Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 59 – I Treated You Like a Buddy, But You Tricked Me Into Studying!

On the way to the tutoring center, Mao Huilan glanced around at the constant attention they were receiving and couldn’t help but confirm with Xia Mian, “Sis, aren’t you cold?”

Xia Mian reached out and patted her face. “Nope.”

Feeling the warmth, Mao Huilan was consumed with envy. “I want a down jacket too. This cotton-padded one is too bulky! My arms get tired just lifting them to write.”

“I think this still depends on your dad,” Xia Mian said. “Isn’t Second Uncle’s first drama payment coming through soon?”

Mao Huilan sighed, “Forget it. Down jackets are too expensive.” But then she brightened up. “Once my dad gets paid, let’s buy a TV first!”

Xia Mian wasn’t particularly obsessed with TVs—too few channels nowadays, nothing worth watching. But for the Mao family, getting a TV was definitely a great achievement.

Mao Huilan looked around and comforted herself, “It’s fine. Everyone’s in the same boat. You’re the prettiest, and you’re my sister. If you’re pretty, it’s like I’m pretty, too.”

Xia Mian burst out laughing. “Trust me, by next year we’ll both be able to afford down jackets!”

The cousins had different classrooms. After splitting up at the stairs, Xia Mian headed west while Mao Huilan went east.

As Xia Mian entered the classroom, nearly every student turned to look at her. The attention made her quietly pleased—This! This is exactly the kind of admiration a little angel deserves!

She scanned the room, looking for an empty seat. Because she was a bit late, most of the good seats had been taken.

Just as she was debating whether to sit in the front or back, her eyes caught two familiar faces. Li Lizhen and Sun Yuexin—these two girls had been veterans at this tutoring center, and now they’d even shown up for the winter break session.

‘Well, with their attitude toward studying, no amount of tutoring would probably help,’ Xia Mian thought to herself.

Still, although they didn’t study, they didn’t disturb others either. At least they were quiet, which made them decent deskmates.

As Xia Mian walked over, she immediately understood why there was an empty seat between them.

The two were both absorbed in their novels, each with one foot propped up on the rungs of the desk, the embodiment of cockiness. Li Lizhen had her hair in a ponytail—at least she looked somewhat normal—while Sun Yuexin’s hair was cut even shorter, practically a buzz cut. In the dead of winter, the girl even wore only a black leather jacket over a thick sweater. Whether she wasn’t afraid of the cold or just wanted to look cool was unclear.

She was like Xia Mian in that they both stood out from the crowd, but Sun Yuexin had the kind of presence that made people want to steer clear of her presence.

Xia Mian tugged at the chair and plopped down, finally drawing the attention of the two who had been deeply engrossed.

Sun Yuexin frowned. “Hey, what are you doing? So many seats and you pick this one?”

Li Lizhen was fiercer, “Looking for trouble?”

‘Whoops, seems like my transformation has been successful—look at them, not recognizing me.’

“Wow, that’s a hurtful way to put it.” Xia Mian sighed. “I thought you girls saved this seat just for me.”

“Xia Mian?” Sun Yuexin was the first to react.

Xia Mian flashed a grin, expecting a compliment. But instead, she heard a tone of disdain: “Why’d you go and dress up so silly?”

Her smile vanished, and she huffed, “What’s wrong with my look?”

Li Lizhen scoffed, “You used to be so cool. What’s with the sudden change? You look just like that Tian Xueya from our class.”

“What about Tian Xueya?” Xia Mian asked. “She did something to you?”

“Hmph! Like she’d dare mess with us,” Sun Yuexin pouted disdainfully. “I just can’t stand her. Acts all superior in front of the girls.”

“And when she’s around guys, it’s all fake tears and fake sweetness. And those boys are blind enough to fall for it!.”

“Even Gu Zhou fell for her acting.” She added angrily. “He’s top of our grade, and he’s still being played like a fool!”

Li Lizhen clearly didn’t want to believe it. “Come on, Gu Zhou’s just in the same piano class with her. There’s nothing going on.”

‘Ah, the woes of teenage girls.’

Xia Mian’s teacher spirit suddenly ignited—she felt this was a golden opportunity to rescue these two from their ‘rebellious phase.’

