After the Zhou family received Qiao Zijin’s phone call, they smiled scornfully. “Didn’t I tell you that she wouldn’t be able to take it? Ying Ying is already ten years old, but she’s never spent a single month alone with Ying Ying. See, it’s only been a few days and she’s already sending Ying Ying back to our house.”
Mother Zhou was definitely happy that her only granddaughter was coming back home. Zhou Ying had practically been raised by Mother Zhou herself. But what Mother Zhou could not get over was how Qiao Zijin could be so heartless as a mother. How could she make use of her own daughter to threaten the Zhou family for alimony?
Since Qiao Zijin thought that it was so easy to raise Zhou Ying, Mother Zhou would let her try it out for herself to see how normal mothers were like. Perhaps it was because she had done too much as a mother-in-law that Qiao Zijin had had such a good life and had never experienced the pain of raising a child.
Otherwise, she did not believe that Qiao Zijin would be shameless enough to threaten the Zhou family for alimony with Zhou Ying’s custody.
Hearing that his granddaughter was returning, Father Zhou was elated too. “Of course, older people are always wiser due to their wealth of experience. How could Qiao Zijin win against you in this aspect? By the time our granddaughter reaches home, it’ll be quite late. Why don’t we prepare something for her first? I’m afraid that she’ll be starving when she gets home. You know that Qiao Zijin doesn’t know how to take care of her own child since we’ve been the ones raising Ying Ying.”
“Don’t worry. After Zijin called, I went to buy Ying Ying’s favorite dishes!” Mother Zhou said proudly.
Father and Mother Zhou had made quite a big fuss over the return of their granddaughter. On the other hand, her father, Zhou Zheng, was nonchalant. “Mom, Dad, are you guys preparing for Ying Ying to follow me in the future?”
“Yes, why not? Are you unhappy about that?” Mother Zhou knew that her son was trying to find trouble. “I’m telling you that I don’t care who you get remarried to because of Qiao Zijin. But if you get remarried to a troublemaker, your dad and I will just take Ying Ying away and live as a family of three. You can live with your beloved wife. That will never change. But Ying Ying is the Zhou family’s granddaughter after all, and your dad and I raised her ourselves. Even if you don’t like her, your dad and I do.”
It was exactly because of Ying Ying that her son would have trouble getting remarried.
It was not at all strange that she would not like a woman who saw Ying Ying as a burden. Even if her son were to get remarried, Mother Zhou’s attitude would still remain unchanged. If her son were to marry a likable wife, all three generations of the Zhou family would live together happily. If needed, she would help take care of the family and raise her grandchildren. It would be a win-win situation for everyone. Living harmoniously would be the best possible scenario.
On the contrary, if Zhou Zheng married a troublemaker, she could not stop him either. If that were to happen, Zhou Zheng could just live with his wife alone. She had her husband and her granddaughter by her side. What was there to be sad about?
Mother Zhou still maintained control over most things in the Zhou family. Even the money that Father Zhou earned from his business was all kept by Mother Zhou. Zhou Zheng received a salary from the government, and thus had a stable income. His salary and benefits were even higher than average, but that was it.
Based on how quickly Zhou Zheng spent his money, it was already tough for him to take care of himself and a woman that he loved, let alone his daughter. If he wanted to live an even better life, he would have to ask for help from Father and Mother Zhou.
In the Zhou family, Zhou Zheng did not dare to offend the one who held the purse strings—Mother Zhou.
Mother Zhou had the guts to leave her son. Without her son’s care, she would even be able to live a better life. But on the other hand, Zhou Zheng did not have such confidence to be able to live comfortably without Mother Zhou’s care.
The moment Mother Zhou let out her words, Zhou Zheng’s attitude softened drastically. “Mom, don’t be angry. I haven’t even said anything. Ying Ying is my daughter after all. How can I dislike her? I am just quite worried that Ying Ying will be unhappy in our home. But most importantly, I’ll respect your decision and do according to what you say.”
“Humph!” Mother Zhou snorted scornfully. “I really don’t understand what you’re thinking. No matter how pretty that woman is, it’s already been ten years. Don’t tell me she hasn’t aged at all in these ten years! You’re already married with a daughter. Hasn’t she gotten married and given birth to a son too? Our family doesn’t despise her. In fact, we think that it will be a good match if you both get remarried to each other. But she’s despising the fact that Ying Ying lives in our house? Let me tell you. We pay for all of Ying Ying’s living expenses. She doesn’t even spend any of your money. I really don’t like her attitude!”
Even when Qiao Zijin had married into their family, she had never said anything about how money was spent in their family. Qiao Zijin married into their family, addressed her as ‘mom’, but could not care less about how she spent her money. Now, this woman had not even married into their family and addressed Mother Zhou only as ‘auntie’, yet she already saw Mother Zhou’s money as her own! How ridiculous!
In short, Mother Zhou was in a terrible mood, knowing that her son had reconciled with his ex-girlfriend.
Thankfully, she had received the call and learned that her granddaughter was returning home. Otherwise, Mother Zhou’s mood would be much worse. It was so bad that Father Zhou wanted to teach his son a lesson as a way of getting back on his wife’s behalf. Their son was someone else’s husband, but his wife would be their daughter-in-law!
One was someone else’s, while the other was their own. Father Zhou had no choice but to weigh their importance.
Father Zhou extinguished his cigarette. Now that his granddaughter was returning, he would not be able to smoke like he had in the past few days. “Zhou Zheng, I’m not trying to be old-fashioned. But with your family background, you can easily find a twenty-something-year-old young lady to get remarried to. In fact, it’s not just your mother. Even I don’t agree with you being with that woman again. Ten years ago, she was still young and beautiful, but neither your mom nor I took a fancy to her. Ten years later, she’s already gotten married and given birth to a child. She’s already old. Do you think your mom and I will suddenly take a fancy to her?”
There was no way their Zhou family could be reduced to such a state.
“Of course, your mom has said that marriage is your own business. Your wife is someone you’ll spend the rest of your life with. If you’re happy, your mom and I won’t interfere in your remarriage. The renovation of our house in the Eryang district is almost complete. When it’s done, we’ll leave it for three months before moving over with Ying Ying if you’ve really made your decision. It’s just as well. You’ll be able to enjoy your time with your wife without our disturbances. But this will be the second marriage for the both of you. There are some things I think we shouldn’t do. Just have a small wedding and get on with it. There’s no need for dowry and all that that we did with your first marriage.”
