Xia Wen only stopped eating when he felt that his stomach was about to burst. He had already eaten enough at Qiao Mei's place. However, this pork was simply too delicious and he really could not stop eating.
"Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to rest," Xia Wen said.
Tan Bai cleared his throat and said solemnly, "Son-in-law, did your family buy two new houses recently? How's your sister handling the renovations?"
Xia Wen immediately understood why the Tan family had been swarming at their house like flies for so many days. It turned out that they were all eyeing the houses.
However, this was something that the Xia family had not told anyone. Other than the two owners who sold the houses, only the Xia family members knew about it. Xia Wen turned around and glanced at Tan Jing.
Tan Jing lowered her head and did not dare to look Xia Wen in the eyes. She was not the one who leaked the news, but she did not deny it. She was simply too ashamed to deny anything.
Back then, she had been very dissatisfied with Xia Zhe monopolizing Wu Min's front part of the courtyard house. With all this talk about Xia Zhe being the Xia family's son, but the fact was that Xia Wen was actually the eldest son of the Xia family! In terms of seniority, Xia Wen should have priority!
Now that they had also taken back ownership of the back part of the courtyard house, Qiao Mei was the only one living in such a big courtyard house. Even if she had children in the future, the back part of the courtyard house would still be left to Qiao Qiang alone. That did not seem to be the best use for the house.
Although Qiao Mei was the owner of the back part of the courtyard house, she was Tan Jing's sister-in-law. She should rent it to them!
"You're really well-informed. Our family did buy two courtyard houses, but they don't belong to my younger sister. My sister is just helping with the renovation works," Xia Wen said.
When everyone heard this news, their eyes lit up. Since these two houses did not belong to Xia He, then it must mean that they solely belonged to Xia Wen!
It appeared that the Xia family still knew how to compensate their eldest son, Xia Wen. For so many years, Xia Wen had done his best for the Xia family and it was only right for him to get these two houses!
If there were only two people living in a big courtyard house, there was definitely still a lot of space available. They could move in together and it could be considered as them helping Xia Wen's family to liven up the living space!
"Oh my, then you have two courtyard houses now! I said before that Xia Wen is still valued in the Xia family! My eldest son-in-law is still the best!" Tan Bo said with a smile.
Zhou Nan, the youngest son-in-law who was coaxing his child, felt extremely awkward. Xia Wen was the one who helped him find his current job. It was already common for Tan Bo to praise Xia Wen and mock Zhou Nan for being incompetent, but he still found it uncomfortable every time he heard it.
Tan Yue did not notice Zhou Nan's discomfort at all. She felt that what Tan Bo said was the truth. She always felt that Zhou Nan was inferior to Xia Wen and that Tan Jing had married well! If she was the one who married into the Xia family, she would definitely live a better life than she did now!
"These two houses are not mine either. It's my sister-in-law who bought them," Xia Wen explained.
"That woman from the countryside? Why does she have so much money? That's not what Tan Jing told us!" Jiang Yi turned to look at Tan Jing and said, "Didn't you tell us that one of these two houses belongs to you!"
Everyone fell silent. Seeing Tan Jing being berated by Jiang Yi, Xia Wen still felt sorry for her. He looked at Tan Bai and asked, "Although my sister-in-law is from the countryside, her home there is a treasured piece of land with good feng shui. She dug up some ginseng and managed to make some money selling them. That's how she has money to buy the houses."
"Oh my! Why does she need so many houses! She can't live in all of them!" Jiang Yi complained.
Xia Wen had thought about this issue previously and had even considered whether he should ask Qiao Mei not to buy so many houses because she would be targeted by people with ulterior motives. However, on second thought, Qiao Mei was pregnant with two children. Even if the children had to stay by Qiao Mei's side when they were young, when they grew up and got married in the future, she could give each child a house.
He just did not expect that before any Xia family member kicked up any fuss, the Tan family members had already come knocking on the door.
Since the soft approach did not work, he would use harsh words.
"Xiao Wen, you also know how big our family is. Now that Tan Yue and our second son, Tan Bao, have children, it's so noisy every day. The two of us older folks really can't take it anymore. Do you think you can find a place for them to stay?" Tan Bai said nicely.
"This is not a difficult issue. Let's see what kind of price he can afford. Recently, I've been helping my sister-in-law to look for houses so I know of many places that are very good and I can recommend them to you," Xia Wen said.