268 Monsters and Demons

"Really? It's great that your grandfather will be coming here!" Xia Jun said.

What? She wanted to bring her own family over to live with her so quickly after she married into their family?

"What plans do you have for the future? Do you intend to let her become a military spouse?" Xu Lan said as soon as she entered.

"Mother, this is Qiao Mei." Xia Zhe frowned as he looked at Xu Lan. Then, he turned to Qiao Mei and said, "Mei Mei, come here. This is my mother."

"Hello, mother," Qiao Mei said timidly.

"Mmm," Xu Lan replied coldly.

After that, Xia Zhe introduced Qiao Mei to Xia Mao, Xia Wen, Tan Jing as well as the family's helper, Auntie Feng.

Xia Mao had inherited all of Xia Jun's strong points, but also the way that Xia Jun worked meticulously with a long face.

Currently, Xia Mao was looking at Qiao Mei with a gentle expression on his face. In the face of the cute and lively Qiao Mei, he felt the same as Xia Jun and could not bring himself to be solemn.

Xia Zhe's eldest brother, Xia Wen, was also a good-looking man. Xia Zhe looked like Xia Mao, manly and gallant. Xia Wen was more like Xu Lan, gentle and refined.

Tan Jing was Xia Wen's wife. She used to be a model, but she liked to dress older than her age. For some reason, she did not like to smile and had a cold demeanor.

Xia Zhe had told Qiao Mei earlier that Tan Jing and Xia Wen had been married for 10 years and did not have any children. It had always been a sore point for Tan Jing, and she was bothered by it even though no one said anything about the issue.

Xia Zhe told Qiao Mei not to hang around Tan Jing for no reason and not to mention anything related to children in front of her.

Qiao Mei looked at Xu Lan. Even though she was in her fifties, she was still charming and very beautiful. She used to be the mainstay of the military art troupe, and it seemed befitting of her.

Qiao Mei just did not know what she had done wrong. The moment Xu Lan entered, Qiao Mei could clearly feel that her mother-in-law did not like her very much.

Qiao Mei had also heard from her grandfather that Xu Lan thought highly of herself. Xu Lan had always intended for Zheng Yuan from the Zheng family to be her daughter-in-law, but she did not expect Qiao Mei to mess up her plans.

This caused Xu Lan to particularly dislike Qiao Mei. She felt that there was no need for her to take special care of Qiao Mei in the same manner as her biological daughter.

After Qiao Mei greeted everyone politely, Xia Jun went upstairs to get Qiao Mei's first-meeting gift.

Xia Mao had prepared his gift as soon as he received the phone call. He took out a red packet and handed it to Qiao Mei. Xu Lan also reluctantly took out a red packet from her bag.

"These are a token from us," said Xia Mao.

"Thank you, father and mother!" Qiao Mei said obediently.

Xia Wen took out a tiger head pillow and a red packet.

"This is a little token from your sister-in-law and I. You can take it," Xia Wen said gently.

"Thank you, elder brother and sister-in-law!" Qiao Mei did not expect a red packet from him.

Tan Jing looked at Xia Wen in shock. Xia Wen had not discussed this with her before he prepared these gifts.

It was one thing to give a red packet, given that it was something that an elder brother and sister-in-law should give. However, he even gave them a tiger head pillow that was meant for a child to use!

Tan Jing looked at Qiao Mei's stomach and felt even more unbalanced. She wondered about the extent of her husband's desire for children, given that he had actually given another woman a pillow meant for children.

However, she could not blame others. She could only blame herself for being a disappointment. Tan Jing turned around silently and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Tan Jing thought that she was very discreet and no one could see what she did, but in fact, Qiao Mei saw what happened.

It was hard to blame Tan Jing for feeling that it was unfair. Back when Xia Wen married her, apart from the three turns and one sound, she received a betrothal gift of 500 dollars.

When it came to Qiao Mei, the betrothal gift was 2,000 dollars. Back then, when Xia Mao and Xu Lan first met Tan Jing, they only gave her a first-meeting gift of 100 dollars.

Looking at the thickness of the red packets they gave Qiao Mei, the amount was definitely more than 100 dollars.

Did they consider how she would feel about such unfairness?

Did the Xia family still acknowledge her presence?

A mere village girl actually received more respect than her.

This entire matter was not the fault of Xia Mao and Xu Lan. From the wedding to the betrothal gifts to the three turns and one sound, Xia Zhe had paid for everything himself.

The Xia family did not contribute a single cent, so they naturally did not feel that there was any unfair treatment.

Xia Mao had felt that it was not appropriate. He asked Xia Fang to contact Xia Zhe and say that he wanted to give Xia Zhe the money for the betrothal gift so that the gift was from the Xia family.

In the end, his proposal was strongly rejected by Xu Lan.