Xia Zhe did not get anyone to inform his family. It was Zhou Sheng who had sent a message to the Xia family in the middle of the night to inform them that Xia Zhe’s house had collapsed. All the Xia family members rushed over in a panic, and even Xia Fang and Xia He rushed over from afar.
“What’s going on?” Xia Mao asked as he entered and saw the people in the yard.
Xia Fang and Xia He quickly grabbed hold of Xia Zhe and asked if Qiao Mei was injured or traumatized by the incident.
Xia Zhe pointed to the room and told them that Qiao Mei was inside, so they went in to see her. They did not know how to deal with the matters outside anyway, but they did not worry about it as all the men of the family were around.
The rest of the family members stood behind Xia Mao. This matter was not big enough for them to alarm Xia Jun yet.
Section Chief Chu said with trepidation, “Someone reported that there are a large number of restricted items in your house. We had no choice but to come and do a search to see if it’s true.”
Section Chief Chu looked carefully at the expressions of the Xia family members. He had been forced by He Ning to come here and carry out this task, but he could not afford to offend the Xia family either. He was just a junior section chief and was in no position to deal with either family. It was such a dilemma for him.
Xia Mao looked expressionless, but he was feeling extremely shocked. He did not know whether there was anything buried underground. Back then, he had his own suspicions but Wu Min never mentioned anything to him.
While Xia Mao could control his expression, the people behind him were not able to do the same. Everyone was stunned, especially the womenfolk.
When Section Chief Chu saw this, he realized what was going on. It appeared that what He Ning told him earlier about the Xia family members not knowing about this matter was the truth. Now that he had said it out so openly, the Xia family must be in a state of disarray.
“Nonsense! During that time, my family gave everything we had to the government. In order to commend us, the government even specially gave us a letter of commendation. The letter is still hanging at home now!” Xia Mao said angrily.
“You’re right, but we still have to do a routine check. Who knows what’s under the ground? It’s not for us to play favorites,” Section Chief Chu said with a smile.
“Of course Section Chief Chu is businesslike. We all know that,” Xia Wen said.
Section Chief Chu knew about this eldest young master of the Xia family, who looked gentle and refined but was actually the one not to be trifled with. Back then, He Ning had reminded him not to communicate too much with Xia Wen. The young master was sharp and quick-witted, and would definitely be able to get something on him.
Xia Mao did not know if there was anything underground or not, but he was relieved to see Xia Zhe’s calm expression. Even if there was, Xia Zhe had probably already dealt with it.
While they were talking, the workers had already dug down two meters deep. The Cao family’s team of weak people could not dig so much in one night. These workers were professionals and they were quick and efficient..
The people who jumped into the well had also dug out a lot of soil and piled it up high beside the well.
When the Xia family heard that Xia Zhe’s house had collapsed, they immediately sent someone to investigate. Later on, when they found out that it was the Cao family’s side which had collapsed, they were relieved. However, they also had a lot of doubts and suspicions. Logically speaking, the entire house was constructed using top quality materials. They could not understand why only the Cao family’s side collapsed and not a single room was left standing.
There must be something wrong here. When Xia Mao and Xia Wen came, they already knew that this matter was not that simple.
The Xia family members stood in the yard and watched them dig. The Xia family’s intelligence officers came in from time to time to submit their reports. Section Chief Chu saw what was happening but he was unable to stop them. He had no right to say anything.
It was a battle of capital and might between the He family and the Xia family. A small fry like him could only wait quietly. If he said anything wrong, it could bring about a calamity for him.
He Ning had instructed the team that they must dig something out. No matter how capable the Xia family was, he wanted to skin them alive. However, he also told the team to end the battle quickly without any delay. The Xia family would definitely not give the team the luxury of time at all.
When the team dealt with other families In the past, it was normal for them to dig for three to five days. However, this was the Xia family the team was dealing with and there was no way they would allow a slow and lengthy digging process.
Section Chief Chu also had his own superior at work. If the Xia family reached the higher-ups to issue an instruction for the team to stop digging, they would have made a wasted trip. However, if such a thing should happen, making a wasted trip would be the least of his problems by then!
