Chapter 4 What he fears most is what he does most.
Summer Garden is a typical European manor style. Its scale shows that the owner was once very prosperous. Unfortunately, the market has changed too quickly in recent years. The Xia family failed to keep up with the trend and has fallen into decline.
At this time, the Xia couple had returned from the company and were preparing for the engagement banquet the next day.
The butler helped Xia Dongbo, Xia's father, pick out a black suit with a subtle pattern. It was made at the end of last year, and the material was crisp and neat, which could perfectly cover Xia Dongbo's slightly protruding beer belly. Xia Dongbo was very satisfied.
Tang Wenhua frowned: "Old Xia, the Third Master of the Zhou family will also be there tomorrow. I heard he likes to wear black, is it inappropriate for us to wear black?"
"Jay Chou is going?" Xia Dongbo asked in surprise. "He rarely shows up to manage family affairs."
"The Zhou family values Ah Ting, so the head of the family will definitely have to help with his marriage. Sigh, I hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow. That guy's temperament is too unpredictable. If we offend him, it might be hard to find another opportunity to cooperate with the Zhou family."
Upon hearing "Third Master," Xia Mian's mind stirred.
—That's right, "Love in the Palm" includes almost all taboo elements. The villainous boss Zhou Pingchuan is actually Zhou Ting's third uncle!
Because of the taboo surrounding his name, others dared not call him by his name directly, and instead all respectfully addressed him as "Third Master".
This Third Master... must be quite wealthy, right?
“Then let’s change into something else,” Xia Dongbo quickly took off his suit jacket. “Wearing a Tang suit would also look good.”
After trying on the clothes, it was time to choose accessories. The butler took out a watch box and suddenly discovered that the watch face inside was shattered into a spiderweb pattern.
"I haven't worn this one at all this year, how could it possibly break?"
"Sir, Young Master Mian visited your dressing room a while ago, so it's highly likely..."
"You bastard, you dare to steal things from the house! When you get back..." Xia Dongbo was furious. He was about to say that he would teach Xia Mian a lesson when he got back when the door creaked open behind him.
Seeing the three people standing at the door, Xia Dongbo's anger intensified.
Why is Xia Mian clinging to Ming Zhao and Zhou Ting again? Is she planning something?
This biological son is such a worry!
With outsiders present, he didn't want to say much, so he turned and left. Tang Wenhua greeted him with a smile, "Ah Ting's here! Come in and sit down. Butler, have the kitchen change dinner to French cuisine."
Zhou Ting had studied in France for nearly ten years and was more accustomed to the local cuisine: "Auntie, I'll take Mingzhao home now, so please don't bother me."
"No trouble at all. You've even learned to be polite with your aunt. We're all family now. Please stay for dinner."
Tang Wenhua smiled kindly, but when he turned to face Xia Mian, his tone became stern: "Mianmian, go back and tidy yourself up. Look at your hair..."
At this point, Tang Wenhua realized that Xia Mian's unsightly blond hair had been cut. She had been so angry that she hadn't even looked at him properly.
"...You're all sweaty, go wash up."
Hearing the name "Mianmian," Xia Mian felt a pang of sadness. His nickname was also "Mianmian," given to him by his mother, supposedly because he was especially cute as a child, like a little cotton ball.
Unfortunately, not all mothers are the same. He knew Tang Wenhua was trying to get him to leave, afraid that his contact with Zhou Ting would cause trouble.
Xia Mian didn't want to pay attention to the couple anyway, so she left with a "Okay" and went upstairs to her room.
He did not inherit the original owner's memories, but fortunately, the novel "Love in the Palm" included the following plot:
After being recognized and returned to the Xia family, the original owner, because Zhou Ting was targeting Xia Mingzhao, threw a tantrum and demanded Xia Mingzhao's room on the second floor.
After Xia Mingzhao was brought back, she looked at the drastically changed room and secretly shed tears. Tang Wenhua felt sorry for her and wanted to talk to Xia Mian about returning the room. Xia Mingzhao stopped her: "It's okay, I'll stay in the guest room."
Tang Wenhua felt even more heartache for her adopted son, who was already a head taller than her: "How can you stay in the guest room? I'll have the servants renovate the rooms on the third floor and build you a music room with a transparent roof. You can play the piano and look at the stars in there at night, okay?"
"Thank you, Mom." Xia Mingzhao threw himself into Tang Wenhua's arms, and the two embraced, sobbing uncontrollably.
Unfortunately, Xia Mian had no time to savor the heartwarming story of motherly love and filial piety. He went upstairs to his room and first wandered around the dressing room.
It's not very big, about 60 or 70 square meters, ten times smaller than his walk-in closet, not even big enough to fit a few rows of shoes.
The original owner didn't like dressing up, and apart from a few sets of faded cheap clothes, there was nothing else to see in the closet.
