Zhou Qianqian was furious and turned to Huo Xuewen, “Mr. Huo, she’s obviously targeting me. You know I always act this way when I’m working.”
“Always like this, huh? Sure enough, you’ve been provoking Sister Ning all along,” Xia Mian said. “And Mr. Huo, you’ve been allowing it.”
Zhou Qianqian raised her voice, “I’m Mr. Huo’s assistant! It’s my job to handle his work matters.”
“Provoking his wife is part of his work matters?” Xia Mian’s voice rose too—who’s afraid of whom, huh?!
Zhou Qianqian, now enraged, exclaimed, “When did I ever provoke her?”
“Are you deaf or what? I said so much, and you still didn’t get it?” Xia Mian turned to Huo Xuewen, “How about you? Did you get it?”
To everyone’s surprise, Huo Xuewen nodded with a serious expression.
Xia Mian almost burst into laughter. She turned back to the now pale Zhou Qianqian and said, “See, even your boss gets it.”
Zhou Qianqian took a deep breath, trying to control the situation, “I know Madam doesn’t like me, but there’s no need to target me like this.”
“What a thing to say,” Xia Mian responded. “Do you think Sister Ning should like you?”
“Not only do you manipulate her husband, but you also ignore and provoke her. Is she supposed to be a masochist and like you for it?”
“Come on, you don’t have to like her, but at least show some basic respect. Just offer a sincere apology—let’s see it!”
Zhou Qianqian was enraged, “Why should I?!”
“Because she’s your boss’s wife, and respecting her is respecting your boss!” Xia Mian shot back. “I don’t believe you’d dare ask your boss ‘why’ if he told you to apologize.”
“So, you only respect your boss’s lower half, huh!”
Huo Xuewen: “…”
The not-so-subtle sidelong glances from everyone in the room made him feel as though he was naked from the waist down…
“And another thing! I just realized that a mere assistant had the audacity to manipulate the family into giving away the madam’s painting! This is truly eye-opening!” Xia Mian was fuming. As she mentioned this incident, her anger flared up even more, and she pointed a finger at Huo Xuewen, “Do you know that for an artist, their creations are like their own children? Your oh-so-capable assistant didn’t even bother to ask and took it upon herself to give away Sister Ning’s hard work!”
“And you don’t even care! How can you say you’re not condoning their disrespect toward Sister Ning?”
“How would you feel if Sister Ning gave away your Chengbei project?”
Zhou Qianqian angrily retorted, “That’s different! It’s just a painting!”
“Shut the hell up!” Xia Mian snapped, throwing the chopsticks in her hand at Zhou Qianqian’s head. “Just a painting? Then why don’t you paint one? If you can’t paint, buy one! How dare you trample on someone else’s hard work and act like you’re in the right?!”
Zhou Qianqian screamed in shock as Xia Mian looked around, clearly searching for something to throw at Huo Xuewen as well.
Xiao Feng quietly handed her a porcelain bowl, but Xia Wenyue quickly snatched it away. “No, no, it’ll break.”
Then she handed Xia Mian another pair of chopsticks instead.
Huo Xuewen: “…”
Xia Mian: “…”
Out of respect for Ning Shaoyun, Xia Mian didn’t throw the chopsticks but instead coldly berated, “You’re willing to drop everything for any small issue with the Chengbei project, leaving your wife and child behind. When Chenchen was kidnapped, you didn’t seem to have cared either. So your work is important, but Sister Ning’s efforts are worthless, huh?!”
“Xiao Yun!” Aunt Wei suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone turned to see Ning Shaoyun with tears streaming down her face.
The room fell silent as Huo Xuewen, caught off guard, tried to approach her, “Xiao Yun…”
Ning Shaobai stepped in front of him, calmly saying, “Mr. Huo, your work is important. You should go.”
Huo Xuewen looked anxious and helpless. “Xiao Bai, I…”
Chenchen also hugged Ning Shaoyun tightly, worriedly calling, “Mom…”
“Mom’s fine.” Ning Shaoyun wiped away her tears, which only kept flowing. She looked at Xia Mian and said, “Xia Mian, thank you.”
After that incident, almost everyone dismissed it as just a painting. They’d said she could easily create one or two every year, as if it were no big deal. But she never expected that a young girl would be the one to truly understand her…
Xia Mian handed a handkerchief to Ning Shaoyun, then turned to Huo Xuewen and said, “Mr. Huo, you have work to do, right? You are a busy man, so we won’t keep you any longer.”
“But please remember this,” Xia Mian added. “Don’t let this woman appear in front of Sister Ning again. Or don’t blame me for being rude.”
She then glared at Zhou Qianqian, “Get lost!”
“You must be joking!” Zhou Qianqian clutched her aching forehead, furious that she had been hit by a country girl in front of Huo Xuewen. “Brother Xuewen, they’ve gone too far!”
