Chapter 62 On the contrary, Xia Mingzhao, standing beside him, seemed like an outsider.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Although the Xia family has declined, they haven't reached the point where they need to sell their cars and houses. The garage is already full, and there's no room for a new car.

Xia Mian directed the servants to drive out a car that wasn't used much, and parked her Continental. Tang Wenhua stood by the window, looking at it again and again, his expression unreadable.

She vaguely remembered the day she first brought Xia Mian back to her family. Feeling guilty and sorry for the child, she asked for his bank card number, saying she wanted to give him some pocket money.

Xia Mian lowered her head and waved her hands repeatedly: "No need, I don't need pocket money. I can earn more than a hundred yuan a day by selling vegetables at my stall."

"What are you doing setting up a stall, kid? Mom will find you a tutor in a few days to catch up on the lessons you've missed. See if you can take the adult college entrance exam and go back to school. Knowledge determines the breadth of your life. Focusing on your studies is the right thing to do."

Xia Mian looked troubled. Actually, he wanted to go to school. Zhou Ting had tried to tutor him, but whether it was because he dropped out of school and entered society too early, or because he just didn't have the knack for learning, no matter how Zhou Ting taught him, he just couldn't learn.

Or, even if you understand this problem, you still can't fully grasp it when faced with a similar problem.

"I can't pass the exam," he said.

Tang Wenhua's enthusiastic attitude gradually cooled down: "Then you're not allowed to set up a stall anymore. The Xia family, no matter how fallen they are, are still upper-class people. They can't do low-class work. I'll give you 500,000 yuan. You can spend it first."

She had her own calculations and only gave a small amount of money—the kindness of raising someone is greater than the kindness of giving birth. Xia Mian had only recently returned to the Xia family. What if she still had feelings for that rural woman and secretly gave the money to Ren Xiping?

Moreover, a servant witnessed Xia Mian entering their dressing room, and not long after, a piece of Old Xia's Rolex was broken. Besides being stupid, this child is also dishonest.

Tang Wenhua grew angrier the more he thought about it. Could Xia Mian have stolen their things again? To support her sick mother and buy luxury cars?

God knows, when she saw in the entertainment news that Xia Mian stole her colleague's brooch, she was so angry that she wanted to sever her relationship with her son!

"Mianmian," Tang Wenhua asked directly after Xia Mian entered the room, "was the car borrowed?"

The sentence came with a fierce tone, full of questioning. Xia Mian felt confused and said irritably, "No, it was given by Third Master."

Zhou Pingchuan and Xia Mian's marriage has been delayed. When they came to visit last time, they didn't get any information from them, and Tang Wenhua was getting anxious.

Upon hearing this, her anxiety of the past few days finally subsided somewhat.

Her attitude softened: "...Oh, Pingchuan gave it to me. I thought it was borrowed. Do you want to use the car? If you need anything in the future, just tell Mom and Mom will take you to buy one."

“Okay, Mom,” Xia Mian replied immediately. “I need it right now. This little car can’t hold much stuff, I need an SUV, when are we going to buy one?”

Tang Wenhua's smile froze for a moment: "Mingzhao's wedding is approaching, so I've been quite busy lately. How about Mom takes you after the wedding?"

"If you don't have time, just give me the money, and I can buy it myself. It doesn't need to be expensive, two hundred should be enough."

Tang Wenhua's smile froze even more as she took out her phone to make a transfer: "Okay, then Mom won't go with you this time. If you don't know which option to choose, you can ask Pingchuan to help keep an eye on things."

"Buzz—" The phone vibrated, and two million had been deposited into the account.

Xia Mian knew what Tang Wenhua was thinking. You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. At this stage, nothing was more important than satisfying him.

After all, two million is just a drop in the ocean compared to the profits brought by the Zhou family.

Sure enough, in just a few seconds, Tang Wenhua had readjusted his emotions and his face was full of affection: "Dinner is about to be served, go wash your hands."

After urging Xia Mian, she called Xia Mingzhao, "Mingzhao, come down for dinner."

Xia Mingzhao was on the phone and gestured for a moment. After finishing the call, she quickly ran downstairs.

Xia Dongbo had a business dinner tonight, so only the mother and her two children were dining at the restaurant.

