Chapter 91: You Can Ask Me Too
Since he was on duty here, he only saw Qiao Nan, but he had never seen Qiao Zijin before.
But according to what Qiao Zijin said, the soldier was sure that the sisters had a close relationship with the Lee family.
And so, in a few words Qiao Zijin had managed to gain the trust of the soldier and like Qiao Nan, she could enter the Lee family residence easily. Qiao Zijin might be young, but she knew how to live by her wits.
“Then hurry along.” The soldier stepped to one side to let Qiao Zijin in.
Qiao Zijin lifted her chin, feeling pleased at the soldier’s attitude towards her. Once she stepped into this door today, her status would no longer be the same as before.
“Oh, I just felt that this sister looked weird, she was unlike Qiao Nan.” The other soldier frowned in annoyance.
Whenever Qiao Nan came to the Lee family residence, even though she was very quiet, she would gave them a smile with a slight nod of her head.
But the sister walked in with her chin lifted high up?
“What’s wrong with you? Why do you keep picking on the young lady? There’s nothing wrong with her. Aren’t all the young ladies like that? Maybe she had good results in school and that’s why she looked proud.” The soldier knew that Qiao Nan was good in her studies, she was among the top in her school. She even came in first place in the provincial essay competition.
With such an outstanding sister, the elder sister must be very brilliant as well.
“Nan Nan, I am here to see you.” As soon as she stepped into the front door, she was dumbstruck by the furnishings of the Lee family residence. It was ten times that of Qiao family. The hall was very spacious and brightly lit, there was the majestic genuine leather sofa, a big color television as well as other furniture.
All these were very new to Qiao Zijin and was something that she desperately yearned for.
It would be wonderful if her future house was like this.
But if she was to depend on the Qiao family, there was no way that she could dream of leading such a life.
“Xiao Qiao, who is she?” Zhu Baoguo had never seen Qiao Zijin before. He liked her attitude, since she she was so affectionate to Qiao Nan.
“My elder sister…” Qiao Nan puckered her lips. What was Qiao Zijin doing here?
“Nan Nan, this is Baoguo?” Qiao Zijin looked at Zhu Baoguo in surprise. Qiao Zijin heard that he was a bully, she always thought that he must be quite ugly looking, or if not, fierce looking, definitely someone not to be trifled with.
But when she saw him today, she realized that he was quite good looking.
He was just a junior high student, but he was taller than some of the boys in her class.
Zhu Baoguo used to spend his days playing under the sun, and as such his complexion was dark. But after staying indoors to recuperate from his injuries for about half a semester, he became much fairer. With his fiery eyes and looks, he would be considered as a hunk.
At her high school, Qiao Zijin already had some admirers who were pursuing her. She could not help but blush when she saw Zhu Baoguo.
“Oh, so it’s Da Qiao, then in the future we will… ” Zhu Baoguo was about to say in the future “we will be one family”, but he stopped in mid-sentence.
Qiao Nan was right about something, Zhu Baoguo was quite smart.
Zhu Baoguo thought for a while. He had been spending time with Qiao Nan for half a semester, and she had never brought up this sister of hers, be it praises or complaints.
Zhu Baoguo had also heard about the rumors regarding the Qiao family. One minute he was smiling at Qiao Zijin, the next minute his countenance changed. “What are you doing here?”
Zhu Baoguo was all smiles when he saw her, but he had a change of attitude all of a sudden. Qiao Nan must have spoken ill of her in front of Zhu Baoguo!
Qiao Zijin shot Qiao Nan an angry stare and said, “I am here to see Nan Nan.”
“You could look at Xiao Qiao when she is back at home, why did you come to Lee house?” Zhu Baoguo had seen all types of people. In particular when he was messing around outside school, there were always a bunch of people who followed him around, Qiao Zijin had the same expression in her eyes as them.
“Nan Nan has been imposing on Lee family for such a long time, she must have caused Lee family quite a lot of troubles. As her elder sister, I should express my gratitude and my new year greetings to Grandpa Lee in advance. Where is Grandpa Lee?” Qiao Zijin looked around, she did not come looking for Zhu Baoguo, her target was Grandpa Lee.
No matter how the Zhu family and Lee family pampered Zhu Baoguo, he still had to obey Grandpa Lee’s words to study and do what he disliked.
