“You can eat now. Old Master Xia said that he won’t be coming down to eat. I’ll bring it up for him,” Auntie Chen said respectfully.
Qiao Mei lowered her head and whispered to Xia Zhe, “Is grandfather not feeling well?”
Xia Zhe patted Qiao Mei’s head and said, “Don’t worry. Grandfather probably feels that there are too many youngsters and women around and that his presence would make it difficult for us to talk and catch up. That’s why he’s not coming down. If you’re worried, we can go to the study room to chat with him after dinner.”
Qiao Mei nodded and followed Xia Zhe to the dining room. When everyone was seated, they started to eat in silence.
“So, let me say a few words. The Xia family has confirmed two kids of the next generation today and we’re all gathered together. Let’s have drinks and catch up!” Zhou Hua stood up and went to the liquor cabinet.
Xia Wen said faintly, “Third Aunt-in-law, don’t take out the wrong liquor. The cabinet is filled with grandfather’s treasures. Don’t drink his favorite liquor by accident.”
Zhou Hua faced the liquor cabinet and cursed Xia Wen in her heart. In the entire family, Xia Wen’s relationship with her was the worst. She did not know how she had offended Xia Wen, but he always argued with her. She felt that Xia Wen was not as nice as everyone said and was not the gentle and modest gentleman that people talked about! His smile hid how treacherous he actually was!
At the corner of the liquor cabinet, Zhou Hua found the bottle of liquor that she had given to Xia Jun. At that time, Xia Jun had asked Auntie Chen to put it away in the cabinet without even looking at it. The bottle was now covered with dust even though the rest of the bottles were clean. When the light shone on those bottles, they gleamed brightly. A few bottles had even been sealed with special methods to prevent their contents from evaporating.
Zhou Hua did not pay attention to what Xia Wen said. She had something more important to do today.
After taking out the bottle, Zhou Hua opened it and started pouring the liquor for everyone. The more everyone drank, the easier it would be for her to settle the matter. As long as Xia Zhe agreed, there was nothing that could not be done.
When she was about to pour the liquor for Qiao Mei, Xia Zhe reached out to cover Qiao Mei’s glass and said, “Third Aunt-in-law, she’s pregnant and can’t drink.”
Back then, his maternal aunt-in-law had given him a list of things that pregnant women should watch out for. In addition, his aunt had also told Xia Zhe about many things that pregnant women could and could not do, including not being able to drink alcohol. Xia Zhe would not forget anything that concerned Qiao Mei.
“It’s fine to drink a bit! I drank when I was pregnant!”
Zhou Hua was about to pour the liquor when Xia Wen said, “If anything should happen to Qiao Mei’s babies, what do you think my father and grandfather will do, Third Aunt-in-law?”
Zhou Hua’s hands stopped in midair. She was not a doctor. If anything really happened, Xu Lan would definitely cut her into pieces.
Zhou Hua immediately turned her gaze to Tan Jing, who was sitting beside Qiao Mei. As she poured the liquor, she said gleefully, “Oh well, then Tan Jing can drink more. It doesn’t matter how much Tan Jing drinks since she’s not pregnant!”
Zhou Hua thought that there were some benefits to Tan Jing not having children. It helped her to resolve the awkwardness like this. Little did she know that Xia Wen’s expression became even more thoughtful when he looked at her, while Xia Zhe stared at her as well. Zhou Hua was still forcing a smile, but her hands had already started to tremble.
“Well… let’s eat, let’s eat!” Liu Fen helped to smooth things over. She thought that if she did not interrupt now, all these people would start arguing again.
Only then did Zhou Hua sit down and heave a sigh of relief. Even if she ended up offending everyone at the dining table, she still had to continue to make them drink so that she could achieve her goal.
Xia Wen and Xia Zhe did not appreciate what Liu Fen did and just quietly ate and took food for their wives. Xia Wen also drank all the liquor in Tan Jing’s glass in one go.
Tan Jing looked at Xia Wen with a slight smile. She knew that her husband loved her and had been protecting her in his own way all these years, but the pressure and stares from their relatives and neighbors made it difficult for her to breathe. It was her own anxiety that caused her to be in such a state now.
Zhou Hua continued talking and drinking by herself. She was completely fine with drinking by herself if the others did not want to drink. If she got drunk, she could then use that as an excuse if she happened to offend anyone. She would just say that it was the liquor that made her sprout nonsense and asked for everyone’s forgiveness. This way, no one would be able to take what she said to heart. After she had a few glasses, she started to act up.
