“But if he really tries to get money from Second Aunt-in-law, she won’t give it to him. She is famous for being stingy,” Xia He explained.

Qiao Mei nodded. From the looks of it, Kong Lu could only pray for himself.

When they got home, Xia Zhe was no longer at home. He heard that Xia Wen wanted to discuss the renovation of the courtyard house with him, and he would not be returning at night.

“Where did the two of you go? I was so worried. It’s already so dark outside. You can’t come back so late next time,” Liu Fen said sternly as she stood at the door with her hands on her hips.

Qiao Mei and Xia He looked at each other and smiled. Sometimes, Qiao Mei felt that Liu Fen was more like her mother-in-law from the way she cared and worried about her. However, based on Qiao Mei’s personality, Xu Lan still suited her better.

If Liu Fen was really Qiao Mei’s mother-in-law, Qiao Mei would probably have to listen to her talk about being obedient and virtuous every day. She would have to stay at home every day to take care of her children and do housework. Then, she would really have no freedom at all.

“We won’t dare to do it again!” Qiao Mei said with a smile.

Liu Fen quickly noticed the stains on Qiao Mei’s dress. The hem of her dress was covered in dirt from sitting on the street earlier.

“Did you go to work in the fields? Why are your clothes so dirty?” Liu Fen asked curiously.

“No, we ran into a lunatic on the way and I dirtied my clothes. It’s fine.” Qiao Mei casually patted the dust off her body and wanted to go back to the room to change.

Liu Fen suddenly grabbed Qiao Mei’s shoulder and asked nervously, “Lunatic! I just know I shouldn’t have let you go out! Did you fall down! Are you alright! What about the babies! Are the babies alright!”

Qiao Mei originally felt fine, but almost had a fright because of Liu Fen’s reaction.

Liu Fen immediately criticized Xia He and said, “How did you take care of Qiao Mei? You’re the elder sister, how can you let her be in such danger? Seriously, you can’t go out in the future! It’s really too dangerous!”

Xia He listened quietly to Liu Fen’s lecture. Liu Fen had never liked her since she was young and she was already used to it. This was because she was not as elegant and presentable as other girls, nor was she gentle and virtuous. She learned martial arts and had a bad temper.

“It’s not elder sister’s fault. It was all an accident…” Qiao Mei said.

Liu Fen said to Qiao Mei with heartache, “Hurry up and go change your clothes! Check for injuries!”

Xia He winked at Qiao Mei to ask her to be at ease and go ahead boldly. She would just turn a deaf ear to these words and did not care about it at all.

Qiao Mei made her way upstairs quietly. She quickly washed up and changed into a clean set of clothes before grabbing her gift for Xia He. She then hurriedly went downstairs to save Xia He, who was still being reprimanded.

“What’s that smell, Second Aunt-in-law! Are you cooking something?” Qiao Mei asked as she pointed at the kitchen.

Liu Fen stood on the spot and thought for a moment. She suddenly slapped her thigh and said, “Oh! My chicken soup!” She quickly ran into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Qiao Mei hid Xia He’s gift behind her back so that Xia He would not notice it.

Xia He slumped on the sofa and said weakly, “She’s too eloquent.”

Qiao Mei went forward and hugged Xia He’s arm as she said, “Elder sister, look at what this is!”

What Xia He saw was a simple cloth bag. However, since it was a gift from Qiao Mei, she would like it no matter what it was.

“What is it?” Xia He asked.

“Elder sister, open it and take a look.” Qiao Mei looked at Xia He expectantly. This was the first time she was giving Xia He a gift and she wondered if Xia He would like it.

She slowly opened the cloth bag. There were two beautiful dresses and a nice-looking shirt inside.

“Ah! They’re so beautiful!” Xia He said in pleasant surprise.

There was a bright red dress. When Qiao Mei wore something similar the other day, she saw Xia He looking at her a few times and knew that Xia He must like it. There was also a long blue dress embroidered with lotuses. The collar of the shirt was also embroidered with lotuses.

Xia He carefully touched the lotuses on the clothes. Putting aside the material and style of the clothes, there was a lot of effort put into the embroidery.

The lotuses looked so real. Coupled with the blue dress, it looked like she was wearing a pond on her when she walked under the sun. It was really lifelike and ingenious.

Even the embroiderers in the capital had far inferior skills when compared with Qiao Mei.