when ding jiayi was muddleheaded and qiao nan was almost forced into a dead end, it was qiao dongliang who decided to file for divorce and draw the line with ding jiayi. it was only through a divorce could he stop ding jiayi from scheming against qiao nan.
if qiao dongliang did not file for a divorce—even if qiao nan would marry zhai sheng eventually—she would have to go through twice as much trouble and difficulties.
it was due to qiao zijin that ding jiayi treated qiao nan badly.
therefore, in the entire qiao family, qiao nan would only turn soft-hearted on qiao dongliang.
qiao zijin could not offend qiao dongliang. instead, she must please him such that he would treat her like how ding jiayi treated her and do his best to help her. she must not lose her father again.
if she lost his support, qiao nan would definitely rejoice over it.
“nothing. i am just tired.” qiao dongliang could not be bothered to say anything else. “i will go back to my room to sleep. if i am not wanted in this house and there is no place for me, just let me know. i will find another place to stay. it is the end of the year now. it might not be that easy to rent a place. i will try my best to get a house after the fifteenth day of the lunar new year.”
his elder daughter had told him to scram!
it was so ironic!
true enough, he had failed as a person.
ding jiayi reacted strongly to qiao dongliang’s words. she stopped him. “zijin is in a bad mood and said all these in a pique of anger. she did not mean it. old qiao, why did you take issue with her? we are one family and you are her father. why did you take her words seriously? zijin is such a good child. she will not think that way. we all know that chen jun has broken up with zijin. we must understand that she is in a bad mood. if we are unable to console her, it will be good for her to vent her frustrations. why did you take issue with her?”
they might not have gotten back together, but at the very least, she had qiao dongliang by her side.
ding jiayi stayed by herself for the past few years. she was left alone at home while her daughter was in school. she no longer wanted to live such a miserable life.
although they did not get back together, ding jiayi was contented that they stayed under the same roof. she could not take it if qiao dongliang left her.
“dad, i am sorry. i am in a bad mood. i should not have shot my mouth off and hurt you with those words. dad, i apologize to you. please don’t be angry with me.” qiao zijin, who had sorted out her thoughts, apologized to qiao dongliang right away. she did not find that it was unbearable to make an apology.
she was apologizing to qiao dongliang. she was not giving in to qiao nan. she was able to swallow her pride to do it.
furthermore, after sorting out her thoughts, qiao zijin would not hesitate to back down to qiao dongliang or qiao nan.
since she had taken the first step, it was not difficult to take the second and third steps.
qiao zijin behaved like a child. she pulled qiao dongliang’s sleeve and acted coquettishly. “dad, don’t be angry with me. we are one family. we are the closest kin. apart from mom, nan nan, and you, i have no other relatives. dad, if you ignore me, what should i do?”
on the one hand, qiao zijin was backing down. on the other hand, she was reminding qiao dongliang about the hard facts.
qiao nan was no longer close to him. ding jiayi and qiao zijin were the only relatives that he had. if he fell out with qiao zijin, he would have no one by his side.
once he moved out, qiao dongliang would be without any relatives.
if qiao dongliang did not want to stay alone and without any relatives, he should know when to stop now that qiao zijin had apologized to him.
qiao zijin became more scheming over the years.
ding jiayi no longer loved qiao zijin unconditionally like before. instead, she would be all bark and no bite. even if she was upset with qiao nan, she would only nag at her on the phone, but she would not do anything to qiao nan or force her into a dead end.
now that ding jiayi no longer helped her go against qiao nan, qiao zijin had to learn to be scheming. otherwise, she might not have any say in the family.
qiao zijin had no idea why ding jiayi dared not do anything to qiao nan. actually, ding jiayi was not afraid of qiao nan. although qiao nan had married well, she did not think of basking in qiao nan’s glory or being on good terms with her so as to benefit from it.
in fact, ding jiayi remembered that there was once when she hit qiao nan and pulled her hair. in the end, qiao nan instructed other people to beat qiao zijin and cut her hair to uneven lengths.
that was the only time qiao nan retaliated against her by targeting qiao zijin. thankfully, she was lenient on her and did not go overboard.
although ding jiayi always scolded and bullied qiao nan, she was timid in front of strangers. she was worried that if she provoked qiao nan again, she might not go lenient on qiao zijin. she also feared that there would be a day where she stopped targeting qiao zijin but turned to deal with her instead.
ding jiayi dared not be too insolent and reckless as she was worried about qiao zijin’s as well as her safety.
qiao dongliang could tell that qiao zijin was not sincere in her apology. he understood that she was telling him to know his limits.
qiao dongliang might have turned soft-hearted on qiao zijin and wanted to forgive her, but he had been dealt with too many blows. he was weary and had turned numb to her pleas. “stay angry with you? i won’t be able to stay angry with you for long. i won’t be able to keep my frustrations for long. don’t worry. i will not abandon you. nan nan is right about one thing. let’s just take it that i owed you in the previous life.”
there was no way that the elder daughter would change. unless she was married, he couldn’t wash his hands off them.
he asked for it. this was not the first time that the elder daughter lost her temper at him, but he could not help but forgive her, hoping that she would be a well-behaved child like the younger daughter. he wished that she would have a good marriage and a bright future.
the elder daughter might be mean to him, but it was a fact that he owed her in this life.
perhaps he would finally be rid of his burden when his elder daughter was married.
at times, qiao dongliang hated himself for having such a personality. nevertheless, qiao zijin was his elder daughter. he had a responsibility to make sure that she married well and had children.
no matter whether qiao dongliang was able to sort out his thoughts or not, he felt weary and disheartened. he did not have any strength left in him to mull over the fact that his younger daughter could only stay for a day in ping cheng for the lunar new year.
qiao dongliang felt weary. after talking to him on the phone, qiao nan was just as disheartened as him.
qiao dongliang was disheartened by qiao zijin’s behavior, while she was weary because of her father.
