The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Xi Jingchen and Xia Man were awakened by Anning’s knocking.

”Jingchen, Manman, it’s time to eat.”

Xi Jingchen quickly sat up: ”Okay, I heard you, I’ll be down immediately.”

Hearing Anning’s footsteps, Xi Jingchen nudged Xia Man: ”Does your head still hurt? If you’re not feeling well, I’ll bring some food up for you.”

Xia Man quickly pulled off the covers: ”No need, I’m fine now, let’s go down together.”

The two got up, tidied their clothes, and went downstairs.

In the dining room, Anning was helping set the table.

She heard the sound, turned around, and smiled at Xi Jingchen: ”Your face looks much better; sit down and have a meal.”

Xi Jingchen walked over with Xia Man and smiled at Xiao Yuan: ”Grandpa.”

”Sit,” Xiao Yuan pointed to a seat nearby.

Xi Jingchen and Xia Man sat down, and Anning had already served the meal.

The four of them didn’t say much, eating quietly, and after the meal, Anning waited for the maid to clear everything up before saying to Xiao Yuan: ”Let’s go to your study, I have something I need to talk to you about.”

”Okay.”

Xiao Yuan’s expression seemed a bit off; he appeared to be holding back anger.

This made Xi Jingchen and Xia Man somewhat uneasy.

Once in the study, Anning recounted today’s events to Xiao Yuan in detail: ”A Yuan, I truly can’t understand why they can’t tolerate us. Did I do anything heartless or immoral? Who did I harm? I married you out of love, but after marrying you, your good daughter-in-law curses me all the time, and now this, even her own son has to suffer just because Jingchen is my grandson, she can’t tolerate him, and Manman is implicated too... sob, If she cursed or hit me, for your sake, I would endure, but why harm Manman, such a good child, how can she be so vicious.”

Anning was crying as she spoke, heartbreakingly, causing Xiao Yuan to feel deep sympathy: ”There, there, don’t cry now, I’ll definitely give you an explanation for this.”

”What explanation? It was fortunate I went over, otherwise, the two children would have been ruined for life. A Yuan, murder is bad, but this is worse than murder.”

Anning was adamant: ”Manman was raised by her parents like a treasure, they trusted me and placed her in my care; if something happened, how can I explain to her parents? I’d truly have to die to apologize.”

Xiao Yuan was deeply distressed, comforting Anning gently: ”I will definitely handle this matter properly to your satisfaction.”

Xiao Yuan turned to Xi Jingchen and Xia Man: ”Don’t worry, I won’t cover for them.”

Xia Man lowered her head, not saying a word.

She wasn’t generous enough to say words of forgiveness.

Xi Jingchen didn’t mention forgiving Li Wanping; he just said, ”I trust Grandpa.”

Xiao Yuan thought for a moment: ”It’s late today, let’s put this matter aside for now; tomorrow evening everyone will come, I’ll call Xiao Zhe’s family over too, we need to have an open discussion.”

Anning nodded: ”I need to talk to Zhenhua about this, I’ll call him and ask him to come over tomorrow.”

”It’s necessary to talk to him,” Xiao Yuan agreed.

Anning immediately called Xi Zhenhua. Upon hearing the distressing stuff Li Wanping did, Xi Zhenhua was almost overwhelmed on the spot.

”Mom, I know about this now, I won’t pay her any attention in the future, Mom, I know you resent me, actually, I regret it now, I shouldn’t have listened to her manipulation and changed Jingchen’s wishes back then, I’ve made many mistakes, I’ll work hard to correct them in the future.”

What Xi Zhenhua said was quite sensible, easing Anning’s mood a bit: ”You’ve made many mistakes, never acted like a proper father, now hurry over here, when you come, you need to back up Jingchen, don’t let Li Wanping convince you with a few sobs.”

”That absolutely won’t happen.”

Xi Zhenhua was resolute.

After hanging up, Anning said to Xi Jingchen and Xia Man: ”It’s late, your body must still be uncomfortable, stay here for the night.”

Xi Jingchen did not refuse: ”Okay.”

