“No, no issue. The weather is hot and food turns bad easily. It’s better to clean up as soon as possible. It will prevent the floor from being slippery too. If the food turns bad, the smell won’t be good.” The doctor smiled gently and consoled Qiao Dongliang instead. He asked Qiao Dongliang not to be anxious. They would not take issue with this.

  Anyway, they were not the ones who painstakingly prepared that bowl of porridge toppled by the patient.

  When the doctor was checking on Ding Jiayi’s medical condition, Qiao Dongliang, a 1.8-meter-tall grown-up man, did not display any signs of bad temper at all. He was enduring all the hardship and cleaning up the porridge spilled by Ding Jiayi bit by bit with the broom provided by the hospital.

  The porridge cooked by Qiao Nan was good. It was extremely fragrant and thick. However, the more the porridge was as such the more difficult it was to clean it up. Qiao Dongliang was not good at household chores. Hence, he took some time to clean up.

  At the sight of such a good man like Qiao Dongliang, both the doctor and nurses were filled with awe.

  As a male, the doctor could not help putting in good words for Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan. “Actually, the patient’s mood affects the recovery time. One has to be contented. When your mood improves, your illness will recover more quickly. You’ll then be discharged earlier. That surgery of yours alone spent a lot of money.”

  The wife had a car accident and had to spend a big sum of money. The husband also did not hesitate to fork out the money to treat his wife’s condition.

  As a grown-up man, although he was quiet, he had been guarding his wife silently by her side. This was already the fourth day.

  Where could you find a husband who was willing to do all these in the world? One had to be contented and know how to count her blessings.

  Ding Jiayi pulled a long face. It was only when the doctor and nurses left did she ask. “Did you do that on purpose just now?”

  He deliberately came back so late. He deliberately waited for the doctor to do his rounds before coming back to the ward. He then cleaned up the porridge that she had spilled on the floor bit by bit in front of the doctor and nurses.

  Having been a married couple for twenty years, this was the first time Ding Jiayi realized that Qiao Dongliang could be such a scheming man when he was serious about being so. He was so scary!

  \r \r \r

  She had been plotted against. Her reputation had been totally ruined. It was only then that she realized that she had been tricked by Qiao Dongliang.

  Qiao Dongliang put away the broom and wiped the sweat on this forehead. He then replied nonchalantly, “Nan Nan and I have been taken in by you both so many times. We have been plotted against so many times. If we don’t improve, I’ll be ashamed to call myself a soldier. No matter what, I still need your cooperation in this.”

  Ding Jiayi’s words were too maligning.

  The two had been a married couple for so long. If Qiao Dongliang was so scheming, would Ding Jiayi still be able to take all the family savings to enroll Qiao Zijin in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China? Furthermore, he only found out about it half a year after it had happened.

  If Ding Jiayi had not acted up and insisted on finding fault with Qiao Nan, treated Qiao Nan like a slave and bossily ordered Qiao Nan to prepare many things—furthermore, they were things without monetary gains and only monetary loss—the idea of conveniently making use of this matter would not have flashed in Qiao Dongliang’s mind.

  The more arrogant Ding Jiayi was, the more hard-hearted Qiao Dongliang became. “The doctors in this hospital are really skillful. It has just been four days and your spirits are already so good. I feel more at ease now.”

  In about one month’s time at least, when Nan Nan was pursuing her college studies, he could completely settle his marriage problems with Ding Jiayi.

  Without the burden of being related to her, he believed that Nan Nan would certainly be able to focus more on her studies.

  “.……” Ding Jiayi was panting with anger. Given this attitude of Qiao Dongliang, she knew that Qiao Dongliang would definitely not pass her earlier message to Qiao Nan or request Qiao Nan to do as she said.

  She could not understand. Why was it that other people’s husband doted on their wives so much but this wooden block in her family doted on her child more than his wife?

  After about half an hour, Ding Jiayi’s tummy started growling continuously as if it was drumming. “Old Qiao, I am hungry……”

  Qiao Dongliang lifted his eyelids. “Do you think you’ll have things to eat when you wish for them? There’s definitely nothing-not even slag-left in the hospital’s canteen at this hour.” The food in the hospital was not tasty but there were never leftovers.

  Ding Jiayi could no longer endure the hunger. She could not care less about the weird and mocking tone of Qiao Dongliang. “The canteen is not the only place that sells food in the hospital. I’m fine with whatever you buy back for me. I’m hungry.” If she still did not eat, she would be starving badly soon.

  Qiao Dongliang slanted his eyes and looked at Ding Jiayi. “The food in the hospital is expensive. It’s not that you don’t know. If you wish to have something to eat, fine, give me the money.”

  “.……” Ding Jiayi gave a glare. “We’re husband and wife. Do you still need to ask me for money when you buy some food for me? Old Qiao, there’s really only money on your mind

  now?”

  “All the money that I have earned had been spent by you. I’m penniless. I don’t have a choice either.”

  “Then, what about the money that you have earned in recent years?”

  “Doesn’t your hospitalization this time cost money? Will the hospital operate on you and feed you medicine at no cost?”

  Ding Jiayi was panting with anger. “Didn’t you say that all the money spent on my hospitalization was borrowed by that wretched…… Qiao Nan?” Then, the money that Old Qiao had earned during the past two years should still be in his own pocket.

  “You’re really good. The money spent on your hospitalization was all borrowed from others and you guard the money in your own pocket badly. With your borrowing habits, why don’t you go and borrow and see how many people will be willing to lend you money?” Qiao Dongliang could not understand what he saw in Ding Jiayi many years ago, that he even married this woman.

  Although his qualities were not very good previously, it was not like there were no other women who were willing to be with him besides Ding Jiayi.

  He had used half of his lifetime to learn that he had to look for character and not superficial qualities in a woman!

  Ding Jiayi, who was starving, did not even have the energy to be angry. “Then, tell me, what to do? I’m really very hungry.”

  “What to do?” Qiao Dongliang smirked. “Don’t you have two daughters? Nan Nan has delivered one meal. If you really want to have some rice, you can pray silently that that elder daughter of yours is really as good as you made her out to be. No, she’s better than Nan Nan. Nan Nan sent you some plain porridge. If you wish to have some shredded chicken porridge, you will certainly be able to get them from Qiao Zijin. Of course, if Qiao Zijin doesn’t deliver it here, you can wait a few more hours and look forward to the meal at dinnertime. Even if Nan Nan is not good and can’t care much about the taste of the dishes, she will still ensure that the quantity is met.”

  When Qiao Dongliang behaved in this way, Ding Jiayi had no choice. Instead, she was at the beck and call of Qiao Dongliang.

  At this juncture, Qiao Dongliang then understood that he was the one who indulged Ding Jiayi and condoned her ill-disciplined, blatant, arrogant, and domineering manners in the past.

  One would only create troubles in two kinds of situations. First, they were too full after having eaten their fill. Second, they had nothing to eat and were dying of hunger, so they had to create a nuisance for the sake of survival.

  Having missed two meals, Ding Jiayi was as listless as a frosted eggplant.

  When it was mealtime at six o’clock in the evening and Qiao Nan asked the young nurse to help deliver the food to the ward, Ding Jiayi took the spoon and started to eat the plain porridge without a word as soon as Qiao Dongliang placed it before her. It was so delightful and fragrant.