607 Unwell
Ever since Qiao Mei left, it went all quiet in the capital. Xu Lan was immersed in the pain of losing her grandchildren and did not even go to the art troupe to help out.
She remained in a daze all day long, hugging the tiny clothes that she had made for her two grandchildren. Liu Fen tried to counsel her but it did not work. She was so immersed in her sadness that she could not be extricated.
She also did not have much of an appetite. Even with a full banquet in front of her, she did not feel like picking up her chopsticks. This made Liu Fen very worried and she was afraid that something bad would happen to her.
Today, while Xu Lan was taking an afternoon nap, she secretly gave Xia Fang a call.
“Hello? Is it Eldest sister-in-law?” Xia Fang asked as she worked on the medical records in front of her.
“It’s me, I’m your second sister-in-law. I have something to ask your Xiang Jin. I wonder if you can help me contact him?” Liu Fen said embarrassedly.
“What’s the matter?” Xia Fang put down her work and asked curiously.
Liu Fen rarely asked others for help. It had to be a really big issue before she would do that. Otherwise, she would simply grit her teeth and endure whatever difficulties she encountered and never tell anyone anything.
Back then, in the early days of her marriage to Xia Yao, he had just joined the army and his salary was very low. She looked after her two daughters alone and they did not even have any food at home. Even when she could not afford to eat, she did not tell anyone. She saved her own rations for the children and endured the situation for half a year.
Even if she was usually a little naggy, everyone knew that her intentions were good. Therefore, everyone was tolerant and not calculative with her.
“It’s about Eldest Sister-in-law. Ever since Qiao Mei left, Eldest Sister-in-law’s mental state has been especially bad. I want to contact Xia Zhe, but Xia Zhe and your second brother are not from the same unit. I just want to ask if your Xiang Jin can contact Xia Zhe and ask him to come back and take a look,” Liu Fen said with a sigh.
Xia Fang knew a little about this matter. Not long ago, her eldest brother had told her to visit Xu Lan when she was free and to get her checked out.
When she went back that day and saw Xu Lan, she was shocked. In just a few days, Xu Lan had lost more than eight pounds and she did not look well. She almost wanted to tell Xu Lan the truth there and then.
However, before Qiao Mei left, she had instructed Xia Fang to wait until Xia Wen settled everything on his end before letting Xu Lan know. It was not the time yet.
“Let me ask around. Oh right, Second Sister-in-law. Please ask Eldest Sister-in-law to come and look for me when she’s free. I’ll give her a checkup,” Xia Fang said.
“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll have to trouble you with this matter! Your eldest sister-in-law is coming down, so I won’t talk to you anymore. I have to go…” Liu Fen hurriedly hung up.
Xu Lan stared at Liu Fen agitatedly and asked, “Who called? Is it Qiao Mei! Is it Xia Zhe! Did they call me?”
“I called my son to ask him about how he’s been recently,” Liu Fen said with some difficulty.
She did not want to see Xu Lan’s disappointed expression, but she could not lie to her and make her happy for nothing.
Xu Lan did not suspect anything. She quietly walked to the sofa downstairs and sat down in a daze.
Nowadays, they had a full-time housekeeper at home and Liu Fen did not need to do the cooking anymore. Xia Mao had specially instructed Liu Fen to keep an eye on Xu Lan so that she did not do anything silly.
As soon as Xu Lan woke up, she would hug her grandchildren’s clothes sadly. If this continued, even a normal person would become abnormal.
“Eldest sister-in-law! You can’t be like this! Xia Zhe and Qiao Mei will have another child!” Liu Fen said.
“But even if they have another child, it won’t be my two eldest grandchildren! My eldest grandson was killed and Qiao Mei’s health is severely affected. I don’t know how she’s recuperating now, and there’s been no news from her. Do you think Qiao Mei hates me? Don’t they know the phone number at home? Why don’t they call me?” Xu Lan said sadly.
“Qiao Mei is not that kind of child! Perhaps there are no phones in the village! The situation in the village is not like here. How can every family have a phone under those conditions? Perhaps Qiao Mei can’t find a way to contact you,” Liu Fen guessed.
Actually, when Qiao Mei left the capital, she had memorized the Xia family’s address and phone number. The issue was that it would take a long time for Qiao Mei to send things over, and it was also difficult to make phone calls, so she had not gotten a chance to contact anyone from the capital.
