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“By the way, do you have any news about Xia Zhe? I haven’t heard from him in a long time and I’m a little worried about his safety,” Qiao Mei asked.
Xia He shook her head. She truly did not know anything about this matter. Although she and Xia Zhe were both soldiers, she was in the art troupe and did not know anything about Xia Zhe and the news on his end.
“Xiao Zhe and I are from two different troops. I have no right to know about these things. You don’t have to worry. Father should know where Xia Zhe is, but he can’t tell the family too much. When Father was in the army, Mother also didn’t know what Father did every day. There was once when she had no news for more than two years, and Mother was so anxious that she almost went to Grandfather to demand for Father to be back. If he hadn’t returned soon after, she might have hung herself,” Xia He said with a smile.
This incident happened when Xia Zhe was only more than a year old. At that time, Xia Zhe was still too young to remember anything. Xia Jun and Xia Mao went out on expeditions all year round. There were only Xu Lan and Wu Min around to take care of the three young children. Furthermore, Wu Min had to take care of her other two sons as well. The house was always in a mess.
That period of time was also the most difficult for everyone, but everyone turned out safe and sound and nothing major happened.
“Alright, then I can only wait for news patiently,” Qiao Mei said disappointedly.
For some reason, now that she was getting on in her pregnancy, her longing for Xia Zhe became more and more intense. She used to be busy every day and did not have time to think about Xia Zhe at all. She would only think about him when she was about to go to bed. Nowadays, whenever she had some free time, she would miss him terribly.
“Mother says that we will all have dinner at your place today. She says that she’ll prepare the dishes herself and will also ask the helper to come over,” Xia He said.
Qiao Mei quickly stood up to tidy up. This announcement was too sudden.
“There’s no reason for you to come to my place to eat and have to prepare the meal yourself. I’ll go buy more things now,” Qiao Mei said.
Xia He quickly pulled Qiao Mei back and said, “Wait! Just sit at home. This whole thing was arranged by grandfather. As if there’s anyone who can dissuade grandfather. You should just wait at home obediently. If you help with the work, then I’ll be in trouble.”
Qiao Mei had no choice but to listen to Xia He and sit down obediently. The grapevines had already withered during this season, leaving only a row of shelves behind and making the courtyard look very empty.
“Do you have time recently? I want to go shopping and buy things for the house,” Qiao Mei asked.
“Sure, I don’t have much to do now. It’s quite relaxing and I only have programs at the end of the year. I just need to show my face once in a while. I can’t be bothered to go there because it’s so annoying,” Xia He said with a frown.
She really could not be bothered to deal with Yang Xin and the two Zhou sisters. One of them felt that she wanted to snatch the position of the principal dancer, while the other two felt that she was simply out to seduce men.
In order to avoid trouble, it was better not to go to the art troupe. Anyway, there was a dance studio at home. It was freer to be by herself and she would not feel restrained.
Xia He found it strange that ever since Qiao Mei faked the miscarriage, Xu Lan seemed to have become a different person. Usually, Xu Lan would not go to the dance studio to teach Xia He movements and techniques. Now, Xu Lan actually went to look in on Xia He often and pointed out many of her shortcomings. Xu Lan even wanted to help with the song arrangements, which really gave Xia He a shock.
However, in essence, Xu Lan still had the same temperament. If Xia He did not do well and did not train properly, she would still be beaten up and punished. This side of Xu Lan had never changed.
“Is there anything else that makes you unhappy? Tell me about it so that I can feel happy,” Qiao Mei said as she looked at Xia He gloatingly.
Xia He slapped Qiao Mei’s shoulder gently. Only Qiao Mei could joke with her like this.
“I’m not unhappy. I’m waiting to become an aunt!” Xia He said as she looked tenderly at Qiao Mei’s stomach.
It did not take long for Li Gui to prepare breakfast. She woke all the children up and went to ask Qiao Qiang to come over. Everyone ate in the courtyard and it was a very lively session.
“It’s not very well made. Xia He, I hope you don’t mind,” Li Gui said embarrassedly.
“What are you talking about? It looks, smells and tastes good. I can’t be happier! I think Qiao Mei inherited her good culinary skills from Auntie,” Xia He said.
“Alright, hurry up and eat. If you continue to praise us, the food will get cold!” Qiao Mei said.
