Chapter 2195: Good News

“You were the one who raised Qiao Nan, not Dad. She should be more grateful toward you than Dad. If she treats Dad this well, she should treat you even better!”

Once her mom came, Qiao Nan would have to continue renting an apartment just like how she had for her dad. This was the lowest standard she would accept. If her mom was dissatisfied with it, she would make a fuss and Qiao Nan would have no choice but to improve her treatment.

Of course, she would enjoy whatever her mom did too.

Did her dad really think that she would be left stranded with no other choice but to return to Ping Cheng if he were to leave and the Zhai family were to take back this house?

Sorry but Qiao Nan didn’t just have a father. She had a mother too. Besides, her mom was on her side too! As long as her mom arrived in the capital, Qiao Nan would have to be as filial to her mom as she had to her dad. When that time came, she would benefit quite a lot from it too.

Qiao Zijin was no fool. She had been riding on Qiao Dongliang’s laurels, and knowing that Qiao Dongliang no longer wished to help her, she immediately got her mom, Ding Jiayi, into the picture. All she wanted were the benefits that came along with it. It didn’t matter whether those benefits were from her mother or father.

Ding Jiayi was slightly hesitant about leaving Ping Cheng for the capital. Apart from when she was younger and had left her hometown to escape the arranged marriage her parents had set up, Ding Jiayi had never done anything so bold. Now that she was old, she wanted to stay where she was most familiar with.

As such, the capital was not as attractive as Ping Cheng to Ding Jiayi. But it was not that Ding Jiayi was not drawn to the capital at all. “I’ll have to think about it.” It required a great amount of courage to leave the place she had lived in for decades for somewhere as foreign as the capital.

Ding Jiayi was not young anymore and no longer had that kind of courage.

“Mom, why do you still have to consider it? Will I make you suffer? I’m doing everything with you in mind. I just want you to enjoy your old age. I can’t deny that Qiao Nan could do a better job at that than me. She’s much more capable of improving your life. Of course, I can support you too, but it won’t be anywhere close to what Qiao Nan can do. But you have to listen to me and come to the capital. Then, I can take care of you with Qiao Nan. Besides, you’re in Ping Cheng while Qiao Nan is in the capital. If you fall ill, Qiao Nan won’t be able to rush back from the capital. Then, I won’t be able to do much if you have to be admitted into the hospital to undergo surgeries if Qiao Nan doesn’t return either.”

“On the other hand, as long as you’re close to Qiao Nan, both she and the Zhai family will definitely be able to fork out the money for whatever you need, be it a kidney transplant or a heart transplant. There’s no way they’ll leave you to die. I can’t promise you that I can do what Qiao Nan can. At the very most, I won’t take advantage of Qiao Nan. If something happens to you, she can pay for the treatment but I’ll take care of you. She won’t have to worry about that. I’ll do it myself and I’ll make that clear with her. That should do, right?”

Qiao Zijin still had flattery that she had not used yet. She would get Ding Jiayi to the capital before putting them to use.

Only with either Ding Jiayi or Qiao Dongliang in the capital would she be able to live in a house that the Zhai family arranged for the two elderly people. That way, she would be able to save herself a lot of money.

Besides, Qiao Nan wouldn’t just be providing accommodation for them if Qiao Dongliang and Ding Jiayi were in the capital. She would have to provide them with an allowance for their meals and daily expenses too. Only then would she be doing her duty as a daughter.

Yes, it was true that she wouldn’t be able to use a single cent that Qiao Nan gave her dad. But once the one enjoying this benefit in the capital was her mom, she was ninety percent sure that she would be able to spend that money alongside her mom. Her mom was completely different from her dad. Her dad was thrifty and spent frugally, while her mom would never be afraid of asking Qiao Nan for more money. The more Qiao Nan gave, the happier her mom would be. In fact, her mom would probably ask for even more the next time.

If her mom were to succeed, she wouldn’t even need to find a job to live a comfortable lifestyle in a top-tier city like the capital.

The gears in Qiao Zijin’s mind turned continuously and she soon realized that it would be of even greater help if the person living in the capital was Ding Jiayi instead. In fact, it would be perfect.

It was not that Ding Jiayi was indifferent, but she had never been so far away before. Besides, she had never been to the capital and was unfamiliar with it too. “Alright. I understand. I’ll mull over your suggestion. I’ll let you know when I make my decision.”

She was already advanced in age. One required lots of courage to make a special trip down to a foreign city to stay by a child that she didn’t even like.

Even though Qiao Zijin had already painted a perfect picture for Ding Jiayi, she had not been excited to the extent of wanting to fly over the capital to live the life that Qiao Zijin had described right away. There were undoubtedly disadvantages of living in Ping Cheng, but there were advantages too. At least, she would always be able to find her way home no matter where she was in Ping Cheng, and she even had quite a number of acquaintances in the city.

In the capital, she would have none of those advantages.

Other elderly returned to their hometowns in their old age. Ding Jiayi had not gotten the chance to move to the capital in her younger days to broaden her horizons. Now, at her age, she no longer had such an impulse or desire. “Is there anything else? Otherwise, I’m going to hang up. Oh right, did your dad say when he’s coming back?”

In the past, she had always thought their house was terribly small. Not only was it a single-floor unit, but it was also old and dingy. But ever since Qiao Nan left, and both Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Zijin headed to the capital, Ding Jiayi had been left alone at home. It was only then that she realized that the house she had been living in for decades was actually quite big. At least, she felt lonely staying there all alone. At times, she was so lonely that she was willing to waste electricity by leaving the television on for the whole night. That way, there were other sounds in the house, making it seem as though she was not the only one there.

For the lonely Ding Jiayi, it was definitely good news that Qiao Dongliang was returning. Ding Jiayi had not seemed to take in any of Qiao Zijin’s earlier suggestions.