The original bulky handphone also became useless after a while. After a few years, the smaller portable mobile phones would become available. At that time, she could buy one for everyone.
They could make do with pagers first. It would be more convenient for everyone.
Xia Wen did not stay idle. He asked the chauffeur to help him buy two bottles of liquor and two cartons of cigarettes. After work, he went to the factory director, Director Tan's house to pay a visit and settle the matter that Qiao Mei mentioned.
As soon as Xia Wen entered the neighborhood, he became the focus of everyone's attention. Someone who had a chauffeur was definitely not a nobody.
"Whose son is this? I don't seem to have any impression of him. He looks so presentable," an elderly female neighbor said.
"Look at the cigarettes and liquor that he's holding. That's all good stuff! My son-in-law brought us a bottle before. It's very expensive!" another older female neighbor said as she pointed at the things in Xia Wen's hand.
Although she seemed to be talking about Xia Wen, she was actually telling everyone that their family also received this kind of liquor before and that their status was not any inferior to this young man.
The people who lived in this neighborhood usually sat around and chatted about these things, about which family had visitors or had received something good or had done something disgraceful. Otherwise, what else could retired people like them do every day?
Xia Wen headed towards Director Tan's house in a familiar manner and knocked lightly on the door.
When Director Tan opened the door and saw that it was Xia Wen, she welcomed him warmly into the house and even took a look behind him.
"Why are you here! I haven't prepared anything at home! Isn't Xiao Jing here with you?" Director Tan asked.
Director Tan was Tan Jing's aunt and her name was Tan Juan. She was the only person in the Tan family who was cultured and also the only clear-headed person. A large part of the reason why Tan Jing could go to school was because of Tan Juan's support. Without Tan Juan, Tan Jing would not be able to be where she was now.
It was also Tan Juan who helped Qiao Yu to get into the factory. Otherwise, this task would have needed a lot more effort.
After Xia Wen put down the gifts, he said, "She's been busy recently and is now sick from exhaustion. She's resting at home and can't come. I'm thinking that it's been a long time since I last came by to see you, so I have brought you a small gift. I don't know if you like it."
It was actually not wrong to say that Tan Jing was sick. During this period of time, she had been sulky and depressed after Qiao Mei came back. In addition, the Tan family kept urging Tan Jing to hurry up and settle the issue with the house, but Xia Wen ignored this matter and did not help her at all. Instead, he took Qiao Mei's side and spoke up for her.
Tan Jing fell sick from all the anxiety and stress. If she could not work out the issues on her own, she would probably continue to feel sick. The angst would end up being harmful to her health.
"Don't say that! Of course I like it! There's no need to bring anything next time. What's the point of spending all that money? My place should be like a home to you as well, don't stand on ceremony with me. I'll call your uncle now and ask him to buy some groceries," Tan Juan said.
Xia Wen sat on the sofa and said, "I'll eat whatever you're eating tonight. We're family, so there's no need to do too much."
Even if he said that, the food she had at home was all the leftovers from breakfast. It would not look presentable to serve that.
The current Xia Wen was no longer the ordinary university professor from back then. He was now a high-ranking official who was in charge of the economic development of the entire capital! To put it bluntly, he was the God of Fortune for anyone who was in business. If anyone had any problems, they would definitely go and ask Xia Wen for help.
It seemed that the Xia family was finally letting Xia Wen develop his career in politics. Tan Juan must build a good relationship with Xia Wen and not cause trouble for him with trivial matters, like those other people from the Tan family.
"Aunt, how's the person whom I ask you to take care of?" Xia Wen asked.
Of course Tan Juan remembered who he was talking about. Tan Jing had previously told her that the person was Xia Zhe's mistress and also Qiao Mei's aunt! She had been so shocked when she heard that.
These were not things that one should speak about casually. Tan Jing was also too muddle-headed. If such a thing happened to her own family, she would never say a word about it even if she was beaten to death. However, Tan Jing had told her a lot of the Xia family's scandals that day. In reality, all this information was just figments of Tan Jing's own imagination!
Tan Juan knew that the Xia family was one she could not afford to offend. She kept her mouth shut and did not say anything. She only said that this person was Qiao Mei's relatives and pretended not to know anything else.