Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 84 – You’re the Devil Sent to Torment Me

Once the adults—especially Ning Shaobai—had left, Xia Mian and her friends all let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I don’t know why, but every time Dr. Ning’s around, I feel too intimidated to speak,” Sun Yuexin said.

Li Lizhen, on the other hand, had a dreamy look, “But no matter how many times I see him, Dr. Ning is always so handsome.”

Xia Mian replied with pride, “Of course! I’ve never seen anyone better looking than him.”

Zhao Cheng, eyeing Xia Mian’s earrings, said, “So he pierced these for you? Honestly, I can more easily picture him holding a scalpel and opening someone’s chest with a blank expression.”

Han Haoyan nodded in agreement. “The occupational habits of doctors are scary—whenever he looks at me, I feel like he’s searching for a spot to make the first cut.”

The girls’ focus was different. Sun Yuexin leaned closer to study Xia Mian’s earrings. “It really didn’t hurt at all?”

She touched her own earlobe. “When I got mine pierced back in junior high, it was swollen for days.”

Xia Mian’s nose practically tilted upward with pride. “Not one bit. Dr. Ning is amazing, haha.”

Sun Yuexin said, “If I’d known, I would’ve waited to get mine done.”

Zhao Cheng said, “Are you sure you’d dare ask Dr. Ning to pierce your ears?”

Sun Yuexin immediately changed her tune. “On second thought, it’s fine I did it earlier—I’ve already forgotten what it felt like.”

They joked and laughed their way through the birthday feast, then shared the birthday cake before parting ways.

After seeing her friends off, Xia Mian sat on the sofa with Xiao Feng in her arms, opening gifts together.

The child had given her another painting—still a bit unpolished, but noticeably improved from last year. Hugging him, Xia Mian told him to hang it on the wall beside last year’s painting.

“When this whole wall is full, our Xiao Feng will be a great artist, right?” Xia Mian laughed. “And you have to make your Auntie the most, most beautiful of all!”

Xiao Feng nodded solemnly. “Auntie is already the most, most, most, most beautiful!”

“Oh my~” Xia Mian planted a loud kiss on his cheek. “Our Xiao Feng has such good taste.”

The boy wrapped his arms around her neck and giggled.

Xia Wenyue came in and handed her a passbook. “This is your profit share. You’re eighteen now, so it’s time you start managing your own money.”

In the second month after the Xinsheng Food Factory opened, Xia Wenyue had hired a professional lawyer to sign a formal contract with Xia Mian. Xia Mian mainly contributed the recipe for skewered hotpot base and part of the initial investment, while Xia Wenyue handled the rest of the investment and overall operations. In the end, it was decided that Xia Mian was entitled to about thirty percent of the profits.

Xia Mian opened the passbook, took one look, and exclaimed excitedly, “This much every month?!”

Xia Wenyue smiled. “I’m just letting you see this one month’s share—we still haven’t paid off the loan.”

“But at this rate, we can pay it off by the end of the year, right?” Xia Mian said.

“Correct,” Xia Wenyue replied, “though once it’s paid off, I want to add two more production lines.”

“I’ve also been thinking of buying a plot of land near the factory—it’ll definitely come in handy later.”

Xia Mian thought about the factory’s location. Right now, it seemed out of the way, but once Yan City began developing rapidly after the turn of the century, that land value would skyrocket, and there was a strong chance it might even be subject to demolition compensation.

“Buy, buy, buy.” Xia Mian readily used Ning Shaobai’s name. “I heard Dr. Ning say that now is the cheapest time for both houses and land. In a few years, prices might soar.”

“Second Aunt, if you hear of anyone in the suburb nearby selling a house, let me know. I can’t afford land, but I plan to stock up on a few houses.”

“All right,” Xia Wenyue agreed. Hearing that it was Dr. Ning’s advice, she didn’t press further. There was no harm in buying property. Besides, Xia Mian might be mischievous at times, but she clearly knew what she was doing.

After Xia Wenyue left, Xiao Feng leaned on Xia Mian’s arm to peek at the passbook in her hands. She pulled him onto her lap so they could look together. “Come on, let’s count—this is how much there is for just one month.”

The little boy, who could now read, pointed with his pinky and counted in units of ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands for a while, then happily swayed back and forth in her lap.

