Huang Xiaoxia wasn’t embarrassed; she quickly found a topic and set her eyes on the child in Ning Shaobai’s arms, “Isn’t this the cute baby from yesterday? So, he’s actually Dr. Ning’s relative! Hello there, baby, what’s your name…”
The onlookers: “…”
Xia Mian couldn’t help but snort with laughter.
Only then did Huang Xiaoxia notice her. After getting a clear look at Xia Mian’s face, she immediately became wary, “Are you Dr. Ning’s relative? Still in junior high, right?”
Suddenly feeling playful, Xia Mian wrapped her arm around Ning Shaobai’s and tilted her head flirtatiously, “Auntie, guess?”
Huang Xiaoxia’s face went pale, looking up at Ning Shaobai, “Dr. Ning, you…”
Ning Shaobai glanced down at the audacious person next to him before finally looking directly at Huang Xiaoxia, impatiently saying, “Who are you?”
“Pfft…”
Not just Xia Mian, but many others laughed along this time.
Huang Xiaoxia had a feeling something was off, but it seemed no one was going to enlighten her. However, she still wasn’t defeated and was about to open her mouth again when Teacher Mi quickly interjected, “Nurse Huang, our Xiao Bai is fine. If you want to apologize, you might as well give these things to Xiao Feng. Your sister and brother-in-law left him and his aunt alone, and the two children have nowhere to go.”
Of course, Huang Xiaoxia was reluctant. She had spent a lot of money to buy these things, all to impress Teacher Mi so that the family would feel obligated to entertain her as a guest. She had no intention of giving them to those two. “I… I don’t know where that thug took Xiao Feng, how can I give it to him?”
Then she feigned concern, “Teacher Mi, do you know where they are? She isn’t taking Xiao Feng to hang out with bad guys, is she?”
“You don’t need to worry about that!” Aunt Liu quickly stopped the neighbors from speaking up and took over, “Give it to me. I’ll make sure it gets to Xiao Feng. Don’t worry, with so many witnesses here, we assure you nothing will be misappropriated.”
The others caught on and found it amusing, supporting her, “Aunt Liu’s integrity is unquestionable. Nurse Huang, you can trust her.”
“It wouldn’t just be lip service when you showed concern about Xiao Feng, would it? You’ve been here for quite a while and haven’t even asked about the child.”
“Exactly. You came to see Dr. Ning and didn’t think to check on Xiao Feng too? What did you bring for the child?”
How could Huang Xiaoxia withstand this pressure? When her usual methods failed, she had no choice but to reluctantly hand over the things she had brought, her distress clearly visible.
Aunt Liu watched amusedly, “Don’t worry, it’ll all go to Xiao Feng. You wanted to take care of him on behalf of your sister, right? We’ve all noted your intentions.”
If she didn’t fear the consequences, Huang Xiaoxia truly wanted to spit in the old woman’s face.
“Alright, alright, time to go home for dinner!” Aunt Liu, probably fearing Huang Xiaoxia might change her mind, immediately grabbed the items and made her escape, “Oh, these are quite heavy. Very good, gifts for Xiao Feng need to be sincere. Xinmei, help me with this.” She even winked playfully at Xia Mian.
Xia Mian found the old lady quite cute.
As the crowd began to disperse, Huang Xiaoxia, still feeling reluctant about the stuff she was forced to give away, made one last attempt, “It’s getting dark, and I heard there were thugs…”
“Where are the thugs?” someone remarked. “They were chased away long ago.”
Another person joked, “You weren’t afraid of thugs when you came, were you? Hurry back, your sister’s house is empty too.”
Under the deliberate concealment from the neighbors, Huang Xiaoxia was clueless about Xia Mian breaking the lock and getting herself into the house.
So, not only did Xia Mian and Xiao Feng get to spend a few peaceful days, but they also came into an unexpected windfall.
After Xia Mian carried Xiao Feng back upstairs, Aunt Liu had been waiting at the door, her voice filled with excitement, “That girl really went all out, I saw there were about two hundred yuan worth of items there.”
Xia Mian chuckled, “That’s also thanks to Aunt Liu and Sister Wang!”
Aunt Liu was obviously pleased with the way she handled the situation today. Beaming with joy, she remarked, “Who told her to treat others like a fool? That girl’s lucky we still treated her politely; we have let her off easy today.”
Seeing Xia Mian open the door, Aunt Liu had her daughter-in-law place the items on the doorstep, saying, “Oh yes, there’s a bottle of liquor here. My son loves this, so I shamelessly took it. I’ve left the money in the bag for you.”
Aunt Liu wasn’t taking advantage; rather, concerned that Xia Mian might be short of cash, she found a way to help indirectly. Xia Mian naturally couldn’t accept the money, but she wasn’t Aunt Liu’s opponent. After a bit of back and forth, she eventually had to concede.
Xia Mian could only note this kindness. She was grateful, planning to return the favors to the neighbors who had helped her and Xiao Feng.
While checking the items, Ning Shaobai came up to help deliver her shopping. Xia Mian spread out the bag and picked up items like a man’s wallet, a chess set, vitamin supplements, and milk powder for adults. After collecting about half of the stuff, she handed them to Ning Shaobai with a smile, “These are for you and Teacher Mi.”
Ning Shaobai looked at her with a half-smile, “A peace offering?”
Xia Mian couldn’t help but roll her eyes, feeling this person was a bit like her two annoying brothers. Being grown-ups, they didn’t understand the tacit meaning and deliberately spoke things up to make it awkward.
She took a deep breath, pushing the items into Ning Shaobai’s arms, and said softly, her voice laced with fake sincerity, “Yes, a peace offering and apology. I shouldn’t have misunderstood you. I thought you had a poor judgment in people and mistakenly believed that you helped Huang Xiaojuan because you fancied Huang Xiaoxia.”
Ning Shaobai, now burdened with a bunch of items, glanced over the spread on the floor and raised an eyebrow, “Using my items as a peace offering, that’s quite a gesture.”
Xia Mian: “…”
Ah? These were indeed bought by Huang Xiaoxia for Ning Shaobai.
This was getting a bit awkward, “Um, maybe…”
Ning Shaobai snorted in amusement. He placed the items back into Xia Mian’s arms before turning to leave, adding nonchalantly, “I don’t want them, anyway.”
Xia Mian clenched her teeth. If she hadn’t been at fault first, she would’ve gone three rounds with him, even if it meant temporarily abandoning her angelic image!
After Dr. Ning left, Xia Mian looked at the remaining half bag of items and was no longer in the mood to sort it out. Xiao Feng, leaning against her, had already started rubbing his eyes. He had been following Xia Mian all day today, only managing to nap for about twenty minutes on her back, and was startled awake by a certain Monk Tang’s misunderstanding.
Xia Mian lifted him onto the sofa, “You sleep for a bit, okay? Auntie will cook.”
Xiao Feng nodded and fell asleep almost instantly.
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Thank you for the chapters ❣️
Thanks alot for the chapters,hoping for more
I wonder how delusional Huang Xiaoxia is to believe that she’s close to Ning Shaobai even though he clearly treats her coldly or with indifference. I wonder the kind of shock Huang Xiaojuan and Zhang Qiming will go through when they realize that this supposed wealthy connection never existed in the first place, lol.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