Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 97.1 – You Are Too Obvious! (I)

The next day, Xia Mian took Xiao Feng to visit Xia Chun’s grave. The two of them brought a photocopy of the court’s verdict and burned it in front of the grave.

Xiao Feng knelt before the grave, his figure so small, silently shedding tears as he burned the paper.

Xia Mian’s heart ached. She gathered him in her arms to comfort him. In the end, Xiao Feng rested his head on her shoulder and cried out, “Mom… Auntie.”

“Yes, yes, Auntie’s here,” Xia Mian said, gently rubbing his back and silently keeping him company.

The child didn’t cry long. More than two years had passed—they had already accepted the fact that Xia Chun was gone. Although they still felt sorrow when speaking of her, they had learned to look forward. Xia Mian wiped away the boy’s tears, took his hand, and slowly led him back.

From a distance, she saw Qiangqiang waiting by the roadside, tossing something up and down in his hands.

When he saw her and Xiao Feng, Qiangqiang came running over excitedly. As he got closer, he noticed Xiao Feng’s red-rimmed eyes, scratched his head awkwardly, then suddenly remembered something. He shoved the thing in his hand rather roughly into Xiao Feng’s arms. “Here, big brother bought you a soda. It’s super tasty—once you drink it, you won’t feel like crying anymore, only like laughing.”

Xia Mian was amused and exasperated. “Only want to laugh? Sounds more like you’re talking about yourself.”

Qiangqiang chuckled sheepishly. Seeing Xiao Feng just holding the can silently, he simply took it back to open it for him.

Xia Mian suddenly remembered seeing him tossing that thing around earlier, and her eyes fell on the can of soda. She quickly called out, “Wait!”

But it was already too late. The pull tab popped open, and the sweet substance inside burst out like a fountain, spraying straight into Qiangqiang’s face and hair.

Xiao Feng froze for a moment, then exclaimed anxiously, “Brother Qiangqiang!”

Covered in sticky foam, Qiangqiang didn’t care. He hurriedly clamped his mouth over the opening and slurped up the gushing soda.

Once he was done slurping, he handed the rest to Xiao Feng. “Alright, drink up!”

Seeing Xiao Feng looking at him with concern, he casually wiped his face and said, “Really—drink it and you’ll only want to laugh.”

Then, as if he’d been struck by some laughing spell, he let out a string of loud, cackling laughter.

It set Xia Mian and Xiao Feng laughing as well.

Pleased with himself, Qiangqiang turned and ran ahead, still cackling.

By the roadside, a wooden plank propped up by a stone looked just like a seesaw. Qiangqiang stopped, placed a flat, round stone on the end that touched the ground, then ran to the raised side and stomped on it hard, shouting, “Cannonball, fire!”

He was aiming straight at Xia Mian and Xiao Feng’s direction. Xia Mian quickly shielded him and shouted angrily, “Qiangqiang!”

And then she watched helplessly as the “cannonball” Qiangqiang launched arced perfectly through the air… and landed squarely on his own head.

The little troublemaker yelped in pain and crouched down, clutching his head.

Xia Mian: “…”

She hurried over to check for injuries.

And then—though she knew she shouldn’t—seeing the bump swelling on his forehead made her burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Xiao Feng, clearly knowing he shouldn’t laugh either, buried his face in her shoulder, his little shoulders shaking. Every so often, he’d sneak a glance at Qiangqiang, then bury his head again.

With a troublemaker like this around, it was impossible to stay sad.

Thanks to Qiangqiang, Xia Mian and Xiao Feng’s moods quickly lifted. In the afternoon, Xiao Feng went out to play with him and came back soaked to the skin.

That night, Xia Mian lay in bed talking to Ning Shaobai on the phone. Speaking of Qiangqiang’s mischief had her laughing nonstop. “Honestly, he gets a beating every single day. These past few days, while Xiao Feng’s been here, he hasn’t gotten hit—just stuffed into a vat by his dad.”

Naturally, the conversation turned to yesterday’s events.

“…He’s just too good at playing around. It was even more entertaining than a waterslide, and twice as ridiculous. The kids were plastered in mud from head to toe, like they were ready to be dropped straight into a fryer,” Xia Mian said with a laugh. “My eldest brother nearly blew his top right then and there. I saw that vat today—it’s almost unusable now. He’d been stuffed inside, limbs all tangled up, having fun on his own.”

Thinking of Qiangqiang’s pose, Xia Mian couldn’t help but laugh again, regretting, “If only phones could take photos—I’d send them to you to see. I didn’t even bring my camera this time.”

If it were in the future, Qiangqiang’s daily mischief could easily go viral on short video apps.

“And Xiao Feng—his look yesterday was just as rare,” Xia Mian said, glancing at the boy lying next to her. Remembering him all muddy made her regret again, “Too bad I couldn’t capture it. Even if not a video, a photo would be nice. Imagine when phones can take pictures—showing it to him later would be so much fun.”

Xiao Feng knew they were talking about him. He sat up and rubbed his little head shyly against Xia Mian’s shoulder, squirming a bit, which completely melted her heart.

She pulled the boy into her arms and planted a big kiss on him. “It’s fine—you’ve got a wonderful memory. When you grow up, you can draw all of your Brother Qiangqiang’s embarrassing moments.”

Xiao Feng didn’t know which image of Qiangqiang popped into his mind, but he suddenly burst into giggles, nodding as he laughed, clearly making a mental note of it.

Listening to the laughter from the other end, Ning Shaobai couldn’t help but smile too. “Sounds like you’re having it lively over there. You’re so happy you’ve forgotten all about home, huh?”

The last “forgotten all about home” carried an inexplicable note of resentment. Xia Mian noticed, but played dumb. “What do you mean, forgotten home? This is my hometown, okay?”

“And besides, it’s only been three days, Dr. Ning.”

With a light, casual tone, Ning Shaobai said something that was anything but casual: “Really? Feels to me like it’s been many years.”