But she waited and waited, and even shouted again and again. Still, Ding Jiayi hadn’t come to open the door for her. Qiao Zijin finally sensed something amiss. “Mom, what do you mean by this? I know you’re at home. Mom, don’t you think you’re going overboard by not opening the door or answering my call? You even changed the locks!”

  Qiao Zijin grew more startled as she said all that. Something was truly amiss. Was her mom trying to prevent her from coming home?

  Qiao Zijin panicked, finally thinking about all those things she had done to Ding Jiayi before leaving the capital. “Mom, I know you’re still angry at me because of what happened in the capital. I-I’ll apologize to you. Will that do? Mom, if there’s anything, we can chat after you open the door. You can tell me all your dissatisfaction and I’ll apologize to you. Mom, it’ll be embarrassing if someone else sees me standing here. Mom, open the door.”

  Her mom’s temper had worsened with age. In the past, her mom had never dared to throw such a tantrum at her. Her dad and Qiao Nan had allowed her mom’s temper to develop! She would never have allowed her mom to get so unreasonable.

  “Mom, you’re right. That’s why I’m back for good now. I’m going to live in Ping Cheng from now on. Mom, I even got you a present from the capital this time. Mom, open the door so that I can give you the present.” What mattered most was coaxing her mom to open the door so that she could enter.

  \r \r \r

  “…”

  Unfortunately, no matter what Qiao Zijin said or how she tried to cajole Ding Jiayi, there was absolutely no response from within the house. It was as though Ding Jiayi was not even at home.

  In the face of such a situation, Qiao Zijin couldn’t help but wonder if she was having hallucinations. Was her mom really not at home? But that couldn’t be. Even if her mom wasn’t home, her dad should be at home. With no other choice, Qiao Zijin called Ding Jiayi again. This time, however, Ding Jiayi’s phone was already switched off. Alright, there was no need to wonder anymore. Ding Jiayi was indeed at home, and her phone had indeed rung earlier. It was just that Ding Jiayi had rejected her call and had even deliberately switched off her phone.

  “Mom, what do you mean by this? Why don’t we have a good chat? Even if I was insensible and did something wrong, you should explain it to me to help me understand. Mom, are you still angry at me about what happened in the hospital? Mom, you know that I was admitted into the hospital because I was sick. By the time you arrived, I already had a high fever. I wasn’t in the right state of mind then. My mind was a little murky and I couldn’t control myself that day. I think I must have been muddleheaded because of my illness. Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. It’s true. I was muddleheaded because of my illness.”

  Ding Jiayi, who had heard these words, reacted slightly, seemingly trying to get up. But within a second, Ding Jiayi calmed down and allowed Qiao Zijin to continue her monologue at the door.

  Muddleheaded because of her illness?

  But she clearly remembered Qiao Zijin’s expression and tone from that day. If Qiao Zijin had truly been muddleheaded because of her illness that day, then she had probably never been sober for her entire life even at this age. No wonder Old Qiao always said that she was blind and foolish and that she had made a wrong choice between her two daughters, Qiao Zijin and Qiao Nan.

  It hadn’t even required her blind faith. If she had been slightly fairer to her two daughters at that time, allowing both of them to pursue their studies, their family would have been in a much better state now.

  In the past, Ding Jiayi had never agreed with Qiao Dongliang’s words. But now, Ding Jiayi couldn’t help but consider what he had said. Qiao Nan was only a junior high school graduate. Even then, she had earned so much money for the family. If she had cultivated Qiao Nan into a university graduate, Qiao Nan would definitely have earned much more. In fact, she could even have been earning a six-figure salary by now!

  She had already heard that university graduates from better schools entered better companies. After ten years, their salaries easily exceeded a million yuan!

  Ding Jiayi was all too clear about the kind of person Qiao Nan was. Even though she was only a junior high school graduate, Qiao Nan had always earned high praises from her bosses no matter where she worked.

  Because of her situation, Qiao Nan hadn’t been able to change jobs. But if Qiao Nan had landed a job in a reputable company and had worked up until now, her income would have exceeded a million yuan by now! If Qiao Nan had been that good at making money, there was no way her life as Qiao Nan’s mother would have been too bad. In fact, they would probably have owned a car just like other families. Perhaps, it would even have been a BMW! How proud she would have been driving that out.

  Unfortunately, she had ruined all of that.

  Ding Jiayi sighed. If she had been fairer toward Qiao Nan and allowed Qiao Nan to pursue her studies, her relationship with Qiao Nan wouldn’t have landed in such a state today. If her relationship with Qiao Nan had been better, Qiao Nan would definitely have chosen to side with her instead of Old Qiao if they were to get into a scuffle. As long as Qiao Nan was on her side, she would never need to worry about Old Qiao daring to ignore her.

  She had lost such a useful daughter just like that. It was such a pity. Worse still, she had only realized that now. It was far too late now.

  “Mom? Mom!” Qiao Zijin had no idea what was going through Ding Jiayi’s mind. Of course, she had no idea how Ding Jiayi was regretting being kind to her while being mean to Qiao Nan all these years. What Qiao Zijin did know was that her mom hadn’t responded even after she had shouted for such a long time. What was she supposed to do? She was already at the door, but because she didn’t have the new keys, and neither was her mom letting her in, she had no way of entering the house.

  Her stomach was growling and the sun was setting. Qiao Zijin wasn’t sure if she would be able to enter the house even if she were to stay. Besides, what would she do if her neighbors happened to see her when they took their evening walk after dinner? She couldn’t afford to be embarrassed like that.

  Qiao Zijin couldn’t deny that she hadn’t gone easy on her mom that day. Thinking back to it, Qiao Zijin felt that she had simply told Ding Jiayi the whole truth. It was true she had been muddleheaded because of her illness. Even she couldn’t believe that she had taken all of her mom’s money and her identity card that day. She had never even dreamed of doing such a thing, much less do it in reality!