Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 145 Part 2 – She Grows up for the Sake of Her Child (II)

But Xia Wenyue wasn’t interested in that. “What did he mean when he said he’d tell the Mao family about Huimei’s wedding?”

Wang Tao explained, “Well, we heard news about your family, Second Aunt, and I also heard Xia Mian’s boyfriend was supposedly some super-rich guy. Xia Bao insisted on tagging along.”

“You’ve seen what he’s like. Neither of us wanted to bring him. Who likes bringing such trouble when visiting others? But then he threatened that if I didn’t, he’d go tell the Mao family about your side of the family.”

Wang Tao was clearly irritated. “What was I supposed to do, let him tell them?”

“Mao Huihe’s gone crazy, and that Hao Xufeng guy holds grudges—completely lawless. If they found out, who knows what they’d do.”

“I had no choice but to bring him, and I told him if he behaved the whole time, I’d give him another two thousand yuan.”

He added, “Second Aunt, don’t worry too much about the Mao family. The main concern was they’d come cause trouble at Huimei’s wedding and ruin the scene.”

“Once the wedding’s over, even if they come to Yan City, we won’t be afraid.”

“That Hao guy might be the richest man in Mingxi County, but does he think he can run rampant in our Yan City?”

He sounded as if Yan City was his territory.

Still, they had shown some goodwill, so Xia Wenyue didn’t feel it was appropriate to kick them out. She let the couple stay for dinner.

Wang Tao chatted with the eldest uncle and Xia Hai in the courtyard, while Xia Mian and Mao Huilan sat together washing vegetables, chatting with the sisters-in-law and Xia Li.

Junjun and Pangpang were already playing together. Xia Li quickly and skillfully snapped string beans while keeping an eye on her child. “Junjun, you’re the older one—let your little brother win sometimes.”

Junjun replied with difficulty, “But Mom, he’s trying to kill the bug!”

Hong Juan quickly stepped in, removed the insect from Pangpang’s hand, and gently patted Junjun’s head. She said to Xia Li, “You’ve really raised Junjun well.”

A broad smile spread across Xia Li’s face. “You don’t know how much effort that took.”

Then she began talking about how she raised Junjun, and Xia Mian finally understood why she had changed so much.

“…Back when I was younger, I thought I was so capable. I thought if I made it to a big city, I’d definitely make it big.”

“But when I actually got out there, I realized how tough life really was. Wang Tao used to boast in front of me like he was a big shot, but once we got to Yan City, aside from the guys working for him, he bowed and scraped in front of everyone.”

“I got so many dirty looks just following him around. Anyone—aside from the laborers—could curse us out.”

“When I was pregnant, I once misspoke, and the mistress of a project contractor completely chewed me out, then egged her old man on to slap Wang Tao. In the end, the deal we had begged for was gone.”

“When we were about to leave, we saw a young engineer come over. That contractor immediately started sucking up to him. The mistress also acted all flirty with him, but the guy scolded her on the spot. Then the contractor turned around and cursed her out, too. It was brutal.”

“That’s when I finally realized—what’s the use of making a ton of money? If you don’t have an education, you’ll never get real respect.” She looked at Xia Mian, her eyes carrying the weight of experience. “All those things I told you when we were younger… I was so ignorant. Thank God you didn’t listen to me and kept studying.”

She had only mentioned one incident, but it was clear she’d endured many such brutal lessons from reality.

“After that, I made up my mind. I was going to make sure my son studied hard and became an educated person.”

Looking at his son, Xia Li smiled with motherly affection. “I was lucky, too. The apartment we bought had a professor’s family living upstairs. Their grandson is about the same age as Junjun, and they really know how to raise kids.”

“He could recite poetry as soon as he started speaking—so polite and well-behaved. Everyone who saw him said he’d go far when he grew up. I thought Junjun could grow up like that, too. But I didn’t know anything, so every time I saw them, I thickened my skin and asked questions.”

