Xia Zhe looked at how Qiao Mei reacted and felt both angry and helpless. He reached out and held Qiao Mei’s head while saying, “You’re still pregnant. Be good and go to sleep.”
Qiao Mei giggled quietly in Xia Zhe’s arms. It got really late after a while and the two of them gradually fell asleep.
On the other side of town, Xia He and Xia Fang returned to the Xia family residence. The moment they entered, they saw Kong Li sitting in the living room with a lot of food on the coffee table.
Xu Lan, who was sitting at the side, looked very haggard. For the entire afternoon, it was only her, Kong Li and the helper at home. Putting aside the fact that Kong Li kept calling her auntie, Kong Li also kept asking her for food and drinks.
If whatever they offered Kong Li was not deemed delicious enough, they would have to go out and buy something else. Otherwise, she would say that they treated their guests poorly and wanted to go out to publicize how the Xia family neglected their guests.
It was how she managed to hold Xu Lan under her thumb as Xu Lan was the kind of person who cared the most about reputation.
Seeing Xu Lan so haggard, Xia He went forward and said ingratiatingly, “I’ll leave now, I’ll take her with me now.”
As soon as Xia He finished speaking, she went forward to grab Kong Li. However, Kong Li shook off Xia He’s hand and said, “Where are you taking me?”
She did not want to go anywhere else. She did not know that the Xia family residence was so comfortable. It was such a big house and there were servants helping out. She could have whatever she wanted, so she did not want to go anywhere else.
“This is my grandfather’s house. Do you think you can stay at my grandfather’s house whenever you want? Hurry up and follow me,” Xia He said as she stood at the door and looked at Kong Li.
“I’m not leaving! If you want to leave, you can leave on your own.” Kong Li ignored Xia He and sat on the sofa to continue eating, drinking and watching television.
Xia He was so angry that she clenched her fists and said coldly, “Are you leaving or not? If you don’t leave, I’m going to ask your brother to come back.”
Xia He did not want to get angry with the Kong family and had not quarreled with any of them for a long time. She had been maintaining a nice attitude in front of them.
Kong Li could also tell that Xia He had reached the limit of her patience. She pouted and packed her things before following behind Xia He.
Kong Li used to live in the countryside, in a house with two small rooms and a small courtyard. Later on, she moved to the city to live in Kong Lu’s new house. It was the Xia family who had paid for Kong Lu’s spacious new house with four rooms and two living rooms.
Yet, it was definitely not comparable with Xia Jun’s villa which was a luxurious place with three floors. Now, they were headed for Xia Fang’s house. Xia Fang’s house had three rooms and a living room. The room that was kept for Xia Zhe to sleep in was not open to outsiders. There was still another small bedroom for Kong Li to sleep in while Xia He stayed with Xia Fang.
As soon as they entered, Kong Li looked around Xia Fang’s house and sized it up. For an ordinary family, such a house was already considered the best, but in Kong Li’s eyes, it was just a lousy house.
“What kind of lousy house is this? It’s so small,” Kong Li said disdainfully.
“It’s already good enough that you have a place to stay, yet you’re still so picky. If you continue being so picky, you can go out and find a place yourself,” Xia He said impatiently.
What Kong Li did today had already embarrassed her within the Xia family. She could no longer be bothered to talk to Kong Li in a nice manner.
Kong Li went into the guest room. Xia He and Xia Fang chatted through the night, and Xia He reminded Xia Fang to lock the cabinet doors and drawers at home. Otherwise, things would really go missing.
The next morning, Xia Zhe got up early to tidy up the courtyard. He had finished arranging all the furniture in the house yesterday, but had not tidied the vegetable garden in the backyard yet.
He borrowed a few bricks from the neighbors and placed them around the vegetable garden to demarcate the different areas, making it look much more orderly. He then plowed the old soil and picked up all the broken stones.
When Xia Zhe was done, Qiao Mei was still sleeping on the bed without any signs of wanting to get up.
Xia Zhe picked up a piece of foxtail by the roadside and sat by the bed to tickle Qiao Mei’s nose with it.
Qiao Mei seemed to feel some discomfort with her nose in her sleep. She frowned and reached out to rub it before turning her body to the other side. Xia Zhe smiled quietly and started to use the furry part of the foxtail to tickle Qiao Mei’s nose again.
