three-child guarantee deposit," which would be waived if they had three children, otherwise deducted from their retirement pensions...
Should I give it a try?
So he sent a message to Cheng Yuexian, inquiring about the feasibility of this idea.
After a long while, the reply came:
?
A simple question mark, expressing Cheng Yuexian's extremely confused and complex feelings at that moment.
"Sister Yuexian, do you think it's not feasible?" Cheng Jinyang typed and asked.
"Encouraging childbirth won't do much for short-term population growth unless we lower the bloodline purity threshold for poor families and temporarily recruit a batch of people," Cheng Yuexian replied. "Besides, showing the outside world our dire population situation is more beneficial for our clan's prestige."
"Rather than forcing clan members to have children, I think it would be better for you, the clan leader, to lead by example and have ten or eight children with the young ladies. For instance, if you get Miss Wang pregnant, would the Taiyuan Wang family dare not recognize you as their son-in-law? In the past, they might have made the Shendu Cheng family their vassal, but now, given our clan's heavy sacrifices, the Wang family would likely support us instead. This way, our clan's finances..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Cheng Jinyang sent five or six window vibrations to express his extreme exasperation. "How did this end up involving me? There's nothing between Wanrou and me!"
Cheng Yuexian then reproached him, saying, "Relationships can be developed! Doesn't everyone start as friends? If Wang Wanrou isn't interested, what about Cui Jinqi? I've heard her mention you several times recently, and she seems quite taken with your heroic rescue."
"If you can't get the Taiyuan Wang family, getting the Qinghe Cui family would work too! If you're too shy, as your sister, I'll bite the bullet and help you matchmake!"
"No, no, no." Cheng Jinyang's head ached. There was no way he could explain to his cousin that his relationship with the Cui family's young lady was like that of a server and client—she had no other reason to stay at his house.
Finally managing to placate his cousin, Cheng Jinyang temporarily set aside the idea of encouraging childbirth and continued handling other matters.
"Has Jinyang returned?" came a knock on the door and Cui Jinqi's cheerful voice from outside.
"Come in," Cheng Jinyang said.
Cui Xiaoniang pushed the door open and, seeing Cheng Jinyang in his wheelchair, looked a bit shy and happy.
Cheng Jinyang: ???
He keenly sensed something was off. Then he heard her, nervously fidgeting with her clothes, say, "Jinyang, welcome back."
"Thank you." Cheng Jinyang put down his documents and said indifferently, "But this is the Shendu Cheng clan's territory."
So what's with you acting like the hostess welcoming me back?
Cui Xiaoniang looked anxious, opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could, someone else pushed the door open.
"Jinyang, the grapes are washed..." Xing Yuanzhi's voice trailed off.
She frowned at Cui Xiaoniang and asked, "What are you doing here?"