“Once you fill your stomach, take your medications and have a good rest. You’ll be fine tomorrow. How will you get well if you don’t eat anything? If it’s serious, call 120 to get to the hospital. Don’t try to save money like that, do you understand?”

  She had already said that it wouldn’t be easy surviving in the capital. She didn’t even know the place well, and neither did she have any close friends or relatives there. Thankfully, she hadn’t listened to Zijin to follow her to the capital. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even have anyone to ask for help from in such a situation. In fact, she might even need to borrow money to tide over such a situation.

  “Mom, I miss you. I really miss you. Mom, why don’t you come over? I can’t do it without you here. Mom, I need you. Can you come and take care of me?” Qiao Zijin made no mention of medications of the hospital and simply cried out pitifully, asking Ding Jiayi to accompany her. “Mom, I feel terrible. I feel like my eyesight is really blurry now. Mom, will you come over? I think I’ll die without anyone taking care of me…”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Qiao Zijin hung up the phone.

  “Hello? Hello?” How could her phone run out of battery now?

  Yes, before ending the call, what Ding Jiayi heard was not Qiao Zijin ending the call, but a reminder that her phone was low on battery. Shortly after, the call ended abruptly.

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Zijin had gone to great lengths to create the right atmosphere and to get through to Ding Jiayi. She had been playing on her mobile phone and only when she was left with three percent of battery did she finally make a call to Ding Jiayi. She had spoken intermittently not only to pretend that she was sick but also to stall time.

  She had to ensure that Ding Jiayi heard the reminder that her phone had run out of battery so that Ding Jiayi would think that the call had ended only because there was no more battery. Only then would Ding Jiayi rush to the capital to take care of her. Before that, Ding Jiayi would probably inform Qiao Nan about the situation and get Qiao Nan to check on her too.

  Having successfully made the call, Qiao Zijin was suddenly full of energy and she paced around the house anxiously. If she had guessed correctly, Qiao Nan would find her earlier than her mother. Qiao Nan would definitely turn a blind eye to her if she were to see how she was in perfect health. That wouldn’t do. She had to ensure that she was truly sick.

  Thinking about what she often saw on television dramas, Qiao Zijin gritted her teeth and splashed cold water on herself before opening all the windows, letting the wind blow against her drenched clothes. Qiao Zijin couldn’t help but chatter and shudder as she felt her temperature dropping. Even though it was already spring, it was still brutally cold when the winds blew against her fully drenched clothes.

  After standing in the wind for about half an hour, Qiao Zijin began to feel a little dizzy as though she was losing control of her senses. Only then did she struggle to shut the windows and strip off her wet clothes before throwing them in the washbasin. After that, Qiao Zijin headed directly for bed and covered herself with her blanket, quickly falling asleep.

  Even in her dream, Qiao Zijin could obviously feel the discomfort in her body worsening. It had originally been a fake illness, but it had turned into reality. One moment, she was so cold that she shivered even under her blanket, but in another, she felt so warm that she wanted to hide in the refrigerator. It felt terrible to be sick!

  Because Qiao Zijin was always well taken care of, she rarely fell sick in her forty years of life. When Qiao Zijin had first started menstruating, both Ding Jiayi and Qiao Nan had to be at her beck and call because of her pains. Now that she was sick, she felt so miserable that she was willing to die. Apart from giving birth to Chen Feng, this was probably the most painful and miserable experience in her entire life.

  “…” Qiao Nan had not wanted to say a thing when she had first received Ding Jiayi’s call. Qiao Zijin was seriously ill without anyone to take care of her. There was no one to even call an ambulance for her, so she had to rush over to take a look at Qiao Zijin. Leaving aside whether Qiao Zijin was truly ill, where was she supposed to go?

  She didn’t even know where Qiao Zijin was. The capital was so big. By the time she searched through the entire capital, Qiao Zijin would probably have toiled through her illness herself or passed away from her illness.

  “Alright, I understand.” Qiao Nan took a deep breath. “I’ll book a plane ticket for you. Take your identity card and come to the capital. Oh right, will you be coming alone, or will Dad be coming with you? How many tickets should I book?” There was nothing better than money at this point in time.

  “Just one.” Ding Jiayi was actually very nervous since she had never been on a plane. It would be best if Qiao Dongliang was willing to accompany her. But the problem was that Qiao Dongliang hadn’t even expressed any joy over Qiao Zijin getting in contact with her. In fact, he had been rather indifferent over the whole matter. But the moment he heard that she was flying to the capital to find Zijin, Old Qiao’s expression had changed drastically.

  Knowing that Qiao Dongliang was in a rage, Ding Jiayi dared not ask him to accompany her there. She had better figure out what the situation was before doing anything else.

  Ding Jiayi didn’t see anything wrong with Qiao Nan paying for her ticket even though she was visiting Zijin. It wasn’t as though Qiao Nan lacked any money. What was wrong with getting Qiao Nan to spend such a small sum of money?

  She hadn’t even said anything. If Qiao Nan was really a good daughter, she should have returned to Ping Cheng to escort her there. Didn’t they say that rich families had their own private planes? Qiao Nan was wealthy enough, and the Zhai family had a high enough status too. She had no interest in a limousine. A private plane would be the best way of showing her filial piety.

  But she had not even asked for any of this. All she had asked for was a single plane ticket.

  “Alright, you can head to the airport now. I’ve got you a ticket. The flight leaves in two and a half hours. If you take a taxi to the airport now, you’ll get there in time for the flight.” What else could she say? Ding Jiayi would only ever contact her when she needed money.

  “Okay.” She knew that Qiao Nan wouldn’t lie to her about such things. As such, Ding Jiayi quickly headed out after packing a few pieces of clothing.

  Seeing Ding Jiayi in such a hurry, Qiao Dongliang made a decision. He found a locksmith and changed all the locks in the house. In short, the next time Ding Jiayi returned, she wouldn’t be able to enter the Qiao family’s courtyard with her keys.

  Qiao Zijin had too much up her sleeves and was reluctant to stop, and Ding Jiayi refused to change her habit of doting on Qiao Zijin. As such, Ding Jiayi would never be able to lead a peaceful life because of Qiao Zijin, even if she wanted to.