Li Yayan’s lips twitched as she was left at a loss for words. Thinking about Qiao Nan’s experience, Li Yayan had always thought that Qiao Nan would act like a nouveau riche upon marrying into the Zhai family. After all, her social status had risen so drastically. It was only normal for Qiao Nan to go crazy.

  But Qiao Nan did not cherish her good fortune. Her life had not changed much even after marriage. Li Yayan had no clue why Qiao Nan had to maintain such an attitude. Was Qiao Nan not materialistic at all?

  “I’m sure you know why I’ve come to look for you today. Qiao Nan, not everything I said to you before was false. My situation is similar to yours. No, I should say that I’m much worse off than you in every way. Qiao Nan, you can’t deny that my family background is much better than yours. It’s just that Zhai Sheng has a higher status than Wang Yang. You were even warmly welcomed into the family by your parents-in-law after getting married. As for me? As long as I’m with my father-in-law, he’ll definitely scold me nonstop for the entire day. He looks down on me and thinks that I dragged Wang Yang down.”

  At the mention of this, Li Yayan was upset. The Zhai family didn’t despise Qiao Nan, and they even treated her as though she were a treasure. So, what right did her father-in-law have to look down on her? Whether it was Qiao Nan or ladies with even higher social statuses, there might not even be anyone who was willing to marry into the Wang family because Wang Yang had such an unreasonable and demanding father. It was annoying that he looked down on others when he wasn’t too outstanding himself.

  “In the past, I always thought that my parents-in-law were bad and they were all against me. But I eventually realized that my mother-in-law was influenced by my father-in-law. Not everyone is equal. Qiao Nan, you’re living a much better life than me. After getting married to Wang Yang, I’ve always felt very stressed. Even though I’ve given birth to a son, my life hasn’t gotten any better. Qiao Nan, can you help me? To you, helping me means nothing. I’m begging you. I just want to live more comfortably.”

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Nan could only sigh that she wasn’t particularly kind. Or perhaps, it was because she had gone through Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi’s torturous training that Li Yayan’s words meant nothing to her now. “Who wouldn’t want others to make sacrifices that would benefit them?”

  “But the Zhu family’s assets don’t belong to you. Wang Yang is Zhu Chengqi’s biological nephew. Zhu Chengqi didn’t have a son, and all he had left were his younger sister and nephew. If not for you, they would have been the rightful inheritors. Qiao Nan, you shouldn’t be so heartless. It’s immoral to snatch what rightfully belongs to others, so don’t put yourself on a pedestal. Besides, since we’ve already lost the lawsuit, we’re willing to compromise too. As long as you’re willing to give Wang Yang what he deserves, we won’t be demanding or insist on a specific sum. We’re already humbling ourselves before you.”

  This was the plan that Li Yayan had come up with for Wang Yang.

  Yes, they could continue fighting the lawsuit, dragging the matter on. But Wang Yang had a son, while Qiao Nan had two sons and a daughter. No matter how long they dragged it on, it would never change the result that Qiao Nan would become the rightful owner of the Zhu family’s assets.

  Initially, Wang Yang had thought that he would give Qiao Nan whatever he deemed fit. Now, Li Yayan felt that the situation was reversed. If they could convince Qiao Nan to give them an eight-figure sum, that would be good too.

  The Zhu family’s inheritance was not a small sum. If Qiao Nan agreed but gave them a small sum of money, it wouldn’t reflect too well on her either. Besides, since she had already agreed, there was no need to be so stingy and petty about it.

  No matter how vicious she had been with her words in the past, Li Yayan knew when to bow her head and humble herself. Otherwise, that eight-figure sum would never have anything to do with Wang Yang and would be Qiao Nan’s alone. In Li Yayan’s opinion, however much Wang Yang could get would be good enough for them. Qiao Nan might have gotten the Zhu family’s assets from doing nothing, but wasn’t Wang Yang doing the same? After all, Wang Yang was not a Zhu, and Mother Zhu had married out of the family.

  Having thought through that, Li Yayan dared not act tough in front of Qiao Nan. All she could do was to pretend to be pitiful so that Qiao Nan would let their family off.

  Li Yayan had made her intentions rather clear. If not for the will that Zhu Chengqi had left behind, Qiao Nan would never have had anything to do with the Zhu family’s assets. Since Qiao Nan had lucked out with such a windfall, she had better not burn the bridges by claiming the entire Zhu family’s inheritance for herself while Wang Yang, who was actually a relative of the Zhu family, got nothing at all. After all, Qiao Nan was the Zhai family’s daughter-in-law and the wife of a chief. There was no need to ruin her own reputation for this sum of money.

  “Qiao Nan, I haven’t been married to Wang Yang for that long. Our son is still in kindergarten. I’m not asking for much. I just hope that you’ll give Wang Yang a way out. You’re a mom too. Don’t you think we have to think about our children? I wasn’t entirely making use of you throughout our past interactions. I did have some feelings for you. I’m begging you. The Wang family’s situation is complicated. If Wang Yang goes away with nothing, he’ll never be able to explain himself to the Wang family.”

  And his dignity would come crashing down too.

  Wang Yang had somewhat come to his senses with Mother Zhu’s advice, but Li Yayan had not. She knew that the Wang family would definitely have something to say about Wang Yang if they were to fail in this matter.

  Li Yayan didn’t want Wang Yang to have worked so hard for nothing, and neither did she want her son to grow up in such an environment. She knew that Qiao Nan would never agree to unreasonable demands. As such, they would simply take as much as Qiao Nan was willing to offer them. At the very least, that would be better than losing their lawyer’s fees.

  Qiao Nan, who had finished her meal, took a sip of water. She felt that she might very well get indigestion if she were to continue listening to Li Yayan. “Do you feel aggrieved for Wang Yang because Wang Yang was Chief Zhu’s only nephew but Chief Zhu left all of the Zhu family’s assets to me instead of Wang Yang?”

  “Isn’t it?” No one could understand why Zhu Chengqi had done so. She had already said that Zhu Chengqi was an old foggy. Unfortunately, both lawyers and doctors could prove that Zhu Chengqi had made that will on his own accord while he was still sound.

  Wang Yang had absolutely been wronged in this whole matter. Zhu Chengqi was crazy!