Chapter 2133: Burden

Qiao Dongliang shook his head and stared blankly at Qiao Zijin for a long while. “Zijin, I think your only talent is your eloquence.” Qiao Dongliang could not deny that he had almost been taken in for a few seconds and had almost agreed with Qiao Zijin.

It was just that…

Qiao Dongliang had not forgotten the pain of fracturing his bones after being pushed away by Qiao Zijin. It was that pain that had cleared his mind. What he remembered even more clearly was how Qiao Nan had rushed down to the hospital immediately and had paid for his surgery in the moment of his greatest pain.

He would only believe what he had seen and experienced for himself. He could differentiate and know who was truly good to him.

To put it bluntly, if Nan Nan was only being filial to him so as to drive a wedge between him, Ding Jiayi, and Qiao Zijin, she would still be much better than Qiao Zijin, who always said that she was filial to her father but valued her money more than her father’s life.

He was not a fool and could do his own a.n.a.lysis. If one’s fake performance was even more affectionate than true love, then that true love would not even be as valuable as that fake performance.

“It won’t be too late for you to say those things when I’m more muddleheaded in a few years’ time.” If he was clear-headed, he would never believe whatever Qiao Zijin had just said.

Qiao Zijin had not expected Qiao Dongliang to react in this manner. She had thought that she had a.n.a.lyzed the issue well and that there was no reason for Qiao Dongliang not to believe her. Who would have known that Qiao Dongliang would make such sarcastic remarks before returning to his room? The way Qiao Dongliang had mocked her and looked at her as though she were a clown angered Qiao Zijin.

Qiao Zijin, who had no way of venting her anger, ground her teeth. “Mom, what have you fed my dad this year?” It seemed like her dad’s intelligence was growing through a second growth spurt. If her dad had been so sensible twenty years ago, she would never have gotten the chance to force Qiao Nan to support her throughout university.

Even though her dad’s intelligence had grown twenty years too late, it was equally troubling for her that her dad had suddenly come to his senses. If this went on, her dad would never help her get married to Zhai Sheng after Qiao Nan’s death. He might even drag her down and prevent her from doing so!

After marrying Qiao Nan, Qiao Zijin did not even need to ask Zhai Sheng to know whom he had a most favorable opinion of between the three Qiao family members. As such, Qiao Dongliang would be the only one who would be able to convince Zhai Sheng after Qiao Nan’s death.

If Zhai Sheng were to listen to her dad and refuse to marry her, what would she do about the rest of her life? As a father, he should, at least, help his daughter find someone who would take care of her for the rest of her life if he could not take care of her himself. Was he not going overboard by dragging her down and not allowing her to have her happiness?

“Mom, looking at Dad’s att.i.tude toward me, I don’t think Dad will agree to let me marry Zhai Sheng and take care of Qiao Nan’s three children after her death. What will we do if Dad really makes a fuss and Zhai Sheng listens to him?” Qiao Zijin was truly worried that that would happen.

Qiao Zijin was in a frenzy and Ding Jiayi was anxious too. “Surely, he won’t do that?”

“Mom, do you still believe in my dad? He’s no longer the person he was in the past. He no longer has you or me in his heart. The only person he cares about now is Qiao Nan. Do you understand?”

“Then, there’s nothing I can do.” Since Old Qiao was no longer the same person he had been, she no longer had the ability to make Old Qiao listen to her and stand on her side with Zijin.

“You’re really…” Qiao Zijin was incensed by how useless Ding Jiayi was that she could not even keep Qiao Dongliang in line. “Anyway, remember that my dad can never find out about me wanting to marry—this matter. If it comes to that, I’ll go to the capital first and you’ll stay at home with Dad. Once Qiao Nan dies, I’ll get a marriage certificate with Zhai Sheng before you and Dad come for Qiao Nan’s funeral. Then, there’s nothing my dad can do no matter how much he disagrees since it will be a protected military marriage. When that time comes, Zhai Sheng can’t possibly decide to get a divorce from me just because of what Dad says, right?”

The Zhai family was such a reputable family. There was no way they would do such a thing and make a mockery out of themselves.

With such a plan, Qiao Zijin had always felt that Qiao Nan was the largest obstacle in her way. But because of what had just happened, Qiao Zijin suddenly realized that the most difficult person to deal with was not Qiao Nan but Qiao Dongliang.

She was only getting into Qiao Dongliang’s good books to get close to Qiao Nan and change Qiao Nan’s impression of her. Now that things had gotten to this point, Qiao Zijin had no choice but to change her plan and work directly on Qiao Nan. As long as she got Qiao Nan’s approval, her dad’s opinions would not matter at all!

Ding Jiayi nodded. “Alright. We’ll do that. Do you still want to let your dad see the materials that you retrieved?” Qiao Zijin had specially placed all those materials there for Qiao Dongliang to see.

Who would have known that Qiao Zijin had spent her entire day buying a test paper and reasoning it out with Qiao Dongliang just because of a proficiency test? As such, Qiao Dongliang had paid no attention to the materials that she had put so much effort into securing.

Since Qiao Zijin had already changed her plan, she quickly kept all the materials that she had intended to show Qiao Dongliang, lest he found out too much. She was worried that Qiao Dongliang would find out about how Qiao Nan might not survive childbirth and would thus warn Qiao Nan about how she was scheming against her again.

“Alright. Shall I shred them and throw them away?” Ding Jiayi quickly shredded everything that Qiao Zijin had printed earlier and threw them into the trash can without a moment of hesitation.

Qiao Zijin thought that they were an eyesore. “Mom, hurry and throw this trash bag away. It will be troublesome if my dad picks it out of the trash can. We can’t let my dad know about how dangerous it is for Qiao Nan to be pregnant with triplets at her age. We have to be careful not to leak it to him.”

Ding Jiayi patted her chest confidently. “Don’t worry. I will definitely not say anything to your dad. It’s that wretched girl’s fault for being so bold to give birth to three children at her age. She brought it upon herself. It’s not like it’s our fault. At the very most, she can only blame the Qiao family’s ancestors for not protecting her. That’s why she got pregnant with triplets at her age. Since it’s their fault, we have nothing to do with it at all. Zijin, don’t blame yourself for it or have any nightmares because of it.”