No wonder the 500,000 yuan allowance given by the Xia family is still sitting in the bank account.
He certainly knows how to spend money; on his very first day here, he's already spent half of it.
Thinking about this, Xia Mian felt a little overwhelmed again.
Half an hour later, dinner was ready. Although I was worried that Xia Mian would go crazy, I couldn't stop my son from eating. With outsiders around, I had to pretend that we were a harmonious family.
Tang Wenhua placed a double-eared fish platter in front of Xia Mian and Xia Mingzhao: "Here, this is your favorite dish. I specially asked the kitchen to add it."
Xia Mian looked down at the mango grilled fish.
In real life, he was allergic to mangoes, but unexpectedly, after transmigrating into the book, the original owner's favorite food turned out to be mango grilled fish. What a twist of fate!
He had never eaten this dish before and was quite curious. He picked up a piece of fish, which was quite sweet but not tender enough. He then picked up a piece of mango. Since he could remember, he had only eaten mango once, and he couldn't remember the taste, only the unpleasant feeling of an allergic reaction.
As she was recalling, Xia Mian suddenly felt a sharp pain in her throat and had difficulty breathing, as if something was blocking her airway and she couldn't catch her breath.
This is a manifestation of respiratory edema.
The original owner was also allergic to mangoes!
Xia Mian suppressed her discomfort and glanced at Xia Mingzhao, who was eating the grilled fish her mother had put on her plate, her face full of satisfaction.
It turns out that the one who liked this dish wasn't the original owner of this body, but Xia Mingzhao.
Xia Mian suddenly felt like laughing, put down her chopsticks, and abruptly stood up.
Xia Dongbo's hand trembled, almost knocking over the cup: "Mianmian, what's wrong?"
“I’m allergic to mangoes,” Xia Mian said coldly. “I’m going to take my medicine.”
******
Xia Mian ordered a box of his usual allergy medication directly from a food delivery app, tipped it 200 yuan, and the medication was delivered to him in less than ten minutes thanks to the generous offer.
After dinner, Xia Dongbo asked Xia Mingzhao to take Zhou Ting for a walk in the yard to see the newly planted roses. The purpose was also to keep Zhou Ting away from summer solitude.
Xia Mian seemed particularly interested: "Oh my, did you plant new roses at home? How come I didn't know? I'll go and see with you."
Xia Dongbo's hand trembled again.
"Dad, what's wrong with your hands? They're always shaking. Should we ask the maid to buy you some medicine?"
"...It's alright, no need."
"Oh, it's alright." Xia Mian smiled at him and followed the young couple out the door.
The small garden where the roses were planted was behind the villa. Xia Mian was deliberately trying to scare Xia Dongbo, but he didn't want to offend the protagonist, so he said he was going to take a walk in the front garden to digest his food and parted ways with the young couple.
She didn't eat much that evening. Xia Mian walked slowly with her head down, and as she walked, she ran into Xia Dongbo, who was out smoking.
“Mianmian,” he called, “come here.”
“This watch,” he said, pulling a wristwatch from his pocket, “was this the one you did?”
"have no idea."
"Don't try to deny it," Xia Dongbo said sternly. "A maid saw you go into our dressing room. If you like something, you can tell your father. How could you steal it?"
Summer Sleep truly did not know.
"Alright, Mianmian," Xia Dongbo pulled his hand and placed the watch in his palm. "Dad knows you're a good boy, you're just having a moment of weakness. Don't you like this watch? Take it for now. As long as we can successfully form a marriage alliance with the Zhou family, we'll get many, many more watches in the future."
"The engagement banquet is tomorrow, and the current head of the Zhou family will be there. He's someone we absolutely can't afford to offend. Promise Dad you'll behave tomorrow, okay?"
For a moment, Xia Mian thought he was facing not a father, but a businessman.
Who is he insulting by trying to lure his son, who grew up in the slums, with money?
Because it was cracked, the surface scratched his palm painfully, and Xia Mian couldn't help but think of his dad and mom.
Six months ago, they were in a car accident while on a business trip and died despite all efforts to save them. Before she passed away, Mom used all her strength to leave him a message in her memo:
Baby, don't be afraid. Even if Daddy and Mommy are gone, there will be people who love you in our place.
So when he transmigrated here and saw Xia Dongbo and Tang Wenhua, he fantasized that his parents, who were in heaven, had come back to love him.
In hindsight, he was overthinking it.
His mother was unaware that he was allergic to mangoes, so his father tempted him with a valuable item—a Rolex with a broken surface, worth only a little over 300,000 yuan.
They couldn't even begin to describe their feelings as "love" for the original owner.
They didn't even show respect.
Well...aren't they afraid he'll cause trouble?
He does exactly what he fears most; he has to cause trouble tomorrow.
Let's turn this upside down!
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