CHAPTER 498: CHAPTER 500 XIAO MEI RAN AWAY

Xia Xiao now made clothes leveraging the light of rebirth, knowing the popular styles; otherwise, with her rusty skills, she wouldn’t have made it.

Thus, Xia Xiao went to the garment factory and, being a designer, she didn’t need to go to work there every day—she just had to submit her designs on time.

But this made Xia Xiao genuinely busy since, after all, she was studying two majors.

Although biting off more than one can chew isn’t advised, Xia Xiao had the foundation of two lifetimes and a better memory in this one. With Shitou’s help in historical archaeology, she wasn’t really at her wit’s end.

Still, even though it was tiring, Xia Xiao’s life was incredibly fulfilling. This weekend, with no school, she was struck by inspiration and stayed up late to draft her designs, which is why she encountered Zheng Xianghong awake when she went to the bathroom at four in the morning and told her not to wake her up in the morning.

Zheng Xianghong nagged Xia Xiao a bit, saying staying up late was bad for her health, but didn’t disturb her and kept the children from bothering her, so Xia Xiao ended up sleeping in late.

Gao Jiaxing came back at ten and saw Xia Xiao asleep. After Zheng Xianghong mentioned Xia Xiao had been busy lately, he refrained from disturbing her.

By noon, however, Xia Xiao hadn’t woken up, and by half-past twelve, Gao Jiaxing couldn’t help but wake her up. If she kept on sleeping, she would miss breakfast and lunch and end up starving.

"Brother Gao, you’re back," Xia Xiao said groggily.

"I heard from Mom you stayed up late. That’s not good for your health," Gao Jiaxing picked up Xia Xiao and gave her bottom a couple of pats as punishment, really too naughty. When he wasn’t home, Xia Xiao had learned to stay up late.

Heh, Xia Xiao felt a bit guilty, "No, I just got up to go to the bathroom."

"Don’t wear yourself out," Gao Jiaxing tenderly touched Xia Xiao’s face with his and looked at the design sketches on the table with affection, "You’ve lost weight recently. You can put off working at the garment factory for now and focus on your studies. You can work after you graduate."

Gao Jiaxing felt that he could provide for Xia Xiao now, and he didn’t want her to overwork herself, not to mention she was studying two majors and working as a designer at the garment factory. It was fortunate the children had their grandparents to take care of them; otherwise, Xia Xiao couldn’t manage.

Xia Xiao nestled in Gao Jiaxing’s arms, "It’ll get better after these few years. The design pressure at the garment factory isn’t huge. I don’t need to go there to work, I just have to submit the designs on time. The two majors were hard at the start, but now it’s the second semester. It’s not as difficult as the beginner phase."

Xia Xiao took up archaeology because of Shitou, promising to do something for him, and naturally, she had to make good on that promise. Only by studying archaeology could she later travel around.

As for jewelry and fashion design, Xia Xiao purely enjoyed it,

"Just don’t let yourself get too tired. Take good care of your health," Gao Jiaxing said while covering Xia Xiao’s belly, "Hungry, right? I’ll check the kitchen for some porridge and bring you a bowl."

"I’ll go," Xia Xiao said, standing up.

Gao Jiaxing gently stroked Xia Xiao’s head, "You go brush your teeth and wash your face."

After Gao Jiaxing left, Xia Xiao did her hair in a casual tie and went to brush her teeth and wash her face.

"Mommy," the children gathered around.

Xia Xiao smiled at them, "Have you eaten?"

"We ate," the children chorused.

Feiyang and Feiyue were eight, Feiyi was three, and Feiteng and Spirit were just one and could already walk.

Gao Jiaxing brought out the porridge and dishes and ate with Xia Xiao. Feiyang and Feiyue went off to play, while Feiyi, Feiteng, and Feiling gathered around Xia Xiao. They weren’t hungry initially, but watching Xia Xiao eat made them want some too.

