“If you really want to see Nan Nan, please come back again when Nan Nan has given birth and finished with her confinement period. Alright, Nan Nan should be waiting for us in the hospital. It’s a rare opportunity for you to be in Beijing. Please have a good time.”

  Did she really come to help out in the Zhai family? It seemed like she was trying to create trouble!

  Everyone had thought that Qiao Zijin shared a close relationship with Qiao Nan because of her words. Otherwise, given Qiao Zijin’s age, there was no way she would have abandoned her husband and children just to take care of her pregnant sister. The sisters must have a close bond!

  But upon hearing Miao Jing’s words, they suddenly came to their senses.

  The Zhai family’s daughter-in-law had not gone to school herself and had instead supported her sister to become a university graduate. It was not difficult to understand why the sisters shared such a close bond that the elder sister was willing to leave her own family behind to take care of her younger sister.

  But listening to her words again, it was strange that a university graduate had never gotten a job even after graduating all those years ago. Even the daughters-in-law in their families had their own jobs before getting married.

  More importantly, it was rather strange for the family of the Zhai family’s daughter-in-law to turn up at this time. If her family had shown up on the second day of her hospitalization, that would have made some sense. But the problem was that the Zhai family’s daughter-in-law had already been hospitalized for almost half a month. Wasn’t it a little late for them to show up only now?

  \r \r \r

  Quite a few neighbors knew that it was quite hard on the Zhai family while Zhai Sheng had been in the military earlier because of the elderly couple and a pregnant Qiao Nan. Two days after Qiao Nan had been admitted into the hospital, Zhai Sheng had rushed back from the military to take care of her. Compared to the situation in the past, Qiao Nan’s life had definitely become easier with Zhai Sheng’s help.

  In that way, it really did seem as though the Qiao family had turned up too late. They had not been present when they could have helped out and chose instead to turn up when they were no longer needed.

  “Auntie, could you tell me which hospital Nan Nan is at? I-I’ll head there myself.” Qiao Zijin had already expected that the Zhai family would not have a good impression of her and that Miao Jing would not have a good attitude toward her. She could imagine just how much Qiao Nan, who could not care less about her family, must have spoken ill of her in front of the Zhai family, so much so that the Zhai family hated her.

  But that was understandable. In the Qiao family, her parents had favored her over Qiao Nan, who was almost treated as nonexistent in the Qiao family. After marrying into the Zhai family, the change was as different as day and night. Qiao Nan was the Zhai family’s only daughter-in-law and Zhai Sheng had insisted on marrying her.

  Having been pampered, there was no way Qiao Nan would let the Qiao family steal the Zhai family’s attention from her. Qiao Nan was petty and calculative indeed! Qiao Nan was just envious and jealous of her!

  Did Qiao Nan really think that speaking ill of her in front of the Zhai family would make the Zhai family be certain that she was a bad person that they would hate? Of course not! She would prove to Qiao Nan that the Zhai family would treat her just like her parents, who pampered and favored her, did. No matter how much Qiao Nan tried to stop them, her efforts would all be in vain.

  If Qiao Nan agreed to her proposal more readily, she would consider treating Qiao Nan’s three children a little better. On the other hand, if Qiao Nan disagreed and did not let her have a moment to rest… Qiao Zijin expressed that she would be a strict mother to Qiao Nan’s three children.

  Didn’t the saying go ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’? Only if she were stricter and fiercer would Qiao Nan’s three children be as outstanding and kind as her Feng Feng.

  Since Qiao Zijin had already prepared herself to be rejected by Miao Jing, not only was she not upset, but she even gave off the air that there had been a misunderstanding only because of Qiao Nan. That didn’t matter to her. After all, time would change a person. As long as they interacted with her for a longer period of time, they would realize her true nature. She smiled at Miao Jing.

  Qiao Nan had occasionally mentioned Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi’s evilness to the Zhai family. What Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin were most known for was their ‘sweetness’. Even though their reputations were already ruined, they could still act as though everyone had misunderstood them. They acted as though they were resilient blades of grass that could never be beaten down no matter the weather and that others would eventually understand their true natures. It was infuriating!

  Where did that ridiculous sense of superiority come from?

  A misunderstanding?

  What a joke!

  “Nan Nan is at XX Hospital. You can head there yourself. Alright. Please move aside now.” Miao Jing did not dawdle or nag at Qiao Zijin. Even if she told Qiao Zijin where Qiao Nan was hospitalized, without Qiao Nan’s or the Zhai family’s permission, there was no way Qiao Zijin would be allowed to enter the hospital to visit Qiao Nan since it was a military hospital.

  “Auntie, I’m sorry for bothering you.” Qiao Zijin had remained polite and courteous up until the moment Miao Jing left. She did not seem like a random and poor relative who had appeared just to take advantage of the Zhai family.

  Well, this was the capital. It had already been quite good that Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi had only been on the Ping Cheng news. How could she have made it onto national news? The country was huge and there were so many other important issues concerning the state and international affairs. No one would bother about a trivial family trifle like that.

  It was exactly because of that that Qiao Zijin had dared to make her way down to the capital. The capital was an entirely new environment, and no one around Qiao Nan or the Zhai family knew anything about her or her past. As long as she performed well now, she would still be able to keep them in the dark.

  It was unlike in Ping Cheng, where everyone would criticize her no matter what she did once they found out that she was Qiao Zijin.

  Qiao Zijin was truly speechless at those who were sour about what she had.

  “Auntie, thank you for telling me where Nan Nan is. I won’t bother you any further. I’ll visit Nan Nan later.” Qiao Zijin treated Miao Jing as someone from the capital who had no idea about the things she had done, thinking that Miao Jing only had a bad impression of her because of Qiao Nan ‘speaking ill’ of her.

  Once she got in touch with the Zhai family and had more interactions with Miao Jing, Miao Jing would naturally realize that she was much better than Qiao Nan.

  Qiao Zijin could not exactly be blamed for thinking that way. Before coming to the capital, she had made her enquiries. She knew that the Zhai family had already been living in the capital for close to ten years before Zhai Sheng had returned to Qingshui Town to recuperate. She had already thought that it was strange that Qiao Nan had managed to get together with Zhai Sheng.