Qiao Mei reached out to remove the package from the pigeon's leg but the pigeon hopped a few times and made its way to the other side to avoid her. She thought that the pigeon was scared because it was not familiar with her, so she reached out to try again. However, she did not manage to get it even after a few tries.
"Give it to me!" Qiao Mei pouted and lost her temper at the carrier pigeon. It also raised its head at her in a fit of pique.
The little pigeon seemed to be protesting the fact that Qiao Mei had left it waiting out the window for so long early in the morning. Did she think that pigeons did not feel cold!
"Are... are you doing this on purpose?" Qiao Mei asked softly.
The pigeon turned its head to one side. It seemed that this pigeon had emotions too! It even raised the leg with the package to mock Qiao Mei, causing her to stomp her feet in anger. She was actually being played by a pigeon so early in the morning!
Qiao Mei reached out again to try and take the package off the pigeon's leg. However, she had a trick up her sleeve this time round. She planned to create a diversion on one side and then capture the pigeon from the opposite direction!
As expected, the pigeon fell into her trap. Qiao Mei instantly grabbed it and quickly closed the window. Her hands held on tightly to the pigeon to prevent it from flying around.
"I'll use you as an ingredient today! Dish of braised pigeon!" Qiao Mei said seriously as she looked at the pigeon.
The pigeon was so frightened that it did not move. It closed its eyes and pretended to be dead as Qiao Mei held it.
"Hey... hey! Don't tell me you're dead... I haven't even done anything to you!" Qiao Mei said cautiously.
She gently placed the pigeon on the desk. The pigeon lay stiffly on the desk and did not dare to move. Qiao Mei thought that she had strangled it to death because she had grabbed it with too much strength!
Qiao Mei hurriedly activated her X-ray vision to check the pigeon's internal organs. Everything was intact. Only then did Qiao Mei realize that this little fellow was just pretending to be dead! She did not expect the little pigeon to be so smart.
Qiao Mei removed the package from the pigeon's leg. It was a note with a phone number written on it. Before she did anything, she asked Sister Feng to retrieve the old birdcage from the storeroom.
Back then, when she saw Zhou Sheng walking around the park every day with a birdcage, she also bought one for Qiao Qiang. Unexpectedly, Qiao Qiang was completely disinterested in such things and even released the birds which Qiao Mei bought for him.
She did not want to let this pigeon go back for the time being. She wanted to keep it here for a period of time and let it have a taste of what she was capable of!
Then, she went to the convenience store at the entrance of the alley to make the phone call and a man answered on the other end.
"You must be Xia Zhe's wife," the man on the other end of the phone said.
"Yes, I want to ask you for a favor," Qiao Mei said tactfully.
"I'll find some time to come and look for you. We'll talk about it then." With that, the man hung up. Qiao Mei paid the shopkeeper and returned home.
When she arrived at the study, she found Xia He playing with the pigeon. Qiao Mei smiled and said, "Why are you visiting the bird in my room?"
"I heard from Sister Feng that there's a very smart bird which actually managed to trick our Qiao Mei. I'm too curious about what kind of bird it is, so I'm here to take a look. This little fellow has quite a temper! I tried to feed it a lot of things but it didn't want to eat anything. Do you think it's sick?" Xia He said.
"This is called refusing to surrender. If we put it into Xia Zhe's troop, it will definitely be a good soldier!" Qiao Mei said angrily.
"Hahahahaha! That's an interesting way to describe it. It will definitely eat when it's hungry. Let's go. Auntie has made a lot of delicious food for us. She cooked today!" Xia He said.
"Did something good happen? My mother hasn't cooked for a long time. What can she be happier about other than her business?" Qiao Mei held Xia He's arm as they walked towards the backyard. The entire family was seated and Qian'e was also at the dining table, waiting for the two of them.
The entire table was filled with Qiao Mei's favorite dishes. Qiao Mei looked around in confusion but did not see anything strange, such as a big box or a gift box.
It was not the new year or any other festive season. What was going on?
"What... what's with all this?" Qiao Mei asked.
"It's nothing. I just feel that we haven't had a meal together in a long time," Li Gui said.
Qiao Mei nodded in a stilted manner. After the family finished the meal awkwardly, Qiao Mei felt that there was definitely something strange behind Li Gui doing this, but she could not put her finger on it. Could it be that the Zhao family had come looking for trouble again? Did she not make it clear enough to Zhao Fei the last time?