Chapter 1678 Old-fashioned
"Go back now. In the future, I'll only contact you if it's something really important. Otherwise, I'll discuss everything else with Qian'e and the others," Xia Wen said with a smile.
Qiao Mei went home happily but to Xu Lan's house. She did not bring the children with her as the journeys back and forth were very tiring. Qiao Mei had already asked Da Zhuang and the team to stand guard at the main door and also monitor the children's every move. She was quite sure that nothing would happen to them.
Nowadays, even if it was a dog at Qiao Mei's door, Da Zhuang would want to investigate its background. As what people like to say… One would rather do too much! It was better than doing too little!
For being so vigilant, Qiao Mei had even given them bonus payments! There were not many people who were as loyal as them.
"Why are you here? Didn't I ask Eldest Brother not to tell you? What exactly is he thinking!" Xia He grabbed hold of Qiao Mei and muttered softly.
"We have relatives at home and Xia Zhe isn't in the capital. It won't be good if I don't come back. Besides, it's not like she's a ferocious beast that everyone has to hide from," Qiao Mei said hesitantly.
"Good grief! What do you know! This eldest maternal aunt of ours is very difficult to deal with! She definitely has ulterior motives for coming over this time. She never visits unless she needs something. Just wait and see!" Xia He said disdainfully.
"Harder to deal with than Third Aunt-in-law?" Qiao Mei asked.
"Pfft, Third Aunt-in-law is just 'a piece of cake' in front of her!" Xia He said mockingly.
Xia He was right. Xu Ju's family had indeed come to ask the Xia family for help. The next morning, the Xia family prepared breakfast and waited for Xu Ju's family to arrive. However, when there was no sign of them even at noon, Xia He became really impatient.
"Are they coming or not? I'm starving!" Xia He said.
"Let's wait a little longer. Perhaps they are delayed by something on the way," Xu Lan explained.
"Really? The roads in the capital are so smooth. What kind of delay can there be? I think they clearly just want to keep us waiting! I don't care! I want to eat now! Sister Wan Wen! Can you serve the food now!" Xia He said unhappily.
At this moment, there was a voice outside the door.
"Which rude girl is so unruly? She wants to eat even though I'm not here yet?" Xu Ju said arrogantly.
Xia He rolled her eyes in disdain and whispered, "Who's the one who's rude and unruly? She still puts on airs when she's a guest at someone else's house. She's already three to four hours late, yet she doesn't even know how to apologize."
Xu Ju had brought her two daughters with her. One was called Xu Jiao and the other was called Xu Man. As Xu Ju's husband had married into the Xu family, the children had taken her surname.
Xu Jiao was dressed in loud colors and she liked bright red and purple the most. She was dressed in an old-fashioned manner although she was only in her teens. Those who did not know better would think that she was the sister of Xu Ju and Xu Lan!
Xu Man was dressed more appropriately for her age, but the quality of her clothes looked very rough. She looked like she was wearing someone else's old clothes. It seemed that Xu Man was being bullied at home.
Xu Ju slowly looked around at the Xia family members before her gaze finally landed on Qiao Mei and she said, "Oh? So this is the third son's country bumpkin wife from the countryside. She doesn't look like much and can't even compare with my Xu Jiao. Younger sister, your taste is really bad. If my Xu Jiao had married Xia Zhe back then, that would be such a match made in heaven!"
Qiao Mei sat there quietly and looked at Xu Ju. This was the first time she had heard someone say that she was average-looking and she felt a little curious about this person. Xia He, on the other hand, was furious.
Xu Ju had wanted to marry Xu Jiao off to Xia Zhe for a long time. Ever since Xu Jiao was born, Xu Ju would talk to Xu Lan about this matter on and off. She had always wanted to finalize the marriage between Xu Jiao and Xia Zhe. Fortunately, Xia Jun and Qiao Qiang had already arranged the marriage for the two kids very early on. Otherwise, Xia Zhe might really have fallen into Xu Jiao's hands!
Xu Lan might run the Xia family with an iron fist, but she was very soft-hearted when it came to her maternal family. It was as if the Xu family had bewitched Xu Lan and she would agree to everything they asked for.
No matter how hard Xia Wen and Xia Mao tried to dissuade her, it was useless. Xu Lan would not listen to her children at all.
The Xu family had a total of four children. Xu Lan was the second child and she had two younger brothers. In the past, the Xu family was not well-off and they all relied on Xu Lan to support them. After Xu Lan and Xia Mao got married, she continued to contribute a lot of money to her maternal family. That was how her siblings could afford to get married.