Chapter 2378: Supplements and Tonics

Xu Li rarely came back, so it made Qiao Qiang’s birthday livelier this year. In the evening, a box was delivered to the door and the deliveryman said that Madam Xu Li had requested for it to be sent here.

“Mine! It’s mine! It’s the gift I bought for the Old Master!” Xu Li called out for the deliveryman to carry the box into the house. When the box was opened, everyone present was shocked.

There were very expensive supplements and tonics inside the box. Some of the items were almost priceless and were even more precious than Qiao Mei’s ginseng!

“These are all treasures I’ve asked for over the past two years. There are three sets of everything. One set for my parents, one set for Old Master Xia and one set for Old Master Qiao,” Xu Li said.

If Qiao Mei guessed correctly, Xu Li had originally intended to keep the third set for herself. However, since she had found herself at the party today, she decided to offer the set to Qiao Qiang as a gift.

“It’s fine. My grandfather is in good health and I also have ginseng at home for him. These things are really too valuable and we can’t accept them,” Qiao Mei said.

“This is a token from me. It’s different from what you have. Please accept it. I still have a lot of stuff at home!” Xu Li said.

Before Qiao Mei could reject the gesture again, Xu Lan patted Qiao Mei’s hand and said, “Take it. Xu Li has become very rich during the past two years. If you keep rejecting her, she will be angry with you.”

“In that case… then thank you, Aunt,” Qiao Mei said with a smile.

“How obedient, how obedient! I have been out of town all this while and haven’t come back at all. So many things have happened at home. You have to tell me about everything tonight!” Xu Li said as she held on to Xu Lan.

After the banquet was over and everything cleaned up, everyone went home. Qiao Mei held onto Xia Zhe and asked, “Does Elder Brother know anything about this youngest aunt?”

“I just know that you will definitely ask about this, so I have asked Elder Brother and Elder Sister-in-law to wait for us in the study,” Xia Zhe said as he looked at Qiao Mei dotingly.

Qiao Mei immediately started skipping her way towards the study. Xia Zhe was so shocked that he quickly grabbed hold of her and said, “You forget that you’re pregnant now! You can’t make such big movements!”

“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll listen to you,” Qiao Mei said.

It was not just Xia Wen’s family in the study. Xia He was also waiting for them. Everyone was filled with curiosity about Xu Li. Back then, they were all very young and only Xia Wen was old enough to know what was going on. There were many things that only Xia Wen could remember.

“Everyone is here. Elder Brother, tell us quickly!” Xia He said anxiously.

Xu Lan and Xu Li were fraternal twins. The two of them did not look like each other, nor did they have similar personalities. One was quiet while the other was active. When Xu Li was young, she was always getting scolded. Later on, after the two of them grew up, Xu Lan’s career soared and she married well. People would purposely or unknowingly pass comments which belittled and criticized Xu Li, saying that she was inferior to Xu Lan.

Although the two sisters had a very good relationship, Xu Li came under a lot of pressure over time. She married the first available man in a fit of pique when she was only 19 years old.

In the beginning, Xu Li’s husband treated her well and the two of them were extremely blissful. A few years later, the man started gambling and lost a lot of money. At one point, the family only had about 10 dollars left.

During the winter, Xu Li still had to go out to work even when she was pregnant. At that time, it cost 100 dollars to deliver a child at the hospital. She started hiding some money behind the cabinet, saving one dollar today and five dollars tomorrow and the like. Just like that, she saved up her money over six months. When she estimated that she should have about 80 dollars, she wanted to do a count. However, when she shifted the cabinet, she was completely dumbfounded. There was not even a single cent behind the cabinet.

Her husband had taken the money and used it to gamble. Xu Li totally gave up on him. She wanted a divorce and he agreed readily. After all, he would save a lot of money if he did not have to support a newborn baby. The man also had had enough of Xu Li.

Xu Lan had allowed Xu Li to stay at her house. At that time, the Xia family’s fortunes were already on the rise and the eldest branch was doing quite well.

When her child was two years old, Xu Li did not want to stay here any longer. She brought the child with her to the south to develop her career and did not return for more than 10 years.

The next time Xia Wen saw Xu Li was when he was 15 years old. At that time, Xia He was six years old and Xia Zhe was not born yet. Xia He had already gone to Xia Xiu’s place for training and did not meet Xu Li.

“I only remember that she came back with a lot of delicious food that time. I don’t know how she made her money, but our cousin is quite nice and he looks just like our youngest aunt,” Xia Wen recalled.

“What happened after that? Why did our youngest aunt leave again?” Xia He asked.

“When that man found out that our youngest aunt was back, he asked her for custody of our cousin. That man had been beaten up badly because he couldn’t afford to pay up the money he lost in gambling and he became infertile from then on. Our cousin is the only child he can ever have in this life,” Xia Wen said.