Chapter 1529 Sisters-in-law
The military base was likely very strict about who can enter and exit the area. Even if they bought furniture from the capital, what if they were not allowed to transport it in?
"I took a look just now. The road is wide enough for a big truck. However, do we need to get an entry pass? Are vehicles from outside allowed to enter this area?" Qiao Mei asked softly.
"Leave these issues to me. You just need to tell Xia He what you want her to buy," Xia Zhe said with a smile as he patted Qiao Mei's head.
Qiao Mei was about to take a look around the courtyard when she spotted a few women not far away, walking towards them in a group. There were four of them but only three held baskets full of vegetables. The last woman had very few items in her basket. It was a really interesting sight.
They were all of different ages. The oldest woman should be in her 40s while two were in their 30s. The woman with almost nothing in the basket should be around 25 years old. Even the youngest among them was still older than Qiao Mei.
"Oh! I heard from my husband that someone is moving in near us soon but I don't know where exactly. They have asked for a single-story house!" one of the older women said.
"A single-story house? It's strange that they want to live in a single-story house rather than an apartment," another woman said.
When they saw Qiao Mei and Xia Zhe, they stopped in their tracks. Qiao Mei immediately noticed that the baskets in their hands did not look store-bought, but more like something they had made themselves.
Based on Xia Zhe's rank, they should be the ones greeting Qiao Mei. However, based on age, it was only proper for her to greet them first and address them as sisters-in-law since they were the wives of Xia Zhe's brothers-in-arms.
"Hello, sisters-in-law. I'm a newcomer here. My name is Qiao Mei and this is my husband, Xia Zhe. Please take good care of me in the future!" Qiao Mei said with a smile.
The women did not immediately respond. They sized Qiao Mei up, noting her fair skin and beautiful face. When Qiao Mei and Xia Zhe stood together, they looked like a match made in heaven. However, it did not matter if a man was good-looking or not. If he was not capable, he was still useless!
It was a different story for women though. When a woman was good-looking, she would make other women envious! This was particularly true for someone as good-looking as Qiao Mei! Those women felt that Qiao Mei, wearing a white dress at the moment, was an indecent woman! She was exposing her fair-skinned calves! She must be trying to seduce men! Also, she did not even bother to wrap a piece of cloth around that ample bosom of hers to flatten it!
As they sized up Qiao Mei, she was also sizing them up. They were dressed like villagers and spoke with a local accent. None of these really matter. What Qiao Mei cared about the most was the way they were looking at her.
They were all women and she could immediately tell what they were thinking. Qiao Mei could not be bothered with them. As long as they did not cause trouble for her, it was not a big deal.
"Hello," they answered coldly. The oldest woman gave the youngest woman a push and said, "Song Zhi! Go! Harvest all the vegetables in the courtyard!"
Song Zhi was the name of the woman who had almost nothing in her basket. She was so skinny that all her bones were all protruding out. When that woman pushed her just now, she almost fell down.
Qiao Mei was not a busybody. She had only just arrived and did not know anything about the situation. If she offered help rashly, she would cause trouble for Xia Zhe. On the other hand, Xia Zhe also understood that it was not convenient for a man like him to interfere in the conflicts between women.
Song Zhi walked silently to the vegetable patch at the side to harvest the vegetables. When Qiao Mei entered earlier, she did not even notice that there was a vegetable patch there.
"Sister Qiao, I hope you don't mind. We noticed that the land around here has been left untouched for a long time. It's such a waste to leave it unused, so each of our family occupied a courtyard to grow some vegetables. We'll harvest everything in the next two days, but these vegetables are still ours. We'll return the place to you once we're done," the oldest woman said.
"Sure thing. I hope you can get it done as soon as possible. I'm a clumsy person and might accidentally touch something. It'll be hard to explain if there's something missing or spoiled," Qiao Mei said with a smile.
The oldest woman frowned. She did not expect this little girl to be so sharp-tongued at such a young age and even know how to talk back! It looked like this girl was not an easy person to get along with.
"Sure, I'll remember that," said the oldest woman.