At Xin Mansion...
Xin Qian was still brooding over her earlier encounter with Xu Cheng. She was vexed and livid at the way Xu Cheng chose to walk right past her.
'Did I ask for his family inheritance or something? What's with that darn attitude? I only wanted to meet my daughter, what's so wrong about that?'
Li Man had planned to go berserk but when she entered Xin Qian's room, the latter was already asleep or at least, it looked like she was. Li Man threw cold daggers towards Xin Qian with her eyes but Xin Qian was blissfully unaware of that as she was pretending to sleep.
It was a sleepless night for Li Man since she couldn't understand the situation at all. Just because she didn't interfere in Xin Qian's life for years didn't mean that she was not going to do it now as well. Leaving a husband was one thing but leaving a newborn baby girl behind... Sigh!
First thing in the morning, she chose to look for Xin Qian but apparently, Xin Qian had her own plans since she left the house early in the morning.
Meanwhile, Xin Qian didn't have many friends in the city except for Ye Jie's mother, He Susu whom she had known from their time together in Country A. Therefore, to vent out her frustration, Xin Qian made a visit to He Family House in the military compound.
After getting the access, when she entered the He Family House, she could clearly hear the cheerful chattering from inside.
"Hey, Xiao Qian! Come join us for breakfast," He Susu was beaming with happiness as she ushered Xin Qian inside.
"Sorry for disturbing you early in the morning." Xin Qian pressed her lips together. Seeing the lively scene before her, she realized how wrong she was to march in early in the morning.
"When did Xiao Qian become such a humble lady?" Zhu Chen joked as he saw Xin Qian standing with her head lowered.
"Stop it, Chen!" He Susu chided her own husband and took Xin Qian towards the dining table. "Have a seat, I'll bring something for you to eat."
Xin Qian looked around to find all the familiar faces. There were He Jian and his parents along with Ye Jie who was having some discussion with his father, Zhu Chen.
"Uncle Kun, drop the newspaper," she heard an unfamiliar voice making her look up. Xu Mey was holding a plate in her hand as she snatched the newspaper from He Jian's father. "Ah-Jie, stop disturbing father. Let him have breakfast in peace."
Ye Jie pouted at being reprimanded and grumbled, "Baby, dad wanted to discuss something. I didn't do anything."
Xu Mey gave him a skeptical look and said sarcastically, "Aww... My Ah-Jie is so innocent." Ye Jie nodded his head but ended up getting hit by the newspaper in Xu Mey's hand. "Father, here is your pancake." Disregarding Ye Jie's scowl, Xu Mey passed the plate of the pancake to Zhu Chen.
"I feel like someone has swapped my wife. What do you think Jian brother?" Ye Jie turned to He Jian.
"What makes you think that she's not our Xiao Mey?" He Jian asked with a faint smile on his face.
"Look at her... She was just chiding me with an ugly look and then a smile bloomed on her face as she turned to my dad. Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Another blow landed on Ye Jie's head and he turned to look at his own father. "What?"
"Stop being jealous. Even if she smiles at me, she'll still be your wife." Zhu Chen reminded him with an amused look.
"Dad, I also know that she's mine." Xu Mey was coming with other dishes from the kitchen when she heard Ye Jie's comment making her smile.
Coming to Ye Jie's side, she whispered, "Ah-Jie, what are you doing?"
Seeing her face inches away from him, Ye Jie couldn't help but press his lips against her cheek saying, "I'm flaunting my love for my wife."
"More like you're serving dog food to singles like me and Jian Ge." Azalea's groggy voice made everyone turn to look at her walking or perhaps dragging her body towards the table. Taking a seat she said, "Good morning, everyone!"
"It doesn't look like it's a good morning for you," Xu Mey said looking at the huge bags under Azalea's eyes.
"Sister-in-law, it surely isn't a good morning for me. And my brother here just made it worse by showing off his love for you." Azalea complained while rubbing her eyes to keep them open.
"What were you doing last night?" Ye Jie asked Azalea with a quirk of his brow.
"I was working on some project to help Jian Ge," Azalea answered nonchalantly.
All the eyes at the table turned to scrutinize He Jian. "She offered to help herself. I didn't ask her to do it." He Jian raised his hands in defense to clear his side of the story.
"I was bored. So, I offered to help what's so wrong with that?" Azalea frowned and darted her eyes over the feast that laid before her eyes and finally, her eyes caught sight of Xin Qian. She almost fell off of her chair. "Aunt Qian, when did you come?"
"Just a while ago." Xin Qian answered looking at Azalea's embarrassing state. Azalea tried to set her bed hair and pressed her pajamas to look a bit presentable.
Xu Mey found her behavior a bit odd. 'Since when did Zelie actually cared about her image?' She wondered.
He Susu finally brought a whole new batch of dishes for Xin Qian and said, "I made your favorite breakfast. Don't hesitate at all." Recalling something, she added, "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you..." He Susu walked up to Xu Mey's side and placing her hands on her shoulder said, "This is my daughter-in-law, Xu Mey." Seeing Xu Mey's bemused look, He Susu explained, "That's Xin Qian. She was our neighbor in Country A."
"Xiao Mey, she's Qiao's aunt as well." He Jian chimed in to give Xu Mey a clearer idea.
"Oh... Nice to meet you." Xu Mey greeted her politely with a smile and the only thing that came to Xin Qian's mind was; 'She has the same name as my daughter.'
Therefore, in return, she smiled at Xu Mey and said, "Nice to meet you too."