Qiao Nan and Zhu Baoguo were classmates and desk mates. She must have spoken ill of her in front of Zhu Baoguo.
But Grandpa Lee was different. Even if Qiao Nan badmouthed her, Grandpa Lee might not believe her. Maybe she should build relations with Grandpa first.
“It seemed like you were here to suck up to my grandpa.” Zhu Baoguo gave a cold smile at Qiao Zijin for overrating her own abilities. “I have no idea where Grandpa Lee is. But let me warn you, this is Lee house, this is not Qiao house, you had better not wander around, it would not be nice if other people misunderstood your intentions here.”
Elder Lee was in the study room but Zhu Baoguo refused to tell her. He disliked Qiao Zijin’s attitude. “Xiao Qiao, how do we solve this question?”
“The knowledge point to this question could be found at the example question on page 38 of the first volume of Secondary Two textbook. Look through the example question once before you ask me.” Qiao Nan took a glance at the question and could tell where the knowledge point of this question was. She then continued with her revision.
Zhu Baoguo gasped in astonishment. Xiao Qiao knew the Mathematics lessons like the back of her hand.
Zhu Baoguo was in awed by Qiao Nan’s consciousness. She was really dedicated to her studies.
Zhu Baoguo did not go after Qiao Nan for the solution. After hearing her reply, he took out Secondary two Mathematics textbooks and started to flip through them. He searched for the page that Qiao Nan mentioned and finally found the example question of the knowledge point.
This was after all a foundation question. Zhu Baoguo studied it and knew how to tackle the question that he had trouble with.
Zhu Baoguo went on to the next question after finishing with the current question.
Qiao Zijin dared not wandered around at Zhu Baoguo’s stern warning. She sat down quietly by the side, watching the two of them while they did their revision.
Qiao Zijin could not help but grit her teeth in frustration when she saw that Zhu Baoguo always did as what Qiao Nan said. He was not the unruly and bad tempered boy that he was known as.
If she had known that Zhu Baoguo was so easy to deal with, she would have snatched the task of tutoring Zhu Baoguo for herself.
Zhu Baoguo was not good in his studies. With her standard, it was more than enough to tutor him. Who was the one who spread the rumor and made it sound like he was an evil monster?
If Zhu Baoguo would listen to her words, it would be easy to tutor him. After all, Lee family and Zhu family did not have high expectation of Zhu Baoguo.
“Baoguo, Nan Nan has lagged behind in her studies recently. I am in high school now, and I am studying in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, if you have any questions you can ask me too.”
Chapter 92: What Did She Mean
“The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China?” Zhu Baoguo raised his head and looked at Qiao Zijin.
“That’s right, I am a student at The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.” Qiao Zijin said proudly. This high school was the best high school in Ping Cheng, Zhu Baoguo would finally know where her standard was.
No matter how good Qiao Nan’s results were, she has yet to enroll into The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. On the contrary, she was already a student at the high school.
Qiao Nan twitched the corner of her lips when she saw the look of arrogance on Qiao Zijin’s face. She would really have to hand it to her to be so obnoxious.
“I heard that someone came looking for my Grandpa this year, asking for his help to enroll into The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. There’s only a few people who would seek my Grandpa’s help regarding this matter, could that person be you?” Zhu Baoguo was overjoyed, he could not keep his sharp tongue in check.
Qiao Zijin who was proud as a rooster flushed red at Zhu Baoguo’s words.
She sang her own praises in order to make a good impression in front of Zhu Baoguo, but she had gone a little overboard. She made it sound as if she was just like the other students who entered The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China based on their results.
Zhu Baoguo’s words reminded Qiao Zijin of how she managed to enroll into The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
But why would Zhu Baoguo know that she enroll into the high school by pulling strings. It must be Qiao Nan!
“Who are you glaring at?” Qiao Zijin might be fierce, but she was no match for Zhu Baoguo.
Zhu Baoguo stared angrily at her. A young lady like Qiao Zijin could never be his match.
Qiao Zijin’s heart shuddered, her voice grew weak. “I, I didn’t glare at you.” She was just frustrated that Qiao Nan spoke ill of her in front of Zhu Baoguo and tarnished her reputation.
“Are you allowed to glare at Xiao Qiao?” Zhu Baoguo laughed in anger.
