Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Initially, Qiao Nan wanted to tell Zhai Sheng that Shi Qing noticed Chen Jun had been following her, but she did not feel like doing so anymore.

  Chen Jun had nothing to do with the Zhai family.

  Besides, Zhai Sheng had to return to the camp right away to handle matters. If she mentioned about Chen Jun, and Zhai Sheng was to stay in Ping Cheng for a few more days, Qiao Nan was worried that Zhai Hua might be unhappy with her.

  “Alright.” Although what happened with the Qiu family concerned Shi Qing as well, Zhai Sheng felt much assured knowing that Shi Qing would accompany Qiao Nan to school. Qiao Nan would have a bodyguard who would be by her side twenty-four hours a day. “Nan Nan, is there anything else that you want to tell me?”

  Qiao Nan paused momentarily. She took a while before she replied, “No, Brother Zhai. The time is almost up. I have to go to school with Shi Qing.”

  “Be careful on the road. Let Shi Qing walk on the outside, while you walk on the inside.”

  “Do you take her as my human shield?” There was finally a hint of smiles in Qiao Nan’s voice.

  Zhai Sheng curled the corners of his lips into a faint smile. There was a glitter in his dark eyes. “No, it’s just that she is more athletic than you. I believe she won’t allow you to be hurt.”

  Qiao Nan loosened her tight shoulders. “Forget it. Shi Qing is, after all, a girl. If she hears this, she will be mad.”

  “She is not that vulnerable. I believe in her. You should also believe in her.”

  “Does she need the vote of confidence?”

  “Why not?”

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Nan did not know what to say. “Brother Zhai, you are used to winning the conversation. I really can’t chat with you anymore. Otherwise, Shi Qing would be shooting daggers at me with her eyes.”

  “Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.”

  After hanging up the phone, Qiao Nan took the schoolbag from Shi Qing. “Alright, stop staring at me. If you don’t, your eyeballs would fall out. If we don’t go now, we will be late.”

  “Qiao Nan, you are too useless. Sister Zhai Hua was being too much, yet you didn’t complain to Brother Zhai and just put it aside. If you continue to be like this, you will be bullied. It’s no wonder Zhu Baoguo often says that you are the best, especially your good temper. You will not retaliate even when bullied, while the onlookers are anxious for you and can’t wait to get it back for you!!!”

  In that past, Shi Qing did not think too much about it when Zhu Baoguo mentioned it to her.

  However, now that she spent more time with Qiao Nan, she could not agree more with Zhu Baoguo’s apt description of Qiao Nan.

  “Unlike you, I am not good at fighting. I can’t resort to force whenever I suffer grievances. If I do, I will lose the fight and my face will always be swollen from the fights.” Qiao Nan was not displeased at being lectured by Shi Qing.

  Perhaps Zhu Baoguo and Shi Qing were right. She had a mild temper and was used to being passive. She did not know to take the initiative to fight for herself and was used to being bullied.

  At times, when she was very annoyed, she would think of going to the extreme to retaliate against her enemies.

  For example, when her mother created all sorts of trouble for her, she felt like encouraging her father to leave her mother. Without her father’s support, her mother would not dare to be too heartless to her. However, she was not able to deal with the regret that her father would have in the future.

  The last time she was framed by her mother and Qiao Zijin, she had even thought of using a knife to stab her mother and Qiao Zijin. She would have to kill herself as well, as she would not want to go to jail and suffer humiliation before she was sentenced to death.

  But she was unable to kill the two people closest to her even though she had suffered a lot of grievances because of them. Besides, she would have to pay a price for killing them.

  She was unable to be heartless to her mother and sister. As for Zhai Hua, she was an outsider, and she was in a better position than her. Even if she was upset with her, there was nothing she could do.

  She could not win against Zhai Hua.

  She would be the one to suffer if she was estranged with her.

  Unless she broke up with Brother Zhai, she would be seeing Zhai Hua often in the future. She could not possibly quarrel with her every time she saw her.

  “Shi Qing, I am very envious of you. It will be good if I can be as straightforward as you.” If her temper were like that of Shi Qing, no matter who was going against her, she would not be the one who suffered.

  But the problem was that Qiao Nan’s personality was unlike Shi Qing’s.

  “I am the one who is envious of you. Forget it. I suppose one will prefer to have what they do not have. Anyway, you are in a relationship with Brother Zhai, not Sister Zhai Hua. It doesn’t matter what she thinks of you. If not, you can stay out of her way in the future. Sister Zhai Hua will have to get married sooner or later. If she ends up like my auntie who is married to a faraway place, she will only be back once or twice a year to her parents’ house. You will not have many chances to see her.”

  Qiao Nan had yet to settle the problem of her future mother-in-law, and she had a difficult sister-in-law to worry about.

  It turned out that the Zhai family was quite complicated. It was foolish of Qiu Chenxi and her to want to marry into the family.

  Qiao Nan smiled but kept her silence. Being together? Marriage?

  Things were not that simple.

  Qiao Nan might have felt that it was not that simple, but Zhai Sheng made a move to simplify things.

  Zhai Sheng knew that Qiao Nan had to go to school. He did not waste his time at home either.

  Since Zhai Hua could cancel her leave to return to the army, so could Zhai Sheng.

  Zhai Hua, who was in the army, felt uneasy upon hearing that Zhai Sheng had come back to the army. Even if Qiao Nan went to school today, Zhai Sheng could not have hurried back to the army. It seemed that Qiao Nan had told Zhai Sheng about the incident.

  Before Zhai Hua could flee, Zhai Sheng spotted her right away in the army camp.

  Zhai Hua pretended that everything was alright. “Why are you back at the army? Why don’t you rest for a few more days at home?”

  “I’m worried that you will be lonely since you are alone in the camp.”

  “Me? Lonely?” Zhai Hua pointed at herself. “You must be joking. The army camp is my home. There are many brothers and sisters that I am close with. How would I be lonely? But you have come back at the wrong time. Or rather, I have come back at the right time. I just received a task and I have to go now. Why don’t we continue the chat after I return from my mission?”

  Zhai Sheng stopped Zhai Hua. “Mission? I just came back from Officer Shi’s place. If there’s any mission, why didn’t he mention it to me? How about we go and ask Officer Shi?”