Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Was my sister worried for me and hence, like Mom, insisted that I was a thief? Or was it because she couldn’t stand that I was doing well and wanted to gang up with Mom to frame me?”

  “This……” There was no way that Qiao Dongliang could speak up for Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin.

  These two muddle-headed women, one could not recognize her daughter, while the other could not recognize her younger sister.

  They could not even recognize Qiao Nan. It proved that they did not really care for Qiao Nan. Qiao Dongliang could not defend them at all.

  “Dad, I am not sure what happened in the past. But according to my sister, I learned that when my mother was pregnant with me and she thought that I was a son, she neglected my sister and did not treat her well. You seemed to ignore my sister as well. Dad, my sister bears grudges for that.”

  Qiao Zijin would only sweet-talk her parents. She did not do anything for them.

  In the previous life, Qiao Zijin married Chen Jun and led a pampered life where she did not need to work and spent all her time shopping and enjoying life.

  Though she had a good life, Qiao Zijin did not do anything in particular for her parents or the family. On the contrary, she would come up with all sorts of excuses to get money from her parents.

  Their parents did not have any money and so her mother exploited her to meet Qiao Zijin’s demands.

  Back then, everyone was full of envy that her parents had nurtured such a capable elder daughter who married well. They thought that the Qiao family could rely on the relationship with the Chen family to have good days ahead.

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  However, only the Qiao family knew that after having the Chen family as in-laws, their lives had not improved but in fact, other than looking good on the surface, they had not enough money to make ends meet.

  “No, it cannot be.” Qiao Dongliang was dumbfounded. He wanted to keep Zijin at home and to take in a husband for her. He had been very good to his daughter since she was born. He would always feel sorry toward Nan Nan as he did not give her the same treatment as Qiao Zijin.

  Other than Nan Nan, he had been very good to Ding Jiayi and Zijin.

  “Impossible?” Qiao Dongliang had a look of disbelief on his face. He still had not seen through Qiao Zijin. For the sake of her own future, Qiao Nan had to make Qiao Dongliang come to his senses. “I don’t know about other matters, but unless what Brother Zhou Jun said were lies, why would my sister look down on you? If she did not harbor grudges against you, then would she say those words about you?”

  “That is because……” He really did not have the ability to give Zijin a good life. Zijin had high expectations of him and he could not satisfy her needs. That was why she complained about him. Was that not the case?

  “East or west, home is the best. It applies to one’s parents as well. One must not despise those nearest and dearest to us no matter how plain and insignificant they are.” To put it bluntly, Qiao Zijin despised everything about her parents and her family.

  “Dad, my sister did not despise you because of the harsh reality. She despises you for no apparent reason.” In the previous lifetime, Zijin had uremia and had to be hospitalized. Yet, although she had a lot of assets, she asked her parents to fork out money for her to treat her illness.

  Qiao Zijin was like a chimera that would take money from others but refused to take a single cent out.

  If not for her, there was no way that her parents could satisfy Qiao Zijin’s demands. Even if they sold their blood and organs, they would not be able to satisfy Qiao Zijin.

  “No, it’s impossible. Your sister is being spoiled by your mom. She may be selfish and inconsiderate of others, but she won’t be as bad as what you said. She would not be without a conscience.” He did not believe it!

  “If she is not like what I said, why is it that when Mom did the handiwork late into the might in order to earn money for her tuition fees, she did not offer her help at all? Dad, back then, you wanted to give Mom a lesson, so you did not help her. But my sister stood by without doing anything. Why was that?” In the past, she had no wish to care about what Qiao Zijin did. After all, they were Qiao Zijin’s parents as well. If they were willing to give everything to Qiao Zijin, she could not do anything about it. She would not say anything as long as they did not bother her.

  But she could not do that anymore.

  If the relationship between her and Zhai Sheng worked out, she was worried that her mother and Qiao Zijin would pester her and get favors from the Zhai family through her.

  At that time, they would need someone who was clear-minded to control her mother and Qiao Zijin, and that person had to be her father.

  Hence, she had to let her father understood the person that Qiao Zijin was and to see her true colors.

  Selfish? This was not an apt description of Qiao Zijin. She was heartless and cold!

  “Let me think about it, let me think about it.” Qiao Dongliang had lost the ability to think properly. It was as if he had been beaten by a group of hooligans and there was a buzzing sound in his head. Actually, Qiao Dongliang still remembered the things that Qiao Zijin had done in the past one year.

  Back then, Ding Jiayi worked on the handiwork through the night in order to earn money for Qiao Zijin’s tuition fee.

  Qiao Dongliang might have acted as if he did not care for Ding Jiayi and slept in the small study room, but in fact, he never had a good sleep those few nights. He would wake up at least four to five times in the middle of the night to check on Ding Jiayi and see if she had gone to sleep.

  It was only when Ding Jiayi stopped working, turned off the lights, and went back to sleep, could Qiao Dongliang sleep well.

  In comparison, Qiao Zijin was not affected at all. She slept early and got up late in the morning. It was only in the daytime that she would be willing to help make a few handmade products. Nonetheless, she was too slow and could only do a few handiwork a day. Most of the work was done by Ding Jiayi.

  Qiao Dongliang knew that his daughter was indeed selfish, and she was indifferent, not knowing how to care for others.

  But Qiao Dongliang believed that it was because Qiao Zijin had never been a parent, so she did not know the hardships of her parents. There would be a day she realized their effort and would not behave in such a manner anymore.

  This was a growing up process that everyone must go through. As her parent, what he needed to do was to give her the time and opportunity.

  But Qiao Nan was telling Qiao Dongliang that this was not the case. Qiao Zijin knew it but it was just that she could not be bothered and she was unwilling to be good to him and Ding Jiayi.

  There was no way that Qiao Dongliang could accept such a cruel and harsh reality.

  “Dad, think about it yourself. Don’t you find it odd? That night, you and Mom had gone back to sleep, and there were only my sister and I around, but why did I leave?” Qiao Nan secretly added more fuel to the flames.

  Qiao Dongliang covered his face with his hands and closed his eyes.