“So happy?” Xia Mian chuckled, ruffling his little tuft. “Do you even know how much money that is?”

Like most kids, Xiao Feng only had a sense for small amounts, like a few yuan or a few dozen yuan of pocket money. Thousands or tens of thousands to him simply meant a lot—enough to buy anything.

Sure enough, Xiao Feng looked up at her. “Buy a house. Demolition compensation!”

Xia Mian laughed. “Mm, that can be arranged.”

She had been wanting to buy property for a while, but she was still unfamiliar with the area, and with school taking up her time, it hadn’t been convenient. Luckily, the housing market had been sluggish these past few years, so she wasn’t in a rush—she planned to slowly look around during summer and winter breaks over the next two years.

However…

“This money isn’t quite enough to buy a house.”

Xiao Feng tilted his head in thought. “Sell stamps?”

She patted his head. “The value of stamps isn’t necessarily going to rise slower than real estate. And besides, the stamps are yours—we’ll decide what to do with them when you turn eighteen.”

“What do we do then?” he asked.

She shook the passbook with a grin. “Even though this isn’t enough, have you forgotten we have other money?”

Xiao Feng remembered. “Uncle Ning!”

“That’s right—we gave the money to Uncle Ning to invest for us,” Xia Mian said, springing to her feet in excitement. “Come on, let’s go ask him.”

“I wonder how much there is now.” Ever since she’d transferred the money to Ning Shaobai, she had never once checked. But knowing the total would help her plan for buying a house.

However, as soon as they stepped out of the gate, Xiao Feng was whisked away by Chenchen.

It turned out Zhou Xuewen had bought Chenchen a remote-control plane, and Chenchen had come to get Xiao Feng and Huizhu to play. Xiao Feng immediately ran off with him, leaving Xia Mian to go to Ning Shaobai’s place alone.

When she entered the courtyard, she saw Ning Shaobai sitting on the recliner by the veranda, reading a thick volume. A light summer breeze ruffled the short hair over his forehead, and the warm glow of the setting sun outlined his handsome profile, making him look like a living painting.

Xia Mian let out a short whistle, but Ning Shaobai ignored her. She sauntered over with a grin and sat down beside him. Without even looking up, he extended a finger to her shoulder and slowly pushed her away. “Keep your distance.”

Seeing he seemed serious, Xia Mian behaved for once and didn’t tease. She looked around, then ran into the main room to fetch a fan and began fanning him. “Feeling cooler now, Dr. Ning?” she asked with a grin.

Ning Shaobai enjoyed the attentive service but remained unmoved.

After a moment’s thought, Xia Mian leaned closer, lowering her voice mysteriously. “Dr. Ning, have you noticed? Sister Ning and Mr. Zhou seem… different lately.”

“This afternoon, I think I saw them holding hands. And just now, Chenchen was sent out to play with Huizhu and Xiao Feng.”

Usually, whenever Zhou Xuewen came over, Chenchen stayed glued to his father’s side.

At last, Ning Shaobai lifted his eyes from his book to look at the girl leaning toward him.

Under his gaze, Xia Mian felt a chill and inched away. “What? What’s with that look?”

“Are you angry with Mr. Zhou?” She asked, puzzled. “You don’t have to glare at me—it’s not like I told them to be together.”

Ning Shaobai rolled his eyes. If not you, then me?

Oh right, it was me. But the root culprit is still you.

Seeing he wouldn’t respond, Xia Mian decided to play her trump card. She hissed softly, pressing a hand to her ear. “Dr. Ning, I think my earlobe hurts. Could it be infected?”

Ning Shaobai set down his book with a helpless sigh, and she immediately leaned in with a smile.

He looked at her small, delicate earlobe, adorned with the snowflake earring he had personally chosen, very pretty…

Lowering his gaze, he suddenly shifted away from her and asked, “How long is your summer break?”

“A month and a half. Why?” she replied.

“No reason,” he said flatly. “I just feel like it’s too long. You’re about to start your final year of high school—one week off would be more than enough.”

That way, you’ll stop tormenting me.

Xia Mian’s eyes widened. “Dr. Ning, are you a devil?”

No, Dr. Ning thought. You’re the devil sent to torment me.

Author’s Note:

Dr. Ning: “People who can’t date but still want to cling are all devils.”

Translator’s Note:

Last batch of mass update this Sunday! Enjoy~