“Real cultural people sure are very kind. They never looked down on me. They told me what books and stories to read to my son every day, said it’s important to teach children good habits early… even said parents need to read and learn too.”

Xia Li sighed. “I’ve never studied that seriously before. But thankfully, I did. Otherwise, Junjun might’ve turned out like Xia Bao.”

“Now he’s got half a bookshelf full of storybooks. He really understands things—if I explain it to him nicely, he always listens.” At that, she looked at Junjun with obvious pride.

Hong Juan said admiringly, “You read to him every day? Just reading stories makes him smart?”

“Every day,” Xia Li replied. “Whether he’s smart or not isn’t the point—it’s about teaching him to be sensible and reasonable. The professor said, ‘Be a good person before you pursue knowledge.’ He also said parents are a child’s first and best teacher.”

“Now my head’s full of fables. I don’t even dare say a single bad word when I argue with Wang Tao…”

She spoke with enthusiasm, sharing her parenting experiences, even recommending some books for parents to Hong Juan and the others.

Xia Mian couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion. In her past life, she’d heard people say the best education is growing alongside your child—and that children, in turn, teach parents too.

But very few actually lived up to that ideal. Unexpectedly, Xia Li had done it. Maybe it had something to do with how young she was when she was first thrown into society’s harsh reality. After all, she had come to Yan City with Wang Tao at just seventeen, and when she gave birth to Junjun, she was only eighteen.

In raising Junjun, she had essentially re-taught herself how to be a person.

It could be considered a blessing in disguise. Being awakened early was certainly better than ending up like Xia Bao, foolish and spoiled.

Finally, Xia Li couldn’t help but sigh, “I have to raise Junjun well. I can’t count on Wang Tao for anything. In the end, I have to rely on my child.”

Xia Mian said, “Junjun’s only a few years old. Why can’t you rely on yourself in the future?”

Xia Li smiled. “I’m not as capable as you. And once Junjun is a bit older, I want to have two more so he’ll have company.”

Hong Juan said, “But there’s still the family planning policy. Can you even have more kids?”

Xia Li dismissed it casually. “Just pay the fine. Anyway, if that money’s not spent on my kids, who knows which vixen it’ll end up on. Why should I help him save?”

The conversation turned a bit awkward at that point.

Just then, Mao Huizhu came over with a plate of lychees and placed it in the middle of the group. “Sisters, have some.”

The sisters-in-law wiped their hands and either tasted some themselves or peeled a few to feed the kids.

Xia Mian, still picking chives, didn’t touch any. As Ning Shaobai passed by, he casually popped a peeled lychee into her mouth and, as he left, didn’t forget to pat her on the head.

Xia Li’s eyes were full of envy. “Xia Mian, your boyfriend is so good to you.”

Hong Juan laughed. “You’ve seen nothing yet. Second Aunt says there probably isn’t a better man in the world than Dr. Ning.”

“He practically holds Mianmian in the palm of his hand.”

Xia Mian smiled. “You’re exaggerating. Besides, didn’t you see I hold him in the palm of my hand too?”

Everyone laughed. Xia Li sighed. “That’s why a doctor is really the best. They are educated, refined, and treat people well. Way better than marrying some rich guy.”

“Rich men? Most of them aren’t any good.”

Xia Mian didn’t agree or disagree.

Xia Li continued, “At first, when I heard you were going to marry some rich young master, I honestly didn’t feel happy for you. I heard those rich families have all kinds of strict rules. If it hadn’t been for Wang Tao insisting we come, I wouldn’t even have wanted to show up.”

Xia Mian smiled. “So Wang Tao must be disappointed now.”

“Let him be,” Xia Li said indifferently. “When I realized he wanted to cozy up to you guys, I felt awful. I really didn’t want to come.”

“Back then, I already did enough embarrassing things when I was being immature. And now he wants us to suck up to you? Do you know how ashamed I felt?”

