Seeing San Bao acting this way, Qiao Nan’s anger toward Ding Jiayi dissipated. She gently wiped away San Bao’s saliva and turned all her attention to the three children. “San Bao, what are you doing? Do you want to be carried?”

  San Bao stretched out her little arms, asking for a hug. Her mom was hers and hers alone. Da Bao and Er Bao wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Qiao Nan’s heart was full as she hugged her soft and tender daughter in her arms. As expected, the Zhai family and the three children were the closest kin she had in this world.

  Because of the three children, there was no need for Qiao Nan to feel disappointed or sad, much less pain. To Qiao Nan, her current life was full of bliss.

  On the contrary, the more blissful Qiao Nan was, the worse Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin became. Qiao Nan had said that she would send Ding Jiayi to Qiao Dongliang’s side once he agreed, but Ding Jiayi knew the answer even before Qiao Nan made the call.

  \r \r \r

  If Qiao Dongliang was willing to live with her, why would he have troubled Qiao Nan to help him move out of the Qiao family’s courtyard? He had done so not just to have a change in environment but also to get away from her. It would be best if he never met her ever again.

  Qiao Dongliang’s attitude chilled Ding Jiayi’s heart. For her daughter’s sake, her relationship with Old Qiao, that she had recently mended, had been ruined again. If Qiao Zijin was worth it, then Ding Jiayi would have nothing to say.

  But what embarrassed Ding Jiayi the most was that Qiao Zijin hadn’t even sent her off well. It was Qiao Nan who had sent her back after Qiao Zijin had scared her off and had stolen her identity card. She had pretty much fled back to Ping Cheng.

  Now, she had lost all hope in Qiao Zijin, and Old Qiao was serious about not wanting her in his life. She couldn’t afford to care about her daughter, while her husband no longer wanted her. Her life wasn’t just a mess. It was a complete failure. Why did it seem as though she was the only one being hated by everyone? Not a single person seemed to treat her well at all!

  In the face of such a situation, Ding Jiayi was still unwilling to admit that she had done anything wrong. It was simply because of her bad luck that she had met bad people in her life and had given birth to unfilial children. Yes, others were always to be blamed. She had put so much effort into living a good life, so how was it possible that it was her fault?

  Whether or not Ding Jiayi admitted to it, Qiao Nan had no good news for Ding Jiayi the next day. In fact, she coldly informed Ding Jiayi that Qiao Dongliang refused to meet her, much less be neighbors with her. The property deed of the Qiao family’s courtyard was with Qiao Nan. No matter what, Ding Jiayi was still Qiao Nan’s biological mother. As such, even though Ding Jiayi had nothing to do with the ownership of the property, she still had the right to live there.

  Ding Jiayi could continue living in that house up until her death. As for everything else, Ding Jiayi had better not put too much thought into it. Both parties were responsible for how their relationship had turned out. He didn’t want to wait for Ding Jiayi to change, and neither would Ding Jiayi ever be willing to do so. After they separated, Ding Jiayi could live the life she wanted and he wouldn’t need to worry about how she lived. That way, everyone’s lives would be better.

  Having gotten a firm answer, Ding Jiayi had grown a lot more white hair in the short span of half a day. Ding Jiayi’s white hair had never grown that quickly, and in fact, she had less white hair than Qiao Dongliang. But in just one day, Ding Jiayi’s amount of white hair had quickly surpassed Qiao Dongliang’s. But no one in the Qiao family had witnessed that.

  Ding Jiayi was like a wandering soul. She simply stayed in the Qiao family’s courtyard without moving or speaking. She didn’t even bother cleaning up the dusty furniture. When evening came, Ding Jiayi no longer felt hungry. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would still be alive the next day since she hadn’t eaten for the entire day. If she would still be alive the next day, why didn’t she have an appetite at all?

  Ding Jiayi was completely dejected. She had no desire to eat or to get out. But that night, she suddenly heard knocks on the door. In that moment, Ding Jiayi’s eyes glimmered with hope and she couldn’t help but wonder if Old Qiao was back. Had Old Qiao decided to forgive her after knowing that she truly regretted her actions and was now willing to live with her again? She could swear to the heavens that she would never disappoint Old Qiao again, and neither would she ever bother about that stupid elder daughter of hers.

  But before Ding Jiayi could stand up to welcome her ‘husband’, Qiao Zijin had started to yell, “Mom, I’m back! Hurry and open the door. Why can’t I unlock the door? Did you change the locks?”

  The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. That was exactly how Ding Jiayi felt at that moment.

  Knowing that it was not her husband who had returned but the culprit behind their separation, Ding Jiayi sat back down in a daze. She had no intention of caring about Qiao Zijin. She would simply allow Qiao Zijin to knock on the door until she got tired of doing so and left.

  The Qiao family’s locks had been changed twice. The first time was when Qiao Dongliang had moved away, and the second was when Ding Jiayi returned and got a locksmith to pick the lock for her. Because of that, there was no way Qiao Zijin could unlock the door with her keys.

  If Qiao Dongliang had not left, Qiao Zijin would probably still be living a blissful life. In fact, Ding Jiayi might even have forgotten all those things that Qiao Zijin had done to her in the capital. Unfortunately, Ding Jiayi had gotten into a serious fall-out with Qiao Dongliang for Qiao Zijin’s sake. Because of that, Ding Jiayi didn’t even have any idea where Qiao Dongliang was.

  Ding Jiayi, who had lost her husband, was full of resentment. Naturally, she couldn’t hate herself for insisting on going to the capital even though she knew just how bad Qiao Dongliang’s temper was. She could only blame her daughter for being so heartless to her.

  She had wholeheartedly used all of Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan’s money on Qiao Zijin, but what had she gotten in return? Qiao Zijin had only ruined her relationship with Old Qiao time and again, infuriating him so much that he had simply left her! Her family had fallen apart and she was in such a miserable state now all because of Qiao Zijin!

  She had raised Qiao Zijin, but not only was Qiao Zijin unfilial to her, but she had even landed her in such a mess! Why should she still care about Qiao Zijin in that case?