Qiao Zijin laughed. “You’re my dad. Why can’t I call you? Mom told me that you’re in the capital too. I guess you’re here to see Nan Nan, right? I’m here for a trip, but since I’m here, I want to meet Nan Nan too. Otherwise, I won’t have the face to respond to Nan Nan if she addresses me as her elder sister in the future.”
“…” Qiao Dongliang bit on his lip. If she was really self-aware, Zijin should have realized that she had lost all right to be Nan Nan’s sister a long time ago.
“But it’s great that you’re here. We can visit Nan Nan together! Dad, where are you staying now? Why don’t we stay close to each other?” It was her dad who should have said these words. She was a single woman and her dad should have offered her a place to take care of her.
Qiao Dongliang rubbed his nose bridge, understanding Qiao Zijin’s plans. “That won’t be necessary. The Zhai family arranged for my accommodation here. There’s only one room with one bed. You’re my daughter, so it won’t be right for us to sleep together. I guess it’ll be hard for us to stay close to each other. This is a residential area and I haven’t seen any units up for rent. Besides, the rent here isn’t cheap. You’re only here for a few days. It’s probably cheaper for you to stay in a hotel.”
It was the Zhai family’s territory and the Zhai family cared deeply for Nan Nan. As such, there was no way the Zhai family would allow Zijin to stay in their house. If the Zhai family did not take issue with Zijin, they would have made such arrangements for her the moment they met her.
The Zhai family had already made their stance clear, and Qiao Dongliang was in no position to offer his help and offer Qiao Zijin a place to stay when he was depending on the Zhai family.
“…” From the looks of it, her dad was staying in a small studio. “Dad, you don’t have to worry. You’re my dad. I can always sleep in the living room. Honestly, I feel a little unsettled staying in a hotel alone. There are always weird people coming to knock on my door.”
If possible, Qiao Zijin certainly hoped to sleep on the bed while Qiao Dongliang could sleep on the sofa. But of course, Qiao Zijin had to humble herself and think of a way of moving in first.
Qiao Zijin was not entirely making up her words. There had indeed been people knocking on Qiao Zijin’s door, asking whether she needed special services, or whether she wanted to have a drink and some fun together.
In the past, Qiao Zijin might very well have agreed. She had finally come to the capital, after all. It would be nice to experience the difference between a bar in Ping Cheng and the capital. The problem was that she was about to get married to Zhai Sheng and become the chief’s wife in a few months’ time. How could she ruin her reputation and image before she had even succeeded? This would only be giving the Zhai family a reason to reject her.
No matter how well Qiao Zijin thought she had performed, there were two stains she could never get rid of. Firstly, she was divorced. Although Qiao Nan was old when she had gotten married, she had still been a virgin. It was just that she had been slightly older. There was no way Qiao Zijin could compete with that. Secondly, Qiao Zijin had not gotten a divorce voluntarily. She had only done so because Chen Jun had demanded one, and the reason was that he had caught Qiao Zijin red-handed in bed.
Zhai Sheng was a divorcé too, and his first wife had committed the same mistake as Qiao Zijin. Qiao Zijin did not even want to give any explanations when this fault of hers was mentioned. She did not want to talk about how Chen Jun had been a playboy and had been having affairs, leading to her having her own affair as an act of revenge.
To marry Zhai Sheng, Qiao Zijin had done her homework. She knew that Zhai Sheng’s first wife despised the fact that Zhai Sheng stayed in the military all day, never spending any time with her at all. That was why she had not been able to tolerate the loneliness and had committed adultery, eventually getting caught in the act by Zhai Sheng.
Because she had a ‘past record’, she naturally had to be more careful before she succeeded. Qiao Zijin had already thought it through. Even if she were to succeed, she would have to respect herself and not get into another affair. A man could never be as important as her future and her own life.
Even Chen Jun had not let her off for finding a man. Zhai Sheng had already gotten divorced once. Would he be afraid of doing it again?
Now that she was getting remarried, she had to keep herself clean and never get involved in those dirty men or anything that would cause the Zhai family to look down on her.
Hearing Qiao Zijin say that, Qiao Dongliang was worried, but he calmed down very quickly. Qiao Zijin had arrived at the hotel even earlier than him. If she had really encountered such a situation, it would have happened on the very first day, right?
Qiao Zijin was not actually out on a trip. If she was scared, she should simply return to Ping Cheng. But she didn’t. That could only mean that Qiao Zijin was not actually afraid. In that case, why did he have to worry?
“Really? If it’s really unsafe, you should go back to Ping Cheng. Or perhaps, you should ask your mom to tag along in the future when you go on trips. Two is always better than one, after all. You’ve already been in the capital for two days, right? You’re probably almost done seeing all the sights. It’s about time for you to head back.”
“…” Qiao Zijin had intended to move in with Qiao Dongliang to save on her expenses so that she could spend some money to curry favor with Qiao Nan. She had not expected her dad, Qiao Dongliang, to be so insensitive to chase her back to Ping Cheng. “Dad, I still want to stay in the capital for another few days. Dad, look…”
Beep… What else was there to see? The moment he heard that Qiao Zijin did not want to return, Qiao Dongliang hung up. They were father and daughter, but Qiao Zijin was full of lies in an attempt to coax Qiao Dongliang. She was treating him like a three-year-old child.
Qiao Dongliang did not want to talk to a daughter like that!
Qiao Zijin stared at her phone wide-eyed. She had never expected her dad to hang up on her before she could even finish. Given his attitude, Qiao Zijin could guess that she was not welcome at Qiao Dongliang’s accommodation. What right did he have? It was not as though he owned the house. He was just staying there temporarily, so why did he have the right to hang up on her and refuse her demands?
Of course, Qiao Nan had no idea about the conflict between Qiao Zijin and Qiao Dongliang, and how Qiao Dongliang had gotten upset this time. Apart from caring about herself, Qiao Nan was also worried about Chief Zhu. “Brother Zhai, has Chief Zhu been well lately?”
