1226 May The Heavens Strike Me Dead
Qiao Mei really liked the four children from the second son’s family. Yun Lan also made her feel very comfortable. She just felt a sense of familiarity the moment she saw them. Even though Xia You did not look at her in a friendly manner upon entering the house, she felt that Xia You and Xia He probably have similar characteristics. Both of them were the kind of people who were very straightforward and direct.

Seeing that everyone had picked up their chopsticks and started to eat, Zhou Luo picked up her liquor glass and stood up. She looked at Qiao Mei seriously and said, “Qiao Mei, my younger sister has done many bad things to you in the past but I seek your understanding on that. As her elder sister, I apologize on her behalf. I hope you can forgive her. You’re a magnanimous person, so don’t hold it against my younger sister.”

Xu Lan’s expression immediately darkened. The three siblings from the Xia family’s eldest son also looked very unhappy. Xia Wen looked at Qiao Mei worriedly. Zhou Luo was clearly forcing Qiao Mei to forgive Zhou Hua. If Qiao Mei did not agree to forgive Zhou Hua today, Zhou Luo might even find a way to accuse Qiao Mei of some wrongdoing!

Qiao Mei just sat there quietly and looked at Zhou Luo without saying anything.

“It seems that I have not drunk enough to satisfy Qiao Mei. Maybe I should do this.” Zhou Luo picked up a bottle of liquor and said to Qiao Mei, “I’ll drink this entire bottle of liquor as a gesture of apology from our family. What do you think?”

Xia Lu and Xia Yan immediately looked nervous. This was a bottle of baijiu—the strong distilled spirit unavoidable at Chinese social functions—and it was potent enough to cause serious damage to anyone who drank the entire bottle! However, it was not appropriate for them to interrupt, so they could only let Zhou Luo and Qiao Mei settle it between the two of them.

If Zhou Luo really intended to drink the entire bottle, the two brothers had decided that they would rush forward and drink it on her behalf.

“Auntie Zhou, I don’t understand what you are saying. Why would I need to forgive… Third Aunt-in-law?” Qiao Mei hesitated before she decided to address Zhou Hua as “Third Aunt-in-law”. After all, Xia Guang had not remarried and Zhou Hua had given the Xia family three grandsons. They could not be disrespectful to her just because the couple had divorced. Even if she had done something wrong, they must still remember her contributions to the Xia family.

“Back then, my sister had borrowed 50,000 dollars from you. You agreed to lend it to her, but then you suddenly changed your mind and said that you didn’t want to lend it to her anymore. It’s my sister’s fault for arguing with you and insisting to get the money, but do you think what you have done is above board?” Zhou Luo questioned.

All the grandchildren from the other family branches turned to look at Qiao Mei in unison. Qiao Mei looked away and smiled. So this was the problem. No wonder all these people seemed quite hostile to her the moment they entered the house. It turned out to be part of Zhou Hua’s scheme.

In order not to embarrass Zhou Hua and Xia Guang, Xia Mao and Xu Lan did not tell anyone the truth regarding this matter. Even when someone asked about it, they just replied in a vague way. Liu Fen also did not mention anything to her children.

In the end, this allowed Zhou Hua to take advantage of the missing information and fabricated her version of the truth, pushing all the blame to Qiao Mei. In her version, she was the person who had done nothing wrong.

“What are you smiling at? Is there anything wrong with what I said?” Zhou Luo asked with a frown.

Xia Wen looked at Zhou Luo and said, “Auntie Zhou, I think you’ve really misunderstood what happened. It’s not like what you said. Qiao Mei did provide a loan of 50,000 dollars, but it was to pay a debt for Third Aunt-in-law. The money was never meant to be given to her.”

Zhou Luo was still a little puzzled. She had never heard of Zhou Hua borrowing money from anyone. Zhou Hua did not smoke or drink. She did not spend much money, so why would she owe someone money?

Xia Wen related the whole story in detail. Only then did everyone realize the truth. It turned out that Qiao Mei was the one who had saved everyone in the Xia family and was the family’s benefactor.

Xia You now looked at Qiao Mei with admiration and fondness, but Zhou Luo still did not believe what Xia Wen said. Even if Xia Wen was telling the truth, why would Zhou Hua lie to her own family? What good did it do her to lie to them?

“Auntie Zhou, if you want to talk about forgiveness, then Third Aunt-in-law should beg Grandfather for forgiveness. After all, she did do something which violated the Xia family’s house rules. Or maybe… she needs to beg He Ning for forgiveness,” Qiao Mei said in a gentle manner.

“You! How dare you talk about your elders like this! As an elder, do I need you to teach me how to do things?” Zhou Luo said angrily.
“I dare not, but I must make things clear to Auntie Zhou. This matter has nothing to do with me from the beginning to the end. All I did was to top up the missing money. Third Aunt-in-law has not let me down in any way. I don’t know why Third Aunt-in-law would say that about me. If I have done anything wrong, then let the heavens strike me dead!” Qiao Mei daringly made a cursed oath.