When Zhu Baoguo saw Qiao Zijin, he could not help but be reminded of his classmate Zhao Yu.
Zhu Baoguo had wanted to settle scores with Zhao Yu, but she was smart, she had anticipated that. She would always be in the company of other students when she went to school or left school, she even dragged a few girls with her when she went to the washroom.
Besides Zhao Yu had kept a check on her temper recently. Hence Zhu Baoguo had not laid a finger on her yet.
Right now Qiao Zijin resembled Zhao Yu.
Zhu Baoguo was puzzled. When he was with Qiao Nan, though she was quiet by nature, when she was angry she would be as fierce as a tigress. Why would other people see her as a pushover and bully her?
“Qiao Nan is my sister, why can’t I glare at her?!” Qiao Zijin was infuriated. In the past, no one told her off for glaring at Qiao Nan.
She not only glared at Qiao Nan, when they were at home she even ordered her around and Qiao Nan could not say no.
“Nobody say that you can glare at Xiao Qiao as you wish just because she is your younger sister. This is the Lee family residence, you dare to mess with me?” Zhu Baoguo laughed in anger. No one dared to vent their frustration on him.
“Let me tell you, I do not have qualms about hitting women. When I see women who deserve a whacking, I would not be lenient!” Zhu Baoguo waved his fists around, he had a ferocious look in his eyes.
“You… ” Qiao Zijin paled, and she started to have regrets.
She had wanted to be on close terms with Zhu Baoguo, why did she end up having a quarrel with him? Qiao Nan has to blame for all of these. It was her fault, she was such a jinx!
“Alright, don’t be an eyesore here. Judging from your reaction just now, you must be the person who sought my Grandpa’s help. If not for his influences, would you still be able to enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China? You still have the cheek to brag about it. You have no real substance at all.”
No wonder Grandpa asked Xiao Qiao to tutor him instead of this woman right in front of him.
Even though they were biological sisters, Da Qiao could not be compared to Xiao Qiao.
“How could you be so sure that it was me and not others?” Qiao Zijin refused to admit that she was the person that Zhu Baoguo was referring to.
“Why not let me ask Grandpa, were you the one who asked him to pull strings for you in order to enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China?” Zhu Baoguo laughed in mockery. If he really wanted to investigate, he could easily find out the truth. It was useless to deny.
“You…” Qiao Zijin was so mad that she was rendered speechless. “Forget it, since both of you are here to study and I could not be of any help at all, I will go back. Nan Nan, let’s have a very good talk later at home!”
Qiao Zijin gritted her teeth. She did not manage to pull any strings, instead she was boiling mad at Zhu Baoguo.
It seemed like the rumors were true, Zhu Baoguo had a lousy temper.
The boys in her class would never treat her in this way.
With that Qiao Zijin turned to leave.
“Oh, is she really your biological sister?” Zhu Baoguo frowned and looked at Qiao Nan with a look of disbelief. “Did she mean that she would settle scores with you later at home? I was the one who was fierce to her, why would she settle scores with you? What did she mean by that?”
“She had the impression that you disliked her as I spoke ill of her in front of you. In that case, she would naturally be after me.” Qiao Nan said matter-of-factly.
“Aren’t you worried or angry?”
“There’s no use to worry. If I am angry it would only bring harm to my body. My sister and Zhao Yu belong to the same type of people. If you don’t pay attention to them, they would still be able to kick up a fuss; if you responded to them, they would create a big uproar. No matter what, she did not have the final say over what’s right or wrong.”
Qiao Nan sensed that Zhu Baoguo was still not over the topic of Qiao Zijin, she raised her eyebrows and said, “You must be sick of doing the sums and so you started this conversation on purpose? Have you finished all the questions?”
Next year would be the last semester of Secondary Three. There was not much time left before middle school exams. Zhu Baoguo was really good at finding excuses to be lazy.
Zhu Baoguo twitched the corners of his lips. Why was Xiao Qiao so smart, she was not only good in her studies, she could also see through a person’s mind.
But this puzzled him even more. He could not understand why Zhao Yu and Da Qiao picked on someone like Qiao Nan.
“Still not concentrating on your studies?” Qiao Nan cast a disdainful look at Zhu Baoguo.
In her previous life, she had seen lots of spoilt brat like Zhu Baoguo.
