After Qiao Zijin left, Ding Jiayi had no one to talk to. She finally understood how painful it was to be alone.
She wanted to befriend the neighbors, but the latter wanted no business with Ding Jiayi.
Even if Ding Jiayi joined their gatherings, she could only listen from afar as she had no chance to join the conversations.
It hadn’t been that long since Qiao Zijin’s departure, but Ding Jiayi knew that she couldn’t bear such loneliness for much longer.
She didn’t feel alive.
She had enough money to live a healthy life without working, so she should have been enjoying her retirement.
However, Ding Jiayi knew that she was unhappy about the way she lived.
Throughout her deserted days, she spent all her timing wondering how she ended up this way.
She felt like someone without a family, but was she?
She was not!
She had a husband, two daughters, and four grandchildren.
There should have been no way that she ended up this way.
Could she blame it on others?
If she were the good guy in this story, why was she the only one suffering? Qiao Dongliang had not visited her for two years. In fact, he had never even given her a call.
Qiao Dongliang was treating her like she was dead.
Qiao Zijin became the only one that would speak to her in the family. However, they had nothing nice to say to each other as they would quarrel over the smallest of problems.
Did she not have enough money?
She had enough.
Yet, she would fight Qiao Zijin over her spending all the time.
Qiao Zijin was the daughter that Ding Jiayi favored for forty years. Why did she have to draw a clear line when it came to money?
Most importantly, Qiao Zijin was someone that Ding Jiayi gave everything to.
Ding Jiayi pondered about this every day, but she could never get an answer.
At this moment, all that she thought about was to keep Qiao Nan here. After all, she finally had someone to talk to.
Even if they ended up fighting, she didn’t want Qiao Nan to leave.
“Talk to me?”
Ding Jiayi dropped her pride. She didn’t ask for anything materialistic, all she wanted was for Qiao Nan to chat with her.
Qiao Nan was surprised to hear that and scanned Ding Jiayi’s expression in suspicion. It didn’t seem like something that Ding Jiayi would ever say.
Although Qiao Nan was no longer vulnerable to Ding Jiayi’s threats, she didn’t want to embarrass her unnecessarily.
On top of that, Qiao Nan never really had a chance to have a chat with Ding Jiayi.
The only memory of Ding Jiayi she had was from getting a harsh scolding or being waved off.
Qiao Nan decided to stay, but she had nothing to say.
Ding Jiayi was the same.
Although she was the one that wanted Qiao Nan to stay, she couldn’t find a topic to have a meaningful conversation with Qiao Nan.
It was awkward as the pair stared blankly at each other. It was easy to say that two complete strangers would have done better than them at breaking the ice.
After about three minutes, Ding Jiayi let out a sigh. “Are your children two years old now?”
She didn’t like the children enough to remember their age.
The only reason that she could recall the kids’ age was thanks to Qiao Dongliang.
Ding Jiayi didn’t like Qiao Nan, so she paid no attention to her children. However, it wasn’t the case for Qiao Dongliang.
Traditionally, Ding Jiayi should have been taking care of the newborn babies as Qiao Nan recovered from the childbearing.
However, Qiao Nan didn’t have such privilege.
Qiao Dongliang was a man, so she couldn’t look after Qiao Nan at her bedside. Unlike Ding Jiayi, of course, he was willing to help out wherever he could in other matters.
Qiao Dongliang was still living with Ding Jiayi when Qiao Nan gave birth to the children.
When Qiao Dongliang was home, the only thing he would talk about was the kids.
Therefore, like it or not, Ding Jiayi did remember certain things about the children. This was a good time to put her memory to good use.
Ding Jiayi was relieved that she found a topic to talk about.
If she couldn’t start a conversation, she guessed that Qiao Nan would be leaving very soon.
She didn’t forget what Qiao Nan said to the neighbor when she was about to leave.
The children were only two years old, so it made sense that Qiao Nan would leave to look after the kids.
Even if Qiao Nan were to leave anyway, it would look foolish to not say a word for such a long time.
“Yes, they are two.”
Qiao Nan looked indifferent. It didn’t matter to her if Ding Jiayi genuinely cared about the kids, so she wasn’t interested in Ding Jiayi’s true purpose.
“I’ve heard that kids nowadays start school at a really young age. What about your children? Are they going to school?”
She had also heard that early education cost a fortune, and a year of school fees was enough to support a college student.
Ding Jiayi felt her heart clench.
Her family saved every cent they could to send Qiao Zijin to university.
