“Okay, then just follow the main road straight east until you see Mingxi County Junior High School. I’ll meet you there shortly.” Xia Mian hung up the phone and met a crowd of curious, wide-eyed onlookers.
“Mianmian, what is this? Is it also a mobile phone? Why is it so small?” Xia Chuan asked curiously.
Xia Mian glanced at Wang Tao and Wang Zhiqiang. Fully intended to show them a more sophisticated level of showing off, she casually shrugged, “Yeah, it’s a mobile phone. I don’t like the older models—they are too cumbersome. Carrying them feels like carrying a brick, so heavy and ugly.”
Xia Chuan also glanced at Wang Tao and Wang Zhiqiang, snickering, “Did you see? Our Mianmian doesn’t like your brick-like old phone. She uses a modern one.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
With Xiao Feng in her arms, Xia Mian walked out of the yard. The little guy wasn’t scared from start to finish, probably because Xia Mian had rescued him from Huang Xiaojuan’s clutches with a feather duster. Later, having seen multiple instances of Xia Mian throwing bricks and knives, Xiao Feng was no longer perturbed seeing her fights. Like now, he wasn’t concerned about the chaos in the yard but was instead focused on the conversation on the phone, “Auntie, is it Brother Chenchen?”
“Yes, your Brother Chenchen,” Xia Mian responded. “Didn’t you say yesterday you missed him? He’s come to see you!”
Xiao Feng’s eyes lit up, “Brother Chenchen is here?”
After Xia Chun’s funeral yesterday, Xiao Feng cried a lot until his body went limp from exhaustion. Concerned that he might get sick with sorrow, Xia Mian had called Ning Shaoyun so the two kids could chat over the phone. Unexpectedly, Chenchen had come to visit.
Eldest Uncle Xia, always thoughtful, asked, “Who’s coming? How should we host them?”
“It’s Dr. Ning and his sister,” Xia Mian replied. “The one from Yan City who has helped us a lot. We will host them, but no need for special treatment. His family is well-off and they know a lot about our situation. We’ll just prepare some of our local home-cooked dishes.”
Xia Li, seething from humiliation, thought she had found a point of attack and immediately snarled, “Well-off you said? How well-off? Does his family have as much money as Brother Tao?”
Xia Mian was too lazy to respond to such lowly remarks. Noticing Xia Chuan’s curiosity about the device in her hand, she casually passed it to him.
The young people immediately crowded around, curious. “Hey, hey, be careful.” Xia Chuan cautioned, “Even an old brick phone costs over ten thousand; this must be even more expensive.” He said this while also glancing at Wang Tao and Wang Zhiqiang, “Hey, two big bosses, do you have one of these? Know how much it costs?”
“Let Wang Tao recite his phone’s number and see if it goes through.” As Xia Mian passed by with Xiao Feng, she coolly said, “I’m actually curious why a rich man’s expensive phone stays silent for days. It isn’t just for show, is it?”
Wang Tao’s face turned the deep red, and Xia Li angrily retorted, “You’re the liar! Our Brother Tao just couldn’t top up his phone bill because we don’t have a post office in Mingxi County!”
Knowing she couldn’t win on the topic of mobile phones, Xia Li immediately changed the subject, “Brother Tao still has a car. Does your shabby doctor have one?”
“Hmm, my shabby doctor gave me a mobile phone, is your Brother Tao willing to give you one?” Xia Mian shot back.
Xia Li immediately looked at Wang Tao, who remained silent with a sullen face.
Xia Mian snorted in derision, feeling foolish for showing off in front of these people; it gave her no sense of achievement at all.
Once they were a distance away from the crowd, Xia Wenyue slightly frowned and quietly asked Xia Mian, “Mianmian, did Dr. Ning give you that?”
“No, I tricked them,” Xia Mian smiled. “Dr. Ning lent it to me, it’s easier to keep in touch.”
Xia Wenyue sighed, “It’s not good to take someone’s valuable item for no reason; find an opportunity to return it.”
Eldest Uncle Xia also realized, “Your aunt is right, you’re young, don’t follow in your second uncle’s footsteps. Money isn’t everything…”
“I know, don’t worry,” Xia Mian felt warmth in her heart. Excluding her problematic grandma and second uncle’s family, the Xias was a very upright family. To prevent the elders from worrying further, Xia Mian explained, “Dr. Ning’s family felt grateful because I saved his nephew, so they are repaying me. You’ll understand when you meet them later.”
Hearing this, Xia Wenyue and Eldest Uncle Xia decided not to say more, planning to meet the person first. As they were waiting for the guest’s arrival, the eldest aunt-in-law called her sons back to prepare the hospitality.
Although the neighbors loved to watch spectacles, they weren’t nosy enough to pay attention to every visitor in the neighborhood. Despite this, with all the chaos and Xia Mian’s mocking of Wang Tao and Wang Zhiqiang, everyone’s interest was sparked, leading them to follow Xia Mian and wait at the neighborhood entrance.
Xia Mian was somewhat helpless, “Uncles, aunts, aren’t you busy?”
Xia Li stubbornly caught up, “What, Dr. Ning can’t be seen? Or did you just lie and are afraid of being exposed?”
“You said he gave you a mobile phone? Hmph! You must be making it up, right?” Eager to confirm her theory, she hooked Wang Tao’s arm and declared, “Brother Tao, she’s definitely bluffing us!”
“Let’s stay and see,” Xia Li scoffed. “I don’t believe she knows someone richer than Brother Tao and Brother Zhiqiang. She must be putting on airs for the sake of face!”
At this, Wang Tao’s sour mood finally improved. Wang Zhiqiang also thought Xia Li made sense, sneering, “A doctor, even if he earns over a thousand a month, might be considered wealthy in your small Mingxi County, but that’s nothing to us.”
Wang Zhiqiang gave Wang Tao a look—when that doctor arrived, they planned to thoroughly humiliate him, to give these country bumpkins a lesson. Both of them were snobbish by nature, and after the recent success with the construction project, many young and beautiful girls flocked to them, further inflating their egos. As such, they couldn’t stand being looked down upon by a mere rural girl like Xia Mian.
Wang Zhiqiang swirled his car keys again and leaned against the Santana, enjoying the crowd’s envious glances. Believing Xia Mian would soon regret her attitude, he smirked internally.
Just then, a car entered their view from afar, drawing everyone’s attention away from the Santana and towards the oncoming vehicle. Cars were a rare sight in this rural area. A Santana was enough to draw envy, but the incoming car was much larger.
Wang Zhiqiang exclaimed loudly, “Holy shit, it’s a Benz!”
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