Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “My family can’t possibly let Qiu Chenxi, who is at her prime, to spend all her time waiting for Zhai Sheng. That will be a waste of her youth and it will be too mean of us to do that.”

  Qiu Qin grew silent. He thought for a while before saying, “What is Chief Zhai’s thought on this?”

  “In fact, it was only a casual talk between the two families. There wasn’t any formal agreement. So, why don’t we forget about what we said previously? By the way, I heard there are a transfer and promotion in your army camp. There’s this position which may seem to be of a lower rank than your current position, but as long as you work hard, you will stand to benefit much more from it. What do you think?”

  “Chief Zhai, thank you very much!” Qiu Qin’s eyes lit up. He had been eying that position since a long time ago.

  It might seem to be a demotion, but in fact, it was a promotion. It was not easy to secure the position.

  Zhai Yaohui was not surprised by this result. He had expected that Qiu Qin would agree to his suggestion, but he did not expect that he would agree to it so readily. “Then, it’s settled. If you have the chance, tell your wife and Qiu Chenxi about what we discussed today.”

  “Chief Zhai, rest assured. I will do so.”

  After meeting Zhai Yaohui, Qiu Qin called his parents to tell them of the latest updates as soon as he arrived at his workplace. After listening to what his son said, Father Qiu objected strongly to the arrangement. “Son, you are so stupid and shortsighted. How could you give up the bright future for a small benefit? Since Zhai Yaohui could help you secure this position, when you become in-laws in the future, you will be able to get even more benefits than today.”

  “Dad, you may be wrong. The people from the Zhai family are upright and fair. They don’t abuse their power for personal gain. This is an exception. If Chenxi marries Zhai Sheng and we become in-laws with the Zhai family, apart from marrying well, I don’t think we can get a lot of substantial benefits. Mom and you should have known about what happened between Zhai Yaohui and Qi Minlan. In the end, regardless of how domineering Zhai Yaohui is, he ended up obeying his father to marry a village girl. In the past, Chenxi had the support of Zhai Yaohui. However, Zhai Yaohui is no longer on her side. He was the one who told me to call off their marriage. Dad, Zhai Sheng does not like Chenxi and she doesn’t have the support of his parents. What do you think is the success rate of her marrying Zhai Sheng? If we insist on it, we may end up with nothing in the end!”

  \r \r \r

  Back then, there were two reasons why Qiu Qin was willing to listen to his parents to marry Qi Minlan. The first reason was that the Qi family and the Qiu family were well-matched in all aspects. The other reason was Qi Minlan’s relationship with Zhai Yaohui. As long as Zhai Yaohui felt guilty toward Qi Minlan and wanted to compensate her, the Qiu family would definitely stand to gain from it.

  History repeats itself. Qiu Qin was willing to marry Qi Minlan whom he knew was in love with another man. What he did today was merely to call off a marriage that had slim hopes and he stood to gain from it. It was a good bargain.

  In fact, as long as Zhai Yaohui supported Zhai Sheng’s decision, there was nothing the Qiu family could do to the Zhai family even if they did not give any explanation to the Qiu family.

  Like what Zhai Yaohui said, this was, after all, a casual talk between the two families. They had never gone through any formal discussion. It was never taken seriously from the start.

  “Dad, it’s a pity to spoil the ship for a halfpenny worth of tar, but we must not be greedy. Otherwise, we will stand to lose. If Zhai Yaohui discusses this matter with Qi Minlan, I will definitely not intervene. However, he chose to discuss it with me. Dad, it seems that Zhai Yaohui no longer feels as apologetic toward Qi Minlan as before.”

  “That cannot be.” Father Qiu was stunned.

  “Dad, you are also a man. What do you say?”

  There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. After a while, Father Qiu said, “Alright. Now that you are in charge of the Qiu family, you have the final say.”

  “Okay, I will hang up now. If I am transferred to that position, I will be very busy for the next three years at least.”

  “You must work hard. The Qiu family has to rely on you. Chenxi is a girl. Sooner or later, she will have to get married. Qiu Qin, since we cannot get Zhai Sheng to be our son-in-law, you have to put in more effort to get a good husband for Chenxi. It will be best if they can have two children and one of them will take the Qiu surname. Do you understand what I mean?”

  “Understood.”

  “Okay, let’s hang up now.”

  Since they could not be in-laws with the Zhai family, Father Qiu had begun to plan the future for Qiu Chenxi.

  Qi Minlan never would have expected that her actions would lead to her downfall. She only wanted to provoke Miao Jing through having close contact with Zhai Yaohui. However, Miao Jing did not suffer in silence like before. Instead, she flared up and it eventually led to what happened today.

  Actually, it was already not easy to get Qiu Chenxi to be engaged to Zhai Sheng. There were a lot of disagreements and unhappiness.

  Now that Zhai Yaohui, who was most supportive of Qiu Chenxi, had changed his mind, there was no hope for Qiu Chenxi to be with Zhai Sheng.

  After Zhai Yaohui explained to Qiu Qin and made matters clear, they had come to an agreement regarding the marriage of their children. With that, Zhai Yaohui returned home.

  Unfortunately, the happy mood in the Zhai family’s residence did not last for long. At about three o’clock in the afternoon, Qiu Qin made a phone call to the Zhai family. “Hi, Chief Zhai, there is something that I have to tell you.”

  “What is it?” Zhai Yaohui put down the newspaper in his hand.

  “I have told Qi Minlan and Chenxi about our discussion today. Chenxi couldn’t accept it and said that she is going to settle scores with a girl by the name of Qiao Nan. Is she related to your family?” If this young lady had no connections with the Zhai family, Chenxi would not have looked for her as soon as she knew that it was impossible between her and Zhai Sheng.

  Qiu Qin did not know much about this. He only knew that his daughter was after this young lady because of Zhai Sheng.

  In other words, if the young lady was bullied by his daughter, the Zhai family had to take responsibility for it.

  Therefore, he had to inform the Zhai family about it.

  “What? Why is it that I heard Nan Nan’s name?” Miao Jing, who was savoring her green tea, caught bits and pieces of the conversation. “What do you mean? Why would the people from the Qiu family mention about Nan Nan for no apparent reason?”

  “Sure, I understand.” Zhai Yaohui hung up the phone and looked at Miao Jing. He could make use of this opportunity to hint to Miao Jing. “Qiu Qin has told Qiu Chenxi about our agreement. Qiu Chenxi now knows that it is impossible between her and Zhai Sheng. In retaliation, she threw a big tantrum and said that she is going to settle scores with Qiao Nan. She must be on her way to Qiao Nan’s house.”

  “What right does she have to do that?” Miao Jing stood up in anger, her face red. “What does this have to do with Nan Nan?”