Transmigrated as the Villain Boss's Precious Darling

"Kelley, have some candy."

Nancy unwrapped a White Rabbit candy and held it to Kelley Xavier’s lips. The weather was hot, making the candies prone to melting, but Nancy had a clever solution. She kept them in a cool corner in Raina’s part of the house. The old house was naturally shady, so the candy wouldn’t melt. She could just go and grab one whenever she wanted.

Kelley Xavier, who had been feeling nervous and awkward, couldn’t help but relax at the sight of Nancy’s bright, adorable smile. She ate the candy. It was her first time trying such a fancy treat, and its fragrant sweetness helped her feel even more at ease.

"Thank you, Nancy."

Kelley Xavier thanked her quietly, not just for the candy, but for Nancy’s help with her younger brother.

"You’re welcome."

Nancy grinned, resting her chin in her hands as she gazed at Kelley Xavier. ’What a shame this is all just an act,’ she thought with a pang of regret. ’I really wish she could be my sister-in-law. With someone so exceptional keeping an eye on him, maybe my older brother would actually strive for something and change his mediocre destiny from the book.’

Phoebe Huxley and Raina were busy in the kitchen, stealing glances at Kelley Xavier from time to time. The more they looked, the more delighted they became.

"That girl has blossomed into such a beauty, just like her mother. It’s just a shame... she doesn’t even have one decent outfit. I’ll have a few made for her." Phoebe Huxley’s heart went out to Kelley Xavier. The poor girl couldn’t even find clothes without patches to wear for a visit. "Sigh... life is just so hard for a motherless child."

For once, Raina set aside her usual stinginess and generously offered a suggestion. "Have Rosalind Green do the tailoring. The clothes she cuts are always stylish."

"Got it! Oh, my... I’m just so overjoyed! I’m finally getting a daughter-in-law, and she’s such a good student!" Phoebe Huxley grinned so widely her eyes nearly disappeared, and she brandished her spatula with a flourish.

Raina was also beaming. She shoved a piece of firewood into the stove and yelled at Phoebe Huxley, "Get a hold of yourself! You’re slinging food right out of the wok!"

’What’s so great about being a mother-in-law?’ Raina thought. ’In a few years, I could be a great-grandmother. We might even have five generations living under one roof!’

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, both in excellent spirits, prepared a massive feast. There was chicken, fish, shrimp, and meat—everything one could hope for. They even had a bowl of exceptionally rare whip shoot soup, which Felix Thorne had personally gone up the mountain to dig up just to welcome Kelley Xavier.

Millstone Peak was rich in moso bamboo, and thus had a wide variety of bamboo shoots available year-round. There were winter shoots, and even more in the spring—ivory shoots, tiger-roar shoots, thunder shoots, bitter bamboo shoots, stone shoots, moso shoots, and more—so many you could never eat them all. Most people assumed there were no shoots in the summer, but they were wrong. In July and August grew the most delicious variety: the whip shoot. However, very few people bothered to go up the mountain to dig them up.

As their name suggested, whip shoots grew at the tips of the bamboo rhizomes and served to store nutrients for the moso bamboo. All the moso bamboo on Millstone Peak was grown for money, so no one could bear to dig up the whip shoots to eat them at this stage.

Besides, only a small part of the whip shoot was edible. Just the tender tip could be eaten; the rest was tough, old root. Felix Thorne had dug an entire basketful, but it yielded only a single plate of tender tips. When cooked in a soup with meat, it was so exquisitely savory, a true and rare mountain delicacy.

"Kelley, this whip shoot soup is delicious. Have a bowl."

Phoebe Huxley enthusiastically ladled a bowl of the soup and placed it before Kelley Xavier. Kelley quickly rose to her feet and accepted it with both hands. Her manners were impeccable, leaving Byron Thorne and Raina all the more satisfied with her.

The young woman was beautiful, an excellent student, and well-mannered. She was, frankly, too good for their grandson.

After the meal, Phoebe Huxley gave Kelley Xavier a large red envelope. It was a local custom for the mother-in-law to give a meeting gift envelope to a prospective daughter-in-law on her first visit. The typical amount was two yuan, or five from a more generous family. Phoebe, however, gave her ten. She was a powerhouse who now earned six yuan a day, so she certainly wasn’t going to be cheap. Besides, she had taken a genuine liking to Kelley Xavier.