She might not have been to the university, but her English was good, she had attained a level six certificate.
Other than taking on some translation work at home, she would also give English tuition to students. Hence she could easily tell what’s on Zhu Baoguo’s mind.
If Qiao Nan could not see through Zhu Baoguo, she had no right to be a tutor.
Zhu Baoguo could find no ways to retort Qiao Nan. He reined in his bad temper and sat down at his seat, took his pen and continued with his questions.
Qiao Nan curled the corner of her lips when she saw that Zhu Baoguo sat back down to study. Although he might be a spoilt brat, compared to the children in the 21st century, Zhu Baoguo was already very obedient.
By the time Qiao Nan left Lee family residence and went back to Qiao family residence, other than Qiao Dongliang, Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi pulled long faces at her.
Chapter 93: Tactless
Qiao Nan walked into the house calmly and addressed her parents and sister. “Dad, Mom, Sister, I am back.” She then put her books on the table and poured herself a cup of water.
“Sister? You still remembered that Qiao Zijin is your sister! Why didn’t you think of this when you defamed your sister in front of outsiders?” Ding Jiayi looked at Qiao Nan in mockery and gave Qiao Dongliang a slanting glance. Old Qiao must have realized now that Qiao Nan did not have a conscience at all.
Qiao Dongliang frowned, he did not believe that Nan Nan would be like this.
Qiao Nan was not the least bit surprised that Qiao Zijin would accuse her. She took a careful look at Qiao Dongliang, she could not sense any reproval from his demeanor. She relaxed slightly. “Mom, let’s put aside whether I defamed sister or not, to put it in the least way, what did I defame sister about?”
Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi were rendered speechless by Qiao Nan’s forceful words. Qiao Dongliang was stunned as well.
There was a flicker of doubt in Qiao Dongliang’s eyes. When Qiao Zijin came crying to them and said that she had been wronged, he thought that if it was the truth, Nan Nan was in the wrong. But judging from Nan Nan’s character, she did not seem like she would do such things.
Now that he thought about it carefully, when did the younger daughter defame the elder daughter?
Qiao Dongliang was deep in his thoughts trying to figure out this problem, while Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin turned red with anger, as if they had been insulted.
“Nan Nan, tell me honestly, did you, did you talk about your sister to Baoguo?” Qiao Dongliang pondered for a long time and picked his words carefully, mindful to remain objective.
“No, Zhu Baoguo did not know my sister. When he saw her, he even asked me who she was.”
“You are a liar, if you have never mentioned about me to Zhu Baoguo, why would he hate me to the core? You must have blackened my name in front of Zhu Baoguo. You still don’t want to admit that you defamed me?” Qiao Zijin jumped up in anger, pointing her finger at Qiao Nan’s nose and shouted at her.
“Sister, you are not the Chinese currency renminbi, why must everyone in the world like you? As for those who don’t like you, does it mean that I have spoken ill of you in front of every single one of them? Do you mean that you are way more popular than the dollar notes? For some people, money means nothing to them.” Qiao Nan replied coldly.
In the 21st century, Grandpa Mao had always been the most popular figure.
“Impossible, if you did not speak ill of me, why would Zhu Baoguo hate me?” Qiao Zijin felt so ashamed when she was reminded of Zhu Baoguo’s words. He said that she had no real substance at all, she managed to enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China all because of Elder Lee’s connections.
“Sister, this is so unjust. How would I know why does Zhu Baoguo dislike you? Maybe you just don’t hit if off with him, how could you blame me for that?”
“Mom, look at this, Qiao Nan refused to admit that she badmouthed me in front of Zhu Baoguo. There’s no way to get the truth out of her. Qiao Nan is so shameless.” Qiao Zijin was at a loss for words.
But Qiao Nan still had lots to say. “Dad, do you know what happened? Sister went to Lee family residence. She saw that the both of us were studying. So she walked up to Zhu Baoguo and told him that she is a student of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, and that she can tutor him. Zhu Baoguo then asked her if she was the person who sought Grandpa Lee’s help to enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.”
“Why would he think that it was me?” Qiao Zijin refused to admit defeat. She did not believe that Qiao Nan did not badmouth her in front of Zhu Baoguo.
