This feeling had become more apparent lately.
Qiao Zijin laughed guiltily. “Mom’s gone to ‘see’ her daughter. Why should I tag along? Qiao Nan just got married to Zhai Sheng yesterday. She’s still a new bride. Wouldn’t I be standing in their way if I were to go and visit her?”
Her mom was only going because her daughter had been insensible. As a mom, she had to educate her daughter. She was Qiao Nan’s elder sister and was of the same generation as Qiao Nan. She had no right to demand anything of Qiao Nan. Besides, if her mom were to create too much of a din, her presence would only draw attention to the both of them. What would the Zhai family think of her not stepping in to persuade her mom to back off?
She knew the position and status the Zhai family held. She would be digging her own grave if she were to do such an insensible thing in front of them.
It was better for her mom to take the lead and settle the matter. Then, she would simply go in with a few words of comfort. In that way, she would save her face in front of the Zhai family while benefitting from the situation. It was a perfect solution.
This was an opportunity for her to leave a good impression on the Zhai family, and there was no way she would give it up so easily. She would play the good cop and the role of the bad cop was naturally left to her mom. Qiao Zijin was clear about that and was careful about her attitude toward the Zhai family.
Qiao Zijin had made her careful calculations, but unfortunately, given Ding Jiayi’s tendencies, it did not matter whether Qiao Zijin showed up. The Zhai family had never had a good impression of her either way.
Given last year’s news, the Zhai family had already formed an impression of Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin. There was no need to wait until they did so. Qiao Zijin might have made her careful calculations, but others were no fools either. They had not forgotten about what they had seen on the television, especially about someone as deceitful as Qiao Zijin.
If that was really the case, the three generations of chiefs should not have come from the Zhai family but from the Qiao family instead.
“Hehe…” Qiao Dongliang sneered. “That’s right. You’re always right and full of reason. Alright, I won’t try to reason with you. I left your mom there along the way. How would I know the details? If you really want to know about it, you can ask her directly when she’s back.”
Anyway, Nan Nan and the Zhai family had already left. Even if Ding Jiayi were really to show up, she would receive the same treatment upon trying to enter the southern courtyard. It would be easier for her to be brought to the police station. There was simply no way she would be able to create trouble for the Zhai family.
Seeing Qiao Dongliang return to his room after leaving such a cold remark, Qiao Zijin took a bite of her watermelon unhappily. She had finally realized that Qiao Nan was just like her dad. They did not care about familial relationships at all. She was already living such a good life. Why could she not give her elder sister a helping hand?
If Qiao Nan had self-awareness, she would not have to work so hard to think of such far-fetched solutions to her problems.
Forget that Qiao Nan would not help her. Now that she had come up with a solution to keep herself fed and clothed, her dad was even despising her for it! Was everything Qiao Nan did was right in her dad’s eyes while everything she did was wrong?
That was unfair!
“Mom, why are you back too? That was fast!” Qiao Zijin had not even managed to have much of her watermelon before Ding Jiayi returned in a huff. Qiao Zijin’s heart sank.
Even though she had already known that it would not be easy to resolve this matter, the reality was much worse than she had expected. “What’s with you, Mom? Why are you so angry? Did Qiao Nan provoke or disobey you again?”
So, had her parents met Qiao Nan and talked to her? Had they managed to tell Qiao Nan about helping her with her civil servant entrance examination? Or tell the Zhai family about it?
“Don’t even talk about it.” Ding Jiayi slammed the table. “That wretched girl thinks that she’s no longer a Qiao after getting married and has nothing to do with us. Why should I have to go to visit her after her marriage? Shouldn’t she bring Zhai Sheng to visit me here instead? She should be serving me tea! Yes, she married Zhai Sheng and became the chief’s wife. That’s why I compromised and took the initiative to look for her, but who would have known that she already hid away a long time ago!”
Met her?
She had to be around for there to be a chance of meeting her.
No matter how determined Ding Jiayi was to wring Qiao Nan out whether she was dead or alive, she could not control Qiao Nan’s uncooperativeness. As such, Ding Jiayi had not been able to put even a single of her great plans into use before returning home today.
“She hid away? She isn’t around? Where did they go?” Qiao Nan had disappeared without a trace! Qiao Zijin had never expected that to happen! “But this is the first day of their marriage! Isn’t she afraid that the Zhai family will think badly of her for not staying in the Zhai family’s house for even one day?”
When she had gotten married to Chen Jun, it happened to be the period of his promotion. Besides, she had been pregnant when she had married into the Chen family. As such, on the first day of her marriage to Chen Jun, and even the one to two years following that, she had stayed at home to raise her child, faithfully sending Chen Jun off to work every day.
Her ex-mother-in-law had never allowed her to go window-shopping nearby, much less go out to play, saying that she was pregnant. If she really wanted to exercise, there was more than enough space for her to do so in the family’s garden. There were too many people outside and it was way too crowded. Besides, the air quality was poor. It did not matter even if she did not care about herself, but the Chen family would never let her off if she were to hurt the baby in her stomach.
To tell the truth, an average woman was usually treated like a queen in her ten months of pregnancy. But that was not the case in the Chen family. The Chen family had strong opinions toward her and controlled her strictly. It was only after a few years did the situation improve.
The Zhai family was of a much higher status than the Chen family, and neither had Qiao Nan married into the Zhai family while pregnant. Besides, Qiao Nan’s current situation was much more complex than hers had been at that time. So, why was it that the results differed so much? She could not even go out on the streets, yet Qiao Nan could leave the house so happily! “Did they go on their honeymoon?”
Talking about that, she had never been on a honeymoon herself.
“How would I know about that?” Ding Jiayi rolled her eyes. “The guards only told me that there’s no one in the Zhai family’s house.”