Anning said to Xia Man: ”I’ve prepared a room for you, in the wardrobe there are some changes of clothes; you can take a bath later, hopefully, it’ll make you feel better.”

”Thank you, Grandma.”

Now Xia Man was feeling much better, showing a smile.

”Sorry for what you went through,” Anning patted Xia Man’s shoulder: ”If you’re still uncomfortable anywhere, let me know, we can go to the hospital.”

Xia Man shook her head: ”I’m much better now, after a night’s rest, I should be fine.”

Anning looked at Xi Jingchen: ”Jingchen, take Manman to rest first, I’ll talk to your Grandpa for a while.”

Xi Jingchen nodded and left hand in hand with Xia Man.

Once they left, Anning huddled into Xiao Yuan: ”It’s decided.”

Xiao Yuan nodded: ”We were just waiting for this moment, for Li Wanping to be provoked into doing something foolish, for Jingchen to become completely cold-hearted towards her, then take everything from her.”

Anning chuckled: ”She was less composed than I imagined, but this is good, we won’t have to see these repulsive people around us anymore, peace and quiet.”

Indeed, dealing with fools like Xiao Zhe and Li Wanping was quite easy for Anning and Xiao Yuan.

However, Anning and Xiao Yuan naturally had to consider Xi Jingchen’s feelings.

After all, Anning’s mission was centered around Xi Jingchen and Xia Man, and Xi Jingchen was also the heir chosen by Xiao Yuan. If Xi Jingchen still retained any mother-son affection for Li Wanping, even if everything was taken from her, there was a risk that Xi Jingchen might still support her later.

Moreover, Li Wanping was truly sinister; if Xi Jingchen couldn’t see through her and was not completely disillusioned, she might use Xi Jingchen to strike at the Xiao Family.

So, Anning and Xiao Yuan waited patiently, until Li Wanping could no longer hold her composure and put on this clumsy play, allowing Anning to seize the opportunity for Xi Jingchen and Xia Man to see through Li Wanping’s character, ultimately causing Xi Jingchen to give up on her completely.

From now on, regardless of how impoverished Li Wanping becomes, Xi Jingchen is unlikely to think of her at all.

Meanwhile, Xi Zhenhua was left holding the phone, stunned for a long time, and then collapsed in tears.

Ni Si was sitting beside him; seeing Xi Zhenhua so distressed, Ni Si went over to hold him: ”What’s wrong? Did something happen back home?”

Xi Zhenhua couldn’t control himself, crying even more loudly as he embraced Ni Si.

”It was my mom’s call just now...” he sobbed, breaking several times: ”I’ve been such a bastard all these years, what have I done, I hurt my mom because of that woman, almost got my son killed, I’m truly unforgivable.”

Ni Si was a bit confused, she softly comforted Xi Zhenhua; once he calmed down, Ni Si carefully asked what happened.

Xi Zhenhua explained all the grudges and grievances of the past few years in front of Ni Si: ”I deserve to die, back when Li Wanping harmed my mom, I didn’t notice, even harbored resentment towards my mom because of her.”

Saying this, Xi Zhenhua slapped himself.

Ni Si quickly held his hand: ”Did it hurt? Let me see. Don’t be too hard on yourself; it’s not entirely your fault; the main responsibility lies with Li Wanping. You were busy with work, spending little time at home, couldn’t see through many things; besides, men are naturally careless, not as keen as women about household matters, how could you have seen it?”

”This time... it was fortuitous; if something happened to Jingchen and Manman, I fear life would be worse than death for me.”

Xi Zhenhua shivered with fear at the thought: ”I know Jingchen’s character, if he was really... if Manman was really hurt, he would risk everything to seek revenge, and if he couldn’t, he certainly couldn’t live.”

Ni Si embraced Xi Zhenhua: ”Alright, alright, nothing happened, just make sure the kids stay vigilant moving forward.”

After Xi Zhenhua calmed down, she stood up: ”I’ll pack your things; oh, make sure to book the flight early, I’ll take you to the airport tomorrow morning.”

Xi Zhenhua grabbed Ni Si’s hand: ”Sisi, can you come with me to Su Hai?”