He might not have lots of money, but he still had to spend the small amount of money that he had on the necessary items.

  He would get to see his grandchildren in less than two months. As the maternal grandfather, he had to prepare gifts for them.

  Qiao Dongliang understood that it was customary nowadays to give babies golden and silver jewelry to keep them safe.

  He had more than one grandchild. He had to shop around to buy two bracelets for them.

  Qiao Dongliang did not tell Ding Jiayi what was on his mind. But Ding Jiayi could not do anything about Qiao Dongliang. She would not behave like what she used to do in the past—being shameless and creating a din.

  Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi were not on good terms when she reported back to school.

  As soon as Chen Jun reached Ping Cheng, he had told Qiao Zijin clearly that they could no longer be with each other and he wanted to break up. But Qiao Zijin refused to break up with him.

  A divorce was different from a breakup. Both parties had to sign the divorce agreement in order to divorce.

  As for a breakup, as long as one party had made up the mind, one could break up with the other party no matter how unwilling the other party was.

  Since Chen Jun wanted to break up with Qiao Zijin, the Chen family would not continue to pay for Qiao Zijin’s school fees.

  If the Chen family supported a poor student through school, they would at least earn a good reputation for doing good deeds. But they would not have any returns by spending money on Qiao Zijin.

  They could do nothing about the previous losses. The Chen family needed to cut losses right now.

  Now that the Chen family would no longer provide for her, Qiao Zijin had no way to finish her diploma studies. The only way was for Qiao Dongliang and Ding Jiayi to take up the responsibility again as her parents to pay for her school fees.

  \r \r \r

  The Qiao family almost made a phone call to Qiao Nan in the middle of August to ask her for money.

  Fortunately, Qiao Dongliang still had a conscience and he snatched the phone from Ding Jiayi.

  Qiao Dongliang warned Ding Jiayi not to make the call. Otherwise, he would smash the phone.

  He would make sure that Ding Jiayi coughed up all the money that she took from Qiao Nan and he would send them back to Qiao Nan.

  Qiao Nan was married to Zhai Sheng and she was still a student. The Zhai family would have to provide for her daily expenses. It would be shameless to ask Qiao Nan to take money from her in-laws in order to support her parental family. Qiao Dongliang refused to take any money from her.

  Seeing that Qiao Dongliang was so insistent, Ding Jiayi had no other choice but to give up on that thought.

  Ding Jiayi knew that she might dislike Qiao Nan and Qiao Nan had no feelings for her, but Qiao Dongliang was the only person who was able to get any money from Qiao Nan.

  If Qiao Dongliang was unwilling to do that, even if Ding Jiayi had good plans, they would be useless.

  Therefore, Ding Jiayi had to part with her hard-earned savings reluctantly. She and Qiao Dongliang pooled their money together to pay for Qiao Zijin’s school fees.

  But Ding Jiayi also told Qiao Zijin that she would only provide her with enough money to cover her daily expenses for a month.

  Thereafter, Qiao Zijin had to work part-time to earn money to cover her daily expenses. Ding Jiayi could not earn much to provide for Qiao Zijin. She had grown up and should be able to work to support herself. She could not rely on her parents.

  In short, Qiao Zijin was an adult and she already started a relationship. She had to provide for herself instead of adding to her parents’ burden. Her parents could not help it that they were not capable and did not earn lots of money.

  Qiao Zijin left with her school fees as well as the money to cover her daily expenses for a month. Ding Jiayi had no idea what was on her mind when she left.

  Qiao Dongliang kept silent throughout, but he had his own thoughts about this.

  He did not stop Ding Jiayi as he hoped that Qiao Zijin would learn to depend on her own efforts.

  He could tell that Qiao Zijin tended to rely too much on other people. She felt that she had to rely on other people, including her parents, her sister, or even the man that she would marry in the future in order to lead a good life.

  Qiao Zijin was unwilling to listen to his advice because she felt that Chen Jun’s family was well-to-do and she would be able to lead a good life after she married him in the future.

  It was too dangerous to harbor such thoughts.

  Perhaps it was only when Qiao Zijin earned money to support herself would she understand that as long as she was willing to work hard, she had the ability to support herself and she did not need to rely on others.

  In that case, Qiao Zijin would reconsider her relationship with Chen Jun. He hoped that when she looked for another boyfriend in the future, it would be based on his temperament and character instead of his family background as well as whether he was rich or not.

  That was why although Qiao Dongliang could tell that Qiao Zijin bore a grudge toward Ding Jiayi, he did not stop Ding Jiayi.

