Chapter 1477 Treasure
Currently, Xia Zhe was the only child left in the Xia family who was in a happy marriage. However, Xia Zhe was always out on missions in the army and was rarely at home. If someone took a fancy to Qiao Mei at this time and took advantage of the situation, or if Qiao Mei became disheartened and did not want to wait for Xia Zhe in the capital, Xu Lan might lose such a good daughter-in-law to someone else.
She had long wanted to give something to Qiao Mei but never had the chance to do so. The current moment seemed like the right time.
Xu Lan took out an exquisite box from the cabinet. When she opened the box, there were many layers of cloth and paper inside. The cloth and paper were very old and had already started to turn yellow.
"Mother, what is this? It's wrapped up so tightly," Qiao Mei asked.
"This is the bangle that my mother gave me when I got married. I heard from my mother that she had received it from her mother. Now, I'm giving this bangle to you. I hope you can take good care of it," Xu Lan said as she placed the gold bangle in Qiao Mei's hands.
This was a bangle that the Xu family had passed down to the family's daughter for generations. She was only a daughter-in-law, so how could she accept such a valuable item!
"No! No! Mother, you can't give me such a valuable thing. You can… you can give it to Elder Sister. Elder Sister is getting married soon, so isn't it the right timing to give it to her?" Qiao Mei said in a panic.
"Don't you know Xia He well? If I give this to her, she'll lose it within a few days!" Xu Lan said.
"This does sound like something she will do," Qiao Mei said helplessly.
"Alright, so I'll leave this with you. Keep it well," Xu Lan said.
Qiao Mei looked at the bangle in her hand for a long time before putting it back into the box and storing it properly. She looked at Xu Lan gratefully and said, "Thank you, Mother."
After dinner, Qiao Mei asked Xia Mao for news about Xia Zhe's latest mission. They were not allowed to contact anyone yet, but Xia Zhe should be able to come home soon. Xia Mao told Qiao Mei not to be anxious and to wait for news at home.
Qiao Mei decided not to think about the matter regarding Xia Zhe anymore and just focused on the factory. There was still some time to go before the seeds ripened. By then, she would have a big business deal to close!
Xia Mao was very efficient and it did not take long for him to help Qiao Mei obtain a lot of treasures. There were many types of jewelry. He thought that girls usually preferred things like pearls and jade stones. He had seen Xu Lan buy such things often and he felt that Qiao Mei would probably like them too.
One week later, when Qiao Mei came to visit again, there was a feast for the eyes waiting for her. As soon as she entered, she saw a mountain of jewelry in big boxes that filled the entire living room and even the corridor upstairs.
"There's so much! I like them a lot! Thank you, Father!" Qiao Mei wished she could pour out all the things in the box and lie down on them now. This was the first time she could actually have a sense of what it felt like to be rich.
Every treasured item here would be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions in the future. Anyone would be tempted by it. If she told Xia Mao and the others the future value of these things, they would probably faint!
"How… how can I move everything out! I'll move them out tonight! Yes! Let's do it this way! If I move them slowly, I'll be able to complete the move eventually!" Qiao Mei said incoherently. She was so happy that she felt dizzy.
"Look at this child. Don't worry, I've already made arrangements for the transport. The vehicle is already outside the door. Later on, there will be specialists coming to move these things to your house. They will definitely be very careful and won't leak any news to outsiders," Xia Mao said with a smile.
"Really? I just know that Father is the best!" Qiao Mei said excitedly.
Qiao Mei looked through the boxes for a long time. In the end, she chose two old-fashioned pocket watches for Xia Mao and Xia Wen and a set of red agate jewelry for Xu Lan. The red agate stone on that necklace was even bigger than a quail egg! Qiao Mei also picked out a set of imperial green jade jewelry for Xia He. The sisters from the second son's family would get a ring each. She did not intend to give anything to the third son's family, in case it caused someone to start eyeing her things.
She had only spent around 200,000 dollars on these things, which was really too little. She still had so much money to spend! She wanted to buy some raw stones. In the future, it would be a pity if she designed beautiful jewelry but did not have any precious stones to work with. She had to buy more while these things were still cheap!
She decided to set aside 100,000 dollars for the purchase. Very soon, she will need money for the factory, so she decided to park the remaining money there.