Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Qiao Zijin’s face turned stiff. “Dad, you’re thinking of settling old scores with me?” Qiao Nan suffered a lot. But didn’t she suffer too? Why didn’t her father help her ask Qiao Nan to pay it back?

  When Qiao Nan was in her mother’s womb for ten months, had she consumed any good stuff? Had she not experienced hunger then?

  She remembered very clearly. When her mother was four months’ pregnant, she had the habit of kicking off her blanket in the middle of the night so she would feel cooler. Her mother said that her younger brother was in her womb. If she slept with her, she was afraid that Qiao Zijin would move at night and kick the younger brother. Hence, her mother prepared a tiny bed for her.

  As she was not used to sleeping alone, she could not remember the numerous times she fell off the bed.

  One night, she kicked away the blanket and no one discovered it. The next day, she had a fever and a cold.

  Qiao Zijin did not know why. Clearly, these were memories when she was just three years old. Why did she remember it so deeply and vividly? She knew that she was in a very serious condition due to the cold and she felt unwell all over. Just as she needed someone to take care of and comfort her, her mother treated her like someone with plague. Not only did she not hug or coax her, she even took a cup, threw it at her, and asked her to scram so that she would not spread the illness to her younger brother in the womb!

  Yes, she was the one who made Qiao Nan fall ill during the summer vacation two years ago.

  But so what? She had already been through the suffering Qiao Nan went through when she was three years old!

  In comparison to her, what was that little bit of hardship that Qiao Nan experienced? It was nothing!

  In that one year, had she not been starved until she was skinny? Had she not been starved until she was malnourished?

  If not for the fact that the child in the womb was a girl, Qiao Nan, it was most fearful that she would have to continue with that kind of differential treatment.

  She thought of all the hardships that she suffered that year. Up until now, she had never mentioned this to anyone. Ding Jiayi only knew how to tell her how much she was doted on and asked her to be filial in the future. As for Qiao Dongliang, this father, he most likely did not have any recollection of what happened during that period of time.

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  Qiao Nan had already grown up and only suffered little grievance, yet she had Qiao Dongliang seek justice for that little suffering of hers.

  What about her? Three years old. She was only three years old back then!

  If she had not pulled through the fever on that occasion, she would have long turned into a ghost. Who would feel sad for her? Who would seek justice for her?!

  Many years had passed. Although Qiao Nan was never a son, similar to her, she was just a money-losing daughter. In the end, her father still chose Qiao Nan instead of her!

  Both of them were daughters. On what grounds must she always be the one that was given up?!

  “It’s not that I wish to settle old scores with you. I just want to remind you. Zijin, until today, you’ve never felt that you did something wrong at that time, right?” Qiao Dongliang was having a headache too. He could not understand why his elder daughter thought otherwise so easily.

  Settling old scores?

  There was nothing to settle between family members.

  He had brought up the past as he hoped that Zijin truly knew where she was wrong. When she encountered the same situation next time, at the very least, she would not make the wrong decision like she did in the past, harming others as well as herself.

  Why couldn’t Zijin feel his good intentions? It was such a simple thought.

  “Dad, I’ll go and call Nan Nan to come over for dinner.” Qiao Zijin avoided the question and did not reply. She did not feel that she had done anything wrong. What wrong had she done? She was just returning all the suffering that she had endured in the past to Qiao Nan. Furthermore, her mother did many of these on her own. She did not spur her on. At most, she only watched on like a passive onlooker. What had she done wrong?

  “You……” Upon seeing that Qiao Zijin did not want to reply and was obviously still stubborn about it, Qiao Dongliang was both angry and anxious. Even if Qiao Zijin really felt that she was wrong in the past, it was certain that her understanding of what she had done wrong was not deep enough. Otherwise, her reaction would not be as such.

  Nan Nan was a smart child. It was impossible that Nan Nan would be taken in by this attitude of Zijin.

  Zijin wished to reconcile with Nan Nan and make the latter accept her as the elder sister. Tough!

  Nevertheless, it was fine. Zijin would not change if she was not taught some lesson.

  He was really prepared to wash his hands off this matter. He believed that given Nan Nan’s temperament, Nan Nan would definitely not take issue with Zijin if Zijin really knew that she was wrong and changed for the better. If Nan Nan did not forgive Zijin, that meant there was a problem with the latter.

  After confirming this point, Qiao Dongliang made up his mind that he would not interfere anymore in the matter between his two daughters.

  “Nan Nan, eat more. They are all your favorites.” Qiao Dongliang picked up dishes with clean chopsticks and filled Qiao Nan’s bowl. He then picked up a dish that was not spicy and gave it to Qiao Zijin.

  Qiao Zijin smiled as she accepted the food. She then used her chopsticks and took some spicy food. Both Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan were surprised. “You don’t eat spicy food, do you?” Spicy food would cause pimples to grow.

  “Don’t eat spicy food?” Qiao Zijin stuffed a mouthful of spicy vegetables into her mouth. “That’s a thing of the past. Chili is really a good thing, especially during wintertime. It will make one appreciate its goodness. I’ve already changed the habit of not eating spicy food. It’s fine even if I get pimples, as long as I don’t go and touch them. After eating spicy food, my body feels warmer. I can then sleep during wintertime.”

  Upon Qiao Zijin’s words, Qiao Dongliang did not feel good while he was having his food.

  Qiao Dongliang did not have much impression of the most turbulent times in China, but he had often heard his father talked about the story of the Red Army’s 25,000 mile-long march. When the soldiers crossed over the tall and huge snow mountains, chili was such a precious item to them.

  It was with these tiny chilies that the Red Army endured and pulled through that period of cold and freezing weather.

  In other words, Qiao Zijin had this feeling and realization because Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin had definitely suffered in the cold during wintertime last year.

  Qiao Dongliang very much wanted to ask Qiao Zijin where the mother-daughter pair had been to after leaving Ping Cheng, what their source of finances was, and how their daily life was.

  However, he was more afraid that he would hear something bad if he did that.

  If that happened, should he follow his heart and bring Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin back home and disrupted the current peaceful situation that was hard-earned, or hardheartedly refused to interfere although he clearly heard about the situation?

  Regarding this matter, Qiao Dongliang realized that the final outcome would be wrong no matter what he did.

  In the end, it was as if Qiao Dongliang was chewing wax as he quietly ate the food in his bowl. After he had finished that bowl, he did not continue to take more food.

  Qiao Nan peeped at Qiao Zijin, who looked extremely happy while having her meal. She silently cheered for Qiao Zijin. Qiao Zijin acted very well in this ruse of deceiving her through self-torture.

  When the night fell and it was sleeping time, Qiao Nan lay on her bed and looked at the grey and misty sky outside the windows. All the stars seemed to have been blocked by a layer of black crepes. It made one feel extremely uneasy. She sighed continuously in her heart. True enough, she still could not accept Qiao Zijin.

  Could Qiao Zijin leave as soon as possible?

  Just as Qiao Nan was thinking of this, a shooting star suddenly appeared in the sky!