Chapter 665 One-Track Mind
Yesterday, Qiu Chenxi was still insufferably arrogant, yet today, it was likely that her father would fall from grace. In the political circle, there would be myriad changes in an instant. It was so much more volatile than the stock market. If one made a mistake, there would be no hope of reprieve.
This time, Qiu Qin had done nothing wrong. It was his loved ones who were in the wrong.
“Don’t worry, it will be alright. You merely have a guilty conscience.” s.h.i.+ Qing looked a.s.sured as if it did not bother her at all. “You should trust Brother Zhai in everything that he does. It is your fortune to have someone who is willing to stand up for you at any time. It is also Brother Zhai’s fortune to be with you.”
She did not know if she would be able to encounter a man who was willing to do anything for her and that she was willing to go all out for.
“Guilty.” Qiao Nan nodded honestly. She had no confidence in front of the Zhai family.
Sister Zhai Hua’s att.i.tude was unpredictable. Chief Zhai would always keep his silence, while Auntie Miao was still against their relations.h.i.+p.
Given the situation at the Zhai family, Qiao Nan could not help but feel the lack of confidence. “Thankfully, I am very determined. Otherwise, Brother Zhai would have fallen out of love multiple times.”
Dating was a matter between two people, but getting married was a matter between both families.
She and Brother Zhai faced too many obstacles, but Brother Zhai was a soldier. He could not stay by her side to give her a sense of security.
“I feel that your biggest problem is not the lack of confidence but thinking too much. Relax. You have to remember that it was Brother Zhai who took the initiative to pursue you, not the other way round. If the Zhai family is unhappy, you should push all the responsibilities to Brother Zhai. You should not be swayed by other people or be affected by how they look at you and believe that Brother Zhai is beyond your reach. You should look at it from another perspective. Brother Zhai is much older than you. It’s obvious that it’s Brother Zhai who ‘kidnapped’ you.”
s.h.i.+ Qing was protective of Qiao Nan. She put down Zhai Sheng while she was all praise for Qiao Nan.
“Haha, that’s true.” Qiao Nan laughed at the way s.h.i.+ Qing put it. She suddenly thought of a popular saying in future generations. It was said that if a woman maintained beautiful, youthful skin, even if she was much older than her husband, she would look as young as him and they would look good together. Otherwise, her husband would be tired of her and would have an affair with a much younger woman.
By next year, she would only be taking her college entrance examination.
Qiao Nan realized that she was indeed quite young, and it was Brother Zhai who was robbing the cradle. “Thank you for your words of comfort. I feel much better now. Yes, why should I feel inferior? Brother Zhai is so much older than me, and I did not shun him.”
“That’s right.” s.h.i.+ Qing felt a.s.sured. “Since you are in a relations.h.i.+p, you should enjoy it and be happy. If I have to suffer like you and take so many things into consideration, I would rather not date at all.”
“Cool.” Qiao Nan gave s.h.i.+ Qing a thumbs-up. “Now that the Qiu family is in trouble, even if Qiu Chenxi and Qi Minlan were born to have a one-track mind, I suppose it will not be so easy for them to create trouble for me. It seems that I am not calm enough and easily affected. I am already in my second year. I should focus on my studies.”
“Right. Come, I will accompany you to do homework.” After knowing Qiao Nan for so long, s.h.i.+ Qing was really not used to seeing Qiao Nan being out of sorts.
Since Qi Minlan and Qiu Chenxi were no longer a problem, Qiao Nan should focus on herself and take things slowly according to her plan.
Her auntie and Qiu Chenxi were just an unexpected circ.u.mstance in their relations.h.i.+p. Qiao Nan could leave it to Brother Zhai to handle. She did not need to be affected by it. What Qiao Nan could do was watch by the side, be aware that there were such things, and see how Brother Zhai would deal with it.
Putting aside Qiu Chenxi’s matter, Qiao Nan focused her attention on her studies once again. She was back to leading her life as what an ordinary high school student would.
Even though Qiao Nan was very conscientious in her studies, she still found it somewhat difficult to deal with the amount of learning in high school.
The situation in the first and second years of high school was similar to that in junior high school. There were quite a lot of compet.i.tions for students to take part in. The school intended for Qiao Nan to partic.i.p.ate in these compet.i.tions. If she managed to have a good ranking, it would help add points to her college entrance examination.
However, Qiao Nan refused to take part in the compet.i.tions and was focused single-mindedly on revising and reinforcing what she had learned during lessons to avoid any slip-ups.
After listening to Qiao Nan’s plan, the teachers agreed with Qiao Nan’s decision. From then onward, they no longer asked Qiao Nan to take part in any compet.i.tions.
“Can you go faster?” Qiao Nan kept walking ahead to reach home as quickly as possible. Ever since she received news of what happened to the Qiu family, she had put their matters aside and was solely focused on her studies, like what she used to be in the past. “Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Your father should have come out of the camp. At the very least, he could spend this day with you, couldn’t he?”
The s.h.i.+ family had bought the house for a while. Officer s.h.i.+ should have handed over all his duties.
“Don’t rush me.” s.h.i.+ Qing knitted her eyebrows, feeling gloomy. “Why does the science cla.s.s have more cla.s.ses and homework than the humanities cla.s.s?” If not, she would not feel so tired from her lessons.
“How would I know? I did not arrange the cla.s.ses for the humanities and science courses.” Qiao Nan was amused. “As a student in China, it is necessary to experience these painful six years. Young girl, think about it. At least, we have been through one-third of it and will complete half of it very soon. Persistence is victory, and the rays of hope are right before us.”
“True. We seem to have completed half of it. We must encourage ourselves.” s.h.i.+ Qing dragged her tired feet, hoping to throw away the heavy schoolbag that she was carrying on her back. “Qiao Nan, tell me honestly. All of us are high school students, yet why is it that after mixing with you, your roommates seem to be having an easy time at school and their results are getting better? We spend a lot of time together as well, but why is it that I am tired to the bone?”
Qiao Nan’s dormitory was well-known among the second-year students.
Everyone knew that there was a dormitory in the second year whereby all the roommates had good performance in school. They might not rank in the top ten places in the humanities level, but all of them would be in the top fifty places. Most importantly, the first place in the level was from that dormitory.
Many people began to wonder if the room that Qiao Nan and the other girls stayed in had good geomancy, hence the six of them had good results and were able to maintain their standards and keep on improving. Even a student like Tang Mengran was able to maintain her results and secure her ranking in the top fifty, coming in the forty-fifth place in the level.
Of course, some people knew that the dormitory did not have good geomancy, or rather, it was because of Qiao Nan that there was good geomancy.
The other girls in the dormitory would not be bothered with such gossip. But Tang Mengran, the silly girl, would tell her cla.s.smates the truth when they asked her about it.