This stepfather must not be any good if he was the kind of person who could chase away his wife and four children to the countryside.

Her father had passed away early and her mother had to take care of her four half-siblings and a seriously ill grandfather. Her family background was not only not good, but she was also from the countryside.

Xu Lan frowned as she thought about all these. She did not know what Xia Zhe saw in the girl and how he could think that such a family background was worthy of the Xia family.

“Alright, it’s time to prepare dinner,” said Xia Mao.

Xu Lan stopped thinking about the mess as she decided she needed to think about everything at length.

Xu Lan sat on the sofa and looked at Qiao Mei silently. It was almost time for dinner. Xu Lan thought that any sensible person would know that it was time to help out.

Qiao Mei understood what Xu Lan meant. She was about to get up and walk to the kitchen to help with dinner preparation when Xia Zhe grabbed her hand.

“Hey, this bangle of yours is really beautiful. I must say that grandmother made a good choice. Let me take a closer look. I’ve never seen this bangle before,” Xia Zhe said as he held Qiao Mei’s hand.

Qiao Mei did not know what to do and turned to look at Aunt.

Xia Fang shook her head gently, indicating that Qiao Mei should not move. She was quite surprised that Xia Zhe knew what was going on though, and felt that he was quite meticulous.

Xia Fang stared at Xu Lan coldly. In the past, even when Xu Lan felt that Tan Jing’s family background was not that good, she also did not ask Tan Jing to help out in the kitchen on her first day in the house.

Why did she ask Qiao Mei to help when it was also Qiao Mei’s first visit here?

There was no precedent in the family of asking the new daughter-in-law to cook on the first day of her visit. The rules in their family were not so regimental yet.

Xu Lan turned her head in embarrassment and coughed lightly before giving Xia Zhe a fierce glare.

Xia Zhe pretended that he did not see anything. It was not as if they had no helper at home. Even during usual times, his aunt and sister-in-law only needed to assist in minor tasks. Although Qiao Mei’s culinary skills were really good, the helper also had professional skills.

Dinner was soon ready. Before everyone could get up and go to the dining table, they heard the main door open with a bang.

Everyone turned to look at the door and saw two women walking in with multiple bags in their hands.

“Oh my. Xia He, why are you back!” Xia Fang said in surprise.

Between the two women, one was fat and one was thin. One was tall and fair with her hair tied into a high ponytail and wearing a smile as warm as the sun.

The other one looked very similar to Qiao Mei in the past. She probably weighed almost 300 pounds and panted heavily when she walked.

“Of course I have to come back and take a look when my brother brings his wife back!” Xia He said to everyone with a smile.

Xia Zhe held Qiao Mei’s hand and slowly walked over to Xia He.

“Elder sister, this is my wife, Qiao Mei.” After saying that, Xia Zhe turned to Qiao Mei and said, “This is my elder sister, Xia He. You can call her elder sister as well.”

“Hello, elder sister,” Qiao Mei said with a sweet smile.

Xia He was especially happy to see such a cute and beautiful young girl with a sweet voice.

“Hello, hello, hello.”

Xia He turned to look at Xia Zhe and said, “Not bad, kid. How did you get such a beautiful wife.”

“I’ll tell you another time. Come and eat first,” Xia Zhe said.

Everyone seemed to ignore the person who came in with Xia He.

“Who is this?” Xia Fang asked.

Xia He looked at everyone awkwardly and said, “This is my husband’s sister, Kong Li.”

Xia Zhe looked at Kong Li thoughtfully and turned to look at Qiao Mei.

Qiao Mei hurriedly shook her head. She knew what Xia Zhe was thinking about and could only hope that he could quickly forget that memory.

Although the fatty in front of her was not as fat as she was back then, her facial features were already distorted by her size in a similar manner.

Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei in amusement and did not say anything.

Xia He looked at the two of them making faces at each other as if they were sharing a secret. It seemed to be something that only the two of them knew about and no one else could get involved.

“What secret are you two sharing? Don’t show off your love and affection in front of me,” Xia He said.

“Hello,” Xia Zhe and Qiao Mei said in unison to Kong Li.

Kong Li looked at Xia Zhe in embarrassment and replied shyly, “Hello…”

Seeing this, Xia He hurriedly pushed Xia Zhe and Qiao Mei to the dining table to wait for dinner to be served.