Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  As such, it wouldn’t be too much of a splurge to spend a hundred yuan to make herself more comfortable. It was only right for her to do so.

  “No, I said that you can take a cab yourself if you want. I’ll get myself a bus ticket. It costs only thirty-two yuan. The public bus will cost me four yuan. Besides, I have a senior citizen’s card and it won’t cost much. I’ll spend about thirty yuan in total to get home. Why should I spend a hundred yuan? I’m old and retired. I don’t get much from my pension. I should save what I can. You’re young and have a different mindset. If you’re willing to flag a cab and let me hitch a ride, that’s fine. But if you want to split the fare equally, you’d better look for someone else. There are quite a lot of people around in the airport. You might find someone who’ll take up your offer.”

  Women changed their minds quickly, but so did men.

  Before the argument, Qiao Dongliang had been willing to go dutch. But after their quarrel, Qiao Dongliang realized that he would be able to save at least sixty-eight yuan. That would be enough to buy his grandchild a cute toy, at the very least. He had three grandchildren. Even though he could save enough to buy one toy, he would have to work hard to save enough to buy another two. He loved all three of them equally. He would never let himself be biased toward one of them ever again.

  Qiao Dongliang had already purchased his ticket back to Ping Cheng with his temporary identity card by the time he talked to Qiao Zijin again.

  Qiao Dongliang had finally come to the realization that he had been too much of a pushover in the past. Opportunities came only once. If one missed it, it would never come again. He would live the way he wanted in the future.

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  After buying a ticket for the next bus, Qiao Dongliang no longer bothered about Qiao Zijin and headed to the platform for the bus. Then, he simply stood by the roadside to wait for its arrival.

  Since Qiao Dongliang refused to cooperate with her, Qiao Zijin’s face turned green and she had no choice but to purchase a ticket too and stand in line behind Qiao Dongliang. Qiao Zijin had initially wanted Qiao Dongliang to fork out the entire sum of two hundred yuan because she knew that there was no way Qiao Nan would only have given him enough for a plane ticket back. Besides, it was almost the new year.

  If Qiao Nan didn’t return to Ping Cheng, not only would she have to give Qiao Dongliang money, but she would have to include Ding Jiayi as well. Qiao Dongliang would be holding on to that sum of money for both of them. Qiao Zijin had already made her calculations and knew that Qiao Dongliang’s pockets were full. There was no way he wouldn’t be able to pay for a fare of two hundred yuan.

  As long as she could take advantage of someone else, even if that person was her own father, she would do so. Since she had not been able to do so, she had to compromise and settle for going dutch. But now, Qiao Dongliang refused to do even that. To save money, he wouldn’t even take a cab. There was nothing Qiao Zijin could do about that.

  It was not that Qiao Zijin could not bear to spend two hundred yuan on a cab for the sake of convenience. After all, she had already wasted three thousand yuan in an attempt to stop Qiao Dongliang from visiting the capital. What was two hundred yuan in comparison to that?

  The problem was that Qiao Zijin had been chatting with Qiao Dongliang in public. There were many in line who had overheard the conversation between the father and daughter.

  If Qiao Zijin were to decide to flag a cab and pay the cab fare now but not invite her father along, she would definitely be publicly condemned. However, Qiao Zijin was reluctant to let Qiao Dongliang hitch a ride for free. All along, she had always been the one taking advantage of others. It had never been the other way round.

  Wasn’t it just a bus ride, a public bus ride, and walking a distance? She would just treat it as though she was exercising to lose weight.

  Not only did Qiao Zijin board the bus with Qiao Dongliang, but she even sat beside him. For over an hour, the father and daughter turned their heads to each side without uttering a word to each other. This silence wasn’t broken until they entered the Qiao family’s courtyard.

  “Old Qiao, you’re back?”

  “Old Qiao, a large parcel just arrived at your house. I heard my daughter say that there have been quite a few parcels lately.”

  “Old Qiao, how was it? Was the capital fun? Oh right, Nan Nan’s given birth, right?”

  All of the neighbors in the quad knew that Qiao Dongliang had gone to the capital because Qiao Nan was about to give birth. Given the timing, Qiao Nan should be about to give birth. It was obvious that Qiao Nan had already given birth since Qiao Dongliang had returned. He wouldn’t have returned otherwise.

  “Old Qiao, it’s rare that you get to visit the capital. Why didn’t you spend the new year there?” Ding Jiayi was the only one left here. If Old Qiao had remained in the capital, he would, at least, have a filial daughter, Nan Nan, by his side.

  “I can’t help it. I’m old and I miss home. There’s nowhere better than home. After all, this is my home. Everything’s here? My son-in-law helped send them back. It isn’t by express delivery, so I’m not sure when they’ll all arrive. There are quite a few things that Nan Nan picked out especially for all of you. Remember to drop by later.”

  Qiao Dongliang smiled. He was truly astonished that express delivery services were even faster than him. Didn’t they say that his parcels would arrive on the next day, at the very earliest? He had even taken a flight back. How could his things have arrived before him?

  Qiao Dongliang had not realized that his items had taken an earlier flight to Ping Cheng and had been directly sent into Ping Cheng without going around on public buses in rounds.

  “Is that so?” Many were surprised that Qiao Nan had still kept her old neighbors in mind even after making a name for herself. They had had their opinions when all they had gotten were wedding sweets from Qiao Nan without having gotten the chance to attend her wedding. They knew that Qiao Nan was from the northern quad, but they were hardly close.

  No matter what, it was too late. By the time Qiao Nan married into the southern quad, she nearly had no contact with her neighbors in the northern quad anymore. They had already mentally prepared themselves for that. As such, they were truly surprised when Qiao Dongliang mentioned that Qiao Nan had prepared gifts for them. “Alright! Hurry and go to rest. We’ll visit you later.”

  No matter what gifts they were, even if they were just local snacks, it was the thought that counted.

  The moment Qiao Dongliang reached home, he had gotten enough praise for Qiao Nan…… Even though his neighbors had left empty-handed, they had all praised Nan Nan for being a filial child and the pride of the northern quad.