Chapter 1573: The Money Didn’t Go to Waste
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“A centipede goes on wriggling even after it is dead. However, regardless of how many legs she has, I’ll cut them all off for you.” In the face of this sister-in-law, Zhai Sheng had directly listed her as the top three on his blacklist. No matter what the circ.u.mstances, this woman seemed to not learn well and not get taught a proper lesson.
Qiao Nan leaned in Zhai Sheng’s arms and felt especially safe. Even if Qiao Zijin’s matter was right in front of her, she didn’t feel upset at all. She felt that this wasn’t a big deal and it wasn’t something that she couldn’t resolve. “How are you planning to help me cut off all her hundred legs?”
“Simple. We’ll start from your parents.” With Qiao Dongliang and Ding Jiayi around, Qiao Zijin was Nan Nan’s sister. If both of them didn’t acknowledge their relations.h.i.+ps with Qiao Zijin, then the sister relations.h.i.+p between Qiao Zijin and Nan Nan wouldn’t even exist in name.
“Are they so easy to talk to?” Qiao Nan expressed her doubt. “My father is irresolute and hesitant. Completely ignoring Qiao Zijin is probably his limit. As for my mother, hah. You know that Qiao Zijin is her precious daughter. She would rather throw me into h.e.l.l than pull Qiao Zijin down from the clouds.”
“Nothing is absolute. Leave this to me. I’ll give you a satisfactory answer a few days later.” Zhai Sheng was an expert in this. There wasn’t a need to draw the boundaries so clearly with Qiao Zijin in the past. However, there was such a need now. Zhai Sheng would definitely not go easy on Qiao Zijin.
While Qiao Zijin was still on the train and slowly rus.h.i.+ng over to the capital, Zhai Sheng had already made the first move earlier than her. The first person Zhai Sheng looked for wasn’t Qiao Dongliang, who seemed to be more biased toward Qiao Nan, but Ding Jiayi, who was the most protective of Qiao Zijin.
Ding Jiayi, who was usually arrogant, became fearful when she saw Zhai Sheng, even when she knew that the person sitting before her was her own son-in-law. “Why… why are you looking for me?”
Zhai Sheng looked plainly at Ding Jiayi. “Don’t tell me you don’t know Qiao Zijin’s plans.”
“I…” Ding Jiayi stuttered. She didn’t say if she knew her plans or not, but it could be considered that she had silently agreed to it.
“You didn’t forget the things you have done to Nan Nan in the past, and neither did we. You should know that if not for Nan Nan’s status as a minister, based on your previous performance, whereby you had never been a responsible mother and fulfilled the obligation to bring your children up, we would end up going to court. If we really went to court, in the legal sense, it’s okay for Nan Nan to ignore you or not give you money.” Supporting Ding Jiayi was already their biggest concession.
“I…” Ding Jiayi still couldn’t say a word. However, she knew that what Zhai Sheng said was the truth. If Qiao Nan was alright to lose face, she wouldn’t have any reason to get Qiao Nan to provide for her. It was the truth that she didn’t support Qiao Nan all these years.
In order to let Qiao Nan support her, she had already asked Qiao Zijin previously when she started to learn a little law. Even if such things weren’t certain, under the coercion of the law, if Qiao Nan really had to give her some money, it would just be two or three hundred yuan.
This number was far from the life that Ding Jiayi wanted. Thankfully, Qiao Nan provided her a thousand yuan every month as living expenses. This was much higher than the two or three hundred that Ding Jiayi knew about.
When Zhai Sheng mentioned this today, Ding Jiayi felt guilty. She didn’t understand why Zhai Sheng was telling her this at this time.
After finis.h.i.+ng the premise, Zhai Sheng delved into the main topic. “You should know clearly in your heart what kind of person Qiao Zijin is. If Nan Nan provides for you, it would be impossible for her to provide for Qiao Zijin and her daughter. If Qiao Zijin doesn’t achieve her purpose, you should know what she’s capable of doing, right?”
“I…” Ding Jiayi rubbed her hands and didn’t want to be involved in this matter. Zijin wanted to rely on Qiao Nan for a good life. She wouldn’t help Zijin, but she also didn’t want to hinder her. If Zijin had the means to let herself lead a good life without her help, she was happy. “Zijin is stubborn and doesn’t listen to advice. If she really wants to do something, I can’t stop her.”
Zhai Sheng laughed coldly. “If you can’t stop her, then so be it. If Qiao Zijin kicks up a fuss and infuriates Nan Nan, at most, Nan Nan would just stop working and retire from the ministry. Nan Nan still has income. Based on her capabilities, without the position of the minister, she could even lead a better life than now. Those people who created trouble for her have to be ready that Nan Nan won’t be as easy to talk to like before. Relatives should just do their part in the future and keep their ways separate.”
Did Ding Jiayi really think that she would not be implicated if Qiao Zijin infuriated Nan Nan?
If there was no more face to talk about, then there wasn’t any need to hide other things. They could just fall out with each other completely.
“…” Ding Jiayi understood it now. Due to Qiao Nan’s ident.i.ty as a minister, she had spent a bit of money to provide for a bad mother like her, thus saving her the step to go into litigation.
If Qiao Zijin kicked up a fuss, Qiao Nan would no longer stay in the ministry. When that happened, Qiao Nan would have nothing to worry about and could just take revenge if she wanted to. It would be impossible for her to sit at home comfortably and wait for Qiao Nan to send money over to fulfill her duty as a daughter, like now.
Qiao Zijin, the troublemaker, was directly related to the damage of her own interests.
Ding Jiayi’s mood suddenly became different. “This matter has nothing to do with me. Nan Nan can’t put the blame on me.” If Qiao Nan bore grudges, she should take it out on Zijin. Why must she take away her monthly allowance? She didn’t kick up a fuss like Zijin did.
“Even if we don’t count this, can we forget about the past? Didn’t you do anything sorry to Nan Nan before? Are you really worth Nan Nan spending so much money to provide for you each month? How many mothers do you think are like you?” Zhai Sheng asked consecutive questions to Ding Jiayi, reminding her of the mistakes she made in the past. Compared to Qiao Zijin, she wasn’t that innocent and couldn’t be considered to have been implicated.
When Ding Jiayi showed an unfair expression and said reprimanding words of Qiao Zijin when Zhai Sheng mentioned about her just now, Zhai Sheng felt that the money Qiao Nan had spent on Ding Jiayi for the past few years didn’t go to waste. It wasn’t easy to warm up Ding Jiayi’s heart. At least, this could be done with a little money.