Chapter 1758: Heard Through the Grapevine
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Now that he had finally resolved this matter, the driver heaved a huge sigh of relief. For each day that this matter dragged on, not only had the driver lost sleep, but he had also been unable to enjoy his meals properly.
“Thank you.” Qiao Nan took the card and parted ways with the other party. After leaving, Qiao Nan did her due diligence and checked that there was indeed money in the card. What surprised Qiao Nan was that the card did not contain three hundred thousand but three hundred and twenty thousand yuan! The other party had given her twenty thousand yuan more than what had been agreed!
Thinking about how she was indeed short of money, Qiao Nan roughly guessed what the other party’s intention was. After sending a thank-you note to the other party, Qiao Nan deleted the other party’s number from her phone. She had no intention of contacting this unlucky man ever again.
Now that she had money on hand, she was not anxious at all.
The moment she returned to her rented apartment, which was the size of a bird’s nest, Qiao Nan quickly packed up her luggage. She had Ding Jiayi and Zijin’s years of exploitation to thank. To be honest, other than a few pieces of clothing, she had nothing else to pack.
Since the house was rented, there were many things in the apartment that belonged to the landlord and had nothing to do with Qiao Nan.
Once she finished packing her belongings, she explained to the landlord that she would no longer be leasing the apartment and wanted to return the place. As such, she requested the landlord to conduct a check on his apartment. If everything was in place, she would return her deposit and she would move away immediately.
Qiao Nan had lived in this apartment for ten whole years. The landlord was old acquaintances with Qiao Nan by now and knew how Qiao Nan was as a person. After glancing through the apartment and taking the keys from Qiao Nan, the landlord graciously handed over Qiao Nan’s deposit. Before Qiao Nan left, she cautiously asked, “Are you moving back to stay with your parents?”
If that was really the case, that little girl of the Qiao family might as well continue staying here.
“No, I’m moving on. But I haven’t really thought through about where I’ll be moving to. I’ll be staying in a motel for a few days for now.” Move back to the Qiao family’s house? To be the Qiao family’s maid who would not only be unpaid but would also have to fork out her money?
“That’s good news. Really good. Hurry and take your leave.” The landlord knew all too clearly about Qiao Nan’s situation. She had given Qiao Nan advice in the past, but Qiao Nan refused to heed her advice and had always devoted her whole life to the Qiao family. The landlord wondered what Qiao Nan had experienced that she had suddenly come to such a realization. As a bystander, seeing this change in Qiao Nan meant that the anger that she had been holding in could finally be released. With her pent-up anger released, she was in a much better mood.
“But you’re really good-tempered. With a family like that, if it had been someone else in your place, they would have… Forget it. Let’s not talk about it. Remember to lead your life well in the future. People nowadays always say that nothing can compare to money, not even your relations.h.i.+p with your parents. Lead a good life, okay?” The landlord could not say anything else but stuffed some money into Qiao Nan’s hand, on top of the deposit that she had already returned.
With parents like that, the landlord knew that Qiao Nan did not have much money. Otherwise, she would never have stayed in this bird’s nest of an apartment for ten whole years! Why had she done so? Because it was cheap!
After waking up from her dream, even though the autumn heat had pa.s.sed, Qiao Nan felt as cold as the brutal winter winds. It was as though there was no warmth at all, and the freezing cold was penetrating into her bones.
But with the care of people like her nurses and landlord, Qiao Nan could muster up a reluctant smile. “Thank you.” Because she had nothing to her name, she did not know what she could do other than saying thank you.
The landlord sighed. “It’s not easy for you either. Remember to lead a good life and treat yourself well after you move away. Try your best to stay away from the Qiao family. Although it is true that we shouldn’t be heartless, you shouldn’t be bullied like that either. You have to be more open-minded. Family may not always be reliable.”
If it was possible, the landlord wanted more so to tell Qiao Nan that she could not possibly intend to stay single for the rest of her life.
Because Qiao Nan had suffered so much in the past forty years, even more so should she find a man who would treat her well and take good care of her. Two heads were better than one, after all. If she had someone by her side, Qiao Nan’s life would not be as tough as it had been.
Having read between the lines, Qiao Nan laughed bitterly. Finding a partner for marriage was not that easy. Having had such a realistic dream, finding another man to get married to would not be as easy as it sounded.
Thinking about her husband in her dream, Zhai Sheng, Qiao Nan’s heart ached badly. In reality, she had never had any contact with Zhai Sheng. The Zhai family did not like to be exposed by the media, and as such, Qiao Nan had never seen any news regarding Zhai Sheng.
That was why she could not understand why she had gotten together with Zhai Sheng, who had such a high status, and had even had three children together.
Did her dreams reflect her thoughts in the day?
Was it because she had been too oppressed by Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin that she had dreamed of that Chief Zhai, who had once been closer to her, to pull her out of this sea of misery?
No matter what it was, a dream was only a dream. It was not real. It was indeed time for her to wake up from that dream. If possible, she would strive hard to embrace her next phase in life. She was only forty years old and could still live a long life. If she did not find a way to better her life, what would she do for the next few decades?”
“Let’s go.” The landlord sent Qiao Nan off.
Qiao Nan knew that even though she had cut off contact with the Qiao family, there was no use in moving. After ending her lease, the next thing Qiao Nan did was to resign from her job.
If it had not been for Qiao Nan’s good performance and good work ethics in the past, the factory would have fired her based on her two months’ absence while she was in the hospital. Upon hearing the news that Qiao Nan was resigning, Qiao Nan’s superior specially requested for the accounting department to pay Qiao Nan an additional two months’ worth of salary. In total, Qiao Nan was given three months’ worth of salary before leaving.
“When you were in the hospital for the past two months, we were quite busy here in the factory. We accepted quite a few new transactions, so we couldn’t afford to take time off. But we did send our representatives to visit you at the hospital. We’re all very happy that you’ve been discharged. What are your plans now that you’ve resigned? Are you planning on staying home to recuperate?”
Her superior thought it was strange. Could it be that the Qiao family had finally found their conscience and was letting Qiao Nan quit her job to rest and recuperate at home since she had not entirely recovered after her accident?
The busier things got at the factory, the greater the work intensity. Qiao Nan’s superior had always known that Qiao Nan had always been taking on part-time work as well, but he did not care what his employees did after work hours as long as they did not make use of their working hours or lose their efficiency.
Qiao Nan’s supervisor had not only heard about her family situation but had also witnessed it with his own eyes!