283 Antiques and Treasures

"I heard that you had made an exchange for the two sections of your backyard from the Cao family," Zhou Sheng asked.

Xia Zhe nodded and said, "Qiao Mei was the one who did it."

"This young girl is quite capable. She actually managed to get the entire house back. This has always been your grandmother's wish and now it has finally come true," Zhou Sheng said emotionally.

"It's true. If not for Qiao Mei, I don't know when we will be able to get that part of the house back," Xia Zhe said with a smile as he looked at Qiao Mei, who was busy in the kitchen.

"Kid, you're so lucky. You have to treat this girl well and not do anything to let her down. You must dote on her," Zhou Sheng said sternly.

"Yes I know, Grandpa Zhou. I will definitely treat Qiao Mei well," Xia Zhe said.

At this moment, Qiao Mei brought out a plate of low-sugar cake for Zhou Sheng.

"Grandpa Zhou, try this. I'm worried that it's not good for your health to eat too much sugar at your age. There's no sugar in this. Try it and see if it tastes good," Qiao Mei said.

Qiao Mei looked at Zhou Sheng expectantly. This was her first time making low-sugar cake. Zhou Sheng took one piece and tasted it. It was indeed not sweet, but had a nice milky fragrance.

Zhou Sheng nodded and said, "It's really delicious, and it's not sweet either. It's so fluffy and soft. Mei Mei, you're really capable!"

After saying that, Zhou Sheng was about to pick up the second piece when he realized that half of the plate was already empty. Xia Zhe had been quietly helping himself to the cakes.

"I say, you're already an adult, yet you're snatching food from an old man like me!" Zhou Sheng looked at Xia Zhe and said angrily.

Xia Zhe was stunned by the outburst. He just felt that the cake was very delicious and could not resist the temptation. He did not realize that he had wolfed down so many of them.

"Hahahahahaha. Don't worry, Grandpa Zhou. I'll make some more for you so that you'll be able to keep some at home. Whenever you're hungry after going out, you'll have something to munch on," Qiao Mei said.

"Good, good, good. Thank you for the hard work, Mei Mei," Zhou Sheng said.

"Not at all," Qiao Mei said with a smile.

"By the way, you must take note of the Cao family's movements in the coming days," Zhou Sheng whispered.

The Cao family's movements?

Qiao Mei looked at Zhou Sheng in confusion and then turned to look at Xia Zhe, but Xia Zhe was equally confused.

"In the past, your grandmother's father was a famous gambler in the capital. Although your grandmother's ancestors were very rich, your grandmother's father was quite the prodigal son," Zhou Sheng said.

Xia Zhe did not know anything about these things. His grandmother never mentioned anything about the past. Even if she happened to mention something, she never elaborated and would move on to something else.

After all, being born into a noble family was not something glorious at that time. Back in those days, his grandparents only managed to cover up this background due to their countless contributions to the country.

"Your grandmother's grandfather was a very capable man. He was a businessman and had a lot of money, to say the least. However, when it came to your grandmother's father, he was not that capable. He liked to go around buying antiques and got cheated at some point in time," Zhou Sheng said.

Xia Zhe did not care much about money, as he saw money as just a worldly possession. However, when Qiao Mei heard this, her eyes lit up.

"Young girl, did you think of something?" Zhou Sheng smiled at Qiao Mei.

"You said that grandmother's father is a prodigal son. Then where did all the antiques go? Since he had both real and fake ones, there must have been some real ones around, right?" Qiao Mei voiced her thoughts.

"Hahaha, you're indeed smart." Zhou Sheng laughed heartily.

Qiao Mei's quick-wittedness reminded him of Xia Zhe's grandmother, Wu Min. Moreover, she was also beautiful and capable. Compared with Xia Zhe's grandmother, she was not inferior in any aspects.

"You're right, he had real antiques. After he died, he split all these things into two sets, giving one set to your granduncle and the other set to your grandmother. But one day, when I visited your grandmother, I realized that everything had disappeared," Zhou Sheng said.

It was not just the decorative ornaments which had disappeared, even the furniture was gone.

When he asked Xia Zhe's grandmother what had happened, she only said that her children were sick and she had exchanged all the items for money so that she could seek medical treatment for the children.