Section Chief Chu wanted to say something but Wei Huai stopped him. Xia Mao turned around and went into the side house to take a rest. With so many people around, these people would not dare to bring out anything to frame him.
Xia Zhe stood silently at the side and looked at the cherry tree. The water was still gushing out under the tree. As he walked over to the side house, he passed by Wei Huai and said, “I hope that after you’re done investigating, you will restore my tree to its original state.”
“Comrade Xia Zhe, don’t worry. We definitely won’t destroy anything of yours.” Wei Huai gave him a polite smile.
Xia Zhe nodded and said, “That had better be the case.”
“Let’s dig too,” Xia Wen said before he entered the side house as well.
All the Xia family members had come into the side house. The womenfolk present did not dare to speak. There were not many stools in the room, so they could only stand inside.
“Father, mother and aunties, you can go to the room in the main house. I’ll keep an eye on things here,” Xia Zhe said.
Xia Mao stared intently at the courtyard and said, “I’ll stay here. The rest of you can go to the other room. Xia Wen, you stay here as well.”
Tan Jing looked at Xia Wen worriedly. He quietly reached out and held her hand to reassure her. She lowered her head and followed Xu Lan and the others, but she still felt worried and looked back at him every three steps she took.
Xia Mao was so busy that he only just realized that Qiao Mei was also in the house and he had yet to check on her.
“Oh, is Qiao Mei alright!” Xia Mao stood up from the stool and yelled out.
Xia Zhe shook his head and said, “She’s fine. She’s not affected.”
Xia Mao nodded in relief and sat down. Xia Wen looked into Xia Zhe’s eyes and said, “They’ll be going to Qiao Mei’s room later. Perhaps get her to tidy up now, so that she doesn’t feel too rushed later.”
Xia Wen was implying something and Xia Zhe seemed to understand what he meant.
Xia Wen did not know if there was anything in this courtyard, although his whole family had never stopped being suspicious of this courtyard. In particular, Third Aunt-in-law did not hide her unbridled interest in the house and would use this as an excuse every year to express her desire to occupy this house.
If there was really something underground and yet these people did not manage to dig up, then either Xia Zhe found a new place to bury it or he did not manage to hide it in time and had put it all in the main house.
“Okay, I’ll tell her now.” Xia Zhe turned around and went to the main house.
Zhou Hua ran in front of him and rushed into the main house in a hurry. She had long guessed that there must be something in this courtyard. It turned out just as she expected! Given that there were so many people here today, it served to prove that she was right!
Xia Zhe must have hidden all the things away! If nothing was found even after digging up such a big courtyard, he must have hidden them in the main house. She wanted to be the first one to go in and take a look!
Zhou Hua pushed open the door forcefully only to see an empty space. The five rooms in the main house only contained the furniture that Xia He had bought for Xia Zhe some time ago. There was nothing else.
Zhou Hua then ran to open the wardrobe and cabinets. There was nothing inside except for one or two pieces of old clothing. Feeling disappointed, Zhou Hua sat down on a chair.
Xia Zhe ran to Qiao Mei’s room and held her hand. “Are you… are the babies feeling okay?”
As Xia He and Xia Fang were still in the room, Xia Zhe was too embarrassed to ask about Qiao Mei in front of them and could only use the children as a cover.
Qiao Mei smiled at Xia Zhe and said, “Feeling much better. Father and elder brother didn’t come in as well?”
Qiao Mei kept the modern way of thinking from her other life. Although she knew that in this era, she needed to behave in a manner that avoided arousing suspicions, she was much more open-minded than most people of this time.
Xia Zhe patted Qiao Mei on the head and said, “They have to keep an eye on things outside.”?This young girl really just said whatever was on her mind. She did not think too much and just did things according to her heart.
Qiao Mei said to Xia Zhe, “Help me get my bag. I want to change my clothes.”
Xia Zhe brought the bag to Qiao Mei as she had asked. While she was rummaging through her clothes, Qiao Mei took the opportunity to nip off a small bit of the thousand-year-old ginseng root and hid it under her nail.
“I think I’ll go and make some ginger soup for everyone. The weather is so cold after the rain,” Qiao Mei said.
Xia Zhe nodded and accompanied Qiao Mei to the kitchen to make the ginger soup. While no one was paying attention, Qiao Mei added the ginseng root from under her nail into the ingredients and made a full pot of soup.
When everyone drank the hot ginger soup, their entire bodies warmed up and they could feel the chill and fatigue being swept away.
