“As for what happened afterward… That was because I would be left alone if you were to leave since Zijin wasn’t home either. I was scared. Besides, Qiao Nan had so many people accompanying her. It wouldn’t make a difference whether you were there…”

  Qiao Dongliang sneered. “Do you really think I’m a fool? Do you think that I’m absolutely clueless about what your plans were? How could you two be so disgusting? Qiao Zijin had already made the mistake of snatching her brother-in-law and making him her husband once. How could you allow her to make that same mistake again?”

  Nan Nan had only told him about that after he had returned to Ping Cheng. After learning of that situation, Qiao Dongliang felt that he was going to lose his mind. But it was the new year and Qiao Dongliang didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere in the family. He was clear that as long as Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin were together, not only was Qiao Zijin the mastermind behind Ding Jiayi, but she would even give Ding Jiayi the courage to lie to him.

  Because of that, the alliance between Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi had fallen apart due to Qiao Zijin’s divorce. This would be the best time to interrogate Ding Jiayi and pry everything out of her.

  “You… you know about it already? Then, why did you still ask me about it?” Ding Jiayi felt that she and Qiao Zijin were being wronged. “Old Qiao, you’re actually wrong. Qiao Zijin didn’t intend on snatching anything. I’m sure you know how old Qiao Nan is, and she was even pregnant with triplets. If anything happened to Qiao Nan during childbirth, it would be much better for Zijin to marry Zhai Sheng instead of having a stepmother ill-treat Qiao Nan’s three children. Zijin’s the children’s biological aunt, after all. She would definitely treat them well. I believe that Qiao Nan would have more faith in Zijin than an outsider. We only did that because we wanted Qiao Nan to leave peacefully, knowing that her three children would be well taken care of.”

  \r \r \r

  “So, you mean that you guys did so out of kind intentions?”

  Ding Jiayi had to resist the urge to nod. She could tell that Qiao Dongliang’s expression looked awful. “Even if it wasn’t purely out of good intentions, it was a win-win situation. Besides, we didn’t do anything. Isn’t Qiao Nan still alive and well? All these are just our thoughts and no one else knows about them.”

  “Even if they’re just thoughts, it’s disgusting.” Qiao Dongliang gasped. “The two of you truly have no limits to your terrible plans. You’re both too shameless!” Letting Zijin take care of the triplets would be no different from letting an outsider take care of them.

  Ding Jiayi sniffled. “Why are you being so fierce? Don’t make it sound so bad. Zijin and I really had no intention of taking advantage of Qiao Nan or hurting her this time. This plan would have benefitted both Qiao Nan and Zijin, so what’s the problem with it? Did you know that Zijin pitied Qiao Nan for being single before she got married to Zhai Sheng? Since she had already divorced Chen Jun, Zijin was willing to let Chen Jun be together with Qiao Nan. Not only would Qiao Nan finally be able to get married, but she could also rest easy, knowing that Feng Feng was in Qiao Nan’s hands. Zijin had already been so generous, but why had Qiao Nan refused?”

  Wasn’t it all for the good of the child?

  “You fool! I’ve never met anyone more foolish than you. You’re clearly making use of her and hurting her, but you dare to act as though you’re doing so out of kindness! Old Ding, why didn’t I realize just how evil you are in the past? No wonder you severed all ties with your family even when we were living well. Now, I know that your family can’t entirely be at fault. You’re the biggest problem here.” Qiao Dongliang pointed his finger at Ding Jiayi’s forehead.

  “I’m going to ask you again. What’s Zijin doing in the capital this time? If you don’t let me know by today, we’ll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow and get our divorce settled.”

  “No, I’m not getting divorced!” She had no family, and her children had abandoned her. If she were to separate from Qiao Dongliang, Ding Jiayi felt that she wouldn’t be able to carry on with her life alone. “Old Qiao, don’t get upset. I’ll just tell you what you want to know. Will that do? But you have to promise that you won’t get angry. I don’t expect you to help Zijin, but you should just stand by the sidelines, like me. If Zijin succeeds, that’s because of her own abilities and good fortune. We didn’t interfere in it. If you interfere in it, Zijin will definitely hate me and disown me.”

  She had already resisted the urge to help Zijin. All she asked of Old Qiao was that he wouldn’t help Qiao Nan.

  “Tell me about it first!” Without Qiao Zijin by her side, Ding Jiayi had indeed gotten timid. Qiao Dongliang had simply mentioned ‘divorce’ before Ding Jiayi had decided to fess up.

  In reality, Qiao Dongliang had already gotten the answer from Qiao Nan as to why Qiao Zijin had insisted on going to the capital before the new year and why she had tried to stop him from visiting too. At that time, he had held it in because he knew that Qiao Zijin would never change even if he were to flare up, and neither would she ever admit that she had done anything wrong, just like what Ding Jiayi was doing now.

  Qiao Dongliang had only talked about the incident before the new year as bait to lure out the situation that followed.

  Ding Jiayi had truly been frightened and confessed everything she knew to Qiao Dongliang. “That’s what it is. Zijin wants the five million yuan. With it, she’ll never have to worry about money in the future, and neither will she ever have to find a job again.”

  “…” Qiao Dongliang was fuming. “I’ll die of anger because of the two of you sooner or later. Can you two really not change that terrible habit of sacrificing Nan Nan’s interests to benefit yourselves? Ding Jiayi, have you ever thought about the lives you’d be living without Nan Nan as a daughter? We sold this house a long time ago just to let Zijin attend university. I was the only one working at that time and it was already a stretch to pay for Zijin’s education. What would you and I have eaten and worn?”

  “You only have the life you have today because of Nan Nan. Don’t you think that you’ve gone overboard?”

  Knowing that Qiao Dongliang was infuriated, Ding Jiayi dared not rebuke him. But she still felt that she had done nothing wrong up until now. Without Qiao Nan? Everything would have been in their rightful place without Qiao Nan. Without Qiao Nan, Old Qiao would have become a battalion commander, at the very least, and she would have been a battalion commander’s wife. Then, they would have a car and chauffeur. Was that going overboard?

  If Old Qiao was still in the military and had become a battalion commander, he would definitely have gotten a much higher salary from the military. In that case, they would definitely have been able to afford Zijin’s university fees. There was no way they would have needed to sell the house.