“Xiao Zhe, if the house remains empty, it will attract spirits easily! If no one lives in it for too long, everything in the house will break down! Why don’t you let your Brother Xing move in with you when he’s back? When you’re not at home, he can help you take care of Qiao Mei!” Zhou Hua looked at Xia Zhe with a sad face.

Qiao Mei muttered in a low voice, “Hmph, you’re faster than any spirits!”

Zhou Hua did not hear what Qiao Mei said since she was a distance away, but Xia Zhe heard it clearly since he was just next to her. Xia Zhe quietly reached out to hold Qiao Mei’s hand and stroked it gently to reassure her.

Qiao Mei was feeling unhappy about it. She had used her own ginseng to exchange for that part of the house, so she did not see why she must agree to let Zhou Hua move in. She was extremely unwilling to do that.

At that time, many families lived together under one roof, just like what Qiao Zhuang’s family did in the village. Although his five sons were married, other than the second son who snatched Li Gui’s house and moved out with his own family, the rest of the brothers still lived in the old house. It was common for people to have to take in relatives.

Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe with a sad expression. He nodded to indicate that he understood what she meant.

Xia Zhe put down his chopsticks and sat up straight. He looked at Zhou Hua and said, “No.”

He did not give her any reasons. No matter how many reasons he had, Zhou Hua would view them as excuses and she would rebut all of them. He decided to reject her in a direct manner so that she would not have any reason to pick on anything he said.

Zhou Hua did not expect Xia Zhe to reject her so bluntly. After all, she was Xia Zhe’s third aunt-in-law and his elder. She had expected him to at least consider her request.

“Xiao Zhe, aren’t you going to even consider it? Look at your Brother Xing…” Zhou Hua looked at Xia Zhe with reddened eyes.

Xia Zhe still said the same thing, “No.”

“What a kid! Why! Why not!” Zhou Hua questioned him exasperatedly. Her tone made it sound like Xia Zhe’s house belonged to her and that it was disrespectful of Xia Zhe to reject her request.

“Qiao Mei’s grandfather paid for the two sections of the house that the Cao family used to occupy, so that part doesn’t belong to me nor does it belong to the Xia family. I have no right to decide who can stay there. Besides, my parents can’t even stay at my house, let alone other people.” After Xia Zhe finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou Hua, indicating to her that she belonged to the group of “other people”.

Originally, Xu Lan wanted to move into that house because living under the same roof as Xia Zhe’s grandfather meant that she had to follow his rules. However, Xia Mao did not allow her to move there because they actually had their own house. Even if they left the patriarch’s house, they should move back into their own house. The area of their own house was only 100 square meters and it was not as luxurious as the small villa, so Xu Lan was unwilling to live there.

Later on, Third Aunt-in-law also kept saying that she wanted to stay at the old house. Xia Fang always stopped her from doing so and did not let anyone else enter the house. Xia Zhe originally did not mind and was not concerned about who stayed there. At that time, he was focused on his job in the army and only wanted to do better in his career. However, now that he knew about the things his grandmother kept underground, he also understood the deeper meaning behind what she did.

Other than his grandfather, no one else could go back to stay in the house!

“You!” Zhou Hua pointed at Xia Zhe angrily and glared at him, but she could not say anything. If even his own mother could not move in, she had no right to demand anything as his aunt-in-law.

“Why is it so noisy? What’s happening?” Xu Lan asked curiously.

Earlier in the afternoon, she went to help out at the military art troupe because they were having some issues. She did not expect to hear something about someone’s parents not being allowed to do something the moment she returned home. Zhou Hua was even pointing at her son, so that woman must be up to something again.

“Eldest Sister-in-law, your son is really filial! He says that he won’t let you and Eldest Brother stay in his house in the future!” Zhou Hua complained to Xu Lan while pointing at Xia Zhe.

Xu Lan looked at Zhou Hua while keeping a straight face. Xia Zhe was not that kind of child. She knew best as she was the one who gave birth to him. Xia Zhe was a greatly loyal and righteous person, just like his grandfather. Xia Zhe definitely did not say something like that.

Xia Wen looked at Xu Lan and said, “Mother, Third Aunt-in-law said just now that she wanted to move her whole family into the house that grandmother gave to Xiao Zhe. She even said that Brother Xing is unable to get married because I’m not capable enough and because Xiao Zhe didn’t prepare a house for Brother Xing.”

As he expected, Xu Lan’s expression darkened. She looked at Zhou Hua with even more hatred in her eyes. She had long known that Zhou Hua had been eyeing the house for a long time, but she did not expect her to broach this subject again today. Zhou Hua must be jealous after knowing that they had managed to take back the part of the house that the Cao family occupied.