Qiao Mei thought for a moment and asked, “Then if they don’t have money, they’ll go back on their word again!”
Back then, when they were asked to hand over the house, they used all sorts of excuses to stall for time. If Qiao Mei had not secretly pulled down the house, they would have just continued to stay there for the rest of their lives!
“Don’t worry, everyone from the Cao family has proper workplace units. If they all go to their units to get their salary in advance, they will definitely be able to raise the money,” Xia Wen said.
Qiao Mei felt more at ease to hear that. Besides, Xia Zhe still had something on them. They would definitely not dare to renege on this matter.
Professor Zhu led the students around to survey the area and have an understanding of the state of the buildings so that they could move on and come up with the construction plan.
Qiao Mei looked at the cherry tree and thought about how to save it. She could not make up her mind on whether to leave it in its current position or to move it to another location.
Over the past two days, the rain had lessened and the water coming out of the ground had also decreased a lot. Qiao Mei used the roots of some underground plants to plug in the holes so that she could replant the cherry tree in a few days.
Qiao Mei looked down the well and leaned forward. Xia Zhe was so frightened by her action that he quickly grabbed onto Qiao Mei’s wrist and did not dare to let go.
“Why don’t the two of you go back? I’ll keep an eye on things here. You two are just going around and scaring people here.” Xia Wen felt his heart tightened when he saw Qiao Mei standing by the well.
Xia Zhe did not want to leave. He was afraid that the things underground would be dug out after construction started. He wanted to stay here and keep an eye on things, but he was also worried about Qiao Mei.
Qiao Mei did not want to leave either. The jade items belonging to the old man from the Cao family were still in the wreckage. She had to think of a way to get them out. Otherwise, it would be terrible if someone else took them away.
Qiao Mei slowly walked away from the well under the watchful eyes of Xia Zhe and Xia Wen.
Xia Wen sighed helplessly and said, “Keep an eye on your wife. She’s pregnant. What if she falls in?”
Xia Zhe did not know what to do. It was not just Xia Wen who was nervous. He had also broken out in cold sweat just now, but the young girl just acted as if nothing had happened.
I must find a chance to teach her a lesson! It’s so worrying to have a young wife.
Xia Wen shook his head and decided to look for Professor Zhu to talk about the next steps. Even if Xia Zhe and Qiao Mei did not manage to kill him with their mushy behavior, he would probably be scared to death by Qiao Mei.
Xia Wen was seven years older than Xia Zhe and had a deeper impression of this house than Xia Zhe. He also had more feelings for this place than Xia Zhe given that he was raised by his grandparents from a young age. Also, he did not join the army so he had stayed by Wu Min’s side for a long time.
Everyone in the family thought that Xia Wen was the one whom Wu Min doted on the most. After all, she was definitely closer to him than Xia Zhe, who rarely came home. The truth was that Wu Min loved both of them equally. It was just that Xia Wen was a very scrupulous and precise person and was not as determined and steadfast as Xia Zhe. That was the only reason why she left the house to Xia Zhe, and Xia Wen had never second-guessed her decision.
Qiao Mei looked at Xia Wen as he busied himself and she smiled. This elder brother was really a good person.
The concern on Xia Wen’s face when she stood by the well was real. She must definitely include elder brother in all her lucrative endeavors. She definitely could not give him a share of this house, but she could urge him to buy a courtyard house nearby.
“Where does your elder brother live now?” Qiao Mei asked.
“Near the university. It’s a house allocated by the university,” Xia Zhe said.
Qiao Mei thought for a moment and asked, “Is that house a big one?”
“About 60 square meters, on the west side of the city,” Xia Zhe said.
In the future, the houses in the west side of the city would not end up being valuable. It seemed that she must get elder brother to change his house.
“Then ask elder brother to buy a courtyard house and be our neighbor,” Qiao Mei said.
“He has no money,” Xia Zhe replied without hesitation.
Qiao Mei was speechless for a moment, but Xia Zhe was telling the truth.
During this time, teachers did not make much. Even the monthly salary of a university teacher was only about 70 dollars. Although it was already much higher than the salary of an ordinary worker, it was still not enough to be able to save up to buy a house.
Tan Jing was a clerk at the same university as elder brother and her monthly salary was only 50 dollars. It was not even as much as elder brother’s salary, so it was hard for her to save money too.