Then she laughed. “But this works out better. Nothing to cozy up to anymore—we’ll just visit as relatives, plain and simple.”

Xia Mian hadn’t expected such a misunderstanding to actually lead to a surprisingly positive outcome.

Xia Li glanced at Wang Tao and said, “He may look disappointed just now, but he’s actually feeling relieved too.”

“You’re the most respectable relatives we have in Yan City—everyone’s a college graduate, real cultured people.”

“He acts like being rich is everything, but deep down, he really admires educated folks. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone and gotten himself a college girl on the side—and boy, is he willing to spend on her…”

Xia Mian let out a long sigh. Clearly, Xia Li had suffered not only at the hands of society but also within her marriage.

When she talked about Wang Tao, there was barely any emotion. There was neither anger nor heartbreak at his husband’s infidelity, just irritation that he was spending her money on someone else.

It was obvious she had become disillusioned with her marriage, and now simply saw Wang Tao as a partner she was stuck sharing a life with.

That evening, during dinner, Mao Huimei and Fang Yongpeng returned as well. Wang Tao rushed up with a burst of friendly small talk, showering Mao Huimei with over-the-top compliments, praising her as if she were the most amazing woman alive.

It was clear that after being tempered by society, he had become quite smooth—clearly someone who believed that more friends meant more opportunities, and that it was best to be on good terms with everyone. He made sure not to offend anyone.

Though a bit too calculating, for the Mao family, someone like him wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Although Xia Wenyue had said there was no need to help, Wang Tao still went to the hotel the next day to lend a hand. He ran around tirelessly, helping wherever he could. Seeing this, and now knowing how much Xia Li had changed, Xia Wenyue’s lingering discomfort finally dissipated.

Blood, after all, was thicker than water. She genuinely hoped the younger generation of the Xia family would turn out well.

But an urgent problem still needed addressing. After Wang Tao and Xia Lili left that day, the family gathered to analyze the situation. They concluded that the rumor prompting the visit must have come from someone who couldn’t bear to see Xia Mian and Ning Shaobai doing well.

The goal was obvious: to guide those troublesome relatives from back home right to their doorstep. Either to stir up drama or to cause problems for Ning Shaobai, thereby making him annoyed or fed up with Xia Mian.

Unfortunately for the perpetrator, they had seriously overestimated the insight of lower-class folk—especially someone like Second Uncle Xia’s family. They were extremely shallow, judging a person’s wealth entirely by how flashy they appeared. Just based on Ning Shaobai’s low-key demeanor, they had already written him off as an average doctor.

But since whoever was behind this had managed to dig up such details about the Xia family, did that mean they’d also uncovered things about the Mao and Hao families?

Even if they didn’t go inform those families directly, Xia Bao himself was a ticking time bomb.

It wasn’t so much that they feared the Mao or Hao families would come looking for trouble. What concerned them more was the potential damage to Mao Zhishan’s career.

As a celebrity, even the smallest scandal could destroy him, and if something happened to him, it would likely trigger a chain reaction affecting both Xia Wenyue and Mao Huimei’s factory business. What’s more, after four years in the industry, Mao Zhishan no longer treated his acting job as casually as he once had.

But to everyone’s surprise, Xia Wenyue looked completely at ease and said, “Oh, don’t you worry, I already discussed this with your dad a while ago. We’ve got a plan in place.”

Mao Huilan asked, “What kind of plan?”

Xia Wenyue smiled. “A preemptive strike. This time, we’re going to deal with them once and for all.”

“Alright, that’s enough about this. You all don’t need to worry—it’s already taken care of.”

“If they dare to show their faces, they’ll be the ones who end up ruined.”

“But Xia Mian,” Xia Wenyue said, turning to her, “you should think about whether anyone in your circle holds a grudge against you. Ask Dr. Ning if he can help check it out.”

“Otherwise, even if we handle this round, they might sneak back later and try to mess with you again. It’d be a real pain.”

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