Chapter 1750: What Are You Laughing At?
Miss Qiao’s father had wanted to come to take care of her, but that amazing mother of hers had not allowed him to do so. That brilliant mother of hers said that she herself had to take care of her elder daughter and could not leave her elder daughter’s side. Thus, Miss Qiao’s father had to take care of both her daughter’s and her own meals. As such, Miss Qiao’s father had no time to take care of Miss Qiao at all.
“I understand. Thank you.” Qiao Nan took a deep breath, and her expression and emotions quickly calmed down.
“Miss Qiao, do you want to go to sleep?” The nurse especially pitied Qiao Nan and thus paid special attention to Qiao Nan when taking care of her. “If you want to sleep, I can help you lower your bed and draw the curtains.”
Qiao Nan forced a smile out. “That won’t be necessary. I just want to have some time to myself. Oh, right, what about my hospitalization bills?” The day she had gotten into a car accident, she had been supposed to help Qiao Zijin pay for her treatment. She remembered that she had a hundred thousand yuan with her at that time. Hehehe. Her mom had probably been elated seeing her get into an accident since that would mean that Qiao Zijin would have both money and a kidney. That way, Qiao Zijin would not have to die.
That hundred thousand yuan was probably gone and in Ding Jiayi’s pocket by now.
“Don’t worry. It’s been settled.” The nurse laughed slyly. “It was paid for with your own money.” If they had not used Miss Qiao’s money to pay for her hospitalization bills, it would probably go to that woman with uremia. That would be letting her take advantage of Miss Qiao!
“Thank you.” Qiao Nan let out her first smile since waking up. That was good! At least, her hard-earned money had not gone to helping Qiao Zijin.
“You’re welcome.” The nurse was pleased because she had been the one who had done that. “Don’t worry. The perpetrator will also have to take responsibility for this matter because his brakes weren’t very functional. He had intended to send the car in for maintenance, but it was unfortunate that this accident happened before he was able to do so. Thankfully, that guy is willing to admit his mistake and bear all of your treatment costs. But the specific amount of compensation hasn’t been decided on yet because you had not awoken. Miss Qiao, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you have to go through these negotiations yourself. Don’t hand the money over to anyone else once you get it. Your sister has a house of her own. Do you think she really can’t afford her own treatment?”
The nurse’s concern warmed Qiao Nan’s cool and hurting body. “Thank you. Thank you very much. Don’t worry. I will.”
“All right, have a good rest, then. I won’t disturb you any longer.” Now that she had finally let out all her pent-up anger, the nurse was feeling much more at ease. She really could not bear seeing parents being so biased. Qiao Nan was such a good person, but she was being bullied so badly.
“Yes.” Qiao Nan answered softly before shutting her eyes to rest.
It was only when the nurse left the room and closed the door behind her that Qiao Nan opened her eyes and started weeping silently. She refused to believe that everything that seemed so real had been nothing but a dream. That blissful life was just an illusion created in her own mind because of her unwillingness to leave it lying down. Her husband was fake. Her children were fake. Her in-laws were fake, and even her friends, education, and career were all fake. Now that she had woken up, she still had to face those cunning and sly relatives of hers.
“Nan Nan…” There was suddenly another person in her ward. That person’s tone had been rather hesitant and contradictory when calling her name. “Nan Nan, are you crying? You’ve just woken up. Are you hurting somewhere? Shall I get the doctor over?”
Seeing his younger daughter who was bruised all over and with a face that was swollen beyond recognition, Qiao Dongliang’s gaze was filled with guilt and heartache. “Nan Nan, are you hungry? I made some porridge. Shall I feed you some? The doctor said that this is all you can eat for now. When you’re better, Dad will make you some delicious food.”
The sight of Qiao Dongliang once again made Qiao Nan’s gaze and expression stiffen.
In her dream, Qiao Dongliang had retired early and had moved to the capital along with her. Without the stresses of life, even though her three children had already grown up in her dream, her father had never seemed so old and haggard in her dream.
She had been supporting her father in her dream. In reality, not only did her father have to work, and scrimp and save, but he even had to part with whatever little money he had for the sake of his elder daughter’s pride. How could he not look old?
“Nan Nan, why are you not saying anything?” His younger daughter’s silence only made Qiao Dongliang feel even guiltier. “This was just an accident. The person who knocked you down didn’t try to escape. He’s been caught. Don’t get upset about this. We’ll surely pursue this matter and get to the bottom of it.”
But thinking about Ding Jiayi’s plan, Qiao Dongliang did not dare to say what was to follow. Because Qiao Dongliang knew that if they were really to pursue the matter and get a huge sum of compensation from the other party, Qiao Nan might have been the one who suffered the most, but she would not get a single cent of that compensation. Qiao Dongliang knew it was not right to do so, but he had no means of stopping Ding Jiayi. Besides, his elder daughter’s surgery had been put on hold, and a kidney transplant was an expensive procedure.
Nan Nan and Zijin were biological sisters and were the closest kin they each had. Nan Nan would probably understand that her elder sister’s life was more important than money.
Qiao Nan’s lifeless eyes moved around before falling on Qiao Dongliang. In an instant, Qiao Dongliang’s face flushed red and he could not help but lower his head to avoid Qiao Nan’s eyes. He always felt as though his younger daughter’s gaze was piercing and that she could see right through him. He had no guts to look his younger daughter in the eye.
“Hehe…” Qiao Nan sneered.
Qiao Dongliang raised his head. “Nan Nan, what are you laughing at?” Qiao Dongliang felt particularly uncomfortable seeing Qiao Nan laugh.
“Nothing much.” Qiao Nan blinked and her gaze reverted to her naturally calm and harmless state. Whether or not that had been a dream, there was no reason she could not do that now if she had been able to do that in her dream. “Dad, I’m thirty-nine years old this year, right?”
“…Yes.” That’s right. His younger daughter was already thirty-nine but was still unmarried, let alone with children. At the mention of this, Qiao Dongliang felt as though he was being stabbed. His elder son-in-law had originally been his younger daughter’s boyfriend, but his elder daughter had gotten pregnant with his younger daughter’s boyfriend’s child. In the end, the couple got a divorce because of an affair.
If that was going to happen, why had Zijin snatched Nan Nan’s boyfriend away from her? Chen Jun was indeed outstanding, but Zijin had not cherished him even after snatching him away!
“Dad, before my accident, I heard Zijin tell Mom that I was the reason that she got divorced from Chen Jun. Dad, what do you think?”
“…Of course it has nothing to do with you. How can this possibly be your fault?” Qiao Dongliang was actually quite angry about this, but he could not bring himself to say that it was because Qiao Zijin had gotten into an affair that Chen Jun had divorced her.
“Qiao Zijin feels that if Chen Jun has completely forgotten about me, he would be willing to give her a second chance even if she was caught in an affair by the Chen family. Dad, what do you think? Would your elder son-in-law do such a thing?”