Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 75.2 – Growth and Strength (II)

After listening to Mao Huimei’s story, Mao Huilan was stunned. “Sis, you’re saying Sister Li and Auntie Wang are both related to Old Jia? But I thought they didn’t get along?”

After fish tofu orders began to rise, Xia Wenyue had to hire help. Once she spread the word, plenty of applicants came forward. Several people came and went, but she finally settled on two: Sister Li and Auntie Wang. She chose both as a precaution, assigning each to separate steps in the process. To ensure confidentiality, she even split them into two rooms, so they wouldn’t see each other during busy times, and their shifts were staggered—one came before the other left.

What no one expected was that the two women, who appeared to not even know each other and even seemed to be on bad terms—were actually mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. They were Old Jia’s aunt and nephew’s wife.

“So those other decent folks Mom liked, who suddenly quit after a day or two, were actually scared off by Old Jia’s family?”

“Exactly,” Mao Huimei was furious. “If Boss Luo from the hotpot place downstairs at my office hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t have found out how disgusting they are.”

“If they want to go solo, they can just do it—go south and learn the process themselves like Mom did back then!”

“The cost of going down south isn’t cheap.” Xia Mian said. “Second Aunt had a free ride and stayed with Uncle on his film set. Even then, she spent lots of time and energy asking around to find the right mentor. If it were them, they’d probably have to spend thousands and still not learn anything.”

“That’s why stealing is always faster.”

“Stealing the recipes is one thing; but go after our customers? The market is so wide!” Mao Huimei still didn’t get it. “Do you know what they told Boss Luo?”

“They said our family is focusing on the stall and can’t handle the fish tofu orders anymore—so we hand over the job to them!”

Xia Mian sighed. “That’s how it is. People who target others like that don’t care how big the cake is out there—they’re only obsessed with the one someone else is already eating.”

Mao Huimei said, “I even went to check out the stuff they delivered to Boss Luo—the plastic packaging is exactly the same as ours.”

Xia Mian asked, “Did they use our Xinsheng branding too?”

Because Xia Mian had warned them early on about the risk of counterfeiting, Xia Wenyue had insisted from the beginning on using branded packaging—even if it cost a little more. Though it was just a simple clear plastic bag, the logo had been personally designed by Ning Shaoyun, and not a single detail was sloppy.

“They used it,” Mao Huimei said, “but it’s not the same as ours. Just a simple version with the word ‘Xinsheng’ on it. I’m guessing they couldn’t copy our logo exactly.”

“I think they were worried customers might get suspicious, so they even imitated the packaging,” she added. “But it was different enough that Boss Luo casually asked me about it, and that’s how I found out.”

“No wonder we’ve had fewer orders,” Mao Huilan said angrily. “Mom thought it was just the hot weather making people eat less hotpot.”

“I asked around right after work yesterday,” Mao Huimei spoke again. “I found out they’ve rented a small courtyard in Xiaoyu Alley. According to the neighbors, their machines have been running for almost a week.”

This had clearly been premeditated. After Xia Wenyue gave Old Jia a commission and his relatives and friends started helping with sales, they must have realized how profitable the business was and started scheming. It just so happened that Xia Wenyue needed to hire people at the time, and since they had planned while she was unsuspecting, she fell right into their trap.

As for the machine supplier’s info, Xia Wenyue hadn’t exactly kept it a secret. Since she often had to make calls for business, she carried her phonebook around. Sometimes she’d leave it out without any precaution.

It wouldn’t have been hard for them to quietly note the number and get in touch with the machine supplier.

Mao Huilan was very indignant. “And they still weren’t satisfied? They heard we were hiring for the stall and immediately sent someone over! If we hadn’t found out about the fish tofu thing, were they planning to steal that recipe, too?”

“If they can steal it, they’ll definitely try,” Xia Mian said. “What bottom line do you expect from people with crooked minds?”

“So we’re just easy pickings?” Mao Huilan scowled.

Xia Mian sighed, “We’re outsiders in this city. No connections, no background—easy targets.”