“Because you mentioned that you are a student of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. Why would you ruffle Zhu Baoguo’s feathers? If you don’t believe me you can ask Dad. Dad, how’s Zhu Baoguo’s temper? She told him upfront that she could tutor him. That is tantamount to telling Zhu Baoguo with all smiles that you can lend him money when you obviously know that he is short of money. It is no wonder that he is infuriated.”
Junior high school students were at a sensitive age. Qiao Zijin’s words were obviously telling Zhu Baoguo that since his results were not good, she could help him with his studies.
“Zijin, did you really say that?” Qiao Dongliang stiffened. Even if Zijin had been scolded by Zhu Baoguo, she had no one to blame but herself.
Qiao Dongliang knew the nasty temper of Zhu Baoguo.
When Zhu Baoguo was younger, if someone was to mention the word “Mother” in front of him, he would go all out to beat that person to a pulp.
In comparison, Zhu Baoguo had been fairly courteous to his elder daughter.
For all he knew, Zhu Baoguo was lenient to Zijin on account of Qiao Nan who was his classmate.
In fact, the elder daughter escaped from a beating all because of the younger daughter, yet she lodged complaints of her sister to her parents. Qiao Dongliang did not know what to say.
“I, I was trying to be helpful.” Qiao Zijin could not help but stutter. She did not know that her words might enrage Zhu Baoguo.
Now that Qiao Zijin thought about it, what she said really deserved a whacking.
“Even if you want to be helpful you shouldn’t be so tactless.” Qiao Dongliang sighed.
“Dad, let’s get back to the previous topic. My sister said that I defamed her, let’s talk about whether I defamed her or not. First, I must make it clear that I never mention a single word about my sister in front of Zhu Baoguo. Other than our studies, Zhu Baoguo and I never talked about other topics at the Lee family residence. Now let’s assume that I really said those words. Dad, think about it, which of those words are defamation, and which of them are the truth? When we talk about defamation, it means that they were all lies, but we all know how my sister enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. If my sister was unhappy about it, at most she could scold me for washing dirty linen in public. Besides, it’s perfectly normal if Zhu Baoguo knew that Mom sought Grandpa Lee’s help.”
“What rubbish are you talking about? Your, your sister’s enrollment has nothing to do with Uncle Lee.” Ding Jiayi flushed, panic in her eyes. “Your, your sister went to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China as we forked out money for her. It has got nothing to do with Uncle Lee. If you keep on talking nonsense, I might just sew up your mouth!”
Ding Jiayi gave Qiao Dongliang a panicked look. She was worried that he would take Qiao Nan’s words for real. He might just blow his top and forbid Qiao Zijin to continue with her studies in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
Qiao Dongliang shot Ding Jiayi a cold glance, “Alright, why should you be angry with Nan Nan, I am very clear who’s right and who’s wrong!”
If Zhu Baoguo used this to put Zijin down, it was no wonder that she was so angry.
“Sister, did you say these to Zhu Baoguo?” Qiao Nan looked at Qiao Zijin.
As expected, she had guessed it correctly. Her father already knew the story behind her sister’s enrolment to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
After all they wanted to take in a husband for the elder daughter, unlike what her mother thought, her father would not make Zijin transfer out of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China for the sake of his face.
If her father highly valued Elder Lee above everything, she would not have come to this world at all.
Qiao Zijin had an important place in her father’s heart, way more than Qiao Zijin or her mother could have imagined.
Chapter 94: Asked for It
“Sister, which of Zhu Baoguo’s words were exaggeration? Which of the words were lies? When did I defame you?”
“Old, Old Qiao.” Ding Jiayi still didn’t get it. She stared at Qiao Dongliang with a look of guilt. “You, you don’t listen to Qiao Nan’s nonsense, Zijin went to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China… ”
“Stop it, no one is to mention this again.” Qiao Dongliang pulled a long face, they had no idea who he was angry at.
It was Elder Lee who told Qiao Dongliang about his daughter’s enrollment. Hence there was the possibility that Elder Lee could have mentioned this to Zhu Baoguo as well.
Besides, before Elder Lee told him the news, he also had no inkling either. Old Ding and Zijin would never let Nan Nan know about this matter, then how did she come to know about it? Zhu Baoguo must have told her.
He had to blame himself for being muddleheaded. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China was such a prestigious school, one might not be able to enroll in the school despite forking out money, one still had to have connections.
