Chapter 2112: Bad Luck
Now that so many years had passed, it was difficult to be sure of certain things.
Did she regret it?
She probably did. She had stubbornly left her family, gotten married to someone of her own choice, and had no contact with her family from then on. Was such a woman really forced by her family to do so? Or was there something inherently wrong with her?
In the past, Qiao Dongliang could never figure out the answer to this question. Now, he finally understood. Qiao Nan had such a family too and he was all too clear about the sufferings Qiao Nan had faced in the Qiao family in her younger days. Even so, Qiao Nan had never completely left her family in the lurch.
Qiao Dongliang understood that Qiao Nan had not left Qiao Zijin to die in the hospital when she had left with all her money a year ago without paying for Qiao Zijin’s hospitalization bills.
At that time, Qiao Nan had been the most rational of them all. She knew that the family had two properties under their name and that the Qiao family would never reach the end of their straits no matter what. As such, she had taken her money and left.
That was why Qiao Dongliang believed that Qiao Nan would never have taken off with the money needed to save Qiao Zijin’s life no matter how much she hated the Qiao family if they had not had two properties under their names. After he had been injured by Qiao Zijin, Qiao Nan had been the first to offer money for his treatment. That was the strongest evidence.
Even with such a family, Qiao Nan was able to do it, so why had Ding Jiayi been unable to do so? No matter how much trouble the Ding family had run into, they had never come to ask the Qiao family for any help. On the other hand, Ding Jiayi had always scolded Qiao Nan for being useless and unfilial, yet Qiao Nan was always the first person who came to Ding Jiayi’s mind whenever she ran into trouble.
In comparison, Ding Jiayi was not as bold as the Ding family and did not mean what she said.
Having been husband and wife for half their lives, Qiao Dongliang was now clear of the answer with such a stark comparison.
“Old Qiao?” Ding Jiayi shouted for Qiao Dongliang. “Old Qiao, we’ve been together for decades. What’s there that we can’t discuss with each other? If you think that I’ve done anything wrong, why don’t you tell me? I can change. How’s that? Didn’t you say that Qiao Nan is pregnant? Both our daughters have become mothers. What’s the point in us going to the extent of getting a divorce? How embarrassing it would be if our grandchildren were to find out about it! Why don’t we just live our lives peacefully from now on? I won’t argue with you in the future and we can have civil discussions if we have any disagreements.”
“Civil discussions?” That was rare. He had never heard such words coming out of Ding Jiayi’s mouth before. “Old Ding, it’s been so many years, but you’ve never gone back to visit your family. I’m guessing that your mom isn’t around anymore. Did you know when your mom passed away?”
“…” Did she know? She did. She had always known.
It was just that Mother Ding had passed away just as Qiao Zijin had gotten married to Chen Jun. There was nothing more glorious than becoming in-laws with a police commissioner. Ding Jiayi had initially intended to bring her daughter back to brag about how capable and impressive her daughter was to all the villagers.
Unfortunately, Qiao Zijin had snatched such an outstanding son-in-law over from Qiao Nan. Ding Jiayi was afraid that they would let slip about that when they returned, thus letting her family find out about the matter. Then, she would not enjoy any glory. Quite on the contrary, she would be terribly embarrassed. It was not as though she did not know just how menacing her biological mother could be. She would never give her mom the chance to slap her in the face.
It was just as well since neither Qiao Zijin nor Chen Jun was good with words. Ding Jiayi had only touched on the topic before Qiao Zijin raised her disagreement. What hometown? What grandma? Did she have a grandma? Why had she never met her? Since Qiao Zijin was unwilling to even participate in it, there was no need to talk about Chen Jun.
As such, she had missed out on such a good opportunity.
When Qiao Zijin was about five months pregnant, Mother Ding could not hold on any longer. Someone had sent the news of this to Ding Jiayi, asking if she intended to return to send her mother off. Bygones were bygones, after all. In her hometown, Ding Jiayi still had two younger brothers.
Did Ding Jiayi really not want to acknowledge her younger brothers or take care of them once Mother Ding left?
Ding Jiayi was upset when she heard that. This person must have been sent by the Ding family, most likely her mother herself. Knowing that her mother was still thinking of only her brothers on her death bed, Ding Jiayi was certain that she had not made the wrong choice by leaving at that time. Not only had her mother refused to apologize to her, but she had even gotten a fellow townsman to try to coax her into being her younger brothers’ slave.
In short, her mother’s mind was only concerned about her two sons. She could not be bothered with her daughter. Since that was the case, there was no need for her to torture herself by sending her mother off or even assuring her that there would be someone to take care of her two precious sons after her death.
There was no such good deal in the world.
After murmuring about it in her heart, Ding Jiayi not only sent that townsman away but also told him that their mourning clashed with her joyful occasion. Her elder daughter had married well and had such good fortune that she was already five months pregnant. Because of that, she could not afford to leave her daughter alone.
Ding Jiayi had settled this matter alone without getting Qiao Dongliang involved. She simply felt that it was double blessings upon their family that Qiao Zijin had gotten married and pregnant consecutively. Why had Mother Ding purposely chosen such a time to die? She was such bad luck.
If she were to tell the family about this matter, the atmosphere in the family would become somber and awkward. Anyway, her mother had never thought about her all these years, much less acknowledged her. She was not her mother’s daughter anymore, so it did not matter whether she visited her mother or not.
Based purely on how much her mom hated her, she was certain that her mom might even be happier if she were not to go. If she were to turn up, her mom might even get so angry that she might just jump out of her coffin to chase her away! Since she knew that that would be the case, Ding Jiayi felt that it was better not to make mention of the matter at all.
Now that Chen Feng was all grown up, Ding Jiayi had almost forgotten about the matter. Now that Qiao Dongliang had suddenly brought it up, Ding Jiayi was taken aback, not understanding why Qiao Dongliang had suddenly made mention of it. “Old Qiao, didn’t I tell you about the life I had in the Ding family?”