1172: Treasured Item

Treasured Item

"Oh! I remember now. Xia Mao had told me about this too! How despicable. We haven't even gone to look for them yet, but here they are. Xiao Luo, you can let them come in," Xu Lan said as she continued sewing the blanket.1

Luo Yu brought Zhong Ye and Zhong Wan into the living room. When Xu Lan saw Zhong Wan, she furrowed her brows. That pink gown looked especially eye-catching. To outsiders, their family was still in mourning! It was unheard of for anyone to wear such bright colors when paying a visit to a household that was still in mourning. Was this supposed to be a slap on their faces?

"Sister-in-law, long time no see," Zhong Ye said obsequiously.

Xu Lan nodded slightly and did not even stop sewing the blanket. She smiled at Zhong Ye and said, "Don't say that. I wonder why you're at my house today?"

"We heard that Brother Xia and Xia Zhe had personally captured your enemies, so we're here to congratulate you!" Zhong Ye held up the gifts in his hand. When Xu Lan took a quick glance from the corner of her eye, she could already tell that these things came from shady sources.

The military gave out a limited amount of abalones and even the Xia family, at their level, was not entitled to them. It was only recently after Xia Mao was promoted that they received one small box of abalones during the new year. Such a big box was definitely not from a legitimate source.

It was even more so for the other box. Deer antler wine was something that could not be obtained easily. One had to have special connections to get that!

Zhong Ye had brought along these things to show that he thought highly of the Xia family and had something to discuss with them. If Zhong Ye came alone, then Xu Lan could leave Xia Mao to handle him. She did not understand the way men beat around the bush when they spoke. However, given that Zhong Ye had brought Zhong Wan along, it was a different matter.

Everyone knew that Zhong Wan fancied Xia Zhe. Back then, when she found out that he had gotten married, she even threatened to hang herself! The whole issue had made Zhong Ye very unhappy.

"We can't accept such valuable items. You should bring them back," Xu Lan said.

"Sister-in-law, don't say that. I just want to give all the good things to your family. These are nothing impressive. Please accept them," Zhong Ye said politely.

Although he spoke in this manner, he actually looked down on Xu Lan. He thought that a woman who came from a small family was naturally very short-sighted. She did not even know how to accept such good things. In the past, when Zhong Ye was not at home and people came to curry favor with the Zhong family, Zhong Wan would accept the gifts on his behalf. If the items were not valuable, Zhong Wan would give them to the helpers without a look. If those were nice items, she would tell Zhong Ye to take good care of the gifters.

To those people, rather than asking Zhong Ye for help, it felt more like asking Zhong Wan for help. Furthermore, Zhong Wan was not interested in ordinary things!

"Oh, look at me. I'm so busy that I haven't offered you a seat. Come and sit down." Xu Lan quickly called out to Luo Yu and asked him to bring over two stools.

Zhong Ye and Zhong Wan were about to go over to the sofa to sit down and they froze on the spot to hear that. It appeared that she was treating them as outsiders. The sofa was so big but she did not want them to sit on it, choosing to sideline them instead. The meaning could not be more obvious.

"Are you sewing blankets for the babies? It's hard on you to have to make it yourself," Zhong Ye said awkwardly. Xu Lan ignored him. For Zhong Wan's sake, he had no choice but to try and start a conversation. How could a man like him find any topics in common with a bunch of women? It was really too difficult.

"That's right. A handmade item is definitely better than a store-bought one. I also feel more at ease if I make it myself. This must be your daughter. She looks so cute. I wonder if you know how to make this?" Xu Lan asked.

"Me? I don't know how to do these things. It's so tiring. Any helper can do it!" Zhong Wan said disdainfully.

Xu Lan frowned again. This child was just born pretty. If she sat there motionlessly, she still looked fairly nice, but the moment she spoke, her words were very unpleasant to hear.

"Is that so?" Xu Lan sneered.

No matter how stupid Zhong Wan was, she knew that she had said something wrong and quickly looked to Zhong Ye for help. He immediately tried to salvage the situation and said, "I have spoiled this child. She doesn't need to lift a finger at home and doesn't know how to do anything! However, my Wan'er is especially good at educating children. She had gone to university."

Xia He almost wanted to confront Zhong Ye. Xu Lan secretly patted Xia He's hand to calm her down. If they read between the lines of his last sentence, he was mocking Qiao Mei for being uncultured!

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