Of course, Qiao Nan’s behavior was the very reason there was barely any conflict within the family all these years.

  Qiao Nan shook her head. “They belonged to the Lin family, after all. When my master was still alive, they had done worse things, but did you think my master couldn’t contain the Lin family? If my master let a hint loose, there was no way for the Lin family to use my master’s name.”

  In short, her master had been giving the Lin family a chance to develop despite his hatred for them. What she did must carry on her master’s purpose.

  Since this was what her master wanted, she would continue down the same path.

  Tian Dong had no rebuttal for Qiao Nan’s words. It was true that Elder Lin had been cutting the Lin family some slack. If Qiao Nan did bring down the Lin family, ultimately, it could dirt her reputation. On the contrary, when the Lin family received money from Qiao Nan, they wouldn’t be targeting her like before.

  Moreover, Tian Dong knew what others didn’t.

  The money that Qiao Nan gave to the Lin family was only part of the earnings snatched from them. It was more like Qiao Nan returned some cash to the Lin family.

  Using their own money to buy over the Lin family’s favor, it was a great move that not many people in business could make.

  \r \r \r

  If the Lin family did come back and defeat Qiao Nan with this investment, it would be his fault and not Qiao Nan’s. He would be the one weak enough to allow the Lin family to get the upper hand. For some reason, he had already fallen into the huge web that Qiao Nan had cast. How foolish of him to be calling Qiao Nan a soft girl!

  He was the one being deceived all this while.

  After reflecting on how stupid he’d been, Tian Dong dared not give Qiao Nan any more ideas. Tian Dong figured that he was affected by Zhai Hua. Zhai Hua always spoke about Qiao Nan’s history of having an unfortunate family background, which led him into thinking that Qiao Nan was an innocent being.

  When he gave it some thought, he realized that Qiao Nan had never put herself in a disadvantageous position since the day he met her. Most of the time, Qiao Nan could come up on top with a few words.

  It didn’t mean that Qiao Nan was someone who was all-talks. It just couldn’t be helped that Qiao Nan’s words worth more than those of others, and her ideas were innovative. He finally got the realization that Qiao Nan was not a girl who needed a man to protect.

  After figuring that out, Tian Dong felt that his mind was freed.

  November and December were the months that many walked down the aisles. Among those couples was Qiao Nan’s colleague, Deng Wenchang. Being in the same department, Qiao Nan had the responsibility to attend his big day. At the wedding, Qiao Nan took a glance at the bride; she looked clean and obedient.

  Anyway, Deng Wenchang’s age and family would guarantee him a good wife.

  However, Qiao Nan was busy, so weekends were a luxury for her. Since the children were free, Qiao Nan couldn’t bear being away from home for too long.

  Leaving the gifts behind, she waved Deng Wenchang goodbye after gobbling down a few bites.

  Deng Wenchang, dressed in a neat suit, watched Qiao Nan hurry away absent-mindedly. Seeing that he was motionless as if stuck in time, his wife nudged him. “What’s wrong? Uncle is still waiting for you.”

  Deng Wenchang dragged his mind back to life and grinned. “It’s nothing. I was disturbed as I recalled a contract. Uncle, cheers. Have fun today.”

  “Of course. Treat our girl well, okay? Our family cherishes our baby girl.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I will.” Deng Wenchang didn’t leave the girl’s relatives embarrassed. It wasn’t hard to put on a mask.

  If they did cherish her, why would they marry her to a friend whom she had only met for months?

  They had only known each other for months. Did her family really think that he loved the girl?

  The thoughts were to be stored in his heart. Glancing at the alcohol in his glass, he dumped everything down his throat. The bride was worried as she glared at the groomsmen. Groomsmen’s job was to tank the alcohol for the groom. It would be a problem at night if the groom was drunk.

  Not only the groomsmen saw the bride’s signal, but her uncle saw it as well. The men roared hysterically, and the groomsmen started doing their jobs. The bride’s family refrained from toasting.

  However, the event was too grand for the groomsmen to save the man. Not many Chinese men would miss an opportunity to get the groom drunk. After all, there was no better time for it than the wedding day.

  The inevitable happened; Deng Wenchang had lost consciousness when he was carried to the wedding room. The bride couldn’t wake him up in any way and eventually gave up on it. Although it was a pity, it couldn’t be helped.

  The bride changed, washed up, and had to take care of Deng Wenchang’s hygiene. When she finally lay under the sheets with a stinky man, she wondered if everything was just a dream.

  The next morning, Deng Wenchang woke up and did the groom’s job. The bride’s uneasiness finally faded. She would officially belong to the Deng family when she was pregnant.

  She knew that Deng Wenchang took his work seriously, so they agreed to postpone the honeymoon to next May. Right now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was too busy for Deng Wenchang to have a break.