Zheng Xianghong generally didn’t feed her grandchildren until they were full, only about seventy to eighty percent, so upon seeing their eager eyes, Xia Xiao immediately smiled.

Gao Jiaxing said, "If you want to eat, sit properly. You’re such a big child now, still clinging to your mother." Of course, he was addressing Feiyi, and then he picked up the twins and brought them by his side.

Feiyi pursed her lips unhappily and leaned closer to Xia Xiao, clinging to her even more.

Xia Xiao patted Feiyi and told Gao Jiaxing, "Brother Gao, they’ve eaten enough. You go ahead and eat. Just occasionally feeding them a spoonful or two is fine."

After speaking, Xia Xiao scooped some porridge and fed it to Feiyi, who happily ate it up.

"Mommy’s the best." Feiyi flashed Xia Xiao a row of pearly white teeth. This child was the clingiest to Xia Xiao, possibly because she was born in the middle and feared being neglected. Feiyi seemed to be the one with the least sense of security among the children.

Now as a mother, Xia Xiao truly understood the saying that all fingers are of different lengths, but each is equally important, like the flesh on the palm and the back of the hand. Although all the children were hers and she loved each one, with lively twins above and the adorable younger dragon-phoenix twins below, it was indeed easy to overlook Feiyi in the middle.

But as they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Feiyi was especially fond of snuggling and clinging to Xia Xiao.

Whereas Feiyang and Feiyue, being older, were able to play by themselves. Once they became familiar with their surroundings, they would soon run off out of sight.

Naturally, the two youngest ones were even more clingy. At first, they didn’t call out for "Daddy" or "Mommy," but would plead to be held in their arms.

"There’s a telegram for the Gao Guoqiang family." Suddenly, a voice called out from the door.

Zheng Xianghong hurriedly went out to meet the caller and quickly brought back a telegram. Gao Jiaxing took it and frowned immediately. Zheng Xianghong asked, "What’s wrong? Who sent the telegram?"

"It’s from Fang Hui. It says Xiao Mei rejected a marriage proposal and got beaten by Feng Zhiguang until she had to be hospitalized. She encountered Tang Jiao but didn’t ask the Fangs for help and ran away from the hospital instead."

As Gao Jiaxing finished speaking, Zheng Xianghong gasped in shock, and Xia Xiao anxiously said, "Without a residence permit or a letter of introduction, where could she run off to?"

This was nothing like the future, where you could simply go out if you had money, or with just an ID card and a cell phone.

Zheng Xianghong was furious. "To be beaten into the hospital... how ruthless must the Feng family be."

Gao Guoqiang frowned and said, "I’ll go back for a bit."

"Alright, I’ll contact some people there and ask them to search," Gao Jiaxing said, his eyebrows deeply knitted together.

Xia Xiao truly felt that the Feng family was a constant worry. Of course, more than blaming the Feng family, she found Gao Yongfang to be the most blameworthy.

The news of Xiao Mei’s disappearance cast a gloom over everyone. Xia Xiao quickly finished her porridge and urged Gao Jiaxing to eat a bit more. Once Gao Jiaxing left, Xia Xiao cleared the table.

Gao Jiaxing was busy reaching out to relatives and friends in Jing County to search for Xiao Mei, but to no avail. Everyone was deeply worried.

At the Feng family’s, anger was directed at Gao Yongfang because Xiao Mei’s escape had thwarted their plans to exchange her marriage for benefits, resulting in a nuisance even to their superiors.

Not knowing whether Xiao Mei was dead or alive, Gao Yongfang spent her days in tears. Both Gao Chunfang and Gao Lifang, having received the news, came to visit in person. This time, Gao Yongfang was genuinely panicked.

When Xiao Mei was around, Gao Yongfang didn’t seem to care much. But with Xiao Mei gone, she was frightened, her heart aching for her daughter, wondering how she would stand a chance in the Feng family without her daughter.