Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Besides, she was still a kid; she could not enter that kind of places even if she wanted to.

  “Oh, that’s good.” After making sure that Qiao Nan did not do anything foolish, the colleague sighed, not knowing what else to do.

  What a mess the Qiao family was.

  Their mother and elder sister did not behave like they were supposed to be, whereas the youngest in the family had to worry for the adults. What had the world come to?

  “They are out!” The door to the operating theatre opened right then.

  “Doctor, how is our Old Qiao?” Ding Jiayi rushed up to the doctor with red, puffy eyes.

  “Is my dad alright?”

  “Don’t worry, the surgery was a success. However, the patient had been knocked down by a car, and some symptoms would not appear right away. In the next twenty-four hours, you have to monitor the patient’s conditions closely. If there is any situation, you must notify the doctor immediately.” The doctor heaved a sigh of relief. They were tired from the surgery as well.

  “Thank you, Doctor. Thank you very much.” Ding Jiayi cried with joy. She finally said something reasonable. “Old Qiao, nothing must happen to you. In the future, don’t give us such a scare anymore.” Ding Jiayi stood by his bed and pushed him into the ward with the nurses.

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Dongliang was no longer in a critical condition. Ding Jiayi finally came to her senses and started to express gratitude to the people who helped her today. “Old Qiao got into an accident. Thank you very much for helping us today. If not for all of you and the people at the factory, a mere woman like me would not know what to do.”

  The colleague twitched his lips. “Sister-in-law, I did not do much. It is Old Qiao who is lucky enough to have such a good daughter. She saved his life. Even if I am around, it’s difficult to say what will happen to Old Qiao without her.”

  Ding Jiayi felt embarrassed at the colleague’s words. Qiao Zijin also turned green at his words.

  They knew that the daughter whom they praised for saving Qiao Dongliang’s life was Qiao Nan.

  As Qiao Dongliang’s elder daughter, there was nothing she could help with. On top of that, she was embarrassed by the colleagues’ words. Qiao Zijin’s face stiffened in an instant.

  Ding Jiayi patted Qiao Zijin lightly to calm her down. She plastered a fake smile on her face and said, “Qiao Nan, you must be tired running around to get the money for your dad’s surgery. Why don’t you go back to have a rest? Your sister will look after your dad for the next twenty-four hours. You can take turns with your sister after you are rested. Now that this happened to your dad, we do not have any money at home. I have to work to earn as much as possible. After all, when your dad is discharged, there would still be a lot of expenses.”

  “Qiao Nan, your mom is right. You must be tired from running around all day. You should go back to have a rest and come back tomorrow.” The colleague relaxed his demeanor. Ding Jiayi finally said something sensible.

  “Okay.” Qiao Nan was tired to the bones at the moment. She could easily fall asleep if she closed her eyes.

  Qiao Nan did not make life difficult for herself. She went back home and fell asleep right away.

  After Qiao Nan left, Qiao Dongliang’s colleague did not stay behind. He went back to the factory and updated the other colleagues about Qiao Dongliang’s conditions.

  Qiao Zijin who had to stay behind was displeased. “Mom, Dad got into an accident, and I am tensed up the whole day as well. I didn’t even get to have my meals and have lost some weight now.” Why was it that Qiao Nan could rest while she had to stay behind to do manual work?

  “You know nothing!” Ding Jiayi lightly tapped on Qiao Zijin’s forehead. “Didn’t you complain to me that your dad only has eyes for Qiao Nan and doesn’t care about you, the elder daughter? Now is the chance to put up a good show. Think about it. Since your dad has gotten into an accident, he must be frightened as well. If the first person he sees when he wakes up is you, and you are the only one who keeps vigil by his bedside, what do you think your dad would think? By then, your dad will realize who, between the two daughters, is filial and really cares for him.”

  Qiao Nan had already settled the biggest problem. Qiao Zijin only had to keep vigil by his bedside and Qiao Dongliang would have a good impression of her. Ding Jiayi had arranged an easy task that came with great benefit for Qiao Zijin.

  Nobody would have known that given the situation just now, Ding Jiayi’s sudden show of care and concern for Qiao Nan was actually part of her devious schemes.

  “Mom, you are so clever!” Qiao Zijin was unschooled in the ways of the world, and Ding Jiayi knew better than her. But she understood immediately what her mother meant. “Mom, don’t worry, you should go ahead to work. I will look after Dad. Nothing will go wrong. I promise when Dad wakes up, the first person that he sees will be me. It has to be me.”

  “I have absolute faith in you. Remember the doctor’s words and keep vigil by your dad’s side. If any situation arises, call for the nurses and doctors immediately. There should be some money left from the money that Qiao Nan gave the hospital.” In other words, they no longer had to worry about Old Qiao’s hospital fees.

  “Mom, where did Qiao Nan get so much money from? Do we still have money at home? Or did Dad entrust her with the money?” Qiao Zijin frowned.

  Since a young age till now, she had never had a hundred yuan before, let alone a thousand yuan.

  “Impossible.” Ding Jiayi shook her head. “Your dad has kept a tight rein on the money ever since we spent all the money to send you to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. He wouldn’t let me keep the money, let alone entrusting it to Qiao Nan. Besides, I know very well how much your dad earned. If he could save up one thousand yuan in a year’s time apart from the expenses at home, then our savings would have been more than five thousand yuan.”

  Since they had confirmed that Qiao Nan did not get the money from the family, Ding Jiayi was not the least bit interested in where she managed to get such a huge sum of money.

  “Qiao Nan borrowed one thousand yuan. How do we repay them in the future?”

  “How do we repay them? Whoever borrowed it will have to repay the money. You do not have to bother.” Ding Jiayi touched Qiao Zijin’s head. “You just have to look after your dad. I have to go to work.”

  Qiao Zijin smiled to herself while she saw Ding Jiayi left the hospital. “That’s right. Whoever borrowed it will have to repay the money. I am going to see how Qiao Nan will come up with the money to study at high school.”

  One thousand yuan was such a huge sum of money. She did not believe that Qiao Nan’s debtors would allow her to take her time to repay the money.

  Her mom borrowed less than a hundred yuan for her school fees from her father’s comrades. Today, they all crowded around her mother to ask for their money. Now that Qiao Nan borrowed one thousand yuan, her debtors must be anxious to get back the money. Qiao Zijin was in for a good show.

  Qiao Nan who fell asleep at Qiao family residence had no idea of the devious schemes that Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin had been plotting.

  When she finally woke up, the sun had already set.

  She was drenched in sweat and smelled terrible. She had no choice but to use some water from the well to wipe herself, had a change of clothes, and left for the hospital.