If he knew that Ding Jiayi would create trouble for Nan Nan as soon as she could walk by herself, he should not have put in so much effort to take care of her. At least, he should have made sure that she would not be able to turn up today to ruin the happy atmosphere and create a ruckus.

  Qiao Dongliang took a deep breath. “Principal Meng, one should not wash dirty linen in public. But this is not the first time that you have witnessed something like this. Please take care of Nan Nan while I settle the problem outside.”

  If the teachers and the principal of Ping Cheng High School were not here, Qiao Dongliang would ignore Ding Jiayi’s shouts and take it that some mad woman had lost her mind.

  By the time Ding Jiayi was tired and thirsty, or perhaps when she suffered from heatstroke, he would make a phone call and send her to the hospital.

  The people in the small quad had never seen Ding Jiayi. It was alright for him to pretend not to know Ding Jiayi.

  However, Principal Meng and the teachers were here to congratulate Qiao Nan. It was such a sticky situation. Qiao Dongliang could not possibly ignore Ding Jiayi.

  “Alright.” Principal Meng and the two form teachers felt awkward as well.

  They had taught many students. If they were able to secure a place in a good school—let alone being the top scorer in the college entrance examination—the parents would usually treat the teachers to a meal to thank them.

  However, the Qiao family was peculiar, especially Ding Jiayi, who was one of a kind. She was a fright.

  She had been in an accident and was hospitalized, yet she could still make a fuss!

  Ding Jiayi could not get into the house, but Qiao Dongliang could go out of the house.

  Qiao Dongliang came out and saw that Ding Jiayi was kneeling on the ground. His face darkened and he pulled Ding Jiayi up. She shouted out in pain. “Do you know what day it is today? Why are you here to make a fuss?”

  \r \r \r

  “I… I am here to look for Qiao Nan. I am here to beg Qiao Nan to let me off,” Ding Jiayi said through clenched teeth.

  “Oh…” Qiao Dongliang let out a long breath. “It is Nan Nan’s and my misfortune to marry a woman like you and to have a mother like you. I will never allow you to harm Nan Nan again. I know it is your plan for Nan Nan to quit school to support Qiao Zijin. But let me tell you, no way! I am definitely filing a divorce. I have no more feelings for you. I am utterly disappointed in you. No, you are totally hopeless!”

  “I… am not…” Ding Jiayi panicked.

  Qiao Nan was the newly announced provincial top scorer of the college entrance examination. She was the pride of Ping Cheng High School, the small quad, and the entire Ping Cheng.

  Everybody would be angry if they knew that someone was out to stop Qiao Nan from continuing her studies and to quit school to support someone else.

  “Qiao Zijin and Nan Nan are my children. It’s fine that you don’t treat her as your daughter. I will treat her as my daughter. Since you dote on Qiao Zijin, after we divorce, Qiao Zijin will stay with you while I will take care of Nan Nan. If you dare to make a fuss and disgrace Nan Nan or affect her, I will go all out to deal with you. Since you have disgraced yourself and made a fuss, there is no need for me to care about preserving your dignity. Let’s go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to complete the divorce procedure.”

  Qiao Dongliang roughly dragged Ding Jiayi with him and walked forward, planning to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau. He did not care that Ding Jiayi was injured.

  Ding Jiayi had injured her bones in the accident. She felt immense pain upon being pulled by Qiao Dongliang. It was as if she had gone through the accident for another time. “Old Qiao, you… let go. I am in pain. I am still recovering from my injuries.”

  “I did not forget that you are injured. You are the one who has forgotten about it. You don’t care that you are hurt, while my biggest problem is being too nice to you. I am not willing to speak of all those bad deeds that you have done. Let’s get a divorce so that we will be rid of each other!”

  “I… I have said that I am not looking for you. I am here for Qiao Nan. I gave birth to her and raised her. She is indebted to me. How can she allow you to divorce me and for us to part ways? How cruel is she!” Ding Jiayi changed the topic quickly lest the people around her knew what she had done previously and sided with Qiao Dongliang. “I don’t care that she has a close relationship with you. She cannot go overboard and treat her mother in such a manner. Aren’t she afraid of being struck by lightning?”

  If she was to be blamed, so was Qiao Nan.

  No child would keep urging her parents to divorce. Qiao Nan had to be blamed. Everyone here had been deceived by her.

  “As long as she does not insist that you get a divorce, I can kneel down and beg her. In the future, I will obey her. Will that do?”

  Ding Jiayi had gone way overboard in what she said, especially the latter part of her sentences.

  What did she mean when she said that Qiao Nan was close to Qiao Dongliang?

  Those who knew what was going on would understand that Ding Jiayi meant that Qiao Nan was close to her father.

  Those who did not know what was going on would have the impression that Qiao Nan had come between Ding Jiayi and Qiao Dongliang.

  The Zhai family who specially came to congratulate Qiao Nan witnessed the scene. They could not help but frown at Ding Jiayi’s use of words, except for one person who was trying hard to become part of the Zhai family -Wei De.

  Miao Jing patted her chest. “I thought this woman is gone for years. Why is she back today? She is bent on giving Nan Nan a difficult time by coming back on such a day. If she does not want such a good daughter, I will take her as my daughter!”

  Ding Jiayi did not know to cherish what she had.

  Wei De, who had a smile on his face, turned sullen. He was upset with what she said.

  Qiao Nan came from such a complicated family background. How could she be considered as a good lady? It was absurd that Madam Zhai wanted to take her as her daughter…

  Zhai Sheng cast a cold, icy stare at Wei De. Wei De caught his gaze and his smug expression froze on his face.

  Wei De tried not to stand out in the crowd and kept his expression under control.

  He came to ‘congratulate’ Qiao Nan and to be in the good books of the Zhai family. He never expected that Regiment Commander Zhai, his future brother-in-law, would catch him with a smug expression on his face. He should have paid more attention.

  “Zhai Sheng, does Qiao Dongliang intend to divorce Ding Jiayi? If so, help him in whatever ways that you can so that it will be settled as soon as possible. In that case, Qiao Nan can go to college with a peace of mind.” Otherwise, no one would be able to concentrate on their studies with such a mother. It was sheer torture.

  “Miao Miao.” Zhai Yaohui wanted Miao Jing to be careful with her words. At the very least, no matter how angry she was, she should keep those remarks within the house

  However, Zhai Yaohui really could not stand the sight of Ding Jiayi, especially when she made such outrageous comments.

  Zhai Sheng thought for a while before saying, “I will think of a way. It seems that today is a bit inappropriate. Dad, do you want to bring Mom back first?” Ding Jiayi was a person who would shoot her mouth off. Qiao Zijin knew of his relationship with Nan Nan. Therefore, Ding Jiayi must have known about it as well.

  Zhai Yaohui had been giving Miao Jing hints about Nan Nan’s identity. Zhai Yaohui and Zhai Sheng had decided that today would be the day that they would introduce Qiao Nan as the future daughter-in-law of the Zhai family to Miao Jing.