“Why aren’t you calling him Mr. Huo now?” Xia Mian remarked. “Your true colors are showing fast.”。
Huo Xuewen, finally wisened enough to realize that a poor explanation might result in getting hit himself, quickly explained, “It’s not like that. She’s the daughter of an old friend of my father’s, and my mother treats her like a daughter.” In short, preventing her from ever appearing near Ning Shaoyun again might be difficult.
This explanation was frustratingly inadequate, so Aunt Wei stepped in, “When Mr. Huo’s father was sent down to the countryside, this Assistant Zhou’s father secretly helped him. After Mr. Huo’s father was rehabilitated, he maintained contact with the Zhou family, and Madam Huo is also very fond of her.”
Zhou Qianqian began to cry at the right moment, sobbing, “I’ve been sponsored by the Huo family since I was young, and I knew I had to repay them somehow. I studied hard, and spent three years abroad learning business administration, all to give back to the Huo family!”
“I returned to the country as soon as I graduated to be by your side, Brother Xuewen, and I’ve never had any ulterior motives!”
“Yeah, right!” Xia Mian wasn’t impressed, “It looks to me like you’re not trying to repay the Huo family but rather trying to replace them! Why else would you deliberately cause chaos in their home?”
Huo Xuewen rubbed his temples, clearly frustrated. “Xiao Zhou, just go to the company first.”
Zhou Qianqian’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Brother Xuewen!”
Xia Mian sneered, “So this is the professional conduct you learned in business school? Letting personal feelings override your work?”
“Oh, and wasn’t that meeting supposed to be urgent? You’ve already wasted almost half an hour on your own issues, so is the meeting not important, or are you just an incompetent assistant?”
“…” Zhou Qianqian’s face turned from pale to livid, trembling with anger. “Shut up! Who do you think you are to question me?!”
“Oh, really?” Xia Mian rolled up her sleeves. “You’ve got some nerve, huh? Who do I think I am? I’ll tell you, I’m far more important than you! So what if your father helped Old Master Huo?” Xia Mian continued, “I personally saved the only grandson of the Huo family! You, a mere hanger-on from another generation, want to compare yourself to me? What a joke!”
“Even if I beat you up right here, your Brother Xuewen wouldn’t dare say a word against me! So, while I’m still holding my temper, be smart and get out of here!”
Seeing Xia Mian so brazenly using her favor as leverage, Zhou Qianqian turned to Huo Xuewen, hoping to gain his sympathy.
But Xia Mian grabbed a pair of chopsticks and swung them at her.
“Ah—!” Zhou Qianqian hadn’t expected Xia Mian to really resort to physical action and fled in panic.
Behind her, Xia Mian sneered, “No respect for the boss, no professionalism, no sense of timing—how did someone with your intelligence even graduate? Are you sure she’s here to repay the Huo family and not to destroy them?”
Zhou Qianqian was furious.
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next>
Translator’s Note:
Now that AerialRain is taking more novels, we re-arrange the release schedule. Don’t worry, we only shifted the release days, it’s still twice a week schedule.
Monday & Thursday: Daughter of the Dao and Devil Venerables, Transmigrated into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt, Three Years After Falling Off a Cliff
Tuesday & Friday: After Transmigrating Into the Cannon Fodder Real Daughter The Plot Changes, The Healer Demands Payment!, Wake Up Male Lead You Belong With the Female Lead!
Wednesday & Saturday: His Secret Guard, Marrying the Short-Lived Villain
Sunday: Extra releases and sponsored chapters
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.
Lol Amazing!!!
Thanks for the chapter!!!
if there was a tenkaichi budoukai for verbal sparring, Mianmian would be the uncontested champion LMAO
FUCK HER UP, MIANMIAN!
👏👏👏👏👏😘
Thanks for the chapter ❣️
It’s Huo Xuewen and Zhou Qianqian’s day of reckoning!
The clueless Huo Xuewen is finally clued in about how he’s been mistreating his wife and child and unwittingly letting Zhou Qianqian walk all over them.
Lol at Xia Wenyue handing Mian Mian another pair of chopsticks to throw. Definitely my favorite chapter so far.
Somehow I feel that he still wont clue in. He feels rather helpless. How is he managing a company without it being destroyed when he is that easily manipulated!
I love her, finally a FML that said the right thing and let it all out. Yeah, that husband will continue to be a dimwit. How’d he manage to still do business?
[[Zhou Qianqian screamed in shock as Xia Mian looked around, clearly searching for something to throw at Huo Xuewen as well.
Xiao Feng quietly handed her a porcelain bowl, but Xia Wenyue quickly snatched it away. “No, no, it’ll break.”
Then she handed Xia Mian another pair of chopsticks instead.]]
I loooove the dynamics in this novel and I always love a MC with a sharp tongue !
Thanks for the chapter I had a good laugh