  Upon reaching school, as she was still angry, Qiao Zijin could not be bothered to make a phone call to tell her parents that she had reached safely.

  Ding Jiayi had made it clear that she would not give her a single cent apart from the money that she had with her.

  If she did not make a phone call, she could save the money and spend it on herself.

  Qiao Zijin did not call her parents. Instead, Qiao Dongliang made a call to her dormitory. It was Qiao Zijin’s roommate who answered the call and passed the phone to her. “Zijin, I can tell that you are unhappy that your mom only gave you a small amount of money and wanted you to work to support yourself. Zijin, you have grown up. You are an adult. I don’t expect that you will be very outstanding in the future. My only hope is for you to be a useful person. Don’t bear grudges against your mom. We have your best interests.”

  “Zijin, your mom and I are getting older. We will definitely leave the world earlier than you. You don’t have to worry. While we are still alive, we will definitely provide for you. But have you thought about what is going to happen to you when we are gone? You will get married in the future and your husband will take care of you. It is not that I am being harsh, but we have seen it in the news that many people get divorced nowadays. Zijin, I hope that you will become a useful person and will not have to rely on other people. You can work hard to support yourself and you will still be able to lead a good life. Do you understand my kind intentions?”

  Qiao Dongliang did his best to convince Qiao Zijin to rely on herself. He hoped that she could understand that her parents had her best interests.

  “Dad, are you trying to tell me that the only person I can rely on is myself and that other people are unreliable?” Qiao Zijin replied calmly.

  “Yes! I am right about you. You can understand what I want to say.” She had made a very accurate conclusion. She was indeed a high school student. She could express his meaning in simple words.

  Qiao Zijin sneered at Qiao Dongliang’s cheerful tone. “Dad, I understand what you mean. Don’t worry. I understand everything.”


  1165 Give Me All the Money

  “I’m not chatting with you anymore. I have found a part-time job and need to leave for work now. If I don’t work a little harder, I will have nothing to eat next month.”

  After finishing her words, Qiao Zijin hung up the phone.

  Yes, she could not rely on anyone in this world. To her, the most reliable person was, of course, herself.

  If she did not depend on herself, would her mother persist in letting her continue her studies and allowing her to go through diploma studies?

  If she did not rely on herself, would Chen Jun agree to become her boyfriend and support her financially for so many years?

  She was not considered as relying on herself just because the money did not come out of her own pocket?

  Ridiculous!

  If she had used her brains a little less, the money would not have been spent on her. She had always been relying on herself. All of her father’s words were nonsense!

  Facing the phone that had been hung up, Qiao Dongliang could only take it that Qiao Zijin’s anger had not completely subsided.

  He had already made himself clear. Qiao Dongliang felt more at ease now. At the very least, there was no longer any misunderstanding between him and Qiao Zijin.

  As time passed, Zijin’s anger would definitely subside. Sooner or later, she would understand her parents’ pain and good intentions.

  After that phone call, Qiao Zijin did not make any other calls home. Anyway, Ding Jiayi was not going to give her any more money. She was thus not willing to waste the cost of making calls.

  On the other hand, Qiao Dongliang was thinking that Qiao Zijin had to make full use of the time outside lessons to work part-time and earn money. Otherwise, how would she be able to earn enough living expenses?

  \r \r \r

  In addition, he was not certain whether Qiao Zijin’s anger had already subsided. If he were to call her again, the father-daughter pair might get into an argument if Qiao Zijin was still angry. That would not be meaningful then.

  Hence, Qiao Dongliang waited and did not make any further moves. He thought that Qiao Zijin would definitely contact Ding Jiayi and him when she was no longer angry.

  Qiao Dongliang, who was riding on the bicycle, quietly dismissed Qiao Zijin’s situation in his heart. He then arrived at the jewelry shop.

  Qiao Dongliang did not go to a large shop. Instead, he patronized a jewelry shop with a good reputation that had been in business for a long time. He then enquired about the current price of gold. “Old Qiao, your family wants to purchase gold jewelry without an apparent reason?” The boss of the shop looked at Qiao Dongliang curiously.

  It was not that he looked down on Qiao Dongliang. He had known previously that Qiao Nan was getting married. He thought that since everyone was long-time friends who knew each other so well, Qiao Dongliang would pick a few pieces of jewelry from his shop for Qiao Nan.

  Who would have known that he had not seen Qiao Dongliang coming to his shop to buy jewelry although half a year had passed since Qiao Nan’s marriage? “Old Qiao, don’t tell me that your elder daughter is getting married?”

