556 Discovering a Small Surprise
Qiao Mei took all the useful things from her house to give to Zhang Miao. As long as it was something that was good for health, she moved it over.
“Mei Mei, that’s enough! Don’t bring anymore. Miao Miao doesn’t need so many things! Keep these for yourself! You’re pregnant!” Li Gui said.
“It’s fine. Zhang Miao needs these things more. There are still many new things at home that I haven’t used yet.” Qiao Mei shouted into the house, “Xia Zhe, are you done tidying up! I want to carry Miao Miao in!”
Xia Zhe was sweating profusely from the heat. He walked out of the house with Zhang Miao’s pillow in his hand and said, “This kind of soft pillow won’t do. I’ll go get the hard pillow at home. That will help Zhang Miao’s bones to grow better.”
Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe’s departing figure and said with a smile, “See, I’m not the one who wants to bring everything over. Xia Zhe also hopes that Zhang Miao can get better soon.”
Li Gui silently accepted these good intentions from Qiao Mei and Xia Zhe. Now that she had divorced Zhang Qian, nothing in her house would get taken away by the Zhang family again.
As long as she worked hard, she would be able to repay the money she owed Qiao Mei one day. Whenever she could have any good things, she would bring them all to Qiao Mei.
She would be a good mother and slowly make up for what she owed Qiao Mei all these years.
Zhang Chao pulled Zhang Qin to the courtyard to put away the dried wild vegetables and mushrooms that Zhang Wei had picked in the mountain.
“Let’s go, mom. Let’s carry Miao Miao in.” Qiao Mei took the thin blanket and carried Zhang Miao into the house with Li Gui. After Zhang Miao was put down on the brick bed, she looked very much better than when she was in the hospital.
It had not been easy for Qiao Mei to fatten Zhang Miao up previously. Now, she was all skin and bones and looked like she could be blown apart by a gentle breeze.
“How magical. Home is much better than the hospital,” Qiao Mei lamented.
“That’s true. Perhaps Miao Miao also feels better now that she knows that she’s home,” Li Gui said.
Xia Zhe carried down all things from the truck and asked Xiaobei to head back. He had long noticed the van behind them and thought that the people inside were fellow villagers, but he did not expect these people to have come for them.
“Did you meet Liang Guo and Liang Lan?” Xia Zhe asked as he entered the house.
Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe in surprise and said, “How do you know that? If you haven’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about this matter. I still have to return them some money. At that time, I was so angry, then I was busy with Zhang Chao and then I forgot all about it.”
“They’re just outside. They have managed to make their way here,” Xia Zhe said.
Qiao Mei looked out of the window and indeed saw a van. She did not expect them to have the cheek to come here.
It was so cold outside, so she would keep them there for now. Zhang Wei and Qiao Qiang would not be back for a while.
“I’m going home to make something delicious. Let’s have dinner together tonight.” After saying that, Qiao Mei left Li Gui’s house with Xia Zhe.
Since Qiao Mei came back, she had been busy running around and had not had a good rest at home. She leaned back lazily on the brick bed and closed her eyes.
Qiao Qiang had burned some firewood before he left the house and it was warm on the brick bed now. If they had a kitten at home, it would definitely lie on the brick bed and refuse to leave.
Xia Zhe took off Qiao Mei’s shoes and covered her with a blanket. Qiao Mei had not slept well for so many days because of the four children.
He wanted to let her rest well and decided to do the cooking.
Xia Zhe was shocked when he walked into the storeroom. All he could see were glass jars of all sizes. If he did not know any better, he would have thought that it was some kind of biochemical experiment laboratory!
These bottles and jars contained all the food that Qiao Mei preserved and marinated before she went to look for Xia Zhe. Previously, Xia Zhe had written to tell her that he liked to eat the pickled vegetables that she made. Chen Hu and the others also wanted a few jars as well.
Therefore, she had made a lot of each type. There was also a good portion of jam. The grape grew especially well in the courtyard and Qiao Mei harvested a lot to make jam, and she even canned some of it.
There was a time and date recorded on each jar so that it would be easier for Qiao Mei to take note or check if there were any that had expired or gone bad. She had developed all these new recipes on her own and did not know if the food would taste nice. She had wanted to give Xia Zhe a surprise, but did not expect him to discover them himself instead.
There were carrots, radishes, cucumbers, cabbages, cowpeas among others. There were also many rare ingredients and she even managed to preserve watermelons.
There were also a few pieces of cured meat and dried sausage hanging from the beam. Qiao Mei had smoked all these to make meat sauce for Xia Zhe at a later time.
These were all Qiao Mei’s creative ideas and it clearly demonstrated the love she had for Xia Zhe.
