406 Staying for a Meal

"What exactly are these flowers that manage to catch your eye?" Xia Wen walked over and carefully looked at the pots of flowers. These were all common flowers that one could find everywhere, the type that anyone could grow by simply watering them every day. Xu Lan was usually not at home, so she would not have any flowers and plants that needed a lot of care.

He Ning was well-known in the capital for not being able to keep flowers and plants alive. He was as fussy about flowers as he was about people, so it was strange that he was interested in these ordinary flowers and plants.

"Hmph, these few pots are azaleas, those few pots are peonies, and these are jasmine and those are bush lilies. Are you able to recognize what kind of flowers they are?" He Ning looked at Xia Wen mockingly.

Xia Wen did not take it to heart. He really did not understand such things. He knew that the jasmine was only newly bought last month to replace the previous pot of flowers that died. However, now that he observed the flowers and plants carefully, they looked to be growing much better than before.

Was it Second Aunt-in-law or Third Aunt-in-law who took such good care of these flowers? After all, they often came over so it must be due to their efforts.

"Then... look at this..." Before Xia Wen could finish speaking, Qiao Mei walked out of the kitchen with a plate of fish.

"Dinner is ready. Everyone, come and eat!" As she spoke, Qiao Mei turned towards the balcony and blinked. Xia Wen immediately understood what she meant.

Actually, she had finished cooking a while ago. She knew that He Ning had designs on the flowers and plants at home, so she was just waiting for Xia Wen to speak before she came out to serve dinner.

She already knew about He Ning using floral fragrance to treat his illness. In the morning, He Ning had reacted strangely when he was at the door. At first, she did not pay much attention to it, but now that she saw He Ning being especially interested in the flowers at their house, she understood why.

It was because Qiao Mei had a special fragrance on her body.

Previously, Qiao Mei did not even know that there was such a smell on her. It was only after Xia Zhe talked about it every day and even licked and bit her non-stop yesterday that she knew.

He Ning thought that the smell was the fragrance of flowers and that was why he wanted to take away all the flowers in their house. However, the source of the smell was actually Qiao Mei, so it was useless even if he emptied the house of all the plants. Qiao Mei felt angry and upset every time she thought about how He Ning had ruined the courtyard house, so she did not want He Ning to have an easy time.

It was not impossible for him to take all the flowers if he wanted, but he had to pay a price for that. He could not take them for free.

As Qiao Mei brought out all the dishes, she asked Xia Wen, "Elder brother, are you talking about the flowers at home? I also took a fancy to them a couple of days ago. Mother promised to let me move them over to the courtyard house after the repairs are done."

"Ah, then these flowers are yours. It's not for me to make the decision on this matter," Xia Wen said as he glanced at He Ning.

He did not believe what Qiao Mei said about Xu Lan giving the flowers to her. Xu Lan had not even said more than three sentences to Qiao Mei in the past few days, so he was very sure they did not speak about the flowers.

Besides, he knew Xu Lan's temper very well. Previously, Xu Lan had made it very clear that she did not like Qiao Mei. It was not possible for her to have suddenly accepted Qiao Mei and even given her gifts.

Could there be something special about these flowers? Qiao Mei was not a petty person. There must be some kind of secret if she did not want to give away a few pots of ordinary flowers.

He Ning sat at one end of the dining table silently. He took his seat in such a natural manner that the Xia family was stunned.

When Huo Gao came in with the money bag, he was so shocked to see it that he accidentally dropped the money bag on the ground. The bag containing 100,000 dollars in cash was very heavy.

When Qiao Mei brought out the last dish from the kitchen, she was also stunned to see He Ning sitting at the table. She thought that this He Ning was really thick-skinned.

"I wonder if Miss Qiao will be willing to sell those flowers? I like those flowers very much," He Ning said to Qiao Mei with a smile.

"I'm not willing to sell. If the price is too low, I'll feel that it's a loss to me. If the price is too high, someone may lodge a report against me. It's really not worth the efforts, so I'm not selling," Qiao Mei said.

The market price of these few pots of ordinary flowers was less than 10 dollars in total. If Qiao Mei asked He Ning for more than 100 dollars, he may get someone to report her and say that the Xia family was indirectly taking bribes. If that happened, it would be difficult for anyone of them to get out of it.

"Then what do you want?" He Ning asked.

He could tell that Qiao Mei was willing to do a sale, but since she did not want money, then what did she want? Did she want something else or did she have something that she needed done?

Qiao Mei smiled at He Ning. It was just so easy to communicate with smart people. He knew what she wanted based on just a few words from her. It was something to be expected of the scheming Third Master He.