The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Xiao Zhang won the Peony Plate, and he seemed very happy.

Xia Man felt a bit displeased.

But the item had already been won by Xiao Zhang, and there was nothing she could do. She had to motivate herself to win the ring.

Anning and Li Wanping both took a liking to the necklace.

During the auction, Anning and Li Wanping competed against each other, eventually reaching a bid of over three million, with no one else participating, leaving just the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law continuously raising their paddles.

Li Wanping was furious and raised her paddle with a high bid: ”Five million.”

This time, she was determined to beat Anning, or else she couldn’t calm her anger.

Anning smiled: ”Five million and one hundred thousand.”

”Six million.”

”Six million and one hundred thousand.”

Li Wanping glared at Anning angrily.

Anning smiled and waved at her.

A madam sitting on Li Wanping’s other side softly said to Li Wanping, ”Don’t fight. It’s not a good look for a family to keep fighting each other.”

”I don’t believe she has that much money.”

Li Wanping really was running low on money.

She had no shares in the Xiao Family nor any dividends to receive. The money she got was the allowance Xiao Yuan set each month, plus some subsidies from Xiao Zhe.

Over the years, she saved some money, but much of it had been taken by her family, leaving her with not much, and six million was already her limit.

Li Wanping wanted to give up but felt a bit unwilling. Giving up would mean being outdone by Anning, which would not look good.

Xiao Zhang softly advised Li Wanping: ”Stop bidding. I think she’s just raising the price to make us take a silent loss. We’ll stop bidding and let her buy the pricey item.”

Li Wanping thought it made sense, so she simply stopped speaking.

Finally, Anning won the necklace.

Xia Man was attending the auction for the first time and was actually quite nervous.

She watched many items being presented, each with a high starting bid. Seeing those wealthy ladies spending money so freely, her palms started sweating from anxiety.

She took out her phone, looked at Xi Jingchen’s transfer record, and calculated how much money she still had in her card. She felt uncertain if she could win the pair of rings with the money she had.

When the pair of rings was brought out, Xia Man became even more nervous.

She didn’t start bidding immediately, but watched others place their bids. As the price kept climbing, Xia Man raised her paddle: ”180,000.”

Xiao Zhang originally wasn’t interested in that pair of silver rings.

The ring design was old, and they were just ordinary silver rings. Rings like these could probably be bought for a couple of hundred bucks, so spending tens of thousands wasn’t worth it.

But when he saw Xia Man raise her paddle, he became interested.

Specifically, it wasn’t interest but feeling sour and discontented.

He assumed Xia Man was buying them as wedding rings to use with Xi Jingchen.

After all, these rings may not look good, but they held significant meaning.

Thus, Xiao Zhang raised his paddle: ”200,000.”

Xia Man gritted her teeth: ”220,000.”

By this point, no one else was bidding, just Xiao Zhang and Xia Man.

And their bidding became quite a show for everyone to watch.

Many people at the auction whispered among themselves, softly remarking that the drama within the Xiao Family was entertaining—as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law fought over a necklace and then the brother-in-law and sister-in-law competed for rings. It seemed Mr. Xiao’s new wife and Xiao Xiao’s wife didn’t get along at all.

Some who were aware of the situation whispered: ”Not just don’t get along, those two have a grudge...”

Xia Man’s bid went up to 250,000.

It was the first time spending that much money, and Xia Man felt heartbroken, truly hating Xiao Zhang.

If Xiao Zhang hadn’t interfered, she estimated she could have gotten it for 180,000. Now she spent an extra 70,000, and 70,000 could buy a lot of things.

Xiao Zhang bid 260,000, and Xia Man wanted to continue.

Anning grabbed her hand: ”Don’t continue. He doesn’t have the money to buy.”

Huh?

Xia Man was confused.

Anning leaned over and whispered: ”I had your grandfather freeze their bank accounts.”

With a snort, Xia Man couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

She didn’t raise her paddle again, so Xiao Zhang won it.

After the auction ended, naturally, they had to pay and collect their items.

Anning and Xia Man didn’t move, planning to get their items at the end.

Soon after, Mrs. Wang, one of the auction organizers, came over.

She came and sat next to Anning, softly asking Xia Man: ”Miss Xia, do you still want those rings?”

”Yes.” Xia Man’s eyes lit up: ”I like those rings and originally planned to win them, but... you saw, Mr. Xiao was being difficult, and I had to give up. Now what’s the situation? Did Mr. Xiao give up?”

Mrs. Wang chuckled twice awkwardly: ”Yes, yes, I’ll have someone bring them over to you shortly.”

”Thank you.”

Xia Man stood up to thank Mrs. Wang: ”I’ll go get them myself in a bit.”

After Mrs. Wang left, Anning squeezed Xia Man’s hand: ”Wasn’t I right? It really wasn’t necessary to compete with Xiao Zhang. Let him win...”

But what’s happened to Xiao Zhang now?

He and Li Wanping truly embarrassed themselves.

He excitedly went to claim the Jade Token and rings, but when it came to swiping his card, he found the account had been frozen, unable to withdraw a single penny.

Scourged, Xiao Zhang had to seek help from Li Wanping, asking her to pay first.

But Li Wanping’s card wasn’t working either.

The mother and son stood there, surrounded by many onlookers, their faces flushing with embarrassment, feeling like they could die from such shame.

Without money, the two had to say lots of good things to the responsible parties and then hurriedly left.

Mrs. Du and Du Lin, who were beside Li Wanping, naturally saw this scene.

Watching the mother and son leave, Mrs. Du pulled Du Lin aside and whispered: ”You really fancy this one from the Xiao Family?”

Du Lin’s face was slightly red: ”He looks quite handsome.”

”Looking handsome is useless.”

Mrs. Du and Mr. Du had been battling in the business world for many years. Though they appeared gentle now, they had fiery tempers in earlier years, and Mrs. Du couldn’t help but burst out swearing: ”If you want good-looking, Mom can find someone for you. There are plenty of handsome men in the world, it doesn’t have to be Xiao Zhang.”

”Isn’t the Xiao Family’s background pretty good though?” Du Lin added.

Mrs. Du sneered: ”I used to think Xiao Zhang should be good, being Mr. Xiao’s only grandson. Surely the assets would be left to him, which is why I wanted you to get acquainted with him. But now it seems... it’s not the case. Let’s not even mention the account freezing issue. You saw at the auction today—a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, an elder brother and sister-in-law competing... There’s no order in the Xiao Family, and the relationships are chaotic. If you marry into such a family, you won’t have good days.”

Du Lin was startled: ”No, it couldn’t be.”

”Why not?” Mrs. Du shook her head: ”Mom has seen lots of things, gone through all sorts of troublesome affairs. I’m telling you, you shouldn’t marry into the Xiao Family, nor marry Xiao Zhang. He’s a grown man without a penny, always asking his father for money shows he has no responsibility, can’t make decisions in his family. If you marry him, will you support him with a dowry? Or be choked in the future?”

Du Lin was truly frightened.

She was only moved because Xiao Zhang looked attractive.

But thinking about it now, just like Mrs. Du said, there are plenty of handsome men around, Xiao Zhang may be handsome, but could he be better than those celebrity stars? Better than those idol actors?

If she’s really using her family’s money to support him, she might as well spend the same money to keep a handsome young actor.