Qiao Anxia tightened the grip on her phone. After hesitating slightly, she asked, "Qiao Qiao, are you in a bad mood?"
Qiao Anhao seemed slightly puzzled. "No."
"Oh." After ensuring that there wasn't anything weird in her tone, she dismissed her suspicions. She said with a smile, "That's good, I have a meeting soon, talk to you in a bit."
"Right, Sis, goodbye."
"Goodbye." When Qiao Anxia said that, her fingers trembled slightly, and she said , "Qiao Qiao."
"Yea?"
Qiao Anxia wanted to be honest, but somehow, she couldn't seem to do it. After a long moment of hesitation, she swallowed her words. In a chirpy voice, she reminded as though nothing had happened, "Qiao Qiao, tomorrow 8 pm. Don't forget!"
After Lu Jinnian had left, Qiao Anhao used the payment she got from "Alluring Times" to buy an apartment in the city center. Even though it wasn't big, it was sufficient.
In the past four months, she had visited her aunt and uncle at the Qiao family several times but had never step foot into the Xu family house.
Even though Lu Jinnian had control over the Xu Enterprise, the Xu family and Qiao family would still gather together for meals, even though Han Ruchu no longer had control over the enterprise. Every time they gathered, they would invite Qiao Anhao, but she never once turned up, dismissing them with an abundance of random reasons.
But on Han Ruchu's birthday, she went.
The Xu family now was no longer as powerful as before, so Han Ruchu's birthday party was no longer as grand.
It was just a simple dinner with both the Qiao and Xu families.
Qiao Anhao arrived the last. When she reached the house, all the dishes were already served.
When the Xu family housekeeper saw her, she immediately shouted into the house, "Mrs. Xu, Miss Xiao Qiao is here."
Han Ruchu quickly walked over to the entrance. When she saw Qiao Anhao, she had on the same warm smile as before. "Qiao Qiao, you're finally here! Everyone has been waiting."
Qiao Anhao stared at her for about two seconds before passing her gift over, smiling sweetly. " Auntie Xu, happy birthday."
"You're too kind, even getting me a gift." Han Ruchu looked pleasantly surprised at the gift. After giving it another look, she passed it to the housekeeper. Turning to Qiao Anhao, she led her into the house.
Everyone had gathered and the meal was set.
The housekeeper had even opened two bottles of red wine, pouring everyone a glass.
They chatted as they had their meal, the mood and atmosphere warm and cosy. Qiao Anhao didn't say or eat much.
Once the dinner was over, the housekeeper reentered the dinning room with a cake.
After lighting the candles, Qiao Anxia began singing a birthday song. Han Ruchu blew the candles and accepted everyone's greetings before cutting the cake. Just then, Qiao Anhao who had been silent all this while spoke up.
"Auntie Xu, do you still have the swallow nests you gave me previously? I have a sudden craving."
Han Ruchu and the housekeeper froze momentarily.
Qiao Anhao kept an innocent smile on her face as she added, "Auntie Xu, where did you get that swallow's nest? They're known to be good for health, but the one's I bought afterwards didn't seem to have the same calming effect as the ones you gave me."