“Let me break it down for you,” she said.

Li Lizhen perked up immediately. “Break down what?”

“Let’s analyze whether Gu Zhou might actually like Tian Xueya.”

Sun Yuexin was skeptical, “You think you’re that good?”

“Just answer me honestly,” Xia Mian insisted. “Is Tian Xueya pretty?”

The two fell silent. In the end, Sun Yuexin reluctantly muttered, “Barely… not as pretty as you, though.”

Xia Mian replied confidently, “Then that means she is pretty.”

Sun Yuexin: “…”

“Okay, now I believe it—you really are Xia Mian!”

Ignoring her, Xia Mian continued, “And isn’t she good at studying too? Wait, let me put it this way—where does she rank in your class, and the whole grade?”

Again, silence. After a long pause, Li Lizhen finally said, “Top five in class, top twenty in the grade.”

“Wow, pretty and smart,” Xia Mian said. “Isn’t it totally normal for people to like her? I don’t think those boys are blind at all. I’d say there’s an 80% chance Gu Zhou likes her.”

Sun Yuexin snapped, “Whose side are you even on?”

“I don’t even know Tian Xueya, so I guess I’m on your side by default.”

Sun Yuexin frowned, “Why does that sound kinda off?”

Li Lizhen nodded in agreement.

Xia Mian clicked her tongue, “Be more confident—drop the ‘kinda.’ It is off. Because I don’t have a choice!”

“Xia Mian!” Sun Yuexin growled.

“Come on, I’m just stating objective facts.” Xia Mian laughed. “Don’t you also like boys with both brains and looks? Tell me if I’m wrong: Gu Zhou’s the most handsome in class or the whole school?”

Li Lizhen gave a humph. “Of course, he’s the most handsome in school.”

“And his score—top of the grade, right?”

This time, both nodded without hesitation.

“He’s handsome and clever, so it’s only natural he’d be drawn to a pretty girl with brains. But if you really want to leave a lasting impression on someone like that, there’s another trick to it.”

“What trick?” Li Lizhen’s eyes sparkled.

“Crush him,” Xia Mian said. “Make him feel defeated, and he’ll never forget you.”

“Should we beat him to a pulp?” Sun Yuexin was skeptical. “That’s probably not the right move. He might never forget me, but there’s no way he would ever like me.”

Xia Mian: “…”

She let out a disappointed sigh. “Not that kind of crushing—can’t it be something unique? An unforgettable confession?”

“The kind that stays with him for the rest of his life.”

“Just imagine—every time another girl confesses to him, even if it’s Tian Xueya, he’ll find himself thinking of you…”

Now she had Li Lizhen’s full attention: “What kind of confession?”

“A top student’s confession,” Xia Mian finally got to the point, but couldn’t resist a little mischief. “You study hard and come up with a problem he can’t solve. Let him struggle with it for a whole year. I guarantee he’ll remember you forever, hahaha…”

“Xia Mian!” Li Lizhen shouted. “Are you messing with me?!”

“Well, am I wrong?” Xia Mian shrugged.”

Sun Yuexin huffed, “Even if it makes sense, it still has to be realistic!”

“Here, in case you think it’s unrealistic, I’ll give you a demonstration. For example, using math…” Xia Mian rolled up her sleeves. “There are a lot of ways to confess using math. I’ll show you the simplest one.”

She used the classic confession method with 128√e980. When she wiped away the top half, leaving only “love you,” the two girls—who had never seen anything like it—were instantly blown away.

“Well? You think he wouldn’t remember that for the rest of his life?”

The two nodded like crazy. “Even I’ll remember it for life!” Sun Yuexin exclaimed.

“And that’s just the simplest one. There are others—like using functions where the auxiliary lines form a heart shape. Even Chinese and geography have their own ways.”

“You know so much! Teach us!” Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen looked at Xia Mian with pure admiration.

“Then you have to study first,” Xia Mian grinned. “Even with something as basic as Chinese, if you want to recite something like ‘Blessed that your heart is like mine—may you look at my heart?’ you’d still need to memorize enough classical poetry!”

“Ahh! That one’s great too, Xia Mian, teach me!” Li Lizhen squealed in excitement.

