Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Xiao Zhao was absolutely resolute. However, no pain, no gain. In the end, the couple failed to come to an agreement. Thus, Xiao Zhao never mentioned anything about her ex-husband in front of Zhai Sheng.

  After this incident, Xiao Zhao’s son, who was starting to become more sensible, realized that his mom loved him more than his dad did. His dad’s heart had long been biased toward that child in his stepmother’s tummy.

  Children were not that gullible, and they could distinguish between people who treated them well and those who did not. Besides, children were usually closer to their moms when they were younger. After seeing how his parents treated him in completely different manners, his heart was entirely biased toward his biological mother, Xiao Zhao, even though he continued living in her ex-husband’s house. The moment anything happened in her ex-husband’s family, her son would immediately relay the matter to her without missing a beat.

  That was how Xiao Zhao had found out about how her ex-husband’s family had been unable to resist the urge and had finally gone to check on whether the child in that woman’s stomach was a boy or a girl. In the end, the ultrasound scans revealed that the child was a girl. Upon finding out that they were having a granddaughter instead of a grandson, Xiao Zhao’s ex-parents-in-law no longer treated their new daughter-in-law as well as before. Only her ex-husband’s passion did not die down, and he even claimed that having a daughter was pretty good as well.

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  Thinking about how she not only had a son but a son whose heart was entirely for her, Xiao Zhao felt much more at ease and calm, even toward her ex-parents-in-law who had treated her so poorly.

  She was someone who already had a son. She had heard that Sister Qiao was not only older than her but was also unmarried. Perhaps, Sister Qiao had suffered so much in the past, and all of her accumulated blessings were being used now.

  Now that Xiao Zhao herself was leading a good life, there was no reason for her to hope that someone else would have a harder life than her. “There’s no need for that, Sister Qiao. Please remain seated. I’m almost done. I know that the chief likes to eat the dishes that you cook. Please try what I’ve made and let me know how it is. Please tell me about my shortcomings so that I’ll be able to improve on it and make the chief happier.”

  She should not feel that she’s left behind just because Sister Qiao had been doing a similar job in the past. In fact, she should be happy.

  Even though she had not interacted much with Sister Qiao, she had a rather good impression of Sister Qiao. Sister Qiao was good-natured, and it would be her good fortune to have a mistress like Sister Qiao. With the chief’s background, he could very well marry a troublemaker, just as her ex-husband had. If that were to happen, her life would be just as hard as it had been before her divorce.

  At this moment, Xiao Zhao could only sigh. Once she found out about how Qiu Chenxi had once been together with Zhai Sheng, and after she experienced for herself the kind of person Qiu Chenxi was, Xiao Zhao would definitely and resolutely cling on to Qiao Nan and be determined to have Qiao Nan as her mistress.

  Zhai Sheng was a leading figure in the whole of China, let alone a small town like Qingshui or Ping Cheng. Qingshui Town was rather remote. The only reason it had been slightly developed was due to the Zhai family’s old villa. In other words, Qingshui Town had produced three generations of chiefs. Was this not something to be proud of?

  Today, it was not just Zhai Sheng who was recuperating in Qingshui Town. Zhai Yaohui and Miao Jing were around too! Zhai Yaohui had already stated that Zhai Sheng was here to recuperate and that they could save those unnecessary red tapes and procedures. It was best that official visits be avoided as well so that they could give Zhai Sheng a peaceful environment to recuperate. That would be more helpful to Zhai Sheng.

  Even so, now that it was almost the new year, there were many people coming to visit the Zhai family’s old villa. Of course, these people had not come empty-handed either and had always brought some gifts along. But because of the country’s strict anti-corruption rules, the Zhai family did not accept valuable gifts from their visitors. Thus, their visitors were all rather careful and only brought some imported fruits along with them. Not a single valuable or expensive item appeared.

  Because of such a fuss, more people got to know about the Zhai family’s presence, and with that, even more people started to visit the Zhai family’s old villa as well.

  At the Wei family, Wei De changed out of his military uniform and into his casual clothes. Ever since retiring from the military, Zhai Hua was turning into an average housewife. As she helped Wei De keep the clothes that he had just removed, he said, “Your parents have finally come back. Do you think we should pay them a visit? Shall we spend the new year with your family?” They had been spending the new year with his parents all these years. This year was exceptionally important.

  In fact, if it was possible, Wei De very much wanted to spend every New Year’s Day with the Zhai family. He truly longed for a better relationship with his father-in-law. At his age, he was still a company commander and had the desire to be promoted even further. How nice it would be to be promoted directly to a regiment commander, entirely bypassing the position of a battalion commander.

  Wei De knew very well that if he had not married Zhai Hua, he would never have become a company commander, let alone a regiment commander. His goal had remained as clear as day even after marrying Zhai Hua. He had never even dreamed of becoming a chief like Zhai Sheng. His eventual goal was still to become a regiment commander, and to do so, he would definitely need the support of the Zhai family.

  Zhai Hua stopped in her actions. “How are you going to explain it to your parents? Your dad will be fine, but you should know well about your mom’s temper. She’s already said that she’s getting a daughter-in-law, not giving her son away. Won’t your mom fly into a rage if you spend the new year at my house?”

  Her mother-in-law wished for the Zhai family to support the Wei family and to push Wei De up through the ranks. She even felt that Wei De had done the Zhai family a favor and was their benefactor by marrying an old lady whom no one else wanted.

  Thinking about how her mother-in-law looked down on her, Zhai Hua’s expression was sour. Based on her character in the past, she would never have used her words to defend herself in front of someone as unreasonable as her mother-in-law. She would always use her force. But dating and marriage were two separate things. If she had known that Wei De had a mother like that, she……

  In fact, Mother Wei was the main reason that Zhai Hua had distanced herself from the Zhai family and had refused to visit her parents. She herself could not stand Mother Wei’s behavior. She thought about how her parents had been certain right from the start that Wei De was not a good person, but she had insisted on her way and had married him nevertheless. From that, it was certain that her parents would never take a liking to someone like her mother-in-law. In fact, they would probably flare up if they were to know about her.

  Of course Zhai Hua had feelings for her own family. Only with such a comparison did Zhai Hua realize that her family treated her well. It was just that Zhai Hua had always used her indifference to disguise herself since she was young. After Zhai Hua became a mother, Zhai Hua did not know how to express herself in front of her daughter.