Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Thinking about it in this way, the burden in Qiao Nan’s heart was completely gone and her whole being felt liberated.
Qiao Nan had never expected that her act of self-liberation would turn into such a thing in Li Dawei’s words. Especially after seeing how aggrieved Li Dawei looked, Qiao Nan thought that it was funny and that she had watched a free show.
Because of shock, Li Dawei’s jaw hung open and his jaw bone had gotten stuck. “Wh-what are you saying? You’re taking me as a joke!”
Waiting for Deng Wenchang to make a mistake? He would have to wait for his entire lifetime, and even then, Deng Wenchang would probably never commit such a grave error even up until his retirement. Qiao Nan had stepped down voluntary even after the rumors had been proven to be false. Qiao Nan’s assumptions did not hold true. He would never be able to see such a day come. Qiao Nan’s words were clearly to mock him.
“All right, what I said doesn’t matter. What’s important is that no one has forgotten what you said. By the way, Li Dawei, before you ran into my office, did you think about my current position?” She was not sure if Li Dawei knew that this could actually mean a promotion for her behind the scenes.
If Li Dawei did not understand that, then she would have to apologize. She was not his teacher and she was not ready to explain it to Li Dawei. “If you have nothing else, please leave. After all, not everyone is as free as you are.” Qiao Nan patted the huge pile of documents on her desk, hinting that she wanted to get on with her work.
Deng Wenchang exited Qiao Nan’s office in a trance. It was as though he had just lost his soul. Now that Qiao Nan had reminded him of this, Deng Wenchang had suddenly realized that Qiao Nan was indeed no longer a minister, but her position would not be any lower than a minister’s!
Qiao Nan’s power had not lessened, but her position was no longer as jarring as before. Th-this was no demotion. This was clearly a promotion! And a promotion into a protected position!
What he had said earlier was about to become the greatest joke of the year!
He had failed in finding an ally in Qiao Nan, and he had failed badly. In the end, Li Dawei thought that he had lost all his dignity in front of Qiao Nan. He would no longer keep struggling in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With a pale face, he sullenly packed his things and moved them away from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to his new department.
With Li Dawei gone, the whole Ministry of Foreign Affairs department erupted in cheers. There had only been one such annoying person left in the whole department.
Now that Li Dawei had been transferred out, the people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs no longer placed their attention on Li Dawei. Instead, they worked even harder for the betterment of the department. But less than a few days later, news of Li Dawei still ended up circulating within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This time, Li Dawei had completely left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Even though Li Dawei was extremely reluctant, the Li family had limited ability and could not send Li Dawei back into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, in these past few years, the Li family had already tried paving the way for Li Dawei several times.
In the end, not only had Li Dawei not been able to repay the Li family for the efforts, but all the Li family’s efforts had also gone to waste. After Li Dawei was kicked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, many family members of the Li family were so infuriated that they could not even eat. The Li family decided to make one last effort to help Li Dawei to see if it was still possible.
After learning that it was ‘not possible’, the Li family was not disappointed at Li Dawei, but rather, enraged. Without a doubt, the Li family had abandoned Li Dawei. If Li Dawei wanted to make any progress in his career in the future, he would have to rely on his own efforts. He would never be able to ride on the laurels of his family anymore.
Being kicked out of his favorite Ministry of Foreign Affairs was already a huge blow to Li Dawei. Subsequently, he was even abandoned by his family because their family could no longer hold their heads up high among their relatives. He had become a negative example among his relatives of the same age and had been the target of their mockery. In the past, Li Dawei had always been ‘that family’s child who had performed exceedingly well’.
Now that the situation was reversed, how could that proud and arrogant Li Dawei accept such a difference? How could he accept the envious gazes of his relatives turning into mocking gazes? Once his negative emotions accumulated to a certain point, Li Dawei did not dare to do anything to the Li family, but he would do something to other people.
In the end, Xu Xinming, who had created the forum in Li Dawei’s name during Qiao Nan’s most sensitive period, became Li Dawei’s target to release his pent-up anger.
As a result, it was not just the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but even the departments that were nearer to them all knew that Li Dawei and Xu Xinming had gotten into a fight and that it had been a fierce one. As civil servants, they had even fought at their workplaces of all places. They disregarded the core principles of law and discipline, damaging the image of civil servants.
Well, once they fought, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei completely ruined their reputations. In the past, they had simply been exiled to the borders, but with this fight, where the two of them were going became the most extreme border of all borders. But no matter what kind of ‘border’ they were sent to within the central government, it was still a good place. A position in the ‘border’ of a small place would really be considered an exile.
In short, the two of them were transferred out from the central government and into other smaller cities nearby to take care of warehouses.
Now that matters had been resolved in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, what Qiao Nan was more concerned about was the matter with Qiao Zijin. Qiao Nan had thought that Ding Jiayi would have appeared in front of her to beg for mercy on behalf of Qiao Zijin. Once Ding Jiayi appeared, the show that Peng Yu had arranged may be able to continue.
Strangely, Xu Xinming and Li Dawei had both left the capital, but Ding Jiayi was nowhere to be seen. Neither did Ding Jiayi try to contact Qiao Nan. “Mom, have you received any weird phone calls lately? Or has anyone been loitering around the quad?”
Qiao Zijin was in big trouble. How could Ding Jiayi, who saw Qiao Zijin as her precious baby, be so calm and not do anything? How could that be?
“No.” Miao Jing removed her glasses. As she grew older, her eyesight had deteriorated and it was too difficult reading the small words in the newspaper. She wondered how much longer she could read the newspapers. “We haven’t even gotten a single phone call to our house lately. Your mom hasn’t called, but your dad calls occasionally to ask about how you’re doing and whether your work has been affected by this.”
It was probably because of the three children that Qiao Dongliang knew that if Qiao Nan were to be affected, it was bound to affect the three children as well. With the support of the three children, Qiao Dongliang’s attitude was much firmer. He stood unwaveringly on the side of Qiao Nan, hoping that Nan Nan would do well along with the three children.
Miao Jing sighed. It was indeed true that grandparents were closer to their grandchildren than their own children!
