Chapter 2519: Miao Jing and Zhai Yaohui (20)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Grandma Zhai had grown up in the countryside too, and she liked to do many things on her own without asking for help from others.
Grandma Zhai was reliant on herself, but Qi Minlan wasn’t.
In the past, Grandma Zhai always comforted herself by saying that Qi Minlan had been born in a good era and had a good father. It was understandable that she was pampered and didn’t like to do things herself.
She was different. In her younger days, she would have starved to death if she hadn’t worked hard.
They were from two different eras. It was too much to ask for if she wanted Qi Minlan’s lifestyle and habits to be like hers.
The problem was that the situation was different now. What changed was that Grandma Zhai had met Miao Jing, who had the same upbringing and ideals as her. Grandma Zhai felt like she had found someone who understood her!
It didn’t matter that her husband was an official and no longer an ordinary citizen.
Didn’t they say that citizens were citizens after all?
Why were people getting more corrupt when their days had only just started getting better?
Grandma Zhai and Miao Jing were the same kind of people, and Grandma Zhai naturally favored Miao Jing even though she had watched Qi Minlan grow up.
But unlike Old Zhai, Grandma Zhai didn’t think that Qi Minlan wasn’t good. She simply felt that Miao Jing was more suitable for her son, and she liked Miao Jing more.
Zhai Yaohui sighed. “I’ve always felt that this is a personal issue. After all, I spend quite a lot of time in the military as well and there’s no hurry to get married. That was why I didn’t bring it up. Since we’re talking about it, I’ll just let you guys know. Mom, Dad, I treat Qi Minlan as a younger sister. Besides, Qi Minlan has already had quite a few boys around her in the past few years. I’m not going to get together with Qi Minlan. Please stop talking about it. It won’t be good for me or Qi Minlan. It might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Old Zhai slammed the table. “Since when have I ever talked about that? I’ve never said anything like that. It was that Shi guy who wanted to marry his daughter to you and made others misunderstand the situation. That’s why I dislike the Shi family. Only Shi Peng is tolerable. Everyone else annoys me.”
His son was engaged to Qi Minlan?
Nonsense!
No matter how blind he was, he would never let his son marry a woman like that. Besides, his eyes were perfectly fine. He would never be taken in by people like that!
Seeing Old Zhai flare up, Grandma Zhai moved her lips but remained silent.
She liked Qi Minlan, but after this tantrum, Grandma Zhai accepted her fate.
Now, Grandma Zhai felt a tinge of regret. She could only hope that her past behavior wouldn’t drag her husband and son down.
Zhai Yaohui was ambitious in his career while Miao Jing was inquisitive and wanted to learn.
Because the two young people were in no hurry to find marriage partners, Old Zhai and Grandma Zhai could do nothing but comfort themselves while waiting patiently.
What pleased the elderly couple was that these two children were indeed the Zhai family’s children and were more outstanding than others.
Miao Jing might have been limited culturally and might only have known a few words, but she was inquisitive and eager to learn.
Zhai Yaohui had bought Miao Jing everything she needed to study, and with Old Zhai’s arrangement, she started learning under a teacher and also studied hard alone.
Of course, it was impossible to become an extremely cultured and educated person in a short span of time.
But within the short span of a year, not only was Miao Jing able to recognize all the Chinese characters, but she had even built a strong language foundation.
In the end, Miao Jing had even started to do calligraphy under Old Zhai’s influence.
While Miao Jing couldn’t compare to daughters of respectable families, she could be compared to beautiful daughters from humble families.
As for Zhai Yaohui, he had attained quite a few achievements after participating in several large-scale missions while still in school. There were still many achievements that were waiting to be awarded to him once he graduated and joined the military.
As such, Zhai Yaohui was already ahead of his peers the moment he joined the military.
Old Master Shi’s worry from a year ago had finally become a reality.
Shi Peng was two years older than Zhai Yaohui and had entered the military earlier than him. However, Zhai Yaohui had very easily caught up with Shi Peng.
The old revolutionaries of Old Zhai’s generation were no longer young, and many of them were starting to relinquish their positions and titles, creating opportunities for the younger generation.
Because of that, it was natural that there was intense competition and pressure on Zhai Yaohui and Shi Peng’s generation.
Ever since the previous quarrel, Qi Minlan had not contacted Zhai Yaohui in almost a year.
Firstly, Zhai Yaohui had gotten much busier than he had been in school now that he was in the military. Even Miao Jing, who hadn’t moved out of the Zhai family’s house, hadn’t even gotten the chance to meet Zhai Yaohui, much less Qi Minlan.
Secondly, Qi Minlan had a good family background, was pretty, and was at the peak of her youth.
Without Zhai Yaohui around, there was no way Qi Minlan would have a shortage of any boys around her.
Qi Minlan wanted to prove to Zhai Yaohui and the Zhai family that she had other suitors apart from Zhai Yaohui.
If Zhai Yaohui didn’t cherish her and the Zhai family didn’t control Zhai Yaohui well or chase Miao Jing away, it would be terribly easy for her to get married to another man.
But now that Zhai Yaohui was equal with Shi Peng in the military and was competing with Shi Peng for the future chief’s position, Qi Minlan started getting uneasy.
She was outstanding, but Zhai Yaohui was not bad either. In fact, he seemed even more impressive.
If she missed out on Zhai Yaohui, where would she get a second Zhai Yaohui or even someone who was more brilliant than Zhai Yaohui?
Besides, she had already heard that that countryside girl living in the Zhai family was living on the Zhai family’s accounts.
Over the past year, that countryside girl had been studying hard and was no longer illiterate.
If Qi Minlan were to lose to someone worse than her in every way, wouldn’t she be too ashamed to go out and face others in the future?
With that thought, Qi Minlan was upset. Of course, she couldn’t let Miao Jing get her happiness either.
That day, Miao Jing was on her way home to the Zhai family’s house when she was stopped in her tracks by Qi Minlan and several other people. “I heard that you’re Miao Jing?”
“You are?” It had been a year since they had first met. Of course, Miao Jing, who was dedicated to her studies, had no idea who Qi Minlan was.
Lanlan’s face turned green.. “You snatched Minlan’s boyfriend and you dare to act as if you don’t know Minlan? We’re all women. How can you be so shameless? I’m warning you that Zhai Yaohui is our Minlan’s fiancé!”
