Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qiao Dongliang laughed self-deprecatingly. The capital was really a gold mine. Even though a niche was just a square box of less than a square meter of space, the prices were still horribly expensive. While he was still working, he would have had to spend an entire year’s worth of salary just to purchase this small square meter of space. But even after spending such a huge sum of money, there was no guarantee that he would be able to get the space ready in time.
Qiao Dongliang did not wish for Qiao Zijin to have no resting place even after her death. He would have hated it if he had to carry Qiao Zijin’s ashes and travel thousands of miles back to Ping Cheng just to find somewhere to lay Qiao Zijin to rest. “Your sister had envied the bustle of the capital her whole life. People say that you should return to your roots, but I know your sister would have wanted to stay in the capital. I have no choice but to ask you to waste this sum of money.”
His elder daughter had passed away so suddenly, and in such a tragic way as well. The car that had knocked her down was even his younger daughter’s. After suffering from this double blow at once, Qiao Dongliang had no energy or spirit to deal with the details of Qiao Zijin’s funeral.
Qiao Nan had already guessed Qiao Dongliang’s situation and thus decided to hire one of Zhai Sheng’s retired comrades to help out with this matter. In matters that required asking for favors, she would first use her own. If that failed, she would then resort to using the Zhai family’s name. With this double reassurance, it was smooth-flowing for that comrade to deal with matters—much easier than if Qiao Dongliang were to do everything himself.
Qiao Nan bit on her lip. “Dad, I don’t mean to say anything against my conscience. But now that Qiao Zijin is gone, we should respect the dead. This money… I’ll just treat it as accumulating karma. I hope that I’ll never meet her again in my next life.” Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi had not gotten along well as mother and daughter, and they were in no way happy. Her relationship with her sister was an even greater mess. It could be said that her relationship with her neighbor was even better than with her sister.
In their next lives, it would be best if these three women never met in any way or even had a shred of relationship. Even if they met on the streets, Qiao Nan hoped that Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi would walk on the other side of the street. The three would be like parallel lines that would never intersect.
Thinking about how she had already had two lives worth of relationships with these two women, Qiao Nan did not know whether to cry or laugh. Between the three of them, only she had such an experience. To that, she could not tell whether it was her blessing or Ding Jiayi’s and Qiao Zijin’s blessings.
“All right. You’ll never meet in the future.” Qiao Dongliang patted Qiao Nan on the shoulder. If there really was a next life, he would rather be a bachelor his whole life than marry a woman like Ding Jiayi again. As long as he did not marry Ding Jiayi, even if he had children, it would not be Zijin or Nan Nan.
With a different mother, his child’s childhood and even the child’s whole life would definitely be much happier than the ones Zijin and Nan Nan had. He, too, would be much happier with a complete family.
As the father and daughter were chatting, a loud confusion of noise and cries came from outside.
Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan knew instinctively at the same time without needing to get out that the only person who would be making a din under such a situation could only be Ding Jiayi. No one else was capable of doing such a thing.
“Wait here. I’ll go have a look. Thankfully, it’s the last day today. She’ll never get a chance to disturb Zijin anymore in her whole life.” Qiao Dongliang’s face was as cold as frost.
Hearing Qiao Dongliang’s words, Qiao Nan did not bother to persuade him otherwise. Instead, she started to burn paper money for Qiao Zijin as she looked at the photo of Qiao Zijin smiling on the altar.
Around ten minutes later, Qiao Dongliang returned with a sullen face and disheveled clothes. “All right. It’ll be fine now. We’re in the capital. It’s not like Ping Cheng. Zijin’s coffin will leave tomorrow, and she’ll have somewhere to rest in the capital. I won’t have to deal with her anymore in the future.” This was a relief for everyone.
Today was the first day after Qiao Zijin’s death. Ding Jiayi had come dressed in white, with eyes that were as swollen as walnuts, to stay by Zijin’s coffin. Unfortunately, Qiao Dongliang refused to let Ding Jiayi take even a step closer. “Zijin said that she doesn’t want you at her funeral. Zijin doesn’t even want you to pay your respects. Do you think she would want you to stay by her coffin as her mother? Zijin is already dead. Could you just let her off and let Zijin take this last journey peacefully? Or do you mean that you want Zijin to continue hating you like how she did just before her death?”
After being scolded mercilessly by Qiao Dongliang, Ding Jiayi was even more heartbroken. In fact, Ding Jiayi had never forgotten the last call that she had had with Qiao Zijin before the incident. She had never let anyone know about the contents of this phone call, but she held it dear to her heart.
From that day on, Qiao Zijin declared that she hated her, that she did not want to see her, and that she was going to cut off ties with her mother.
Ding Jiayi felt aggrieved and anguished. She could not understand how Qiao Zijin could treat her in this manner even after she had devoted her whole life’s efforts and love toward Qiao Zijin, even treating Qiao Nan as though she was a child picked up from the rubbish dump.
If Qiao Nan did not listen to her and was not filial to her, Ding Jiayi would scold Qiao Nan for being heartless. And so, Ding Jiayi was completely unable to accept that Qiao Zijin not only hated her but also refused to acknowledge her as her mother even after she had given up everything for her! Why? What rights did Qiao Zijin have to say that? Even Qiao Nan did not have the right to say that!
What put Ding Jiayi in more anguish and embarrassment was that Qiao Zijin refused to let Ding Jiayi come to her funeral. In the end, Qiao Dongliang really barred her, who was Qiao Zijin’s mother, from entering! She was not even able to take one last look at Qiao Zijin.
The grief-stricken Ding Jiayi felt as though she had used up her whole lifetime of tears in these few days. Her face was never dry for a second these days. Her close relatives, from her parents to Qiao Dongliang and her two daughters—why did every single one of them hate her? She wished that she had never existed.
Could it really be that she was such a failure? Was she really that annoying?
No, no! That could not be the case! She did not believe it! Not a single bit!
It was the fault of all these people! Her parents favored boys over girls. Even though she was smarter than her younger brothers, her parents had never allowed her to attend school. Qiao Dongliang was no better. She married Qiao Dongliang when he had nothing and had accompanied him as he built his life. However, when she became old and haggard, Qiao Dongliang despised her and left her to live a better life with Qiao Nan!
She had devoted her whole life to Zijin, but Zijin had let her down. Firstly, her academic results were poor. They were thousands of miles behind Qiao Nan’s, let alone surpassing hers. Then, after she finally married into a good family, Zijin had to mess around with a man outside, ruining her perfectly good family.
