When they reached the entrance of the Xia family's neighborhood, Qian'e stopped in her tracks. She looked inside for a long time and said, "I'll leave you here. Get the guard to ask the Xia family members to come down and pick you up. It's not very convenient for me to go in."
"Alright, then be careful on the way back." Qiao Mei did not force her.
Perhaps Qian'e still could not get over what happened with the Zheng family and she was still very afraid to see Zheng Peng.
Ever since Qian'e completely cut off all contact with Zheng Peng and did not even want to see him anymore, he seemed to have become a different person. He became the Zheng family's puppet and took a job arranged by his father, and even married a woman he did not like. It was Zhuang Hua who told Xia Zhe all these things.
Zheng Peng was also quite pitiful. Qiao Mei hoped that he could let go of the past soon and not torture himself or let down the people around him.
Qian'e headed back to the factory without stopping for a rest. She did not know what the situation was like after she was away for so many days. She hoped that after so many days, the people from the Zhao Family Village had already backed off.
At first, Xu Lan could not believe it when she received a call from the guard booth. It was not until she saw Qiao Mei with her own eyes that she was sure that Qiao Mei had really returned.
"Oh my! Mei Mei, you're back! Why didn't you tell me in advance! I would have asked Luo Yu to pick you up! You must be exhausted on such a hot day! Let's go home quickly!" Xu Lan said excitedly.
Xu Lan's hair was about to turn white from waiting at home. She even wished she could pack her luggage and join them in the army, but army rules stipulated that the men could not bring their mothers along.
Now that Qiao Mei was back, she wanted to be with Qiao Mei and the children all the time and to spend more time with the children. Otherwise, she did not know when she would see them again once they left.
"Mei Mei, do you still feel uncomfortable and want to throw up nowadays?" Xu Lan asked.
"I'm much better now. I can eat anything," Qiao Mei said.
"Then I'll make your favorite dishes tonight. I'll change to your favorite dishes!" Xu Lan hurriedly asked the helper to buy more vegetables and to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to apply for some special ingredients. She would make all of Qiao Mei's favorite foods!
"Mother, how have you and Father been recently?" Qiao Mei asked.
She had heard from Xia Zhe that Xu Lan had been feeling unwell recently and kept coughing at night. It should not be a big issue though. Xu Lan would go for a physical examination every year and was in good health.
"Xia Zhe must have told you something. I've already told Xia He not to tell the two of you these things, but she's so disobedient! Ever since she married Deng Fan, she has become more and more unruly. When she comes back later, I'll give her a good talking to," Xu Lan said.
"Is Elder Sister also coming back today?" Qiao Mei asked in surprise.
"That's right. We originally planned to visit you at the family compound tomorrow! Who knows that you have come back first!" Xu Lan said happily.
"During this period of time, we have given Xia Fan and Xia Xing their nicknames, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. From now on, we can call them by their nicknames!" Qiao Mei said.
"It's nice! That's a good name! You're so thoughtful. Let me tell you about our neighbors. Ever since you became a military spouse, they've been asking me about the children. They also miss Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan!" Xu Lan said.
The children of the residents in this neighborhood were all about the same age as Xia Zhe. The people who lived here were all old cadres. Most of their children were working hard elsewhere and did not come home often, so they did not get to see their grandchildren often.
They liked having Xia Fan and Xia Xing here and wanted to see them often. It was as if they were looking at their own children.
Speaking of which, it was strange. Although Xia Xing had a bad temper, she was much livelier than Xia Fan. Whenever she saw someone, she would reach out for a hug and would also babble some unintelligible words.
This child seemed to be able to tell who was nice to her and who was not. To put it bluntly, she could be considered a wily one.
"Then the three of us will stay here for a few more days!" Qiao Mei said with a smile.
"Xia Wen won't be back for another three days. He'll probably be able to make it in time to see you. Some time ago, he even called home to complain about why the visit is not planned for a later date so that he can see these two children too," Xu Lan said.
Qiao Mei did not expect Xia Wen to be returning so early from his business trip. In that case, it would not be her fault for pa.s.sing the factory issue to Xia Wen. She had thought that she would need to solve the problem on her own this time, but she did not expect that she would be able to slack off!