Xia Wenyue turned to her eldest daughter. “You asked Fatty Wang’s mother yesterday?”

Mao Huimei nodded.

Xia Wenyue sighed. “You’re too impatient.”

“Once that woman, of course the Jia family knew too. No wonder they suddenly tore off the mask first thing this morning.”

After learning the truth yesterday, Xia Wenyue had planned to quietly dismiss the woman working the stall. But the moment she got her final pay, the woman turned hostile, standing outside their home cursing them for being shady, claiming the stall made 700–800 a day and calling them greedy cheats.

“She trying to stir up trouble?” Mao Huimei asked anxiously. “That family’s got a lot of people. If they cause problems, won’t it ruin both our fish tofu business and the stall?”

“Don’t overthink it,” Xia Wenyue said, for once not smiling in front of the kids. “Let’s eat first. I’ll figure something out.”

Her concern wasn’t unfounded. A family like the Jias, who’d stoop to this kind of thing, clearly had no sense of decency.

Sure enough, after realizing the Xia family had caught on, the Jia family openly began poaching orders.

Even though the market was large enough for everyone, they were dead set on taking what someone else already had.

Starting the next day, Xia Wenyue began receiving calls from long-time customers—almost all to cancel orders. The ones who didn’t cancel asked for a price cut, saying the other seller was cheaper.

“We’re sorry, but this is our cost. You get what you pay for,” Xia Wenyue replied calmly. “No problem, feel free to try theirs. Just buy from whoever suits your needs best. That’s business—compare and choose.”

“No worries, I believe we’ll have a chance to work together again.”

Her words were open and pleasant, and a few loyal customers stuck with her. But most ended up switching to the Jia family.

Since the Jias lived nearby and now openly ran their business, word spread fast in the neighborhood. Mao Huimei and the others had thought the Jia family might feel ashamed. Instead, they were smug and self-righteous.

“That family’s all from out of town. Where’d they get so many orders? Wasn’t it us helping them out?”

“Now that we’ve got our own supply, of course we’re delivering our own stuff. What’s the problem?”

Whenever Xia Wenyue set up the stall, the Jia family’s grandmother would sit at the door and say loudly with a grin, “Your stall makes 700–800 a day—why bother with fish tofu? That’s just hard-earned money.”

“I see you make such small batches of tofu each day. Not worth it to keep running those machines. Since we’re neighbors, just buy from us—I’ll give you our cost price. Save you the trouble. Win-win!”

Because the old woman kept telling everyone how “crazy profitable” the Xia family’s skewered hotpot stall was, jealousy started brewing. The fact that they were outsiders didn’t help—locals began looking down on them, and business visibly declined. Many customers started hinting that their prices were too high, saying things like, “Even if you cut profits in half, what’s the harm?” and spouting ideas about “small profits, big sales.”

The three Mao sisters were fuming.

But Xia Wenyue’s face grew more and more composed. Every day, when she wasn’t running the stall, she was out and about. No one knew what she was planning.

Until one day, the kids came home covered in dirt and looking miserable.

Mao Huizhu was the most injured—she’d scraped her hand, had a nosebleed, and was bawling in rage. “Mom! Jia Lixin was blocking the alley and wouldn’t let Li Dapeng come buy our fish tofu!”

Jia Lixin was Old Jia’s grandson, two years older than Mao Huizhu.

Xiao Feng’s clothes were completely disheveled, his face smudged with dirt, lips pressed tight, eyes brimming with tears. “He pinned Auntie Huizhu to the ground.”

“They are so bad!” Chenchen’s hair was a mess as he waved his little fists in anger. “They’ll get what they deserve!”

Xia Mian quickly pulled the kids over to check them carefully. “Are you hurt? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“I’m not hurt,” Chenchen said. “I bent his fingers—he screamed like crazy.”

“I pulled his hair,” Xiao Feng said, stretching out his hand. “This much.”

The adults couldn’t help but laugh at the small clump of hair in Xiao Feng’s hand.

Xia Wenyue’s tense face finally relaxed a little. “Good, looks like they didn’t lose.”

