1083 Come to the Study for a While

Tan Jing walked into the courtyard dejectedly and the door slowly closed behind her. In this place, she was not valued by anyone, not even Xia Wen. She was not even as precious as a weed in this courtyard.

Everyone was already sitting at the dining table. Tan Jing was the last one to arrive and they waited until she was seated to start eating. At this moment, the atmosphere in the room was very tense. Everyone was very angry that Tan Jing had gone out on her own without informing anyone. This was such an important festive season and the entire family was gathered here, yet she still went out on her own.

Fortunately, there were only close relatives gathered in this house. If there were outsiders around, they would laugh their heads’ off at the Xia family!

Xia Wen did not look too happy. He had thought that Tan Jing would not be back, so he had treated the matter lightly. He did not expect Tan Jing to suddenly come back and ever managed to make Xu Lan angry. If Xu Lan really lost her temper, even ten Xia Wens would not be able to appease her!

“Ahem, has everyone finished eating?” Xia Mao said as he wiped his mouth.

As Xia Mao spoke, he looked at his brothers who were seated next to him. The fact was that everyone ate as fast as him. What he said was meant for Tan Jing.

Tan Jing immediately put down her bowl and chopsticks and said on tenterhooks, “I’m done…”

“Xia Wen, Tan Jing, the two of you come with me into the study.” Xia Mao stood up and patted Xu Lan’s shoulder, saying, “Ask Xia He to come along too.”

“Xiao He is still sleeping. She had stayed up all night to take care of Qiao Mei,” Xu Lan said.

“Then let her rest well. It’s not a big deal,” Xia Mao said.

Tan Jing lowered her head slightly. She just knew it. As long as it was something related to Qiao Mei, everyone would downplay any issue and not pursue it at all.

The four of them went to Qiao Mei’s study in the front yard. Qiao Mei had specially made the study a soundproof room. Even if firecrackers were being set off outside, nothing could be heard in the room. Qiao Mei had also specially designed a bell. If the people outside needed to contact the people in the study, they could pull the rope at the door to ring the bell in the room.

Xia Mao sat down on the rocking chair beside the desk and just leaned back quietly without saying anything. Qiao Mei really liked this type of wooden rocking chair, so she bought one for each room. She found it very comfortable to take a nap in the chair. Xu Lan sat at the side and made tea, not saying anything. Xia Wen and Tan Jing stood in the middle of the room, feeling lost.

After a long time, Xia Wen said, “Father.”

“Hmm, you can’t maintain your composure anymore? Have I taught you everything for nothing?” Xia Mao said.

Xia Wen chuckled and said, “I keep thinking but I can’t work out what’s going on. You’re right, I indeed can’t manage to keep my composure.”

“Tan Jing, tell us. What have you been doing recently?” Xia Mao asked as he sat up.

Tan Jing immediately panicked. She did not know what Xia Mao was referring to. Was it about her being fired from school, or about her family asking Qiao Mei for a house, or… about the matter of the child.

“Father, I just stay home and don’t even go out much. I usually just cook at home or something…” Tan Jing whispered.

Xia Mao was a man and the head of the family. It would be beneath his position to argue with a junior or say anything harsh. It was better to leave such matters to Xu Lan. After all, Tan Jing was their daughter-in-law and it would sound very harsh if he was the one who raised these issues.

“Why did you go back to the Tan family’s house so suddenly yesterday?” Xu Lan asked.

“Tan Jing suddenly felt homesick, so she rushed back and did not inform Father and Mother. She told me but I was careless and did not pass on the information.” Xia Wen decided to take on all the blame. After all, Tan Jing was still his wife.

“You don’t have to speak up for her on this matter. She knows very well what she has done,” Xu Lan said.

Tan Jing pondered carefully about whether she had been too careless in her actions. It was very likely that they found out about what she did yesterday because for the sake of convenience, she had asked the Xia family’s driver if he could send her back to the Tan family’s house.

It was unlikely that the Tan family had already told the Xia family about the matter of the child. These two elders were probably just trying to probe and find out from her what was going on. As long as she refused to admit it, the Xia family would not find out about this matter.

“My father was not feeling well, so I had to rush back,” Tan Jing said.

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