1299 Fooling Around in the Daytime
“Sure, we’ll listen to Qiao Mei,” Sun Juan said.

Qiao Mei thought about it and then said, “Pu Tao will go back to her hometown while Huang Xu remains here to work. Give everyone compensation based on the market value of the items and also return the items to everyone.”

“Why! If I return everything, then why should I give you money!” Pu Tao looked at Qiao Mei in disbelief.

“Then we can always send you to jail. My ring alone is already worth 1,000 dollars. Based on that, you have to be in jail for at least five years,” Qiao Mei threatened Pu Tao.

Pu Tao had never had to face such a serious situation before. She was so frightened that she slumped to the ground. Five years! In the past, she had heard people in the village said that jail was not a place fit for humans! She would go crazy after five years inside!

“Huang Xu! Huang Xu, you stay here! I’ll go back! I’ll go back to our hometown! You stay and earn money here!” Pu Tao said nervously as she held Huang Xu’s hand.

Huang Xu remained expressionless. There were no longer any feelings between the two of them. It had always been Huang Xu’s so-called “responsibility” that was still holding their marriage together. Unless Huang Xu thought things through himself, he would be the only one suffering.

When no one raised any objections, Xia Zhe asked Luo Yu to arrange for someone to keep an eye on Huang Xu and Pu Tao. The guard team members could only return to the capital after making sure that Pu Tao had reached her hometown.

After the matter was settled, Qiao Mei and Xia Zhe slowly made their way home. Along the way, Qiao Mei was very curious about what Xia Zhe thought about her actions just now. She had been so focused on dealing with the matter that she did not pay attention to Xia Zhe’s expression.

“Do you find me too… too domineering?” Qiao Mei asked softly.

“Why do you say that?” Xia Zhe said with a smile.

“I was so fierce just now, and I even dealt with this matter related to your brother without asking for your opinion. Don’t you think I’m a willful woman?” Qiao Mei turned around and asked Xia Zhe.

Xia Zhe came in front of Qiao Mei and squatted down to look at her. “In my eyes, no matter what kind of person you are, I will still love you. Therefore, you just need to go ahead and do whatever you want. I will always be by your side to protect you.”

These moving words made Qiao Mei blush. After being married for so long, Xia Zhe had never said anything so sweet to her. This was the first time.

She always thought that Xia Zhe was a blockhead who only knew how to do things for her and not how to say sweet nothings. She did not know that she would feel this way when she heard sweet nothings. Her heart had started to beat wildly.
“What… what are you saying in the courtyard! What if Grandfather hears you!” Qiao Mei said shyly.

“Does our female hooligan still know how to blush? What happened to the mighty Qiao Mei from back then?” Xia Zhe teased. Qiao Mei immediately thought of the first night they met.

“I see! You’re making fun of me! See if I don’t take off your clothes!” Qiao Mei said with a laugh. The two of them ran back to the room playfully. After that, moaning sounds could be heard from the room at times.

It was so fun to fool around in the daytime.

By nighttime, Qiao Mei started to have a low grade fever, scaring Xia Zhe so much that he squatted beside her and did not dare to move. Xia Fang had previously instructed him not to have any intimate behavior with Qiao Mei at this stage, but he did not manage to control himself. It was all his fault that Qiao Mei was running a fever now.

“I’d better go and get Aunt to come and take a look. Aunt will surely know what’s going on,” Xia Zhe said with heartache.

“I’m fine. Aren’t you afraid that Auntie will come and reprimand you? If she finds out why I have fallen sick, both Grandfather and Auntie will skin you alive!” Qiao Mei said.

“It’s fine even if they kill me. As long as you get better, I’ll do anything!” Xia Zhe said earnestly.

Qiao Mei held Xia Zhe’s hand and said, “I probably just caught a cold during the day. It’s not a big deal. I’ll be fine after drinking some medicinal wine. Don’t make such a big fuss.”

Xia Zhe did not sleep the entire night and just stared at Qiao Mei. He only felt at ease when Qiao Mei’s fever subsided. The two of them hugged each other and slept until noon the next day.

For the next week, Xia Zhe stuck close to Qiao Mei and took care of her meticulously. The two of them were like conjoined twins and Xia Zhe was just short of personally feeding Qiao Mei.

“It’ll be the Spring Festival in three days. Mother and I were talking about whether we should celebrate the lunar new year here in this house?” Xia Zhe asked.