There was clearly a large empty room in their house, and Qiao Nan had done so much for the family over the years, even giving all of her earnings to her family. But in the end, after Zijin got married, they chased Qiao Nan out of their family home. They would much rather leave the room empty and let Qiao Nan spend a fortune renting a place for herself in an unfamiliar environment.
Because of their actions, it was no wonder that their neighbors wondered whether Nan Nan was truly Ding Jiayi’s biological daughter.
Even Qiao Dongliang himself would have moments of doubt where he thought that his memory might have been hazy. Could it be that he had not seen Ding Jiayi personally giving birth to Nan Nan in the hospital and that Nan Nan was just a kid that he picked up from the streets?
Now that Qiao Nan had left in despair, Qiao Dongliang had finally returned to his senses. He had to make right whatever was wrong in his family. Even if he could not entirely correct it, he could no longer simply accept these wrong attitudes.
“I’m warning you to stop being so unreasonable. You’ve already made me lose a good daughter. You can deal with Zijin’s matter in any way you like. I can’t be bothered with it anymore. But I’m curious to see how you’ll live your life without Nan Nan sacrificing her whole life for you. Don’t disturb me. I’m sleepy. I’m going to bed.”
Qiao Dongliang was truly too mentally exhausted to face Ding Jiayi now. At the sight of Ding Jiayi, he could not help but think about how Qiao Nan had been living her life all these years.
It was not until now that Qiao Dongliang finally came to a realization that he could act as though he knew nothing and lived a peaceful life because Qiao Nan had been suffering in silence. It was because Qiao Nan had chosen not to kick up a fuss or argue with the family that he could remain silent and unaware of everything around him.
If Qiao Nan had tried to stand up for herself just a little bit, his ideas would never have been realized.
After glancing coldly at Ding Jiayi, Qiao Dongliang returned to the room with a stone-cold expression and slammed the door behind him.
Ding Jiayi, who was seated on the floor, could feel the coldness of the ground. But at this very moment, she felt that her heart was much colder than the ground. “Sinned? What sins have I committed to have such a heartless daughter and a capricious husband? My Zijin. What will my Zijin do? Zijin’s still young and has her whole life ahead of her. We’re all a family. Do you mean they’re all waiting to see Zijin die from her illness before they’ll be happy?”
No, she could not let Zijin die. Zijin was her precious daughter.
Just as Ding Jiayi felt as though her future was bleak, her phone rang. The sight of the caller ID frightened Ding Jiayi so much that her hands started trembling, and she almost dropped the phone. “Zi-Zijin?”
“Mom, what’s wrong? Why does your voice sound weird? Are you down with the flu?”
“N-No. I went to so many places today. I was probably out for too long, so I’m feeling a little unwell. I’m afraid that I might pass the flu to you if I were to take care of you. That’s why I came home directly instead of going to the hospital to find you. I’ll see if I really come down with the flu tomorrow before deciding whether to look for you at the hospital.”
“All right, Mom. Oh right, have you settled Qiao Nan’s matters?” Qiao Nan was extremely obedient to her mom. If her mom asked Qiao Nan to donate a kidney to her, Qiao Nan would probably not dare to refuse.
Qiao Zijin thought about how she would be able to undergo her kidney transplant soon and would even receive the compensation from that car accident from her mom once she was discharged. With that huge sum of money, she would be able to lead an unrestrained and carefree life! At the thought of all that, Qiao Zijin could not help but laugh.
With such a beautiful life waiting just ahead of her, she had to do her best and recover as soon as possible.
Hearing Qiao Zijin laugh, Ding Jiayi almost burst into tears yet again. She knew that Qiao Zijin probably thought that her illness would be cured soon. At the thought of how Qiao Zijin’s kidney donor, Qiao Nan, had not only run away with all her money but that she also had no idea where Qiao Nan was since there was no way of contacting Qiao Nan, Ding Jiayi could not help but feel injustice for Qiao Zijin.
Why did her good daughter have such a heartless father and younger sister? They were all a family, but at a critical moment like this, all of them were simply leaving her in the lurch.
“Hello, Mom. What sound is that? Why is there someone else talking?”
Hearing the recorded tone, Ding Jiayi frowned unhappily. “I think it’s reminding me that my mobile number is in arrears and that I should pay my bills soon. It’s no big deal. All these aren’t important. It’s not early anymore. You’d better get some rest. Mom will help you take care of everything else.”
“All right, Mom. I’m going to bed then. See you tomorrow.” Ding Jiayi was already used to lying to Qiao Dongliang, so she could lie smoothly even to Qiao Zijin.
Qiao Zijin was used to Ding Jiayi lying to Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan but had never thought that she would ever be on the receiving end of a lie from Ding Jiayi. Even though Ding Jiayi had not given Qiao Zijin a clear answer, Qiao Zijin, who had always been reassured by Ding Jiayi’s words, never spotted anything amiss.
Based on Ding Jiayi’s habit in the past, if she had successfully grabbed hold of Qiao Nan, she would definitely announce her winnings very proudly to Qiao Zijin. Not only would she tell Qiao Zijin about how much she had gotten from Qiao Nan that day, but she would even tell Qiao Zijin about the exact date on which Qiao Zijin could get her kidney transplant.
But today, Ding Jiayi had not said a single thing like that.
Up until Qiao Zijin covered herself with her blanket, shut her eyes to go to bed, and entered her dream-land, she had not come to the realization that her mom had been acting out of the ordinary today or that something was wrong.
After hanging up the phone call, Ding Jiayi wiped away her tears, sighing that fate was treating Qiao Zijin so unkindly. Why did such a good child like Qiao Zijin have to suffer from such a serious illness while a bad child like Qiao Nan recuperated so quickly after getting knocked down by a car and was even living her own carefree life now? It was indeed true that good people did not live long lives while evil ones lived a thousand years!
Thinking about how her mobile phone bill was due, Ding Jiayi stood up while holding on to the small stool. “My phone bill is due? How can it be in arrears? That wretched girl, Qiao Nan. What a heartless girl! How can she forget about something like paying my phone bills and expect me, her mother, to remind her about something like that? How useless!”
In the past, Qiao Nan had been the one taking care of Ding Jiayi’s and Qiao Dongliang’s phone bills. Ding Jiayi had never needed to concern herself with it.
All these years, this was the first time she had encountered such a thing. Ding Jiayi was in a rage because she had been embarrassed. Of course, it was Qiao Nan who had embarrassed her, so it was only natural that she would need to get some compensation from Qiao Nan. Otherwise, she would feel too aggrieved.
