One would enjoy the benefits of being in a favorable position.
Shi Peng had a good temperament and he was also Zhai Sheng’s master.
If Shi Peng were to stay at a place nearer to the Zhai family, the relationship between the Shi family and the Zhai family would improve further.
Building on this premise, Feng Cheng could then make use of her identity as the wife of Shi Peng to build closer ties with the Zhai family. She could then put in some good words for her maternal family.
“I don’t need that.”
“Why not?” It was very much needed!
Shi Peng pursed his lips as he gave Feng Cheng a listless look. He let out a sigh of exasperation in his heart. The Feng family had educated Feng Cheng very successfully. Feng Cheng had the Feng family’s interests at heart all the time.
Shi Peng was only glad about one thing. Although the interests of the Feng family were Feng Cheng’s priority, Feng Cheng always remembered one principle: There must not be any conflict of interest between the Feng family and the Shi family.
If a conflict of interest between the maternal family and her own husband was present, Feng Cheng would definitely not intervene and take any side in such a situation. She would let her maternal family and Shi Peng fight it out with each other to determine the victor.
In situations whereby Shi Peng’s interests were not impacted, Feng Cheng would place the interests of the Feng family as the priority.
“Where are we going now?” When the car entered the quad, Shi Peng turned his steering wheel and drove in the direction opposite to that of the house of the Zhai family. Feng Cheng raised her voice as she held onto the car door. “Did you drive in the wrong direction? Shouldn’t it be that way?”
“I didn’t drive in the wrong direction.” Shi Peng had already slowed down and was driving at the speed of an ant crawling. “I am going to the house of the Zhu family, not the Shi family. Our daughter is Qiao Nan’s bridesmaid. Hence, we are the guests of the bride today.”
Most importantly, Shi Peng did not tell Feng Cheng that he would be sending Qiao Nan to the groom’s place.
In order to do that, naturally, he had to drive his car to the house of the Zhu family instead of going to the house of the Zhai family directly.
Feng Cheng’s face turned stiff. However, she knew that she would not be able to stop Shi Peng. Hence, she cleverly kept mum.
When the car stopped in front of the main entrance of the Zhu family, Feng Cheng was stunned at the sight of the various big and small red lanterns hanging all over the house. In particular, the smiles on the faces of the Zhu family showed that they emanated happiness from within. “Why is the Zhu family so happy?”
It was not as if the Zhu family’s only grandson was marrying a wife today. What did this have to do with the Zhu family? Why were they in such a good mood?
“Did I tell you before that Chief Zhu wanted to acknowledge Qiao Nan as his goddaughter but Qiao Nan declined? Although they did not formally acknowledge fictive kinship, they are as close as father and daughter. Otherwise, Qiao Nan couldn’t possibly marry from the Zhu family. About ninety percent of Qiao Nan’s dowries were prepared by Chief Zhu.”
Shi Peng parked the car in place before he analyzed the situation for Feng Cheng.
He wanted to let Feng Cheng understand that it was not true that Qiao Nan would have nothing if she did not have the support of the Shi family.
Qiao Nan’s backing had never been the Shi family or Shi Peng. It was the famous Zhu Chengqi!
“So… so serious?” Feng Cheng was taken aback further.
Feng Cheng had heard from Shi Qing before that Zhu Chengqi wanted to acknowledge Qiao Nan as his goddaughter.
Unfortunately, Qiao Nan’s identity as Zhai Sheng’s fiancée was enough to blind Feng Cheng, making the latter believe that Qiao Nan received the attention of the prominent figures because of the Zhai family.
Other people were fawning on Qiao Nan on the account of the Zhai family. It did not have anything to do with Qiao Nan herself.
In families like one of her own, it was very common to acknowledge fictive kinship. Feng Cheng had seen many such cases.
The problem was that the Zhu family’s attitude made Feng Cheng realize that they valued Qiao Nan differently from what she had imagined in the past.
“It is that serious.” When he saw that his words could register in Feng Cheng’s mind, Shi Peng heaved a sigh of relief.
Shi Peng was not afraid of anything. He was only fearful that Feng Cheng would behave like Ding Jiayi. Besides being blind, Ding Jiayi’s ears were akin to ornaments and her brains simply went on an eternal strike. Her intelligence was also completely offline. That would be very troublesome then.
Feng Cheng pouted unhappily. “You said that about ninety percent of Qiao Nan’s dowries were arranged by the Zhu family. The remaining ten percent… Are you the one who contributed?”
Shi Peng walked into the house of the Zhu family. He wanted to find out how his daughter was doing. “I only contributed to half of the remaining ten percent. The Lee family made up the rest. Elder Lee likes Qiao Nan very much as well. She treats Qiao Nan like his granddaughter.”
Although the Qiao family did not spend a single cent for Qiao Nan’s dowry, the arrangements were also elaborate. Moreover, the forces behind the arrangements were formidable figures in Ping Cheng who would cause a stir in Ping Cheng with their movements.
All of a sudden, Feng Cheng felt dizzy. “Is the Lee family so close with the Qiao family?” Weren’t these two families as different as chalk and cheese?
“This is a long story. Let’s cut it short. Qiao Nan’s grandfather saved Elder Lee’s life but the two families did not have any more interaction with each other later on due to some things that the Qiao family did. In the end, the two families are in contact again all thanks to Qiao Nan. The relationship was built by Qiao Nan’s grandfather but Qiao Nan is the one who maintains it.”
Without Qiao Nan, the relationship between the Lee family and the Qiao family would have ended a few years back.
At the thought that Ding Jiayi shamelessly made use of that little connection and made Elder Lee open a back door for Qiao Zijin to enter The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, Shi Peng sneered.
It was wise to utilize connections as little as possible. Either one does not utilize it or employs limited resources when they are needed most.
Elder Lee did not have a good temper and was also a very forthright person. He also shunned people who got things through the back door. Despite knowing that, Ding Jiayi dared to request for his help. She was stupid beyond hopes.
Of course, Qiao Dongliang was also useless as he did not keep a watch on Ding Jiayi. He allowed her to destroy the few connections left of the Qiao family.
As the head of the family and husband of Ding Jiayi, Qiao Dongliang should know her character better than anyone else. He should think of ways to maintain the relationship between the Qiao family and the Lee family.
The parents were incompetent. Nevertheless, it was their good fortune to have such a good daughter like Qiao Nan.
Otherwise, Qiao Dongliang should be prepared for a scolding by his biological father when he met him in hell a hundred years later.
Feng Cheng felt even dizzier. “Interpersonal matters typically involve adults. Why is Qiao Nan involved?” She had not heard before that the relationship between the two families was maintained by a child.
The relationship was ruined in the hands of the parents but salvaged by the child. This was too funny.
“You were staying in the capital previously. Hence, it was not appropriate for me to tell you certain things. I was afraid that you wouldn’t listen to them if we spoke about this over the phone. Today, I just wanted to let you come over and see for yourself. It always feels more real to see something with your own eyes than to hear it.” It was rare that Feng Cheng could really listen to him. Shi Peng let out a sigh of relief again. “Take a good look yourself. Did Qiao Nan bask in the Zhai family’s glory and receive the liking of so many formidable figures or is she self-accomplished?”
