Anyone else with two daughters at her age would be enjoying their lives with their children providing for them. No one else was like her and had to spend within her daughters’ budget for her. Her daughters were terribly selfish. The mention of money was as taboo as death.

  “She’s so brilliant now. Your dad’s helping her and she has such a capable husband. I gave birth to her and raised her but I have to live in fear of her. Your dad’s still angry at me. I’ve thought it through. I can’t win against that wretched girl. I have only a few more years left to live. I don’t want to kick up a huge fuss. There’s no point in living such a rowdy life. Forget about going overseas. I’m tired of all that. I’m thinking that your dad should come and visit me now that I’m sick and hospitalized.”

  In short, Qiao Nan was someone she couldn’t afford to provoke. Qiao Nan could call on anyone around her to support her and she wouldn’t be able to handle that pressure.

  Ding Jiayi hoped that Qiao Nan would speak up for her in front of Old Qiao on the account of her not having made any trouble for her this time. Then, the couple would be able to reconcile with each other. She really needed Old Qiao to take care of her.

  As long as Old Qiao was around, she wouldn’t be alone in her fight against Zijin. Old Qiao would definitely be on her side. Even though they were old, there was still a higher likelihood of winning since they had two against one.

  Having personally tasted her elder daughter’s abilities, Ding Jiayi had another reason to hope for Qiao Dongliang’s quick return.

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Zijin refused to fork out neither money nor effort in helping Ding Jiayi now that she was hospitalized. The first thing she talked about was how to extort Qiao Nan for more money using this illness as an excuse. She talked about going on a holiday to Thailand, but to put it bluntly, Qiao Zijin simply wanted to have a share of the money once she got it from Qiao Nan.

  Where was the money to pay for the Thailand trip going to come from? It would definitely be from her own pocket. In fact, Qiao Zijin might not even be willing to treat her mom to a simple meal if they were to go on a holiday.

  Ding Jiayi knew this all too well. As such, she had no interest in talking about such a topic. It was naturally exciting to spend someone else’s money. But now that it concerned her own money, Ding Jiayi couldn’t feel any joy in it.

  “…”

  The caregiver, who had inadvertently overheard the conversation after returning, was stunned. Initially, she had guessed that one of Ding Jiayi’s daughters must have come to visit her since she had heard someone talking to Ding Jiayi in the room, even addressing her as ‘mom’. Thinking about it, the caregiver guessed that it had to be Ding Jiayi’s elder daughter.

  If Ding Jiayi’s younger daughter was willing to visit her, the caregiver wouldn’t even be needed.

  The caregiver had refrained from entering the room to give the mother and daughter some space. But it didn’t seem right for her to leave either. Ding Jiayi’s food was still in her hands. What if Ding Jiayi starved and got sick from that? Then, she wouldn’t even be able to get her wages. The caregiver had not forgotten the doctor’s words that Ding Jiayi’s stomach was not in the best condition.

  The caregiver had never expected that her hesitation would cause her to overhear such a shameless conversation.

  She had never seen Ding Jiayi’s legendary younger daughter, but she knew about her existence. She had heard about the mother and daughter discussing Qiao Nan, and she couldn’t help but feel aggrieved on Qiao Nan’s behalf.

  Just an hour ago, she had had no idea why Ding Jiayi had no kin to take care of her even when she was ill. In fact, the Qiao family was willing to spend money on hiring a caregiver instead. But now, the caregiver understood everything.

  The patient she was taking care of had a bad temper. While spending her younger daughter’s money by living in the best ward in the hospital and enjoying the care of a caregiver, she scolded her younger daughter as a heartless person. Her elder daughter was even worse, even discussing how to make use of Ding Jiayi’s illness to extort money from Qiao Nan.

  Qiao Zijin had made it too obvious that she intended for Ding Jiayi to take her out with the money from Qiao Nan. The caregiver didn’t even need much brainpower to figure out what kind of person Qiao Zijin was.

  The caregiver pursed her lips. If she had relatives like that, she would never be willing to return to take care of her mother either. She knocked on the door.

  “Come in.” Ding Jiayi heard the knocks and knew that the caregiver had returned. Seeing the box in the caregiver’s hands, Ding Jiayi stared at her and shouted, “You’re taking our money but not doing a proper job! Look! You’ve taken half an hour just to get me some food. Do you want to starve me? I’m telling you that our money isn’t that easy to earn! If you can’t take good care of me, you’d better scram! Given the price our family is willing to pay, there will be a long queue waiting to take on your job.”

  Money was king. Ding Jiayi felt that they were using their family’s money to get someone to take care of her. As such, the caregiver had the responsibility to take care of her meticulously and to lift her mood. She would never allow them to spend half an hour just to run a small errand like getting a meal.

  It wasn’t so easy to earn their money.

  No, she should say that it wasn’t easy to earn money in society nowadays.

  “I already said that that wretched girl is heartless. I’m her mother. Forget it that she’s not taking care of me herself. Look at the kind of caregiver she hired. She’s so lazy. I have gastric problems but she took so long to get me my meal. Does she want to starve me to death? I’m amazed that someone like that can be a caregiver. I wonder if that wretched girl is doing this on purpose by finding such an unprofessional caregiver to anger me. Once I die, she’ll be free of this burden!”

  Ding Jiayi was especially frustrated, feeling that nothing was going her way. Staying in the hospital was already making her feel uneasy. Her symptoms of fever and nausea from the previous day were not completely gone. Since she was uncomfortable, she wouldn’t let anyone else feel comfortable either.

  Anyway, she was simply letting out some steam on that caregiver. She had already said that it wasn’t easy earning money in society these days. If they weren’t willing to humble themselves, it was better for them to remain as housewives instead of wasting everyone’s time.