“Zijin, you must study hard, if not I would be so embarrassed.” Qiao Dongliang sighed, because of Qiao Nan he finally could hold his head high in front of Uncle Lee, but his elder daughter had to create this trouble.
But luckily the elder daughter’s results had improved after studying in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
As long as Zijin did well for her studies, Uncle Lee would eventually forget about how she enrolled in the high school.
Qiao Zijin paled and nodded her head reluctantly.
What did this have to do with her results? She was not Qiao Nan.
Initially she had wanted her parents to uphold justice for her, but in the end Qiao Nan remained unscathed. Qiao Zijin who was in low spirits pursed her lips and said, “Dad, Mom, it’s late, I will return to my room to read.”
“Zijin, wait. Apologize to Nan Nan.” Qiao Dongliang stopped Qiao Zijin.
“Why?!” Qiao Zijin widened her eyes in disbelief.
Why should she apologize to Qiao Nan, Qiao Nan had bullied and defamed her today. She was thinking to make her kowtow and admit her mistakes.
“What do you think is the reason?” Qiao Dongliang did not explain, he wanted Qiao Zijin to reflect on her own mistakes. “Don’t you think that your actions and behavior just now were too much, shouldn’t you apologize to Nan Nan? Who was the one who framed and badmouthed people? Zijin, you are ambiguous with your words. You meant to mislead us into having the wrong impressions. And yet you ask me why? Is that how a elder sister should behave? Did the teachers in school teach you to behave in this way?”
“What are you so angry for? It was just a misunderstanding. We are one family, we shouldn’t be so calculating and acting like outsiders.” Ding Jiayi jumped in to defend Qiao Zijin.
“Calculating? Acting like outsiders? Then what about the big spectacle that you created just now, as if you wanted to send punitive forces against someone. Isn’t that calculating, isn’t that treating Nan Nan like outsiders?” Qiao Dongliang shot Ding Jiayi an absurd look and turned to face Qiao Zijin. “Zijin, you are more educated than your Mom and you are so intelligent, you wouldn’t be like your Mom who can’t tell right from wrong, right? Should you then make this apology?”
She could not have new clothes and now her father wanted her to apologize. Qiao Zijin’s eyes reddened, she was on the brink of tears. “Dad, I was too angry that’s why I… Nan Nan, don’t take it to heart. I meant no harm, it’s just that Zhu Baoguo dissented me and I, I was anxious. I, I did not do anything bad, Nan Nan, I am sorry.”
Qiao Zijin then returned to her room with red eyes.
“Old Qiao, you are too much.” Ding Jiayi stomped her feet and pointed at Qiao Nan, “It was all because of you. Will you grow more meat just because your sister apologized to you? You, you are so heartless towards your sister!”
Qiao Nan who has just been through an unexpected ordeal laughed. She might not grow more meat just because Qiao Zijin apologized to her, but she was happy inside.
“Alright, why are you always picking on Nan Nan? Is this the differential treatment between family and outsiders? If you continue to pamper Qiao Zijin, can she survive in the outside world with the way she treats others? Instead of persuading her to change her attitude, you sided with her while she bullied Qiao Nan?” Qiao Dongliang chided Ding Jiayi.
“You! Was it me who pampered Qiao Zijin or you who pampered Qiao Nan? Forget it, now you only have eyes for one daughter. It would be useless to talk to you. You can look after Qiao Nan, I will dote on Zijin, she still has her mother who will protect her.” Ding Jiayi could not take it lying down, she said her piece and went off to comfort Qiao Zijin.
“What a headache, the child acts this way, the adult also acts this way.” From the looks of it, Zijin learned her bad ways from Old Ding.
“Dad, I will go back to my room.” Qiao Nan had her dinner at Lee family residence before coming back. She decided to have a bath before turning in. After all, it was chilly in the winter.
“Go ahead.” Qiao Dongliang gave a faint sigh. Nobody understood his good intentions.
Nobody understood?
Some did not wish to know, while some pretended not to know. Qiao Nan belonged to the latter.
Her father was trying to inculcate the correct values in Qiao Zijin. He noticed her character flaws and wanted to correct them.
Qiao Zijin was not willing to learn and her mother did not feel the need for her to change anything.
But since it had nothing to do with her, it did not matter if she understood her father’s intentions or not.
