Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 129 Part 2 – Tasteless Scheme (II)

“I can do whatever I want.” Xia Mian raised her chin and looked at them with disdain, taunting them, “What can you do to me?”

He Wei and He Min both flushed bright red with anger.

Charles looked at them in confusion, clearly not understanding why the conversation had suddenly turned hostile. He Min was just about to slander the two in English, hoping to ruin things further, when Xia Mian spoke fluently and clearly, “These aren’t honest businesspeople. I’d prefer if they left.”

Xia Mian turned to the cousins. “They’re underhanded and unpleasant to deal with.”

He Wei hadn’t expected Xia Mian’s English to be so fluent. Though he couldn’t understand what she was saying, the look the booth manager gave him made it clear it wasn’t good.

Next, Charles invited Xia Mian and her group into a private area inside the booth for a more in-depth discussion.

Xia Mian glanced back at the fuming He Min and let out a mocking snort, then turned to Fang Yongpeng and said, “Mr. Fang, why don’t you come with us? We can talk.”

Fang Yongpeng was caught off guard, but Mao Huimei pulled him along as they followed Xia Mian into the private room.

He Min and He Wei looked terrible.

“What did she say?” He Wei asked.

“She said we’re underhanded,” He Min replied furiously. “That little brat, thinking she can insult the He family just because Young Master Ning is backing her?!”

Through the side door, He Wei could see Xia Mian calmly shaking hands and chatting with Charles. He suddenly sobered. “Sister, you’d better be careful. Don’t let something go wrong.”

“What could go wrong?” He Min was still fuming. “Didn’t you say she was some country bumpkin? How’s her English that good?”

Not just the English… He Wei couldn’t help but remember Xia Mian’s performance at Old Master Rong’s birthday banquet. Seeing her so skilled in both music and foreign languages, people might have mistaken her for a well-bred young lady.

A strange sense of unease crept in. “And she called Fang Yongpeng over specifically. I’m worried she’ll get involved in the Jingyi Mountain purchase.”

“Sister, just let it go. It’s only a few hundred thousand. Don’t let it get to the point where we can’t get any fruit at all.”

He Min rolled her eyes. “A few hundred thousand? Listen to me, Young Master He, that’s hundreds of thousands a year, millions in five! Even you’d have to work yourself to death for months to make that.”

“All this over some little brat? She’s got you scared?”

She glanced towards the booth. “Relax. Even if she’s fluent in English, it’s just to save face. What, do you think they’ll actually buy machines and open a juice factory?”

He Wei muttered, “And what if they do? Xia Mian’s got skills. Young Master Ning listens to her like a puppet. He even gave her a Ferrari. Starting a juice factory wouldn’t dent his wallet.”

“Even if it’s not that expensive, it still costs a few million,” He Min said with a mocking smile. “And besides, gifting a Ferrari and giving her a factory are two completely different things.”

“That Ferrari, who was it really for?” she continued. “It was a gift to Young Master Rong!”

“Young Master Ning and Young Master Rong have been close friends for years. And don’t forget the Rong family’s influence.”

“That Ferrari might be expensive, sure, but it was a favor. Young Master Ning wouldn’t lose out. After all, while he used Xia Mian as a front, everyone knew that she didn’t actually have a damn thing to do with that gift.”

“But giving her a few million to mess around with? Let’s see if Young Master Ning would be so generous!”

Just as she was saying this, He Wei seemed to spot something and cut in, “Crap. Zhang Defa.”

He quickly pulled He Min to hide behind a nearby booth. A man carrying a briefcase hurried past moments later, glanced around looking for someone, sighed when he didn’t find them, and left.

Only then did He Wei and He Min step out from behind the booth. He Min frowned, “He’s still pestering you?”

He Wei replied irritably, “Yeah. I don’t know what’s wrong with that guy. Why is he so set on targeting our He family? Just because we run a canning factory, we have to take over their county’s factory? Does he think we’re suckers?”

He Min said, “Can’t we really take it over? We do need to expand. Sanyi County’s not bad, and his brother-in-law is about to get promoted. If we can avoid offending him, we should. There’ll be plenty of times we’ll cross paths in the future.”

“I know that. Why do you think I’m hiding from him instead of just turning him down?” He Wei snapped. “His factory might be cheap, sure, but it’s been shut down for three years, and god knows how much back pay is owed to the workers. The machines are probably useless and all need replacing.”

“Look at that fat slob. He must’ve skimmed plenty off the factory. Who knows what kind of mess its finances are in? I’ve already asked around. No bank’s willing to offer a loan to take it over. We’d have to pour in a few million just to patch the hole before it could even start running again.”

He Min sighed, “The guy’s just narrow-minded. Once he latches onto someone, he won’t let go. But if he handed it off to some clueless outsider, couldn’t he just mess around as he liked? With the factory priced that low, there’s bound to be someone willing to take the bait…”

She trailed off, then suddenly froze. “Hey, He Wei.”

“What?”

He Min’s eyes lit up. “I just thought of a good idea. A perfect way to avoid offending Zhang Defa, and get back at those two country brats at the same time.”

“What’s the idea?”

“Get someone to follow those girls. Find out which booth they’re at. First, we figure out where their base is.”

He Wei caught on quickly. “You mean…”

“Exactly. Didn’t Xia Mian just start negotiating over juice-processing equipment? What comes next if not opening a factory?”

The more He Min thought about it, the more she liked it. “They’re young and full of pride. And they clearly hate our He family. So if we provoke them just right, who knows—maybe they’ll buy the factory out of spite.”

He Wei frowned. “Even though cheap, the place costs forty or fifty thousand. Can they even cough that up?”

“Tch.” He Min scoffed. “Didn’t you say Xia Mian’s got a lot of tricks up her sleeve? You think she hasn’t scraped together tens of thousands by now?”

He Wei hesitated. “Isn’t this a bit much?”

“What’s too much about it?” He Min said sharply. “We’re just helping them cough up all that money they’ve hoarded.”

She was smiling more and more, delighted. “I think this plan doesn’t just kill two birds with one stone. It’ll even kill several.”

He Wei looked puzzled.

He Min explained with glee, “We’ll get to see whether Young Master Ning’s really willing to fork over millions just to please her.”

“She’s overestimating herself. Once she bites off more than she can chew and leaves Young Master Ning to clean up a multimillion-yuan mess, he’s bound to get tired of her—especially with how much he hates dealing with trouble.”

He Wei looked thoughtful. He Min grinned, “She’s been playing the perfect little darling in front of Young Master Ning. Let’s give her a hand, shall we? We can help her show her true colors nice and early.”

“When Young Master Ning’s done cleaning up her mess, we will settle our own score too.”

Thinking back to the humiliation he’d suffered at the karaoke lounge and Mao Huimei’s arrogance today, He Wei’s last bit of hesitation disappeared completely.

Author’s Note:

Xia Mian: “Hey, how did you know we needed a factory?”

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