Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Mom, that’s too little. With this little money, I can only buy two plane tickets. Ying Ying is not young anymore. When she takes the bus or plane, she has to pay for the full fare. You didn’t give me money for Ying Ying’s ticket.”

  “I gave it to you. Didn’t you say that the money I gave you is enough for two tickets? One for you, and one for Ying Ying. Doesn’t that make two?” Why was it not enough?

  “Then, how will I come back?” There was still one ticket missing!

  Ding Jiayi replied while doing her household chores, “You should have some money on hand. If you don’t have enough money to buy a plane ticket back, then take the train. If you can’t even do that, you can still drive. Now, you’re not working and have no income, and even the Zhou family won’t give you any money. I’ve worked so hard my whole life, but I’ve never earned much. Nan Nan pays for everything. It’s all your fault that my relationship with Nan Nan is in shambles now. I don’t expect you to support me anymore, and neither will I ask you for any money. Zijin, you have to be considerate. You can’t always keep taking money from your mom. What kind of example are you setting for Ying Ying? Aren’t you afraid that your daughter will act like this in the future?”

  She thought about how her elder daughter was already a mother but acted like an old woman at such a young age. She did not work and always asked for money from others as long as she was in need of it. Ding Jiayi could no longer hold it in anymore.

  If she had money, she would willingly give her beloved daughter as much as she wanted. But the most important thing now was that she herself did not have any money. All her expenses were taken care of by Qiao Nan. If she finished spending her allowance, there was no way Qiao Nan was going to give her more. Ding Jiayi had tried it before and thus knew for certain.

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  She was not on good terms with her capable younger daughter, who was on the verge of cutting this relationship off completely. Giving her a living allowance every month was the most Qiao Nan was going to do. What frustrated Ding Jiayi the most was that the daughter she had thought highly of was the one who had not made something out of her life. Before she got married, she had asked for money from Ding Jiayi. After getting married, she had asked for money from her in-laws.

  Her daughter had chosen to forgo such a good life and cheated on her husband. Now, she was even bringing her daughter to beg for money! Don’t underestimate the cost of these two plane tickets. It cost her half of her monthly living allowance!

  In recent years, prices had risen so much that it was frightening. Ding Jiayi had never thought that such a day would come that not only was rice expensive, but the price of a bunch of vegetables was comparable to that of meat! Thankfully, she had fought for a higher living allowance with Qiao Nan. Otherwise, Ding Jiayi was prepared to ask Qiao Nan for a monthly living allowance along with a plane ticket. She might as well return to Ping Cheng.

  It was just that Ding Jiayi would never mention a thing about the increase in her living allowance to Qiao Zijin. She had no intention of letting Qiao Zijin know about this matter.

  She was clear that once Qiao Zijin learned that her living allowance had increased, Qiao Zijin would find some way to get money from her. She would only be finding trouble for herself if she were to let Qiao Zijin know.

  As she grew older, Ding Jiayi grew more anxious and placed more importance on money. She only had two daughters. She had to plan ahead in case Qiao Nan was no longer willing to support her and prepare for anything to happen over on Qiao Zijin’s side. Forget about paying for medical bills if she were to fall ill.

  If Qiao Zijin could get into less trouble and stop bothering her, it would already be being very filial to her mother.

  Since she could not depend on both of her daughters, Ding Jiayi decided to take things into her own hands and rely on herself. She would fight it out with whoever wanted a share of her retirement funds, even if it was her favorite elder daughter.

  As such, when Qiao Zijin asked her for money today, Ding Jiayi was adamant that she would only give her daughter enough money for two tickets. If it was not for the fact that she did not know how to purchase tickets herself, Ding Jiayi would have liked to check out the flights personally and buy tickets for the cheapest flight. It would be better than giving Qiao Zijin the money directly. A dollar saved was still a dollar saved.

  Thus, Ding Jiayi had thought through it. She would learn how to use a smartphone. She had heard that one could buy bus tickets, train tickets, and even plane tickets without even stepping out of the house.

  In that case, if she were to face such a situation again in the future, she would no longer need to spend unnecessary money.

  “You’re asking me to take a train when I come back?” Qiao Zijin looked at Ding Jiayi incredulously. “Don’t you know that it’ll take more than ten hours to come back if I take the train? I’ll be back in two to three hours if I take the plane!” The train was in no way as comfortable or as convenient as the plane.

  Ding Jiayi was irate. “Of course it’s nice to take the plane, but it’s expensive. If you have the money to take the plane, then do it. I’m not stopping you from spending your money. It’s up to you how you come back. I don’t care.”

  As long as she was not the one paying for it, she did not care whether her daughter took the train or the plane.

  With that, Ding Jiayi returned to her own room. She was not in the mood to care about Qiao Zijin who was always asking her for money. Today, she had to return to the master bedroom. Zijin had to remember who the owner of the house was after all.

  “Mom, I have my backpack with me. Send me back to grandma’s house.” Zhou Ying did not care about what her mother was arguing with her maternal grandma about. She only knew that she was going to return to her paternal grandma’s house and go back to school.

  Qiao Zijin’s face was tangled up in embarrassment, and she ground her teeth so hard that they almost fell off. Ding Jiayi had refused to give Qiao Zijin more money. Qiao Zijin was the kind of person who would rather enjoy luxuries herself than leave them for her children. She wanted to be the owner of these two plane tickets.

  The problem was that on the way back to Ping Cheng, there was no way she could leave her ten-year-old daughter alone on the train to go back to Ping Cheng, while she, as a mother, took the plane. If that was the case, she might as well just buy one plane ticket for Zhou Ying and save the rest of the money.

  But it was her daughter after all. Although Qiao Zijin was not in her right mind at times, she would not make such a foolish mistake. After taking a few deep breaths, Qiao Zijin immediately purchased two tickets for the cheapest flight to Ping Cheng that very afternoon. After having a meal with Zhou Ying at Ding Jiayi’s house, the two of them left for their flight.

  At a time like this, a flight departing at eight or nine o’clock at night was the cheapest.

  While waiting for the plane, Zhou Ying fell asleep. With no other choice, Qiao Zijin could only allow her daughter to sleep within her embrace. Thankfully, the two of them did not have any luggage. As such, carrying her daughter was not too troublesome for Qiao Zijin.