Ding Jiayi felt sorry that Qiao Zijin had suffered such grievances today and she could not seek justice for her. She could only watch helplessly while Zijin apologized to Qiao Nan. So in the end, Ding Jiayi agreed to buying a set of new clothes for Qiao Zijin and Qiao Zijin was finally appeased with that.
Qiao Zijin was all smiles when she received her new clothes. She was so thrilled that she could not contain her smiles.
But on the other hand Ding Jiayi had to take on private handiwork at home so as to buy Zijin her new clothes. She spent a lot of the days bent over the dim lights, working on the handiwork till midnight before going to sleep.
There was once when Qiao Nan woke up in the middle of the night to have a cup of tea, and she saw a tired Ding Jiayi rubbing at her eyes till they turned red.
“You sure are enjoying your good night’s sleep, didn’t you see that I am still busy with work. Now that you are on holiday, you should help me out.” Ding Jiayi boiled with anger when she saw Qiao Nan walked past with sleepy eyes and flushed face. “From tomorrow onwards, you have to help out!”
“Alright, I will let Dad know. From tomorrow onwards, I won’t go to the Lee family residence to tutor Zhu Baoguo.” Qiao Nan did not say no, instead she agreed.
Ding Jiayi turned red with anger. “Are you stupid?!”
If Old Qiao discovered that Qiao Nan could not go to Lee family residence as she had to help Ding Jiayi with her private jobs, he would tear her apart.
“You do not have to be at Lee family residence for 24 hours a day. You could come home earlier after tutoring Zhu Baoguo and helped me out. Wear your clothes and start working now. Finish them quickly, I have to prepare for new year.”
“No.” Qiao Nan rejected her coldly. “I am going back to sleep.” With that, she walked off.
Chapter 95: Have A Good Year Ahead
In order to coax Qiao Zijin, her mother overstretched her own ability to buy Qiao Zijin new clothes, which led to the lack of funds for Qiao Zijin’s tuition fees. Why should she tidy up the mess for them. No way!
“You dare!” Ding Jiayi’s face was red with anger. “Are you still my daughter, am I still your Mom, I work day and night, you don’t even give me any concern and help me to lessen my burden?”
“Mom, don’t treat me a fool because I am an honest person. You did all this because you wanted to buy Sister clothes, it’s not because of me. For the sake of sister, you work so hard, and then pulled me along to work overnight while Sister continues with her beauty sleep. You are willing but I am not.” Qiao Nan might as well be frank about it.
“Your sister must be tired after studying, why do you always drag her in?” She would not let Zijin do this type of chores.
“I’m also tired after attending school.”
“How hard can it be for you, you’re in junior high but your sister is in senior high school!”
“Fine, I can’t talk sense into you, anyway I’m not doing it, you can do whatever you like.” Qiao Nan turned her back from Ding Jiayi and returned to her bedroom.
If she knew what would happen, she would not have woken up. She would rather hang on and continued to sleep.
Her mother was probably too exhausted recently, she added too much salt when cooking. If not, she would not have felt so thirsty and woke up in the middle of the night.
As she prepared to return to her bedroom, Qiao Nan saw the shadow of Ding Jiayi raising her hand, she said coldly without looking back.
“Mom, I advised you not to touch me, if you hit me, I will definitely call Dad out. If Dad knows that you are staying up late to work so that you can buy sister new clothes, and Sister still sleeps so early everyday, what will he think of Sister?”
True enough, after Qiao Nan said this, Ding Jiayi put down her hand unwillingly. “You just don’t want to let your sister have a good life!”
“Mom, it’s not that. It’s that you don’t want me to do well. If I take over this chore, will you still continue, you will definitely go to bed. Mom, don’t always pick on the honest people, you treat Sister like a treasure and disliked me. It’s okay. I will cherish myself.”
Qiao Zijin was happy and delighted to wear new clothes, while she had to lose her sleep to help Qiao Zijin with her tuition fees next year.
In this lifetime, she would never do such a foolish thing again.
After she finished with her words, Qiao Nan decisively went back to her room and shut her door. She closed her eyes and slept within five minutes.
Ding Jiayi, who had a stomach full of anger, did five wrongly. The rule is that broken items had to be compensated for. As such, she had to pay for the five broken items before receiving her income. Ding Jiayi was nearly driven crazy this night.
