690 Family Meeting
She also did not want to create an environment where nothing other than ginseng could grow in this mountain in the future. This would also cause unnecessary trouble for the village.
However, she should learn to control the range of her energy in the near future. She must be able to lock her energy on one plant and not hurt other innocent plants.
Qiao Mei continued to walk deeper. Ever since she harvested many pumpkins from the hot spring, many people had gone there to pick pumpkins. In order not to make anyone suspicious, she also brought some pumpkin seeds and prepared to plant them there.
There were many pine trees and hazelnut trees on this mountain. It was almost winter and she wanted to sprinkle some ginseng juice under the trees to exchange for more pine cones and hazelnuts so that the children could sell them on the black market.
She wanted them to earn some money so that they did not have to live a life where they had to keep going to her storeroom to ask for things. It would not be a good thing for the children’s psychological development over time.
Even though she was their elder sister, she was more like their mother by now.
She just did not know if the two little fellows in her stomach would be obedient. She hoped that if she had a boy, he would be as brave and outstanding as Xia Zhe, and if she had a girl, she would be as quirky as her.
In the capital, everyone in the Xia family had gathered together on a rare occasion. Furthermore, Xu Lan had informed them one by one and even said that they must be present.
It seemed almost as important as the new year. It was only during the new year that she would make it so grand. They all wondered why she had asked all of them to go back.
Xia Jun walked into the house unhappily. He had made arrangements to fly kites with his old comrades today. He was naturally angry that he had been called back for no reason.
In order to make it more convenient, Xu Lan had asked them to go to the house she lived with Xia Mao, and did not choose Xia Jun’s house to be the venue.
The moment Xia Jun entered, he noticed that the coffee table and the floor were covered in knitted items. It looked like a street stall. Did Xu Lan not know that everyone was coming back today? He wondered how anyone could sit down with such a mess.
“What are you doing! You’re making such a mess. Are you setting up a stall at home!” Xia Jun said in annoyance.
Xia He hurriedly walked forward to support Xia Jun and said, “Grandfather, Qiao Mei knitted all these herself. Look, there’s a name on that one!”
When he heard that it was made by Qiao Mei, Xia Jun’s attitude took a 180-degree turn. Earlier, he was still glaring angrily, but now he was smiling and holding the item with his name on it lovingly.
There was even a hidden pocket woven into the vest that Qiao Mei had made for him. Back then, he had told Qiao Mei that when Wu Min was still around, she would always sew a small pocket at the chest area on the left side of his clothes.
He was always worried that someone would accidentally take the wrong set of clothes, and that if he lost his money, he would not have money to eat. Later on, he kept 100 dollars wrapped in plastic and put it in this pocket in case of emergencies.
However, after Wu Min died, there was no one else to do this for him. He did not expect Qiao Mei to still remember it.
Xia Jun kept rubbing the small pocket as tears welled up in his eyes.
“Grandfather, you’re so touched!” Xia He said in shock.
“Your grandmother used to sew this type of pocket for me. I told Qiao Mei once, but I didn’t expect her to remember it. I… just miss your grandmother,” Xia Jun said emotionally.
Xia He laughed when she heard this. She felt that this was a good thing. It proved that Xia Zhe had married a good wife and that the Xia family had an empathetic daughter-in-law.
Xia Wen and Tan Jing received a pair of black and white gloves each. Liu Fen received a vest as well. Xia Mao received a dark blue sweater that matched Xu Lan’s dress. Xia Fang received a scarf. Qiao Mei had even prepared a gift for Xia Xiu. Like Xia Fang’s, it was also a scarf.
Everyone was very happy to receive the gifts except Tan Jing, who had a worried expression on her face. When she first married into the family, she had also bought gifts for everyone. At that time, Xu Lan had thrown them aside without even looking at them. Those items were probably no longer at home anymore.
Xu Lan currently wore the clothes that Qiao Mei made for her every day. Even now, she was twirling the hem of her dress in front of Xia Mao, constantly praising Qiao Mei.
They were both daughters-in-law, so why should Qiao Mei be loved and valued by the entire family, while she was constantly criticized and scolded because she did not have children after getting married.
She was happy that Qiao Mei’s babies were gone. She felt that no one could have a perpetual smooth sailing life. It was only right that Qiao Mei got into an accident. Without the children, everyone would like her much less.
