Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
If she wanted a good life, she would have to be educated to be presentable. If not for that, she would never have furthered her studies.
“There’s no harm in trying. Perhaps, if Qiao Nan is willing to help you, you might become a civil servant even if you hand in a blank test paper.” Ding Jiayi had no other choice. The stingier Qiao Zijin got, the more she wanted Qiao Zijin to find a job for herself.
It did not matter even if it was an easy job that paid little as long as they contributed to her retirement funds. But who would have known that Qiao Zijin had no intentions of looking for a job even after Old Qiao was discharged from the hospital? In the one week that she was looking after Old Qiao, Zijin had not been of much help at all.
At the mention of a job, Zijin was reluctant to even get out of the house, choosing to laze around at home instead, watching the television or chatting with others online.
Qiao Zijin’s eyes glimmered. “If Qiao Nan is really that capable and can get the Zhai family to help, don’t talk about handing in a blank paper. I won’t even need to attend the examination to become a civil servant. The problem is that I’m not sure whether Qiao Nan is that capable and whether she’ll be willing to help me out.”
If she did not need to take the exam, she would not mind becoming a civil servant. She had heard that civil servants took home a salary of at least ten thousand yuan every month. Besides, she was the sister-in-law of a chief. Would they let her do those entry-level jobs?
Because she had finally been able to successfully convince her elder daughter to get a job, Ding Jiayi was over the moon. As such, she would make the impossible possible. “Don’t worry. You can count on me. No matter what, I’m still her mother. I have no other demands toward her other than getting you a job. As long as she does that, I won’t make trouble for her in the future. Besides, isn’t she getting married to Zhai Sheng? If she is good to us as her family, I’ll make sure she looks good on her wedding day.”
Getting a peaceful wedding in exchange for Zijin’s job would be no loss to Qiao Nan.
Qiao Zijin smiled. “Mom, I know that you’re the only one who treats me well in this world. But Dad…” If her dad found out about how her mom used this to threaten Qiao Nan, he would never take it lying down.
Ding Jiayi said in a low voice, “Your dad’s still sick, and the most important thing is for him to recuperate well now. There’s no need for your dad to know about such a trivial matter. Besides, we’re killing two birds with one stone by having Qiao Nan get married and getting you a job. Your dad should be happy about that.”
Although she had said that, Ding Jiayi had purposely lowered her voice to prevent Qiao Dongliang from finding out about the matter before it was settled so as to avoid an argument from breaking out. This seemed like a perfect solution to Ding Jiayi, but she knew that Qiao Dongliang would probably think otherwise.
Qiao Zijin laughed. “I’ll listen to you, Mom.”
Qiao Zijin rolled her eyes. “I never imagined that Qiao Nan would be so capable. I even thought that she would never get married at her age. Even though my relationship with Chen Jun is a little awkward, his background is still good. Since I can’t be husband and wife with Chen Jun, I might as well let Qiao Nan have Chen Jun. There’s nothing bad in that. With Qiao Nan around, I wouldn’t have to worry about Feng Feng’s life in the future since Qiao Nan is his biological aunt, after all. Forget it. Feng Feng is my son and Qiao Nan is my younger sister.”
“Once Qiao Nan gets married to Zhai Sheng, I’ll ask her to take Feng Feng under her wings and prop him up. I can’t control what kind of stepmother Feng Feng will have in the future. Now that there is a conflict between Feng Feng and Qiao Nan’s happiness, I have no choice but to sacrifice my son’s to let Qiao Nan lead a good life.”
Ding Jiayi slapped her thigh. “Isn’t that right? You’re such a good sister! For the sake of her happiness, you’re willing to let your son suffer. It’s nothing more than a job in the civil service, and Qiao Nan just has to open her mouth to ask for it. Now that you’ve made such a great sacrifice for her by giving up your son’s happiness, she would be heartless if she refuses to help you with such a trivial matter. She’s my daughter, and if she’s going to be this heartless, I’m going to teach her a lesson.”
She had given birth to Qiao Nan. If Qiao Nan did not know what to do, she would simply teach her what to do. “Don’t worry. You can count on me. I gave birth to her and raised her, so she has to listen to me.”
After listening to Zijin’s words, Ding Jiayi thought that they had, in fact, made a huge compromise for Qiao Nan. Their initial plan had been to let Qiao Nan marry Chen Jun. That way, she would never have to worry about her grandson having a bad stepmother in the future or him having more half-siblings who would snatch his things away from him.
Besides, Qiao Nan was already forty and still unmarried. It was embarrassing to even mention that to outsiders. Marrying Qiao Nan to Chen Jun would be helping Qiao Nan solve the biggest problem in her life. Qiao Nan would never be able to find a man better than Chen Jun.
If Qiao Nan was not her daughter or Zijin’s sister, she would never have gotten such a good opportunity.
With such a mindset, Ding Jiayi did not think that Zhai Sheng’s appearance was not a slap in her face. The facts had proven that a man that was a hundred times better than Chen Jun was willing to marry Qiao Nan. In fact, Ding Jiayi had not even played a role in it. Without Ding Jiayi’s help, Qiao Nan had been able to marry someone better!
“Mom, I’m counting on you.” With a brother-in-law like Zhai Sheng, Chen Jun was nothing. If her mom could make Qiao Nan listen to her as she had in the past, her son could very rise to a position even higher than Chen Jun’s. At that time, Chen Jun would have to address his son as his supervisor or chief.
Ding Jiayi patted her chest, assuring Qiao Zijin that she would definitely be able to resolve the matter.
As the mother and daughter were discussing how to deal with Qiao Nan, Qiao Dongliang was on the phone with Qiao Nan at the very same time. “You… Congratulations…” Qiao Dongliang knew that Qiao Nan would be getting married to Zhai Sheng in a week’s time, and he simply said a word of congratulations rather distantly.
There was no other choice. As Qiao Nan’s father, Qiao Dongliang should have been the first person to find out that his daughter was getting married and whom she would be marrying. In reality, however, if his neighbors had not spread that rumor, he would have truly believed that the Zhai family had simply helped his daughter out of goodwill because she was struggling.
