By this time, Qiao Mei had changed her clothes. Based on what Xia He just said, she definitely should not wear pretty clothes today. She had to wear something mature and appropriate.
Qiao Mei wore a dark blue maternity dress, paired with a pair of black leather shoes. She tied up her hair simply, looking presentable and elegant.
“Elder sister, do you think I’ll pass if I wear this?” Qiao Mei asked.
“Sure, of course. You’re naturally beautiful so you look good no matter what you wear. You won’t go wrong wearing simple and elegant clothes like this, and there’s nothing they can say about you,” Xia He said.
“When you get home later, you must do some housework like washing the dishes and such. Otherwise, Second Aunt-in-law will definitely nag at you,” Xia He reminded her.
At this moment, Xia Zhe frowned and gave Xia He a reluctant look when he heard this.
Xia He also noticed her younger brother’s gaze and said resignedly, “Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t want Mei Mei to do this either, but it’s not like you don’t know Second Aunt-in-law. If she doesn’t do these things, Second Aunt-in-law will definitely criticize her.”
Xia Zhe also knew their Second Aunt-in-law’s temper. Among the children of the family, Second Aunt-in-law doted on Xia Zhe the most. Previously, he did not think that there was any issue with her personality, but now, it seemed that there were indeed many problems with her.
“Then, you just put your own bowl and cutlery in the kitchen later. You don’t have to worry about anything else,” Xia Zhe said.
“That won’t do! If Mei Mei doesn’t go into the kitchen, don’t you think Second Aunt-in-law will grab hold of her and keep saying these things to her? It’s not like you don’t know what Second Aunt-in-law can do when she gets angry. Have you forgotten what our eldest sister-in-law had experienced?” Xia He said as she looked at Xia Zhe.
When Tan Jing first married into the family, Second Aunt-in-law had also asked Tan Jing to help out in the kitchen. Although Tan Jing did not come from a very prominent family, her family was well-to-do and she did not need to do housework at home.
When Tan Jing first joined the Xia family, she would sit on the sofa and chat with Xu Lan after dinner. Whenever Second Aunt-in-law saw that, she would grab Tan Jing into the kitchen and teach her how to wash the dishes, cook food, clean the kitchen, keep the crockery, respect her in-laws, and so on.
“Then I’ll go and help out later. Otherwise, I’ll just cook for them. I can cook very well!” Qiao Mei said with a smile.
“There’s a helper at home, so you don’t have to cook. Besides, you won’t be able to cook for so many people. It’ll be so tiring,” Xia He said while feeling sorry for her.
Qiao Mei nodded and asked, “Then what kind of person is Third Aunt-in-law?”
At this point, Xia Zhe and Xia He looked at each other and lowered their heads while frowning.
It seemed that the two siblings did not like Third Aunt-in-law. She was hoping that Third Aunt-in-law would be a nice person, but it appeared that this person was even worse than Second Aunt-in-law.
“Third Aunt-in-law was fine a few years ago, but Third Uncle hasn’t been doing well in his career in recent years and fared the worst among the brothers in the family. Third Aunt-in-law feels embarrassed by that fact, so she always speaks sarcastically,” Xia He said.
“Then does Third Uncle just tolerate it?” Qiao Mei asked.
“She actually doesn’t say anything bad about Third Uncle. She’s just jealous and likes to compare with others. However, I suspect that she is not back this time to take a look at you. I think her intention is to beg our grandfather to help Third Uncle out,” Xia He said.
Xia Zhe laughed and said, “Grandfather won’t render this kind of help.”
The Xia family’s current status was partially based on the foundation that Xia Jun had built up. However, the rest of his sons and grandsons had relied on their own abilities to make a name for themselves. Xia Jun did not believe in pulling strings at all.
“If Third Aunt-in-law says anything bad about you or asks about your grandfather, don’t take it to heart,” Xia He said worriedly.
Qiao Mei smiled indifferently. She would not take the words of these relatives to heart at all. As long as Xia Zhe was on her side, it did not matter if everyone else gossiped about her. She had heard worse things in the village and things like that were small matters to her.
“Elder sister, don’t worry. I definitely won’t mind. I’ll just pretend not to hear it,” Qiao Mei said with a laugh.
