Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Given the Zhai family’s identity and status, there were naturally a good number of people who wanted to send gifts to the Zhai family every New Year. Besides, Qiao Nan still had Lin Yuankang as a master. Since there was no one else in the Lin family, Qiao Nan alone was responsible for Lin Yuankang’s contacts later in his life as his disciple.
Qiao Nan was the only one who decided on whose gifts Lin Yuankang could accept and whose he could not. After receiving these gifts, it was also Qiao Nan’s job to decide on how to return this favor. Qiao Nan had handled both the contacts of the Lin family and the Zhai family, and she had been rather sharp and critical.
After finding out what Qiu Chenxi had sent, Qiao Nan understood Qiu Chenxi’s attitude. Qiu Chenxi seemed intent to leave a good impression on her. That could only mean that Qiu Chenxi had a favor to ask of her. But in Qiu Chenxi’s eyes, Qiao Nan knew that she was no more than a passerby and could not render her much help. As such, Qiu Chenxi actually looked down on her and did not pay much attention to her. Qiu Chenxi was trying to get rid of her by giving her some useless and invaluable things.
But she did not have to pay for it, after all, and she was on the receiving end. She could not possibly take issue with it and tell Qiu Chenxi that she did not want such invaluable and cheap things, or ask Qiu Chenxi to take it back for herself.
Qiu Chenxi would be embarrassed if Qiao Nan did not cooperate with her. Besides, Qiu Chenxi would never stop if she did not achieve her goal. “That’s different. That’s from them. This is from me as Jiajia’s aunt. Thank you so much!”
Here was the main point! Qiu Chenxi thought of herself as Jiajia’s aunt!
Thinking about how Zhai Sheng had indeed been treating her rather warmly these days, Qiao Nan felt sour. “Aunt? I don’t think I’ve heard that Chief Zhai’s married. I only heard that he was once married.”
Qiu Chenxi’s eyes brightened. This stupid caretaker might be useful to her! Immediately, Qiu Chenxi’s face changed into a sad and hurt expression. “Although we shouldn’t air our dirty linen in public, you saved Jiajia, after all, and have done a great favor to our family, so I guess it’ll be okay to tell you just a little. We were young and ignorant at that time. We had feelings for each other, but we were obstinate and could not give in to each other. That was why we ended up getting a divorce. Thinking back about it, it wasn’t a very big matter. As long as we each took a step back, we could have resolved that matter easily. I’ve been separated from him for over ten years, but I’ve never found the one and he’s been single ever since…”
Qiu Chenxi’s words made it easy for others to misunderstand that neither of them had gotten remarried after the divorce because they still harbored feelings for each other. Even though they had gotten into a misunderstanding and had gotten divorced, they had been unable to forget each other.
Given the Chinese habit of persuading people to remain married instead of splitting up, the average reaction would be to convince Qiu Chenxi to reconcile with Zhai Sheng. Since they were both single, there was no need to wait any longer.
But what Qiu Chenxi had not expected was that Qiao Nan was not an average person. After hearing Qiu Chenxi talk about how the couple had been obstinate and stubborn, and how they had only gotten a divorce because they had not been able to give in to each other, Qiao Nan’s expression was complicated. “Can such a matter really be solved by taking a step back and giving in to each other?”
The couple had gotten a divorce because of Qiu Chenxi’s affair. But what Qiu Chenxi had said earlier meant that she was willing to remain loyal to Zhai Sheng and never cheated on him again. Simply put, she expected Zhai Sheng to tolerate her mistake and reconcile with her as though nothing had happened.
Was it expected for one to give in to their partner regarding loyalty in marriage? Was loyalty not something that was expected in a marriage?
Qiu Chenxi hesitated for a moment. The woman in front of her was just a caretaker of the Zhai family. There was no way she would know about the real reason for their divorce, right? Thinking about it that way, Qiu Chenxi nodded. “Isn’t that so? It was just a small misunderstanding, but we refused to give in or compromise. My mom often advised me to resolve our differences as a couple. But we were young and stubborn, and neither of us was willing to back down. Thinking back now, if I had known that I would never get remarried even after getting divorced, I would never have bothered getting a divorce.”
With that, Qiu Chenxi looked at Qiao Nan expectantly, hoping that Qiao Nan would encourage her to get back together with Zhai Sheng.
In the face of Qiu Chenxi’s expectant gaze, Qiao Nan felt ashamed. She felt sorry that she would never tell Qiu Chenxi what she wanted to hear. But why had Qiu Chenxi taken the effort to come all the way here just to say such weird things?
Qiao Nan had not questioned Qiu Chenxi about that. Otherwise, she was sure that Qiu Chenxi would have answered her. There was a point in doing so—an important one, in fact. After being enlightened by her mother previously, Qiu Chenxi had decided to win over the hearts of the Zhai family so that they would accept her.
It was just that the Zhai family had refused to even interact with her. As such, she would never have the chance to show off her sincerity to the Zhai family. As long as she remained in this limbo, becoming the chief’s wife would remain as nothing more than a dream.
At this time, Qiao Nan had appeared in front of Qiu Chenxi, who then sensed an opportunity. Qiao Nan was indeed a caretaker who had only taken care of Zhai Sheng for a few days and had no influence in the Zhai family. But Qiu Chenxi knew that Qiao Nan had been so good at taking care of Zhai Sheng that she had been invited to spend the new year with the Zhai family.
Thankfully, Qiu Chenxi had always thought of Qiao Nan as the Zhai family’s caretaker. Qiu Chenxi had never thought that someone of such a low status like Qiao Nan could have celebrated the new year with the Zhai family for any other reason. Qiu Chenxi only felt that Qiao Nan must have left a good impression on the Zhai family to be invited to celebrate the new year with them. Otherwise, they would never have accepted an outsider like her.
When Jiajia had returned to the Zhai family’s old villa in Qingshui Town, Qiu Chenxi had seen her running out with a panicked expression. Qiu Chenxi did not think that a teenager like Jiajia could go missing, but she did not want to miss this opportunity.
It was quite funny thinking about it. Had Qiu Chenxi not been staying in Qingshui Town and had seen Zhai Hua leaving the Zhai family’s house with Jiajia, Qiu Chenxi would never have known about Jiajia or her relation to the Zhai family. After confirming that Jiajia was Zhai Hua’s daughter and looking at how afraid she was, Qiu Chenxi rushed out of the house, wanting to comfort Jiajia.
