Qiao Zijin sniffed. She felt that if she wasn’t angered to death, she would be frozen to death by the weather. Qiao Zijin returned to the house as she simply couldn’t withstand the cold. She felt that it had been so long since she was out and her dad should already be sleeping soundly. There shouldn’t be any problem if she controlled her volume while chatting with her mom.

  After returning to the house, Qiao Zijin breathed out cold air. “Mom, you’ve already spent so much time in Ping Cheng. What’s so amazing about it? The capital’s great. Don’t you want to come to the capital to celebrate the new year? All of our neighbors in the quad know that Qiao Nan has married over to the capital. If you come over for the new year, they will be envious of you. On the contrary, if your daughter ignores you during the new year when she is in the capital, a lot of people will laugh at you. Mom, we cannot afford to lose face.”

  They had celebrated the new year every year. This wasn’t important. What was more important was the one million yuan. Her mom’s attitude wouldn’t do. She really didn’t believe that she had left for only a while but her mom didn’t even like money now. It shouldn’t be that she mentioned the one million yuan so casually that her mom was coming up with bad ideas to get more money, right?

  Ding Jiayi yawned. “Zijin, it’s so cold now and it’s late. I’m sleepy. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I’m going to sleep. You rest early too. Also, your dad’s coming back tomorrow. I feel that you can return as well. If there’s really anything, we can discuss it again after you’re back in Ping Cheng. What one million yuan or few million yuan? The money won’t fly away even if you make a trip back to Ping Cheng. I’m hanging up.”

  Without waiting for Qiao Zijin’s reply, Ding Jiayi ended the video call. It was just that after she ended the conversation, Ding Jiayi didn’t go to sleep immediately. She opened her eyes in the dark night, and it was unknown what she was thinking of.

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Zijin used the neighbors’ words today to agitate her such that she would go over to the capital to celebrate the new year. What Qiao Zijin didn’t know was that since Qiao Nan went to the capital, she wasn’t willing to even call home. After Ding Jiayi sued her, she heard her neighbors gossiping every day. Even when Ding Jiayi stepped out of the house to buy vegetables or oil, those who knew her would always bring her daughter, Qiao Nan, up for a chat.

  Such a situation became more apparent after Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Zijin left for the capital.

  She was gossiped about and despised by others daily. Ding Jiayi disliked her life. She wanted to move out of the courtyard and find another place to live in. Before this, when Qiao Nan successfully gave birth to her children but didn’t die, not only did Qiao Zijin threw a tantrum at her, but she even scolded Ding Jiayi as she felt that she wasn’t a good mother.

  If she was a good mother, why didn’t she know if Qiao Nan was going to die after giving birth? Hadn’t Ding Jiayi kept a close watch on Qiao Nan all along?

  Ding Jiayi was first mocked by her neighbors and then lectured by her daughter. That day, when Qiao Zijin flared up and scolded Ding Jiayi like a mother scolding her daughter, their identities were completely reversed.

  Qiao Zijin was extremely upset and unhappy that Qiao Nan didn’t die and she couldn’t marry Zhai Sheng. After she lost her temper with Ding Jiayi, she forgot about it. As the person who was scolded, Ding Jiayi felt a lot of grievances. How could she forget this so easily?

  Based on Ding Jiayi’s previous actions on how she was willing to help Qiao Zijin steal Qiao Dongliang’s identity card and train ticket, how could Ding Jiayi not be interested in going to the capital, especially with the added situation of being able to receive one million yuan? After hearing that Qiao Zijin was being ‘bullied’ in the capital, Ding Jiayi’s normal behavior would have been to fly into a rage, rush to the capital to seek justice for her beloved daughter, and scold all the people who had bullied her daughter.

  It was because this matter was still stuck in Ding Jiayi’s heart that she wasn’t enthusiastic at all upon receiving Qiao Zijin’s call today. Qiao Zijin was too pampered by Ding Jiayi. Although she wasn’t used to her mom’s attitude, she thought that it was because Ding Jiayi was being greedy again and found the one million yuan she had offered to be too little. That was why she sounded lazy and disinterested. How would she have known that it was because her previous call had broken Ding Jiayi’s heart? The brokenhearted Ding Jiayi didn’t need money now but the coaxing of her family.

  Ding Jiayi thought about this quietly. It was unknown how long she took to fall asleep. It was just that although Ding Jiayi fell asleep, she didn’t loosen her frowning eyebrows until the next day.

  Ding Jiayi couldn’t even loosen her frowning eyebrows when she was sleeping. At dawn, the person who was going to be frowning was Qiao Zijin.

  Qiao Dongliang, who had already packed his luggage yesterday night, woke up early this morning. After checking that he didn’t leave anything behind, he was prepared to catch the flight. Seeing how busy Qiao Dongliang was and how happy he looked, Qiao Zijin felt sour in her heart.

  She really didn’t understand. Qiao Nan had married well and her in-laws were rich. Qiao Nan only gave her dad such a small favor. Why was he so happy? If Qiao Nan was really filial, how would she have used such a small thing to chase her dad away? Her dad didn’t even realize that he was being abandoned. It was as if he was a dog biting on the bone that Qiao Nan threw to him and he was so happy that its tail kept wagging.

  In the face of such an inexperienced and easy-to-bribe father, Qiao Zijin felt uncomfortable in her heart. If her parents had the same knowledge as her, she didn’t need to teach them what to do next. Their family of three should just work hard together and lead their lives well.

  However, all of them were as stupid as pigs. They ate pig food happily and felt that it was the best food in the world. How were they so stupid?

  “Dad, you’re bringing along so many things. Can you board the plane?” Qiao Zijin couldn’t help but ask him. “You have to know that there are limits to consignments.” That big bag must be super heavy, right? She didn’t know what Qiao Nan had prepared for their dad. There seemed to be a lot of things but they shouldn’t be worth a lot of money.

  Only a person who wasn’t knowledgeable like her dad would be fooled. If it was her, she would definitely not be coaxed by Qiao Nan with these worthless things.

  If she didn’t make Qiao Nan fork out something big, Qiao Nan would have forgotten about her relatives.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not bringing this bag up the plane. Zhai Sheng has already helped me find someone to ship this back to Ping Cheng before the new year.”