Chapter 161 - Fate
“Nan Nan?” Qiao Dongliang was stunned. A few days ago, Brother Zhou had insisted on getting Nan Nan as his daughter-in-law. Today, Nan Nan seemed as if she knew Brother Zhou’s son. Could it be that…
“I had to thank you for what happened last time.” Nan Nan smiled in embarrassment. She did not know the name of the man who stood in front of her. She only knew that he was a soldier.
“It’s… it’s you?” Zhou Jun blushed. His attitude changed from being aggressive to being cautious. He felt so uneasy and conscious of himself. “Oh, I remembered. Someone in your family is sick, and he stays in this hospital as well.”
“Yes.” Qiao Nan nodded and put down her bag. She poured a bowl of terrapin soup that she prepared for today and brought it to Qiao Dongliang. “My dad was injured and had to stay in the hospital.”
“Oh, Un-Uncle, how are you doing?” After knowing who Qiao Dongliang was, Zhou Jun gave a ninety-degree bow to Qiao Dongliang.
Qiao Dongliang was injured and his mobility was restricted. Otherwise, he would have been startled and jumped up at Zhou Jun’s behavior. “Nan Nan, do you know Zhou Jun, the son of Brother Zhou?” He wanted Qiao Nan to explain to him what was going on.
“So you are his son.” Qiao Nan was surprised. The world was very small.
“Nan Nan, you should address Brother Zhou as ‘uncle’.” Qiao Dongliang corrected Nan Nan. In the beginning, they were not as close to each other, hence it was alright to be less strict in the form of address. Now, it was inappropriate to be so casual in the form of address.
“Uncle Zhou.”
“Oh, good girl.” It would be all the better if Qiao Nan addressed him as ‘father’. “Jun-er, are you acquainted with Nan Nan?” Zhou Bing had a devilish sparkle in his eyes. His wife was right about this.
Zhou Bing cast a look of admiration at his wife. His wife lifted her chin proudly. Zhou Jun was her son. She knew what kind of girls her son liked.
“Jun-er, how did you get to know Nan Nan? Didn’t you spend all your time in the army?” Zhou Jun’s mother was perplexed and found it strange. It was impossible for her son to get to know such a good lady like Nan Nan.
He stayed in the army all this while and he seldom came home. Nan Nan was still a student. The only place she frequented would be the school.
No matter how she thought about it, she could not figure out how they came to know each other.
“Emm… Brother Zhou helped me greatly in the past.” Qiao Nan pondered for a while before replying. She found it embarrassing to say that Zhou Jun came to pass her the money at Zhai Sheng’s orders.
“No, no, it was not me who helped her. I only passed her things on behalf of someone else.” Zhou Jun blushed. He only went on errands for Zhai Sheng and did not help the young lady.
“But I still troubled you to make the trip.”
“What is going on, Nan Nan?” Qiao Dongliang was clueless.
Nan Nan said that Zhou Jun had helped her, while Zhou Jun denied helping her. Both of them did not seem to be lying.
“Dad.” Qiao Nan pondered for a while and leaned toward Qiao Dongliang’s ear. “When you were sent to the hospital on that day, Brother Zhai had something on, so he asked Brother Zhou to pass me the money on his behalf.”
“I see… Then, I would have to thank him for his help.” Qiao Dongliang finally understood what was going on.
The Zhai family was an established and prominent family. Though Zhai Sheng was quite young, he had served in the army for years. He had achieved many military exploits and rose through the ranks without the help of his family.
Even though Zhou Jun was older than Zhai Sheng, Zhai Sheng ranked higher in the army than Zhou Jun.
“It is fate… It is all fate.” Although Zhou Bing did not really understand what was going on, to him, his son and Qiao Nan were destined to get to know each other. There might be a chance that she would be their daughter-in-law.
“Dad.” Zhou Jun felt embarrassed and angry. He quickly poured his father a cup of tea. “Dad, you must be thirsty after such a long chat. Have some water.”
Zhou Bing took the cup of tea and glared at his son. His son was so disappointing. He did all this for the sake of his son!
“Emm…” Qiao Nan blinked. The atmosphere seemed to be awkward. In particular, Zhou Jun’s parents seemed to be casting meaningful looks at her. “Dad, what is going on?”
“Nothing.” Qiao Dongliang patted Qiao Nan’s hands a few times, assuring her that nothing was wrong.
Even though Zhou Jun passed the money to Nan Nan on behalf of Zhai Sheng, it was just a simple task. There was nothing much to it.
Nan Nan was still young, she still did not understand what a relationship was about. It was too early to discuss marriage.
“Oh.” Since Qiao Dongliang said so, Qiao Nan did not give it much thought. “Dad, have the soup while it is still hot. Otherwise, it will be too fishy when it turns cold.”
After pouring a bowl of soup for Qiao Dongliang, Qiao Nan poured another bowl of soup for Zhou Bing as usual. “Uncle Zhou, terrapin soup is good for the body.”
“Terrapin soup is very nutritious. We don’t get to drink this type of soup nowadays.” Zhou Bing’s eyes sparkled. He did not seem like a patient during his stay in the hospital. In fact, it seemed like he was enjoying life. “Delicious! Nan Nan, you have good culinary skills. Jun-er, do you want to have a taste?”
Zhou Bing passed the bowl of soup to Zhou Jun reluctantly.
As the saying goes, the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
With such good culinary skills, Nan Nan would be a good wife in the future.
“Dad, you can have it. I am in good health.” Zhou Jun did not know how to react to this situation. He was strong and healthy while his father was injured. How could he have the bowl of soup that was intended for his father?
Zhou Jun might find it ridiculous, but his mother was elated. She would go to all the troubles to get Nan Nan as her daughter-in-law.
“It’s so crowded today.” Ding Jiayi had worked overtime for a few days to make up for her absence. After having a good rest in the morning, she came to the hospital with Qiao Zijin.
To her surprise, she saw an unfamiliar young man at the hospital.
“Hi, Auntie!” Zhou Jun stood up at attention and greeted Ding Jiayi enthusiastically.
Ding Jiayi was all smiles at Zhou Jun’s polite greetings. However, Zhou Jun’s mother gave a strong tug at her son’s hand. Jun-er was such a fool. Despite being a soldier, he was so poor in judging people and assessing the situation! He had flattered the wrong person!
Qiao Zijin and Qiao Nan were supposed to go back home whenever Ding Jiayi was at the hospital, but judging from Ding Jiayi’s unreliable nature and Qiao Nan’s cold attitude toward her, Zhou Jun’s mother could tell that Qiao Nan and Ding Jiayi were not close to each other.
Zhou Jun’s mother used to think that ‘Parents always have their good reasons’. Ding Jiayi might be impolite and unreasonable, but she was Qiao Nan’s mother after all. Qiao Nan was so nice to her father, so how could she be so cold toward her mother?
Then, she learned from her husband that Ding Jiayi was unreasonable and biased.