“Ah, Xia Zhe, he’s married. Xia Zhe’s wife is already expecting. Don’t tell me you still want to persuade me to be with him,” Zheng Yuan said.
“No, it’s just that I heard Mrs. He talking about it just now and I was curious, so I came to ask you,” Mrs. Zheng said.
Zheng Yuan knew that her mother had always been hanging out with the circle of rich wives in the capital.
The so-called circle of rich wives referred to a group of full-time wives from the rich and influential local families, who had nothing to do at home and would gather together for a meal and have tea, or to go shopping, doing floral arrangements and going for beauty treatments.
It was just like how a few women in the village would sit down and chat together. The nature of it was similar, but the slight difference was that these women could find out quickly what was happening with the other influential families. The information they garnered could be quite helpful for their own families, be it for families who were business partners connected through marriages or families who needed topics for their casual chats at home.
The Zheng family had always been indifferent to the affairs of the other families, even matters related to the Xia family whom they were very close to. However, Mrs. Zheng had always wanted to gain a foothold among these full-time wives and make the others envious of her, as she was blinded by her own vanity.
“Don’t go around saying these things. It’s better that you don’t get involved in other people’s family matters,” Zheng Yuan said helplessly.
1
“I know, I know. I’m just curious, so I came to ask you. I won’t tell others. Alright, I’m hanging up now.” Mrs. Zheng hung up the phone in a hurry, checked her appearance, and walked back into the house.
When everyone saw Mrs. Zheng came back, they looked at her curiously. One of the women could hardly wait and she asked, “Mrs. Zheng, I wonder if you managed to find out anything.”
Mrs. Zheng was not in a hurry to say anything. Everyone was waiting for her to speak, and given that it was rare for these women to ask her for a favor, she wanted to put on some airs.
“I say, Mrs. Zheng, don’t keep us in suspense. We’re all so anxious to know,” Li Xiu said.
“Ahem, I found out just now. Xia Zhe is indeed married and his wife is pregnant.” After Mrs. Zheng finished speaking, everyone was shocked.
“Sigh! This Xia Zhe doesn’t seem like such a person. He got married without saying anything!” one of the women said.
“In my opinion, this matter isn’t that simple. But I’m curious about whose daughter married into the Xia family?” another woman said.
Everyone started discussing among themselves but Li Xiu just listened quietly. It had been a long time since her daughter, He Mei, had set her heart on marrying Xia Zhe.
In the past, many good families had proposed marriage to He Mei, but she never agreed to any of them. She even wanted to run away from home because she was so intent on marrying Xia Zhe. Now that Xia Zhe had gotten married quietly, there was going to be a huge commotion when He Mei heard about it.
3
“Hey, Mrs. Zheng, I’m curious how your Zheng Yuan knew about this. Has she met Xia Zhe’s wife?” one of the women asked curiously.
“Our Yuan Yuan didn’t tell me anything about that, but the entire matter is true,” Mrs. Zheng put a mask on her face and said with her eyes closed.
Li Xiu was unable to just sit around here and do nothing. She hid her anxiety and said, “Everyone, I still have something on at home tonight, so I won’t be staying here with you any longer. I will cover all the expenses today. I’m really sorry to have to go.”
“Oh my, Mrs. He, what are you saying!”
“Then go back quickly. Be careful on the road!”
“Let’s meet another day, Mrs. He!”
Li Xiu hurriedly got into her car and asked the driver to drive home quickly. Looking at the time, He Mei would be home from work soon, so she had to go back and talk to her about this.
When she reached home, Li Xiu asked her helper to prepare dinner first. She went upstairs and called her good friends one by one to try and find out more information.
In the end, she received confirmation that this matter was true.
Xia Zhe was really married!
He Mei ran home as soon as she got off work. The moment she entered the house, she shouted, “Mom! Are you back!”
“Hey! Don’t shout. If your father sees it, he’ll say that you have no manners,” Li Xiu said sternly.
He Mei was so anxious that she did not care about that. She asked anxiously, “Is Xia Zhe really married?”
Li Xiu knew that she could not hide it from He Mei. Even if she did not say it now, He Mei would still find out later.