Eventually she could not take it anymore, it was already one o’clock, Ding Jiayi put down her chores and returned to the bedroom to sleep.
The next day, Ding Jiayi had two obvious dark circles under under her eyes, like those of a panda.
Seeing Ding Jiayi this way, Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan kept silent unanimously.
On the contrary, Qiao Zijin was two-faced. On the surface, she thanked Ding Jiayi for working hard. But when Ding Jiayi was working at home, Qiao Zijin did not even attempt to help Ding Jiayi.
Qiao Zijin do not feel for Ding Jiayi, neither did she help Ding Jiayi to lessen her burden, what could Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan say?
It can be said that the punishment is appropriately given by one and willingly accepted by the other, they are truly a perfect mother-daughter match.
Qiao Nan was able to let it go but Qiao Dongliang could not.
Through this matter, Qiao Dongliang realized that Qiao Zijin only knew how to pay lip service to her parents, but in terms of action…
Qiao Dongliang was able to discover the shortcomings of Qiao Zijin after some observation. In the past, Ding Jiayi had been putting in good words for Qiao Zijin, he really thought that Qiao Zijin was a very obedient and sensible daughter. The only thing was that she was not very good in her studies.
But after the recent spate of events, Qiao Dongliang knew that, in reality, things were probably different from what he heard.
Nevertheless, Qiao Dongliang insisted not to put his hands in this matter.
Despite knowing that money was insufficient, the elder daughter insisted on buying new clothes. Furthermore, the wife indulged in the wrong behavior.
So, his wife needed to experience some suffering herself to understand this point.
Otherwise, in future, his wife would definitely forsake the larger picture in order to satisfy the elder daughter.
From the matter regarding the set of new clothes this year, Qiao Dongliang had a premonition.
Whatever the elder daughter wants, Ding Jiayi would certainly find a way to satisfy her, regardless of how difficult it could be. She would try to do it even if it was beyond her ability.
This was certainly wrong.
If he continued to help his wife, the poor habit would not be changed.
One did not wish to interfere, the other could not interfere. Both father and daughter maintained this stance, so Ding Jiayi could only grit her teeth and finish up all the work on hand.
Having worked so hard, Ding Jiayi fully regretted doing something beyond her ability just to appease Qiao Zijin. She was not angry with Qiao Zijin for not being understanding, but she blamed Qiao Nan for not helping her. With Qiao Nan’s ability, she could handle all this manual work by herself.
Qiao Nan could not read her mother’s mind but she guessed a little. Anyway, it had always been this way in the previous life. In this life, Qiao Nan was already numb.
In her previous life, she was deeply harmed under such thinking of Ding Jiayi. In this life, it was good that she was no longer bothered by her mother, and would not carry out such thankless chores.
Anyway, regardless of whether she did them or not, she was always the bad guy. She would be stupid to do it.
Seeing the nonchalant attitude of Qiao Nan, Ding Jiayi was full of hate to the core but she could not make Qiao Nan budge.
She finally understood now that Qiao Nan’s heart was as hard as a stone, she not only always bullied her sister, but also disregard her as a mother. She did not care even if she died of fatigue.
True enough, she should not have given birth to this daughter. If she had any matter, she would not expect any help from this daughter.
“Xiao Qiao, you’re an angel. You’re going to heaven for this final term exam.” The day that the class received their report card, Zhu Baoguo ran over to Qiao Nan to congratulate her as soon as she stepped into the classroom. “With this, you can have a good year.”
“Not really, in our family, grades are not everything.” Qiao Nan was the representative of all things. “Did I fare okay?”
“What okay, you can’t do better than that!” Zhu Baoguo stared. The top student in the school was actually his deskmate. He would be so proud to let others know this.
“How about you?” Qiao Nan was roughly aware of her own grades, but she was more concerned about Zhu Baoguo’s results.
Zhu Baoguo suddenly laughed. “I received almost around 80 marks for the few Science subjects that I took.”
“That’s good. Just a few more marks and it would be excellent.” Qiao Nan gave Zhu Baoguo a thumbs up. It was only half a semester’s time, Zhu Baoguo had a brain better than most.
“No no, all thanks to your help. If not for you, how can I achieve such grades?” The moment he knew his grades, Zhu Baoguo was shocked. Even the Zhu family doubted it.