Chapter 2355: Scheming (2)
Now, their children were already learning to walk. Still, Qiao Nan remained mum about these things. Now that they had brought up the issue of Zhu Baoguo, Zhai Sheng wondered if Qiao Nan was finally ready to talk about the past.
“Brother Zhai, I’ll talk to you alone once the triplets have gone to bed.” It was better for her to clear the air about some things now that they had been married for more than a year.
“What’s this about?” Miao Jing, who was taking care of the children, saw the couple’s expressions stiffen, and the atmosphere cooled significantly. “Haven’t you already settled the Zhu family’s assets? Zhai Sheng, did you run into some problems and want Nan Nan’s advice?”
Zhai Yaohui took a glass of water for Da Bao. “No, if Zhai Sheng needed Qiao Nan’s advice on a problem, I would have kicked him out of the house a long time ago.” As a man in the Zhai family, they couldn’t possibly depend on their wives to solve their problems! If the old master were to find out about it, he would probably rise up from his grave in anger!
Zhai Yaohui admitted that Old Master Zhai had raised his two children. Because of that, both his son and daughter were not considerate toward him. What they loved most was creating trouble for him.
Miao Jing rolled her eyes at Zhai Yaohui. “When the children get a little older, they’ll know that you’re speaking ill of Zhai Sheng. Then, they’ll be mad at you and ignore you. Don’t you dare ask for my help then.”
Zhai Yaohui felt a little embarrassed and he stroked Da Bao’s head. “That won’t happen. Da Bao’s so close to me. How could Da Bao get angry at me or ignore me? Isn’t that right, Da Bao?”
Da Bao, who had just finished his water, burped before heading back to the pile of toys and playing with his siblings. As for whatever his grandpa had just said, Da Bao was still too young to have understood anything.
“See, Da Bao’s ignoring you.” Miao Jing patted Da Bao’s chubby backside in delight. She treated Da Bao so well. How embarrassing it would be if Da Bao was close to only his grandpa and not her. To think that he was always talking about how the men in the Zhai family held up the whole world for their women.
In front of the three children, Old Zhai was always fighting with her for their affection.
Miao Jing had initially been concerned about the situation between Qiao Nan and Zhai Sheng, but after quibbling with Zhai Yaohui, she had completely forgotten about the main topic. It was only when she was lying in bed that night that she had suddenly remembered it. What had gone on between Nan Nan and Zhai Sheng? Why had the atmosphere been so strange?
Zhai Sheng walked out of the nursery. “Don’t worry. The triplets are sleeping soundly. They won’t wake up until tomorrow morning.”
As the children grew up, their mealtimes became more predictable, and they no longer required such frequent meals. As long as they were well fed before their sleep, the triplets could sleep through the night and only wake up the next morning once they were hungry.
There was no way of avoiding it, and Qiao Nan had no intention of running from it anymore. Just as she was rehearsing her script inwardly, Zhai Sheng embraced her, letting her lean against himself comfortably. “There’s no hurry. You can take your time.”
Although she had been slightly nervous, Qiao Nan’s thumping heart gradually calmed down as she listened to Zhai Sheng’s heartbeat in his embrace. “I’ve never really thought of how to tell you about this because even I don’t really believe these things myself. But as we interacted more, it felt like everything was true.”
“…”
Qiao Nan’s words were like a tongue twister that would confuse anybody. Not only was it confusing, but it also contained many riddles. Thankfully, Zhai Sheng wasn’t at a complete loss after he processed Qiao Nan’s words in his brain several times. “Okay.”
Zhai Sheng’s affirmation was undoubtedly to calm Qiao Nan down.
Qiao Nan caressed Zhai Sheng’s chest. “Three years ago, Qiao Zijin got divorced from Chen Jun because of her affair. She was diagnosed with uremia not long after. You know about that, right?”
“Yes.” That matter had made the headlines in Ping Cheng at that time.
It was exactly because of that that Zhai Sheng knew that Qiao Nan had been through a painful time.
Feeling Zhai Sheng’s heartache, Qiao Nan smiled. “Don’t worry about me. That was the time I was reborn. All of my pain left along with that car accident. At that time, Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin were no longer able to hurt me no matter how ridiculous they got.” Her hardest times had been before that car accident. Now that she was living a blissful life, Qiao Nan was no longer willing to think about that painful past where she had been so foolish.
“When Qiao Zijin contracted uremia, my mom got me to prepare money for Qiao Zijin’s treatment. It took me a lot of effort to raise a hundred thousand yuan for Qiao Zijin to stay comfortably in the hospital. But just as I was about to send the money over to Qiao Zijin, I heard that Qiao Zijin didn’t just intend on making me pay for her hospitalization bills. She was afraid of dying and was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to wait for a suitable kidney donor. Since my parents were already too old, their kidneys wouldn’t last long either…”
“So, she wanted to take advantage of you?” Zhai Sheng’s expression became extremely cold and his hands clenched tightly into a fist behind Qiao Nan’s back. If Nan Nan had been just slightly weaker at that time, her body would not even be intact now!
Apart from his passion for the military and his devotion to the state, Zhai Sheng had never thought of himself as a selfless man.
Everyone had only two kidneys that were irreplaceable. Qiao Zijin had never been a good person. She had bullied Qiao Nan for so many years. If he had to pick between Qiao Zijin and Qiao Nan, he wouldn’t even need to consider it. He would let Qiao Zijin die!
As a soldier, he would have the obligation to seek justice for Qiao Zijin if she had been killed wrongfully. The problem was that Qiao Zijin had simply fallen sick. There was no one to be blamed for that. Zhai Sheng was especially disgusted by how Qiao Zijin was willing to hurt others to improve her own life.
“That’s right.” Qiao Nan answered indifferently. When she spoke about this, Qiao Nan was so calm and emotionless that it seemed as though she was recounting someone else’s story.