  The Qiao family had two daughters. The elder one was Da Qiao and the younger one Xiao Qiao. Qiao Dongliang and Ding Jiayi were biased toward the elder daughter. They did not treat the younger daughter very well. This gossip did not only circulate within the quad.

  Many people who knew Qiao Dongliang heard about this too. The boss of the jewelry shop was one of them.

  Qiao Dongliang, embarrassed, smiled. “No, my elder daughter is still studying. There are two more years to go before she graduates. She won’t get married so soon. It’s my younger daughter. She is pregnant with twins now after marriage. I am here to buy something for my maternal grandchildren.”

  “Oh, I see. Twins. That’s good fortune. Your younger daughter is very blessed indeed.” The boss of the jewelry shop had a look of surprise and admiration on his face. “Due to the national planning policy, many families only have one child. The government does not even give them a chance to have a second one. Your family’s daughter is having twins. Your son-in-law is very blessed. Right, what kind of jewelry are you looking for? Gold or silver? Necklace, wrist or ankle bracelet?”

  Qiao Dongliang glanced at the price of the gold and then carefully examined the carat and the price of the jewelry on display. He then gritted his teeth and bought two small gold bracelets.

  The small gold bracelets were tiny and round. They were not outstanding and did not look like kids’ bracelets. It resembled more of those large exaggerated ring earrings typically worn by fashionable ladies.

  “These two bracelets cost a total of 3,752 yuan. I will waive the small change of 52 yuan for you. You just have to pay me 3,700 yuan.” The bracelets looked tiny but they were not considered very light when combined. Moreover, the price of gold was not low now. Although the prices of this shop were already considered affordable, it was not cheap to buy the two pieces of jewelry. With this purchase, Qiao Dongliang used up all his past six months’ earnings.

  “Thank you.” Qiao Dongliang took over the boxes carefully. In his mind, he started to plan when he could make a trip to the capital to visit his daughter and grandchildren. He would then pass this present to his two little maternal grandchildren.

  Qiao Dongliang was unaware that he eventually did not manage to hide the fact of buying these two tiny gold pieces of jewelry from Ding Jiayi. After spending some effort, Ding Jiayi found out the circumstances of the matter very quickly. She was so angry that she did not manage to take any bite of her dinner that night.

  Ding Jiayi was feeling unhappy. Of course, she had to make someone unhappy too. She made a phone call to the Zhai family in the capital behind Qiao Dongliang’s back. “Hello, good day. This is the house of the Zhai family.”

  “You’re the auntie of the Zhai family?” Ding Jiayi was aware of the existence of this person. Her tone was extremely terrible.

  It was not because of other reasons. It was because Ding Jiayi still wished to go to the capital!

  She had given birth to Qiao Nan. Qiao Nan grew up drinking her breast milk. Now that Qiao Nan was married and living in the capital, she did not spare any thoughts for her, this biological mother.

  On the contrary, the auntie whom she was totally unrelated to was working for and taking a salary from the Zhai family. She had followed the Zhai family to the capital to enjoy life.

  Each time she thought of this situation, Ding Jiayi was filled with hatred. She shunned Qiao Nan for being so inflexible and heartless.

  If Qiao Nan was really smart, she should discuss with the Zhai family to ‘transfer’ all the money that the Zhai family spent on the auntie to her maternal family. She should be filial to Old Qiao and her. It was only right for her to do that.

  If the Zhai family was indeed so wealthy and willing to bring a helper to the capital, why couldn’t they fetch them, these two official in-laws, to the capital too?

  All of them were heartless.

  With feelings of resentment in her heart, the auntie of the Zhai family became Ding Jiayi’s target of hate and attack. “You’re just a paid housekeeper. What are you? How dare you take your master’s call casually? Someone like you who doesn’t even know the protocols should have been kicked out long ago. It’s a waste of money to hire you.”

  Ding Jiayi’s mind swirled. The wretched girl never listened to her. Hence, she would not agree with her to make this auntie leave.

  However, if she were to find ways to force this auntie to leave and the auntie wanted to leave on her own accord, the Zhai family would not have a choice then, no?

  When that time came, the Zhai family would need someone to take care of the grocery shopping and preparing meals.

  She had been handling these chores for more than ten years, even before she got married. They were not difficult at all.

  As long as the Zhai family gave her the money that they were supposed to spend on the auntie, she would take care of all the Zhai family’s meals.

  Ding Jiayi was only concerned about getting money and looked down on the auntie. She did not consider at all whether it was really so easy to earn money from the boss that she would be working for.

  Regardless of how nice the Zhai family was, the chores done by the auntie were definitely not as few as what Ding Jiayi thought. There were many more chores that she had to handle.