925 The Heart of the Issue



"Your second brother isn't the only one in your family who has taken money from my father. Your parents and your eldest brother have also taken a lot of money. I've already paid my father back. I just didn't tell you anything."

There were many other things that Xia Wen did not want to mention. It would not be good to expose everything. There were so many such incidents that he might not even remember all of them.

Tan Jing sat down limply next to the bed. She actually did not intend to quarrel with Xia Wen. This was the first time in her many years of marriage that she had kicked up a fuss like this and it was all because of Qiao Mei.

Rather than blaming it on Qiao Mei, it would be more accurate to say that it was her own jealousy at work. She was jealous that everyone in the Xia family doted on Qiao Mei after Qiao Mei married into the family. She was jealous that Qiao Mei got pregnant so quickly and was even having a pair of twins! She felt that if Qiao Mei gave birth to two boys, then her status in the Xia family would become even lower.

"That money… my family will pay it back! They will return the money to us!" Tan Jing stammered.

Even as Tan Jing spoke, she did not believe what she was saying. In the years since she had been married, the Tan family had taken more than 10,000 dollars from her and the Xia family. Her family members were either jobless or had jobs but could barely pay for their own families. How could they have any extra money to pay back what they took?

Xia Wen actually did not care even if all the money was a lost cause. He looked at Tan Jing earnestly and said, "If your parents and brothers still need a house, I can make the arrangements for them. They just need to pay the rent every month. However, Qiao Mei's house is out of the question."

Tan Jing still could not understand why Xia Wen would not allow the Tan family to stay at Qiao Mei's place. It was not as if they did not want to pay rent. Qiao Mei was not using that house at the moment, so why was he making things so difficult for them? Moreover, they were all relatives. It would be good to stay close to each other. Liu Fen always stayed over at Xu Lan's house and did not go back to her own house. If Xu Lan could specially set aside a room for Liu Fen, then why was it that Qiao Mei could not do something similar?

"Why can't we stay at Qiao Mei's house? She has so many houses, does it even matter to her? I thought we're supposed to help one another? Why is it that you need to help Qiao Mei, but Qiao Mei can't help our family! What kind of logic is this!" Tan Jing shouted.

Xia Wen smiled mockingly and said, "How is Qiao Mei related to the Tan family? Besides, if your family really intends to pay the rent on time, do you think Qiao Mei will reject you? Also, is that really what you think?"

Xia Wen immediately guessed what Tan Jing was thinking. In the past, she had indeed thought of taking Qiao Mei's courtyard house for herself, but that was because she did not understand why Xia Zhe should be the one to get their grandmother's house. Xia Wen was the eldest grandson of the Xia family, so why should the youngest Xia Zhe get it? She just could not accept it.

It would be fairer for everyone to get one room and for all of them to live in the courtyard house together. She did not even know if she would ever see the day when Xia Wen became successful in life!

Previously, before Xia Zhe married Qiao Mei, Tan Jing had instigated Xu Lan to redistribute the ownership of the courtyard house that Wu Min left behind. Actually, she could tell that Xu Lan was also tempted to move into that big courtyard house herself, but Xia Fang guarded the house zealously. No matter how hard Tan Jing tried, Xia Fang would not budge an inch at all and she only cared about keeping the courtyard house for Xia Zhe.

She even hired two guards to watch over Xia Zhe's house, worried that Xu Lan would be persuaded by Tan Jing to take an ax and break the lock. Fortunately, Xu Lan was not stupid enough to listen to Tan Jing.

"What… what else can I think! My parents call me every day to rush me and I'm so annoyed! What can I do if they only want to stay at Qiao Mei's place? I just want to solve this issue quickly!" Tan Jing said irritably.

"There's no room for discussion on this matter. I've already given you a solution. You can settle the rest of the issue yourself. The Xia family won't be helping the Tan family so freely anymore. Tell your parents to come and look for us if they need anything. Don't go and look for the rest of my family members," Xia Wen said coldly.

Tan Jing looked at Xia Wen in disbelief. In the past, no matter how unreasonable the Tan family's requests were, Xia Wen would think of a way to help. Now, he was simply ignoring them.

What did this mean… Could it be that Xia Wen wanted a divorce?

"You… but aren't we a family?" Tan Jing said as she looked at Xia Wen in fear.