n

n

n

n

n

nXia Jun and Xia Mao smiled when they saw the wild ginseng and felt that this child was very considerate. Only Xu Lan did not appreciate the gesture.

n

n“What do all these things have to do with you buying a house?” Xu Lan said disdainfully.

n

nQiao Mei did not take Xu Lan’s attitude to heart and continued, “Other than these things, my grandfather also asked me to bring a 100-year-old wild ginseng that he dug up. He has asked me to see if there is anyone in the capital who wants to buy it and then use the money to buy a house.”

n

nBy now, everyone in the Xia family understood that the house was exchanged with the ginseng from Qiao Mei’s grandfather.

n

nXu Lan did not care about how it was done. What she cared about was that Qiao Mei kept saying that it was her grandfather who exchanged it.

n

n“So do you mean that the house belongs to your grandfather?” Xu Lan said.

n

nQiao Mei did not say anything and just looked at her quietly. Strictly speaking, it was Qiao Mei’s name that was listed on the documents, so it was strictly not considered as Qiao Qiang’s property.

n

nHowever, the name on the property deed of the main house was still Xia Zhe’s grandmother, so this house still belonged to the Xia family.

n

n“Why aren’t you saying anything? You intend to bring your grandfather over to occupy the old house?” Xu Lan said even more harshly.

n

nXia Fang frowned and looked at Xu Lan. She originally thought that her second sister-in-law had designs on this house, but she did not expect Xu Lan to be the first person to express such clear intent.

n

n“The exchange was done using the ginseng from Mei Mei’s grandfather. Of course the house belongs to him,” Xia Zhe said calmly.

n

nThis made Xu Lan furious. The girl had just married into the family and she had the audacity to bring her grandfather along immediately.

n

n“Why are you kicking up a fuss? If not for Brother Qiao, who knows when we would be able to get the entire old house back,” Xia Jun said.

n

nXia Jun did not know what was wrong with Xu Lan today. Usually, she did not dare to speak loudly in front of him, but she had rebutted him repeatedly today.

n

n“Young girl, when does your grandfather intend to come over? It’ll be good for us brothers to get together,” Xia Jun said.

n

nFor Xia Jun, it did not matter who the house belonged to. Moreover, Qiao Qiang was his good brother and the person who saved his life. Now that Qiao Qiang had even helped them to get the entire house back, he felt that there was really no way to repay such a favor.

n

n“My grandfather doesn’t really want to come here yet. There are still things to do back home,” Qiao Mei said.

n

n“Then do you want to stay in our house or move to the old house?” Xia Jun asked.

n

nBefore Qiao Mei could answer, Xia Zhe said, “Qiao Mei will eventually become a military spouse, but just not now. It’s not convenient for her in her current condition, so she will stay at Aunt’s place for the time being. The old house hasn’t been repaired yet, so she’ll only go over later.”

n

nXia Jun and Xia Mao nodded while Xia Fang also felt very happy. After all, Xiang Jin rarely came back from the army. With Qiao Mei accompanying her, her days were much happier. Moreover, she was a doctor and could take care of Qiao Mei if anything should happen.

n

nXia Zhe lowered his head and whispered to Qiao Mei, “The army gave me a month’s leave this time. The next mission is more dangerous, so I can’t bring you along. Besides, it’s not safe for you to stay alone in the military compound in your existing condition.”

n

nQiao Mei looked down unhappily. It was not because Xia Zhe could not bring her along in the army, but because Xia Zhe would be going on another mission soon and the two of them would be apart again.

n

n“That’s right. Mei Mei will stay at my place and she can do so comfortably,” Xia Fang said happily.

n

nAfter thinking about it, Qiao Mei still felt that she did not want to disturb anyone anymore. She also missed her younger siblings and her grandfather at home.

n

n“I think I’ll go back to the village. I’m used to living there. My grandfather is at home and I miss him too. I also have to go back and take care of my younger siblings.” Qiao Mei tactfully rejected everyone’s kindness.

n

n“Younger siblings? Where did your younger siblings come from?” Xu Lan asked.

n

nIt was not as if they had not investigated Qiao Mei’s background before. She was her mother’s only child, so Xu Lan could not understand how she could have any other younger siblings.

n

nQiao Mei did not hide anything and told everyone that her younger siblings were the children that her mother, Li Gui, had with her stepfather. She told them everything, but solely left out the part about her mother being beaten up by her stepfather.

n

nEven if she did not say it, it was obvious to Xu Lan.

n

n