Qiao Mei kept quiet and looked on expressionlessly.
“Later on, it so happened that her father became my mentor. Her father watched me grow up as well and he was quite close with my father, so he spoke to my father about an engagement…” Xia Zhe’s voice became softer and softer as he spoke.
Qiao Mei pricked up her ears when she heard the key word—engagement.
“The two of you were engaged? Then aren’t I…” Qiao Mei thought that she was the one who had messed up Xia Zhe’s marriage plans and was caught off guard for a moment.
Xia Zhe reached out helplessly and flicked her head as he said, “What’s in that little head of yours, I’m not finished yet.”
Qiao Mei rubbed her head without saying anything.
“No, we were not engaged because my grandfather and your grandfather have already agreed to an arranged marriage between their grandchildren, you and I. There can’t be another engagement. My father wanted to agree to her father, but my grandfather rejected it, and that was the end of it,” Xia Zhe said earnestly.
Qiao Mei indeed remembered from the memories of the original owner of the body that her grandfather had mentioned an arranged marriage when she was young, but she had always thought that it was not real. Back then, she thought that it was a lie to prevent Qiao Zhuang’s family from marrying her off to a fool in the neighboring village.
“What happened after that?” Qiao Mei asked.
“After that, I got busy with training and had no contact with her at all. Later on, when I got promoted, I met her again by chance at work. There was nothing else,” Xia Zhe told her everything that he could think of.
His answer satisfied Qiao Mei’s curiosity and she now understood why Zheng Yuan was so obsessed with Xia Zhe. It turned out that they were almost engaged to each other. There was nothing she could do about this thing called fate.
However, Qiao Mei did not know that Zheng Yuan was not Xia Zhe’s only admirer. A bigger surprise was waiting for her in the capital.
“Then are you really going to file a complaint?” Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe with uncertainty.
“Complaint? What complaint? I will be submitting a report,” Xia Zhe said helplessly to Qiao Mei.
“In our village, it’s called filing a complaint. She didn’t really hurt my child. If you’re really angry about it, you can talk to her parents in private. If you report it to the higher-ups, will she get a beating?” Qiao Mei asked Xia Zhe worriedly.
It was not that Qiao Mei was magnanimous and did not take what happened to heart, but after hearing what Zhuang Hua said earlier, Qiao Mei felt that it would be more appropriate to handle this matter in private. The few of them all knew one another and it would not be good to make things too awkward between them.
“Let things run its course. I will just report the truth without anything else. Don’t think about this matter anymore. It’s already so late. Hurry up and go to bed.” Xia Zhe got up and prepared to go to the table to work on the report through the night.
Qiao Mei hurriedly grabbed Xia Zhe’s sleeve and asked, “It’s the middle of the night and you ask me to go to bed when you’re not? Where are you going!”
“I have to write the report. I have to send it out tomorrow,” Xia Zhe said.
“No! You have to come to bed with me! Ouch…” Qiao Mei pretended to hold her stomach and moan.
Xia Zhe hurriedly looked at Qiao Mei and asked, “Mei Mei, what’s wrong! Do you have a stomachache! Are you alright!”
“Yes… I just… my chest feels so stuffy… Can you accompany me…” Qiao Mei lay on the bed and pouted.
Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei, who was lying on the bed and holding her stomach but saying that her chest felt stuffy. He did not know if he should point out her ill logic or to just let her be. He shook his head resignedly.
“You, you. Go to sleep. I’ll come to bed as well. I’ll think about the report tomorrow,” Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei and said.
“Yep! Then come quickly!” Qiao Mei said happily and lay on her side.
The tent cot was so small that it could fit two people only if both of them lay on their sides. After Xia Zhe packed his clothes, he lay down behind Qiao Mei and gently hugged her from behind.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you well,” Xia Zhe said softly.
“Yes, I know. Go to sleep.” Qiao Mei nodded happily and soon fell asleep.
Xia Zhe gently stroked Qiao Mei’s arm on the bed and gradually fell asleep as he listened to her breathing.
In another tent, Zheng Yuan limped to the bed and checked on her leg injuries. She found many bruises, but they were all minor injuries. In the past, she had sustained a leg injury during training and was left with a lingering effect from it. Given that she had sat on the ground for so long earlier, her leg would probably hurt for the next few days.
