Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhou Zheng panicked. Should he really break up with Qiao Zijin?
Both Qiao Zijin and his mother said so. Zhou Zheng was like headless flies without any sense of direction, out of his wits. He could only pace about. He did not know what to do.
Father Zhou was quick to react. “Your mom is right. You should think about it. Your mom and I are no longer young. Given our family background, the three of us can lead a good life in the future. As long as you are satisfied with your life now, you can choose not to marry her if you don’t feel like it. You should marry someone whom you like and one who is willing to join our family.”
After saying this, Father Zhou and Mother Zhou went back to their room to sleep.
Who was the one who was so happy that he was getting married and that he converted from a contract worker to a permanent worker, that he treated them to good food? If Zhou Zheng married Qiao Zijin, the Zhou family might have a better life. If he did not marry Qiao Zijin, the Zhou family would lead a good life as well. It would not make a huge difference. Therefore, they would leave the decision to their son.
Zhou Zheng watched as his parents walked away. He was dumbfounded. “Dad, Mom, aren’t you going to give me any advice?”
Mother Zhou turned back, feeling slightly displeased. “You are at the age to get married and have children. You should be able to decide for yourself. When you sort out your thoughts and figure out what it is that you want, we will support you no matter what decision you make. Also, if you really like your ex-girlfriend, fine, you can get her back. I will approve of your marriage. Anyway, we have more than one house. We can move to another house and the two of you can have the entire house to yourself.”
If the Zhou family business could not maintain its current income, given that the ex-girlfriend was a spendthrift, their son’s pay would not be able to pay for her huge spending. Even if they gave money to their son, it might not be enough to cover the lady’s spending.
The skincare products that the lady used cost several hundred yuan. Her clothes and bags cost several hundreds or even thousands of yuan. Mother Zhou wondered whether the products and accessories were made of gold. Why were they more expensive than gold?
Nevertheless, fools would rush in to buy them, and her son was the rich boyfriend, one of the fools.
Mother Zhou was getting advanced in years. She felt weary. It was alright if her children did not treat her well, but she had no wish to worry over her son and daughter-in-law.
If they got along well, it would be livelier to stay under the same roof. She could play with her grandchild as well. If they did not get along well, they might as well stay apart. At the very least, she and her husband could take care of themselves. If not, they could always hire a caretaker.
Her son was willing to spend a bomb on such a woman in the first place. They had worked hard all their lives, so how could they be miserly on themselves and refuse to spend the money on a caretaker?
What a joke!
If so, her son would spend the money that she and her husband earned while they were young on the foolish hussy. If she allowed this to happen, she was even more stupid than those fools!
The reason why Zhai Sheng introduced Qiao Zijin to the Zhou family was not that Zhou Zheng was a suitable brother-in-law. Instead, it was due to Zhou Zheng’s parents, in particular Mother Zhou, who was a brilliant woman.
Zhou Zheng had a similar temperament as his father. But Father Zhou was slightly better than his son. Moreover, Father Zhou would listen to his wife. If his parents had the same opinions, Zhou Zheng would not be able to stir any troubles. Compared to going to the trouble of getting a smart husband who could control Qiao Zijin, Zhai Sheng felt that it was better to get a smart mother-in-law for Qiao Zijin.
Given Mother Zhou’s temperament, if they did not get along well staying under the same roof, she would move out with her husband. In that case, there was no one that Qiao Zijin could create trouble for. She could not possibly orchestrate a full-scale drama by herself when there was no audience.
Regardless of what Zhou Zheng was thinking about, the Zhou family’s relatives received Zhou Zheng’s wedding invitation by mid-September. The Zhai family who resided far away in the capital received the wedding invitation as well. After all, the Qiao family did not have many relatives. If Qiao Zijin did not invite them, she would have no relatives to invite and she might as well save the time and effort in sending out invitations.
“Getting married?” Qiao Nan ended up spending five days going abroad for work, two of which were spent on transport. Luckily, when she returned home, Zhai Sheng still had two days of leave before he had to report back to camp. Otherwise, Zhai Sheng’s subordinates would be down on their luck. If men could not satisfy their desires, they would behave in a terrifying manner. Not long after Zhai Sheng left, Qiao Nan received the wedding invitation from Qiao Zijin.
“Well, it’s a national day wedding.” Miao Jing was not surprised at the date as she had already heard that they would hold the wedding during the National Day period. It would take several days for the invitation to be sent from Ping Cheng to the capital. It was indeed lucky that the small invitation card did not get misplaced during the journey. “Will you be going?”
Qiao Nan put the invitation away. “Yes. The Qiao family does not have many relatives. It will not look good if I don’t go. I reckon I’ll have to take the three kids with me. My dad misses them.” Qiao Nan had zero contact with her parental family, but she hoped that her three children would keep in contact with their grandpa. Qiao Nan wondered if the three children would still recognize their grandpa despite not seeing him for such a long time.
“Shall I go with you?” Miao Jing felt worried that the three children would be going as well. “Of course, I won’t be attending Qiao Zijin’s wedding banquet. If it is inconvenient for you to bring the triplets with you to the wedding banquet, I can stay at home to look after them.”
Miao Jing did not like Qiao Zijin. She would not give her face by attending her wedding banquet.
The reason being Qiao Zijin had the audacity to ask Qiao Nan for dowry. Although it was Ding Jiayi who brought up the topic, if Qiao Zijin did not feel this way, Ding Jiayi would not dare to make this request of Qiao Nan.
If she did not ask for a dowry, given that they were in-laws, the Zhai family was willing to prepare some dowry for Qiao Zijin. Miao Jing felt that it would look good on Qiao Nan if they helped Qiao Zijin prepare dowry. Otherwise, she would never think of preparing dowry for Qiao Zijin. To her, she would rather donate the money.
Although Miao Jing intended to prepare some dowry for Qiao Zijin, now that Qiao Zijin took the initiative to ask for a dowry, the stubborn Miao Jing refused to give her a single cent.
Qiao Nan felt that Miao Jing had made a good suggestion. “Mom, I will have to trouble you to take care of them.” Qiao Zijin was someone who, when given an inch, would take a yard. If one was nice to her, she would take things for granted.
It would look good on Qiao Zijin if the wife of the chief attended Qiao Zijin’s wedding. Although it was small-minded of her, Qiao Nan had no wish for her mother-in-law to attend her sister’s wedding.
After coming to a decision, Qiao Nan informed He Yi and applied for leave. After making sure that she did not have any tasks during the National Day period, she and her mother-in-law brought the triplets with them and flew to Ping Cheng on the twenty-ninth of September.
On the thirtieth of September, Qiao Dongliang visited the Zhai family’s residence in the southern quad in Ping Cheng to see his three grandchildren.