“Mianmian,” Tang Wenhua said, “Why didn’t you tell your parents about terminating your contract? We usually watch financial news more often and don’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry. If you had told us earlier, we could have thought of a solution for you.”

"The termination procedures have been completed, and we are now signing a new contract with the new company."

"Which company is the new one? Do you want us to help you find out and check its reputation?"

"No need, I did my homework beforehand."

“Mianmian has really grown up,” Tang Wenhua said with a smile of satisfaction. “Next time you encounter difficulties, be sure to tell your mother. Although our family business is not in the entertainment industry, we can always find someone to help. Also, work is not the most important thing; life is. If you feel tired, terminate your contract and come home. Your parents can support you.”

How do you raise it? Do you use that 500,000 yuan to raise it?

Xia Mian thought to herself, but didn't show it on her face, and obediently hummed in agreement.

"Here, have a bowl of fish maw soup. Mom specially asked the kitchen to make it for you."

Tang Wenhua took the soup ladle and personally served Xia Mian soup. The two continued to chat about interesting things at work while drinking, creating a harmonious and heartwarming scene of motherly love and filial piety.

On the contrary, Xia Mingzhao, sitting next to him, seemed like an outsider, sitting there silently eating her food.

He listened for a while, put down his chopsticks, and interrupted the two people who were talking: "Mom, I'm going to be on a TV show soon."

This news completely stunned Tang Wenhua: "You're getting married soon, the wedding is the most important thing, why are you going on TV shows?"

"Zhou Ting's parents answered the call, saying it was a slow-life variety show, and our wedding would be featured in the show."

Zhou Ting, Xia Mingzhao, Variety Show...

Summer hibernation's heart suddenly sank.

If Xia Mingzhao hadn't brought it up, he would have forgotten!

In the information age, wealthy families can no longer quietly focus on production and research and development as before; they must also turn their attention to the realm of traffic, especially social media. If the boss and heir have a good positive image, the company can also benefit.

Moreover, in traditional thinking, product quality is closely related to a person's character; good people are bound to produce good products. In the past two years, several people have seized upon the secrets of online traffic, aggressively marketing their "loving husband" persona, and driving up their company's stock price.

There are even examples of people who, due to their good looks and the support they receive from netizens, stand out among many heirs and eventually ascend to the throne of the family head.

In short, apart from patriarchs like Zhou Pingchuan who already hold real power and have outstanding group performance, it's a good thing for other CEOs and heirs to gain attention, as it can increase their competitiveness.

Zhou Ting's family must have wanted to follow suit, so they took on this job when he was at his busiest.

Originally, they could do whatever they wanted, it had nothing to do with Xia Mian. But just now, Xia Mian suddenly remembered that the original owner of this body would also be participating in this variety show.

Then Zhou Tingxia and Mingzhao kept slapping him in the face, making him a laughing stock!

According to the plot of "Love in the Palm", the original owner ruined the engagement banquet of the main characters, causing their marriage to be put on hold. At the same time, he was also scolded by netizens for the "brooch incident". After a series of self-destructive actions, the Xia family completely abandoned him, severed ties, and kicked him out of Xia Garden.

The original owner was homeless and returned to the slums, but he couldn't let go of Zhou Ting and always wanted to see Zhou Ting again.

At this time, because the news of the marriage between the Zhou and Xia families had already been leaked, Zhou Ting and Xia Mingzhao received an invitation to this slow-paced lifestyle variety show, and they were invited as a couple.

At this point, Xia Mingzhao had only piqued the interest of the villainous boss; it wasn't time for him to forcibly seize the property. To protect the image of both clans, the two had no choice but to participate, albeit with great reluctance.

Upon hearing this, the original owner begged the agent to let him go as well.

The agent seized the opportunity and offered to take him to a social gathering. The original owner agreed, but at the party, he was raped by several old men, leaving him injured and nearly dead.

After the variety show started filming, he tried various ways to get close to Zhou Ting, but was scolded by Zhou Ting and slapped in the face by Xia Mingzhao. Because of his poverty, he was ridiculed and isolated by other guests on the show, and his mental state deteriorated.

Later, during a social gathering, his outrageous affair of having four husbands while being a single man was exposed, and he developed severe depression.

This disgustingly melodramatic story… Xia Mian sighed.

Being cannon fodder is fucking tough.