1424 An Unrelated Party

Ever since Qiao Mei went all out to save Xia Mao, plus the fact that she had saved the Xia family's reputation yesterday, everyone was full of admiration for Qiao Mei and no one dared to say the word "no" to her.

As long as it was something which Qiao Mei wanted, the Xia family would find a way to give it to her even if they had to go bankrupt.

Xia He prodded the sleeping Qiao Mei and said, "Qiao Mei, time to wake up! If you continue to sleep, it will be nighttime soon! It'll be hard to answer to Grandfather! Everyone is already there and waiting for us!"

"Mmm… Does Grandfather really need me there? Splitting up the family is something that only requires the people from our parents' generation, not us. As grandchildren, why do we need to be there?" Qiao Mei sat on the bed and said aggrievedly.

"I don't know either. Grandfather says that we all have to go. Anyone who lives in the capital has to be there," Xia He said honestly.

Qiao Mei forced herself to perk up. Although Xia Jun doted on her, it was not right for her to go against all the family rules. She must still be filial to Xia Jun and could not let the family elder be the one to wait for her.

Xia Wen and the two women went to the meeting at Xia Jun's place together. Xia Jun was pulling a long face when Qiao Mei's group got there, the last of the attendees to arrive. Xia Mao and the rest had been trying to persuade Xia Jun not to split up the family since the morning and had come up with all kinds of reasons. They were just short of getting a fortune teller to do a divination and state that it would be inauspicious for the family to split up!

The moment Xia Jun saw Qiao Mei, he was overjoyed. He smiled and said, "Qiao Mei, you're here! Come over quickly! I've been waiting for you for so long!"

"Grandfather, I overslept. I'm really sorry for making everyone wait for so long," Qiao Mei said.

"It's fine, it's fine! You can sleep as long as you want! If there's really no other way, I'll just hold the meeting tomorrow. There's no hurry!" Seeing that Qiao Mei wanted to sit at the end of the table, Xia Jun immediately said, "Come! Sit beside me! Don't sit there, otherwise I won't be able to talk to you!"

Qiao Mei went over to Xia Jun's side obediently and sat down. Xia He smiled as she looked at Qiao Mei. Those who did not know better would think that Qiao Mei was Xia Jun's biological granddaughter! However, she was not jealous at all. If Xia Zhe had not married Qiao Mei and made Qiao Mei her sister-in-law, she might even have asked Qiao Mei to become her sister!

It did not matter to her if everyone in the family treated Qiao Mei well. On the contrary, if anyone said anything bad about Qiao Mei, she would definitely not let that person off easily.

"Oh my, Old Master Xia is really fond of Qiao Mei. We've been waiting here all morning for you. It's really difficult to make an appointment with a person of such importance!" Zhou Luo mocked.

She should not be in attendance at a meeting regarding the splitting up of the Xia family. She was neither a member of the Xia family nor a daughter-in-law who had married into the Xia family. How could an outsider participate in the Xia family's meeting?

However, no one could persuade Zhou Luo to leave, and it was not as if they could ask someone to chase her away with a big stick, so they could only arrange for a seat for her. She was here to see whether Xia Jun was going to split up the family assets fairly and equitably, and to make sure that Xia Lu and Xia Yan were not shortchanged.

"That's right, Auntie Zhou. Our Qiao Mei has to take care of two children! Can't you see that she's been so tired and has lost weight over the past two days? It's really tough for her to have given birth to two children at such a young age. She's only a little late today. You shouldn't mind, right?" Xia He then slapped her thigh in frustration and said, "Oh my, how can I have forgotten that you don't have any children of your own. You won't know how hard it is. But it's alright, I can brief you."

The family members of the eldest and second sons lowered their heads and pursed their lips as they smiled. After hanging around Qiao Mei's side for a long time, Xia He had become even more sharp-tongued and could even say things that many of them did not dare to say. In this house, probably only Qiao Mei and Xia He could subdue this vicious woman, Zhou Luo!

"You make it sound like you've given birth before. Don't tell me you got a divorce because you can't have children," Zhou Luo said sarcastically.

Xia He was so angry that her face flushed red and she was speechless for a moment. Was it her fault that she did not have children? It was because Kong Lu did not go home at all back then! How could she have the chance to have children? Should she just drag someone from the streets back to her house?

"That's because my elder sister is very busy and her presence is needed in so many performances around the country! Auntie Zhou, you should go out and ask around, then you'll know the number of people who can't manage to get a ticket to watch my elder sister's dance performances. Sigh, she's definitely not as idle as Auntie Zhou who has the time to take care of our Xia family's two grandsons. It's such an admirable feat," Qiao Mei said with a smile.