Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Grandma, as long as you promise to never mention the Zhai family again, especially Qiao Nan, and that we will never look for them or visit them, we will still be on good terms like before.”

  “.……All right.” Ding Jiayi had no idea how she managed to utter those words. “We won’t look for them. I don’t want to see them ever again. Anyway, I already have one foot in my coffin. I don’t even want Qiao Nan to mourn for me after I die. I don’t need her to be filial to me.”

  But did that mean that she would never be able to mention Qiao Nan or scold Qiao Nan in the future? Qiao Nan had done so much wrong toward her, Zijin, and even Xingxing! Why could she not talk about that anymore?

  Zhou Xing chuckled bitterly. “Grandma, my mom was indeed your daughter whom you raised.” Her mom had said the same thing before her death, but it had not been targeted at Qiao Nan, who had hurt her, but her birth mother who had hurt her for her ‘entire life’. That was her grandma whom she was talking to at this very moment.

  In other words, she had no reason to believe that the person that her mom hated the most was Qiao Nan and that the person who had done the most wrongs to her mom was Qiao Nan. No. That was not the case.

  Zhou Xing could not help but worry that the person her mom hated the most was her grandma. If she were to continue living with her grandma and even got along well with her grandma, would her mom be angry at her for it and think that she was unfilial?

  Ding Jiayi felt a lump in her throat. She had also remembered Qiao Zijin’s behavior before her death and the explanation she had given to Zhou Xing for that. “Xingxing……” Did Xingxing find out about everything? Including how Zijin had said that the person she hated the most was her birth mother and not that good-for-nothing Qiao Nan who had refused to help her?

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  “Grandma, I’m really tired. I’m really sleepy now. I just want to get a good night’s rest. Let’s continue another time.” Zhou Xing was not just physically exhausted, but her heart could not hold out any longer.

  Thinking back about what she had done in the past six months, it was absolutely ridiculous. Instead of a revenge queen, she had been a jester at worst, and cocky at best.

  “All…… right.” Ding Jiayi’s voice wavered, and her hands trembled badly. “If you’re tired, it’s best for you to have an early night. Shall I call you again tomorrow once you’ve had enough rest?”

  “I’m not free tomorrow.”

  These four words were enough for Ding Jiayi to feel as though she had been sent straight down to hell. Did that mean that she could not even keep her only granddaughter by her side? Was Xingxing intending on disowning her?

  “Our teacher is going to teach us a new dance tomorrow. After I learn it, I have to rent a dance studio to really memorize it. I want to be the main dancer the next time we get a chance to perform. How about I call you in about three days when I have more free time?”

  In Ding Jiayi’s heart, Zhou Xing was her only kin left. Why would Zhou Xing not think the same? Even though Zhou Xing knew that ‘only’ was relative, she would not bear to throw that away. Ding Jiayi knew that she was lowly, but she was even more reluctant to let go as compared to Zhou Xing.

  Why would she force herself into such a state?

  “Oh, okay. I’ll wait for your call.” Upon hearing Zhou Xing’s parting words, Ding Jiayi felt as though she had been raised from hell to heaven in an instant. “Xingxing, do you still have anything to tell me?” Ding Jiayi was unsure about how much Zhou Xing had found out on this trip back.

  But Ding Jiayi knew very well that no matter how much Zhou Xing knew about this matter, Zhou Xing’s attitude and mindset was sure to change along with her knowledge. That meant that Zhou Xing might not acknowledge her as a grandma for very much longer. Zhou Xing might very well get upset one day and decide to settle scores with her and disown her!

  The start of everything was like a ticking time bomb that was planted between Zhou Xing and Ding Jiayi. Ding Jiayi was unsure about whether it was ticking. Perhaps, it would explode all of a sudden.

  Ding Jiayi knew well how bad the consequences would be once the bomb exploded. But before that happened, Ding Jiayi was reluctant to even touch that ticking time bomb in the slightest. Instead, she wanted to hold on to that fleeting happiness and live her life that way.

  Zhou Xing had promised Qiao Dongliang that she would never look for Zhai Yi and Zhai Xin again. That was the end of her relationship with Zhai Xin as well. Qiao Dongliang had no reason to doubt Zhou Xing. But if these words had come out of Qiao Zijin’s mouth, Qiao Dongliang might not have believed it.

  But the person talking today was Zhou Xing. Qiao Dongliang was willing to give the granddaughter whom he had only met once a chance and chose to believe Zhou Xing. From then on, unless Zhou Xing was willing, Qiao Dongliang would never come knocking on her door. He would simply keep in contact with her through phone calls. Unless he got Zhou Xing’s permission, Zhou Xing’s classmates would only know that Zhou Xing’s grandpa had come to visit her once.

  Qiao Dongliang himself was uncertain about whether he had made the right call in trusting Zhou Xing this once. Thankfully, Zhai Xin gave Qiao Dongliang an answer before long.

  After the ‘fake relationship’ saga, Zhai Yi and Zhai Xin had quickly gotten news that Qiao Dongliang had gone to visit Zhou Xing after visiting them. The brothers had not expressed any opinions about that, and neither did they stop Qiao Dongliang from doing so. Qiao Dongliang was their elder. It was better and more effective for him as an elder to discipline Zhou Xing than them trying to persuade her as elder cousins.

  But before long, Zhai Xin received a letter. Apart from his address, the letter contained no stamp or name of the sender. Neither did it contain the sender’s address.

  The handwriting in the letter was beautiful. It was obvious from just one look that it had been written by a girl.

  Zhai Xin had received many love letters, but his intuition told him that this letter was different from other letters. This was probably no love letter. Upon opening the letter, the letter’s contents confirmed his suspicions.

  The content of the letter was simple. It was so simple that the letter contained only three words: I am sorry.

  Upon seeing these three words, Zhai Xin breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally over this ordeal with Zhou Xing. Zhou Xing would never come to find him in the future, much less bother him just because of their relationship as cousins. “Look at this, Zhai Yi. Grandpa had a chat with Zhou Xing, and it seems that it was quite successful. I thought that grandpa would just be wasting his breath trying to persuade Zhou Xing, but look! Grandpa was actually successful! What do you think grandpa said to Zhou Xing that she suddenly changed her mind?”

  He had thought that Zhou Xing would be so bent on revenge that no one would be able to change her mind. But their grandpa had done a ‘one shot one kill’!

  “How would I know?”