“Didn’t you listen? Study hard. I’ve got tons more,” Xia Mian said. “Otherwise, you still won’t understand, no matter how many times I teach you.”

“Think about it—he’s the most handsome guy at school, and super smart too. His way of solving problems won’t be by rote memorization. If he comes to ask you about it and you can’t keep up with his thinking and just parrot memorized answers—how lame would that be?”

“But if you actually solve it, whether he feels challenged or admires you, wouldn’t he keep coming back to you?”

The two nodded frantically.

“Xia Mian, you’re amazing!” Li Lizhen praised. “Just tell us what to study!”

“So your name is Xia Mian, huh? What a pretty girl,” a voice suddenly came from behind. The problem wasn’t just the voice—it came with a hand.

Xia Mian shifted slightly and shook the hand off her shoulder, frowning as she turned around.

Behind her stood a tall, broad-shouldered boy. He wasn’t bad-looking—thick eyebrows, big eyes—but his gaze lacked the innocence boys his age should have, giving him a sleazy look.

At the moment, he had one arm slung over a pretty girl’s shoulder, and that girl was glaring daggers at Xia Mian.

Xia Mian: “…”

“Son of a bi**h, what are you doing here?” Sun Yuexin instantly threw her arm around Xia Mian’s shoulders to turn her away before glaring up at the boy.

“Look who we have here! Third Sun, so this beauty is your friend, huh? What class is she in? How come I’ve never seen her before? Not gonna introduce us?”

“Introduce your ass,” Sun Yuexin cursed. “She’s here to study. Nothing to do with you. Now get lost already!”

The boy ignored her and spoke directly to Xia Mian’s back. “Hey beauty, I’m Hao Jian, let’s be friends.”

“What? Bargain?”

1 Xia Mian swore she hadn’t meant to respond, but she hadn’t expected to hear such a name…

‘Who on earth would give their child a name ‘bargain’?!’

She almost burst out laughing. Hao Jian mistook her stiff laughter for a friendly smile and thought he had impressed her.

He patted the guy on the next seat, who quickly got up to give up his seat. Hao Jian sat down with a grin. “Xia Mian, right? Let’s get to know each other.”

Sun Yuexin frowned. “Ignore him.”

Xia Mian hadn’t planned on engaging anyway—she disliked having to deal with this type of guy, so she politely said, “Sorry, I’m here to study, not to make friends.”

Then she added a reason he couldn’t argue with: “My family forbids me from making friends with boys. If I do, they’ll break my legs.”

Hao Jian clearly hadn’t expected that. He froze for a second.

Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen both snorted with laughter.

Just then, the teacher walked in. “Class, time to start!”

The classroom fell silent, and Hao Jian shut his mouth. This was a tutoring class—he had snuck in after spotting a pretty girl. If caught, he’d be kicked out right away.

The lecture was actually quite good. Xia Mian was listening attentively when she felt her chair being nudged.

She frowned and looked down. Under the desk, a long leg was sticking out, repeatedly kicking her chair.

When she turned around, Hao Jian immediately grinned and even threw her a wink that he clearly thought was charming—it almost made Xia Mian vomit.

Just as she was about to take action, Sun Yuexin acted first. She kicked Hao Jian hard in the shin and growled, “Get lost, bastard. She’s under my protection. You better stay the hell away!”

Hao Jian let out a hiss and retaliated by kicking the other side of Xia Mian’s chair. “How exactly are you gonna—OW!”

“What the hell, Li Lizhen, are you trying to kill me?!”

Li Lizhen calmly wiped a speck of blood from her compass and raised her hand. “Teacher, this guy isn’t in our class and he’s harassing us, keeping us from listening to your lesson.”

The teacher, now fully aware of the commotion, frowned and asked Hao Jian, “What’s your name?”

Hao Jian sneered as he stood up and pointed at Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen. “You two better watch out!”

Author’s Note:

Girl Boss Sun Yuexin: “Xia Mian’s under my protection!”

Poor, helpless Xia Mian: “Boss, I think you should focus on studying.”

The name “Hao Jian” (郝剑) is a homophone for “hǎo jiàn” (好贱), which can sound like “very cheap” or “such a bargain” in Chinese.