Chapter 2161: Not Easily Taken Advantage Of
Rather, Qiao Nan’s question was more of whether Chief Zhu was still ‘around’.
The last time she had visited Zhu Chengqi, she had heard his doctor say that he wouldn’t last for many more days. But her stomach had grown from being inconspicuous to protruding. She was about to give birth, but she had not yet heard any bad news about Zhu Chengqi. Qiao Nan wondered whether Zhu Chengqi was holding on for some reason.
“He’s alright.” At least, Chief Zhu’s illness was under control and there were no major problems for the time being. “I guess someone must be in a panic now that Chief Zhu’s in such a condition.”
w.a.n.g Yang dared not take a step away from Zhu Chengqi and people who did not understand the situation would inevitably praise w.a.n.g Yang for being filial and treating Zhu Chengqi like his biological father. w.a.n.g Yang’s parents were still well and alive, and as they got older, their bodies were like machines that needed ‘maintenance’ once in a while.
When w.a.n.g Yang’s biological parents had fallen sick, he had not been by their sides taking care of them. Instead, he had rushed to the capital to take care of Zhu Chengqi. People might even misunderstand that w.a.n.g Yang was a Zhu instead of a w.a.n.g and was Zhu Chengqi’s biological son.
Initially, there had been nothing much but he had overdone some things. People were no fools nor were they blind. They could tell whether w.a.n.g Yang was being sincere to Zhu Chengqi.
Knowing that Zhu Chengqi was toeing the line of death, that w.a.n.g Yang was the only relative Zhu Chengqi had left on earth, and how w.a.n.g Yang took care of Zhu Chengqi, there were many people who speculated that Zhu Chengqi would leave all of the Zhu family’s a.s.sets to w.a.n.g Yang once he pa.s.sed away. As such, there were many people who tried to suck up to w.a.n.g Yang and get close to him. These people were hoping that w.a.n.g Yang would take good care of them once he inherited the Zhu family’s a.s.sets.
But there were others who looked down on w.a.n.g Yang and felt that he was only treating Zhu Chengqi well because of his a.s.sets. No matter how much they looked down on w.a.n.g Yang, they were still jealous of w.a.n.g Yang’s good fortune. Why couldn’t they have an uncle like Zhu Chengqi who had power and status but lacked a son of his own?
Everyone understood that. Even if they were not waiting for Zhu Chengqi’s death, they were waiting to see if w.a.n.g Yang would indeed be able to rise up like a dragon once Zhu Chengqi pa.s.sed on.
Even though Zhai Sheng did not mention w.a.n.g Yang’s name, Qiao Nan knew right away that Zhai Sheng was talking about him. It was because of that that Qiao Nan got upset. Only she knew that w.a.n.g Yang had caused Zhu Baoguo’s death. But she had no evidence. Besides, so many years had pa.s.sed. There was no way of pursuing the matter anymore.
Seeing that everything that should have belonged to Zhu Baoguo was about to land in w.a.n.g Yang’s hands, Qiao Nan was in a foul mood. In her dream, Qiao Nan had regarded Zhu Baoguo almost as a son and had even taken care of him like he was her younger brother.
Even though Zhu Baoguo had pa.s.sed away a long time ago and she had not been able to meet Zhu Baoguo in this lifetime, Qiao Nan’s feelings toward Zhu Baoguo had not changed. For Zhu Baoguo’s sake, Qiao Nan refused to be on good terms with w.a.n.g Yang. She had wanted to find a way to teach w.a.n.g Yang a lesson and let him have a taste of his own medicine.
Unfortunately, she was in no place to do that now that she was pregnant. She even had to watch others suck up to w.a.n.g Yang because of the Zhu family.
Zhai Sheng caressed Qiao Nan’s head and tried to convince her. “Don’t get upset. w.a.n.g Yang won’t be able to be happy for long.” He wanted to tell Nan Nan about certain things, but some people were holding him back. That was just as well, in case Nan Nan thought too much about it and was unable to sleep at night.
Qiao Nan pouted. “What do you mean? I’m afraid that w.a.n.g Yang will enjoy this forever!” If w.a.n.g Yang really got hold of the Zhu family’s a.s.sets, would there really be a day when he would be down on luck?
“That won’t happen, Nan Nan. Don’t you think you’re underestimating Chief Zhu?” He had no idea why Nan Nan hated w.a.n.g Yang so much but w.a.n.g Yang was problematic indeed. He could feel that. Even if Chief Zhu had not known that in the beginning, he would probably have realized that by now. “w.a.n.g Yang’s good days now mean nothing. Once w.a.n.g Yang feels as though he’s succeeded, he’ll soon realize that he’s actually failed. Don’t you like that?”
That would be exciting!
Because Qiao Nan hated w.a.n.g Yang, and Zhu Chengqi had already made his decision, Zhai Sheng could only try to do his best as the middleman.
“What do you mean?” Qiao Nan’s eyes glinted. “Are you hiding something from me?”
Seeing Qiao Nan, who had had her back to him, suddenly turn toward him in joy at this news, the usually calm and indifferent Zhai Sheng was taken aback. “Nonsense! Don’t move so suddenly. Is your stomach comfortable?”
Her protruding belly was like a bunch of twisted hemp flowers. Zhai Sheng felt that Qiao Nan had not twisted her body but his heart. “Are you really alright? Does it hurt?”
“No, not at all. It’s fine.” Qiao Nan patted her stomach gently as though she were patting a watermelon. She was so happy in that moment that she had nearly forgotten the reason she had been admitted. “Also, stop beating around the bush. What did you mean earlier? What happened to w.a.n.g Yang? What are you hiding from me? You’d better be honest.”
“I’m not telling you.” Zhai Sheng was slightly angry. “Nan Nan, this is between the Zhu family and w.a.n.g Yang. Don’t you think you’re caring about the wrong things?”
“But I said that Zhu Chengqi is like my dad!” Although he was just a G.o.dfather, her concern toward Zhu Chengqi was no less than that toward a biological father.
Zhai Sheng was doomed to lose against Qiao Nan. Now, Qiao Nan was not alone. With the three babies in her stomach, it was four against one. Qiao Nan had four on her side while Zhai Sheng was alone.
Stroking Qiao Nan’s head and glancing at her stomach, Zhai Sheng had no other choice. “Alright, alright. You just have to know that Chief Zhu isn’t as weak as you think. As an old chief, an old fox, and an old hunter, one needs nine lives and tremendous courage to plot against someone like Chief Zhu.” In short, he wouldn’t be taken advantage of so easily.
Qiao Nan was confused by Zhai Sheng, but she understood that Zhu Chengqi would not be tricked by w.a.n.g Yang so easily.