342 Having Lunch Together

Zhou Hua looked at Xia He and said, "Really? But my son is so outstanding!"

Xia He laughed and said, "Oh, that's right. Brother Xing is the best. For a secretary from a small county to suddenly become a secretary in the capital? Brother Xing must be really capable."

Xia Zhe, who was in the kitchen, managed to hear snippets of the conversation. It used to be that Xia Xing was doing the best out of the few of them and his third uncle, Xia Guang, was also doing quite well. He wondered what had happened that caused Third Aunt-in-law to become like this. It seemed that he needed to give Third Uncle a call to find out what exactly happened and not let Third Aunt-in-law cause any trouble with her behavior.

Qiao Mei sat at the side and enjoyed the breeze. She smiled in satisfaction as she watched Xia Zhe busy himself in the kitchen. It would be great if he could continue to do this in the future.

It did not take long for lunch to be ready. Everyone praised Qiao Mei's culinary skills for being better than the chefs from the hotels. Even the usually picky Zhou Hua did not say anything harsh.

Only Xia Fang and Xia He knew that the dishes on the table were all prepared by Xia Zhe. There was still a huge difference between his cooking and Qiao Mei's cooking. However, he was still very talented to be able to cook such tasty food not long after he learned how to cook.

Xia He felt emotional as she ate. She lamented about how all good men were taken and she did not know how much longer she would have to suffer.

After the meal, Xia Zhe gave Xia He a secret signal and forcefully brought Qiao Mei upstairs to take a rest. This was a tacit understanding between the two siblings since they were young. Only the two of them understood the secret code.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to come up to rest just like that. I haven't washed the dishes and cleaned the table yet! It'll be terrible if Second Aunt-in-law sees it," Qiao Mei said softly.

Xia Zhe stood behind her and asked her to hurry upstairs so that she would not get caught by Second Aunt-in-law while halfway up the stairs. He whispered to Qiao Mei, "You're the one who cooked, so don't worry about the rest. You're a pregnant woman. How can you do so much work? Go back and rest."

The two of them did not sleep much last night. Not long after they fell asleep, the Cao family's side of the house collapsed and then, so many people came early in the morning. They did not manage to get much sleep at all.

Qiao Mei obediently packed her clothes and washed up before lying on the small bed.

Fortunately, the bed was placed against the wall. This way, Qiao Mei would not fall down even if she lay on her side. Xia Zhe could still lie flat in the space next to her.

Qiao Mei patted the spot beside her. She looked at Xia Zhe with her big eyes and put on a pitiful expression. He hesitated for three seconds before giving up the struggle and lying down beside her.

No man could resist the charms of a beautiful girl.. He was just going to take an afternoon nap and not anything else.

If Zhou Hua saw this, she would definitely gossip about them again. With so many people outside, it was definitely not proper for the two of them to take an afternoon nap together in the middle of the day.

Xia Zhe thought that he would just take a short nap, but as soon as he lay down, he regretted it. Qiao Mei had just washed up and smelled nice and sweet. Being enveloped by such a nice fragrance, his heart beat faster and his breathing quickened, but he had to control his desire and not let his hands wander around.

Xia Zhe took a deep breath and gently hugged Qiao Mei so as to suppress his desire. He buried his head in the crook of Qiao Mei's neck and said, "Go to sleep..."

Xia Zhe and Qiao Mei did not manage to rest for very long before they were woken up by Xia He. Xia Wen had contacted an architecture professor and his students to discuss the repairs of the courtyard house. Given that they were the ones asking for help, Xia Zhe did not want to make them wait, so he got up and prepared to go over to the courtyard house.

"I want to go too," Qiao Mei said to Xia Zhe groggily.

Now that Xia Fang and Xia He had gone off, there was only Xu Lan, Liu Fen and Zhou Hua at home. If Qiao Mei stayed here, it would be like sending a sheep into the tiger's den. He felt that it would be safer to bring her along.

Xia Zhe helped Qiao Mei change her clothes and brought her out with him. As soon as they reached the courtyard house, they saw the Cao family in the midst of moving out.

Cao Da had gone to look for He Ning again. With the He family's help, they quickly found a place to stay. They came back here to see if there was anything useful that they could salvage. Although it looked like everything had been destroyed, the Cao family still did not give up hope that they might find some valuable item that remained intact.