Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  After that, Old Master Zhai made a move to attack and yelled loudly, “Checkmate!”

  Zhai Hua was stunned. “How can you checkmate? That’s too fast. No, I shall take the original move. You must not checkmate.”

  “No matter what, you won’t win against Grandpa.” Zhai Sheng took a glance at the game of chess that Zhai Hua had messed up and shook his head. “Come over and lend me a hand. After that, you can have Grandpa to play another round with you.”

  “What is it?”

  Zhai Hua, who was in utter defeat, put down the chess pieces and followed by Zhai Sheng’s side.

  Zhai Hua might act like a child when she was with Old Master Zhai, but back in the army, she was a female officer. She was in charge of training female soldiers and was very awe-inspiring in the army.

  However, Zhai Hua noticed that although she might have been very impressive in the army, she looked very pathetic whenever she was at home.

  In fact, she was embarrassed that she lost to her grandpa. Hence, she was quick to agree to render assistance to Zhai Sheng.

  What Zhai Hua did not know was that she had only just walked away when Old Master Zhai breathed a sigh of relief. At his age, he felt tiring to have a game of chess with his granddaughter who was not good at chess.

  “What are you doing here?” Zhai Hua followed Zhai Sheng to the place where the family stored the food. “What? Are you so anxious to send some food to Nan Nan? Let me remind you. You must not let Mom find out. Otherwise, Mom’s impression of Nan Nan will only get worse. If you want to marry Nan Nan, you won’t be able to get Mom’s approval.”

  On Lunar New Year’s Eve, Zhai Sheng did not stay at home but was with his wife-to-be. He only came back to the house at eight o’clock in the morning of the Lunar New Year’s Day.

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  Zhai Sheng was too rampant.

  “Don’t worry. Mom may be the first person who will no longer pose a problem in our house.” Zhai Sheng picked the food that he wanted to give to Qiao Nan while grinning to himself.

  “How is that possible?” Would her mother like girls like Nan Nan?

  “Mom wants me to give some food to Nan Nan. According to my guess, after Mom went out today, she went to see Nan Nan and chatted with her.”

  “Do you mean that the person who influences Mom is, in fact, Nan Nan? Are you serious? It can’t be such a coincidence. Back then when Ding Jiayi framed Nan Nan at our doorway, Mom was annoyed at Nan Nan. It has not been that long, so why would Mom accept Nan Nan who is of such family background? I don’t believe it!”

  Had hell frozen over? It was too incredible that her mother would listen to Nan Nan’s advice and be influenced by her.

  “Mom doesn’t know that the girl I like is Nan Nan.” Zhai Sheng might be happy but he was aware of the difficulties he faced as well.

  His mother gave him two years. Zhai Sheng was very clear what his mother meant.

  In the past year that he had known Qiao Nan, the actual time that he spent with Qiao Nan had only been around half a month’s time. This was the reason why Zhai Sheng often sent letters to ‘remind’ Qiao Nan not to start a relationship when she was too young.

  He was worried that as he was not by Qiao Nan’s side, she would fall for those boys who chased after her.

  Therefore, even though his mother had agreed, in fact, his mother was hoping that their relationship would not stand the test of time. In the two years’ time, when Nan Nan realized that Zhai Sheng, as a soldier, did not have much time to spend with her, she would be displeased or angry with him. Eventually, she might take the initiative to break up with him. His mother did not need to do anything and she would achieve her aim nonetheless.

  In the end, her mother had what she wanted and she did not need to play the bad guy. She would have the best of both worlds.

  “Nan Nan is brilliant to be able to come up with such a plan. Initially, I was worried that Mom will not like a girl like Nan Nan. Now, it seems that Nan Nan has a way of being close to Mom.” Zhai Hua finally felt at ease after figuring out the entire matter. “In that case, Mom locking up the pair of high heels that Dad gave her was also thanks to Nan Nan? Let’s go together. I have to ask Nan Nan how she managed to do that.”

  She was her mother’s daughter. However, after years of persuading, her mother could not bear to part with the shoes and treated them as her treasure, refusing to listen to anyone.

  She was curious about how Nan Nan persuaded her mother and resolved the matter.

  “You should stay at home and play chess with Grandpa.”

  “Zhai Sheng, how dare you kick someone to the curb after they’ve outlived their usefulness!”

  “Did you just realize it now?” Zhai Sheng was done with selecting the food that he wanted. He admitted shamelessly that he had kicked her to the curb after she had outlived her usefulness. “Alright, it’s rare that you are at home. You should spend more time with Grandpa. I will be back soon.” At this time, Uncle Qiao should have gone back home from the Qiao family’s residence at the quad.

  With Uncle Qiao around, it was inconvenient for him to chat with Nan Nan. He would leave after passing her the food.

  Zhai Hua snorted childishly. After returning to the living room, she asked that her grandpa continued to play chess with her.

  Zhai Sheng had asked some people to move the food into the car.

  Seeing the car key in his hands, Zhai Yaohui frowned in displeasure. “You just came back, why are you running out again? I have to make a call to the army. I don’t believe that there will be so many missions on the first day of the Lunar New Year.” Most importantly, if it was to do with the army, Zhai Sheng would not be so relaxed.

  Zhai Yaohui was displeased that apart from the work in the army, Zhai Sheng was concerned about other stuff but not the engagement with Qiu Chenxi. He did not care about his marriage at all. Instead, he put his focus on other insignificant things. What was Zhai Sheng thinking about?

  “It has nothing to do with the army. Apart from the army, he has relatives and family members.” Miao Jing grounded her teeth. “I asked him to run an errand for me. Is there anything wrong?”

  As Zhai Yaohui’s wife, Miao Jing knew very well why he was so angry with Zhai Sheng.

  In the past, Miao Jing had yet to sort out her thoughts. In order to please Zhai Yaohui, she would stand on the same side with Zhai Yaohui and discipline Zhai Sheng. But now that Miao Jing had sorted it out, she was unhappy that Zhai Yaohui lectured her son because of someone else’s daughter.

  “Old Zhai, is it that apart from the army, Zhai Sheng has to put Qiu Chenxi as his first priority? Even before his mother?”

  If that was the case, did it mean she no longer has any foothold in the family once Zhai Sheng married Qiu Chenxi and the latter joined the family?

  “What nonsense are you talking about in front of the children? I don’t mean that.” Zhai Yaohui did not expect that Miao Jing would act out of the blue. Not only did she not take his side, but she also argued with him, making him embarrassed.

  “It’s good that you do not mean that. Zhai Sheng, you should get going.” An angry Miao Jing crossed her arms around her chest.

  Zhai Hua and Old Master Zhai stared at each other. Since when did her mother become so emboldened in front of her father?

  Old Master Zhai pulled at Zhai Hua. “Recently, your mom……”