Ning Shaoyun, who had rushed over, carefully checked her son and smiled in surprise. “I never thought I’d see the day Xiao Feng got into a fight.”

“Right?” Xia Mian was surprised too. She’d always worried that the boy’s past trauma made him passive and unwilling to fight back. But now, with two friends by his side, he was clearly becoming braver.

“Xiao Feng did great! When someone bullies you, you have to fight back.” She wiped his face clean and gave him an encouraging kiss.

Xiao Feng smiled with his lips pressed together. Chenchen turned and hugged Ning Shaoyun. “Mom, I was awesome too!”

“You were,” she said, stroking his head. “You were awesome too.”

Mao Huilan said, “Good thing Sister Mian taught them a few moves. Otherwise, how could they beat Jia Lixin?”

“Looks like I need to teach you a few more.” Xia Mian said, “Or maybe it’s time to send you to learn some martial arts. That way, you won’t get taken advantage of next time.”

Mao Huilan frowned. “What if the Jia family comes looking for trouble?”

Usually, adults didn’t interfere with kids’ fights, but the Jias had been targeting them deliberately—who knows what else they might do?

“I’ll go talk to them,” Ning Shaoyun said, calmly holding Chenchen’s hand. She wasn’t in a position to intervene in the business matters, but she could give them a small warning now that her son was involved.

Though the Ning siblings didn’t usually socialize much with neighbors, anyone with eyes could tell they weren’t people to mess with—most showed them respect and caution.

Sure enough, after Ning Shaoyun paid them a visit, the Jia family stayed as quiet as quail for two days.

Still, Mao Huilan couldn’t let go of her anger every time she looked at her little sister’s scraped nose. “They get so many orders, they don’t even care about a few small retail sales. They’re just bullying us on purpose!”

“Mom! Let’s lower our prices and steal back those orders!”

“Oh! They haven’t applied for any licenses, right? Let’s report them—one report and they’re done.”

“And then what?” said Xia Wenyue. “You think they’ll just let us go if we cut off their income? You think our business will magically recover?”

Mao Huilan fumed, “So we’re just gonna let them bully us?”

As she applied antiseptic to Mao Huizhu’s wounds, Xia Wenyue, calm and steady, seemed to have already made a decision. “From now on, don’t fight them anymore and just let them do business. In a few months—at most a year—I’ll make sure they pay back everything they took, with interest.”

Xia Wenyue had a natural ability to put people at ease. The moment she said this, everyone’s anxiety vanished.

Soon, Xia Mian learned what she had planned: within less than a week, Xia Wenyue had taken over that instant noodle factory. She used the method Ning Shaobai had suggested—mortgaging the facility to get a bank loan.

“The price came down quite a bit during negotiations,” Xia Wenyue sighed. “Looks like a lot of factories are going to close in the next couple of years.”

Xia Mian suddenly remembered—wasn’t there a massive wave of layoffs in the ’90s? Could it be happening now?

If that was the case, then this might be the perfect time for Xia Wenyue to take over a factory.

“What about the stall? We’re not running it anymore?”

“Oh, we are,” said Xia Wenyue. “I’ve handed it over to Li Dapeng’s family.”

Mao Huilan laughed. “The Li family and the Jia family are enemies! Plus, the Li had a lot of men—those brothers aren’t easy to mess with.”

Xia Wenyue sighed. “I used to think the Lis were rough and the Jias were friendly. Now I see what kind of people they really are when things get tough.”

Xia Mian asked, “What kind of deal did you make with the Lis?”

“I’ve ground all the seasoning into powder and packaged it. The chili oil and vegetarian oil are pre-cooked too. I’ll sell the seasoning to them, and they’ll make their own broth. Of course, they have to buy the fish tofu and other ingredients from us, but they are allowed to use our brand name.”

Wasn’t this the model Xia Wenyue had envisioned before? Clearly, she’d been thinking hard these past few days. The Jias wanted to squeeze them out of business? She’d make sure Xinsheng Skewered Hotpot blossomed everywhere!

Translator’s Note:

Another mass release on Sunday!