Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Mom, Qiao Nan only has Dad in her heart. You also don’t want me to be like Qiao Nan, to look at you in a different light and be closer to Dad instead of you, do you? If not for the sake of giving me face, would Teacher Cen make a personal trip to the police station to bail you out? Isn’t it embarrassing? Mom, are you going to make me lose face in front of Teacher Cen and make her dislike me in the future?”

  “Give. Of course, I will give you the money.” As soon as Qiao Zijin spoke harshly, Ding Jiayi had no choice but to relent. “But I really don’t have so much money with me. It’s fine. I’ll give it all to you. I should be able to find a way to survive for the next two weeks. Before I find your dad, I definitely can’t look for a job. I won’t have any income if I don’t work. Are you going to ask me for meal allowance the next time you’re back?”

  “I don’t care. You have to think of a way yourself. Teacher Cen helped you because she gave me face. You have to protect my image in front of Teacher Cen. If you don’t have any money, then borrow from others like what you did before. We have so many neighbors and Dad has so many old friends. You should be able to find a way to borrow some money.” Qiao Zijin looked as if she suddenly recalled something. “Right, try not to borrow from those people that you’ve borrowed from before in case they talk nonsense. You can borrow from them only if you don’t have any other choice. Anyway, we have already paid them back the last time.”

  Although they were the ones who borrowed the money, Qiao Zijin’s word ‘we’ directly neglected the fact that that sum of money was repaid by Qiao Nan alone.

  When Ding Jiayi heard that there was such a solution to this problem, she rubbed Qiao Zijin’s head. “If Mom has a way, I will not let my precious daughter suffer. Alright, it’s Saturday tomorrow anyway. We will have to wait till the day after to look for the wretched girl. I’ll try to borrow some money tomorrow. When the police station returns us the bail, we’ll be able to pay these people back.”

  “That’s more like it. Mom, I’m hungry. Buy some nice food back. You’ve been sick for the past three to four days. You’ve lost weight and should eat something better and more nutritious.”

  “Why don’t I go and buy back a pound of meat?”

  “Mom, you’re the best. I love to eat lean meat the most. Don’t buy those that are too fatty.”

  “Alright, how could I not know your preference? I’ll go and buy them now.”

  When Ding Jiayi reached the market and bought Qiao Zijin’s favorite lean meat, she then regained her senses. Didn’t Zijin say to buy something more nutritious for her? Wasn’t her favorite pork belly?

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  Ding Jiayi brushed the thought aside as soon as it appeared. As long as Zijin was happy, Ding Jiayi would be happy even if she did not eat any piece of meat. It was more nutritious than having it herself.

  “Dad, I’m going out.” The next morning, when Qiao Nan woke up, she went out instead of doing what she usually did: staying at home to revise.

  “Okay, be careful on the road.” Qiao Dongliang did not question further. He trusted Qiao Nan.

  With one yuan in her hand, Qiao Nan quickly found a place that she could make a phone call. “Hi boss, I’d like to make a call.”

  “Sure, help yourself.”

  “Okay.” Lifting up the phone, Qiao Nan dialed a number that she was very familiar with, one that she knew by heart. When she heard the beeping sound at the other end of the call, she somehow felt nervous.

  “Hello?”

  “Zhai…… Brother Zhai?” Qiao Nan stuttered as she was too nervous.

  “Nan Nan?” Zhai Sheng’s face softened immediately. “Why did you call me today? Do you have something to tell me?” Ding Jiayi’s problem should have been resolved. Did Nan Nan want to talk to him about something else that was bothering her?

  “Zhai…… Brother Zhai, was it you?” After some time, Qiao Nan suddenly asked this ridiculous and abrupt question.

  Zhai Sheng did not react to this initially but understood thereafter. “What makes you think that I was the one?”

  Qiao Nan let out an air of breath. “Then, it’s really you, isn’t it?” she said. She could not have been so lucky. Such a major problem had been resolved fully without her taking any action.

  “Did your mom come asking for trouble again?” Zhai Sheng tightened his hold on the phone. He had clearly informed Teacher Liu. At the very least, they would not let Ding Jiayi go near Nan Nan within the school compound.

  “Not yet.”

  “.……” Not yet…… This meant that Ding Jiayi would be looking for Nan Nan again very soon.

  “Brother Zhai, aren’t you in the camp? You…… How did you know about my matter and help me resolve it?” After asking the question, Qiao Nan’s face turned red. The matter was resolved as soon as it occurred. It was as if Brother Zhai had been watching over her and thus knew about what was happening to her. He then helped her settle the problem at the fastest speed before the situation turned for the worse.

  “Your form teacher is considered one of my relatives.” After many twists and turns, he was still a distant relative beyond five generations nonetheless.

  “Teacher Liu is your relative? But I didn’t hear you mention it during the military training?” There was such a coincidence?

  “It’s not something very important.” Zhai Sheng’s lips curved at the corners and he seemed a little awkward.

  There was no other reason. During the military training, Zhai Sheng himself was not even aware that he had such a distant relative.

  It was because Teacher Liu was Qiao Nan’s form teacher. After knowing this fact, when Zhai Sheng returned to the camp, he asked someone to help investigate Teacher Liu’s background. He then found out that they could be considered as distant relatives. As such, he directly contacted Teacher Liu in the name of his relative so that Teacher Liu could tell him more about Qiao Nan.

  To put it bluntly, without knowing it, Teacher Liu became a spy that Zhai Sheng arranged by Qiao Nan’s side.

  “Oh, no wonder……” Qiao Nan, who did not know the situation at all, told Zhai Sheng in a silly manner that she had understood the situation. “Brother Zhai, thank you so much for your help in this matter.”

  “No problem.” Zhai Sheng smiled. “If you really want to thank me, prepare more dishes for me to eat when I’m back. During that period, you have fed your dad quite well. The food that I’ve tasted was not bad.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll prepare a table full of dishes for you! Not a problem at all,” Qiao Nan proudly said like an obedient little girl.

  “Okay, feel free to call me in the future regardless of whether you have any issue. Don’t forget what you’ve promised me. Focus on your studies when you are at school.” Don’t be fooled by those messy wild men.

  “Brother Zhai, you’re being paranoid. I’ll never be involved in any romantic relationship so early!” After the matter regarding Chen Jun in her previous life, although she wished to have a family of her own and give birth to a child that resembled her, Qiao Nan was also uncertain if she was truly able to muster the courage to accept a man who would completely walk into her life.

  Qiao Nan and Zhai Sheng had chatted happily. In comparison, Ding Jiayi’s Saturday was not a happy one.

  “What did you say? Could you repeat? I didn’t hear you clearly,” Ding Jiayi said in disbelief.