Chapter 121 - Unwilling
Zhu Baoguo used to have a nasty temper. Even if he was telling the truth, as long as no one believed him, he would go out of control and lose his temper. Wang Yang could easily win any argument with such a bad-tempered Zhu Baoguo.
But today was different. Zhu Baoguo calmed down easily with a word or a glance from Qiao Nan.
Wang Yang felt uneasy. The situation was not favorable to him.
Wang Yang looked guilty when he heard that Zhu Baoguo had kept his urine from that day.
“Tell me, what to do now?” Zhu Baoguo looked at Qiao Nan after he had calmed down slightly.
“Call your dad,” Qiao Nan said.
Naturally, Elder Zhu was closer to his grandson, Zhu Baoguo, as compared to his maternal grandson, Wang Yang. Regardless, Wang Yang had been very well-behaved and looked frail and thin as if he would be bullied by others. From this point of view, Elder Zhu would certainly be protective of and biased towards Wang Yang.
It was a tough call for Elder Zhu. Due to Zhu Baoguo bad behavior records, not many people would believe him and stand on his side.
“It is useless. My dad always felt Wang Yang was much well-behaved than me, he would not help me.” Zhu Baoguo’s expression darkened. He did not tell Qiao Nan that in fact, his father disliked him.
“We do not need his help. Your dad is a soldier. He is more cool-headed than anyone else here. Call your dad, and we will go to the hospital to do the tests. When the result is out, your dad will understand at the very least.” In the Zhu family, Zhu Chengqi was the one in charge, not Elder Zhu.
Hence, Zhu Chengqi’s attitude and views on this matter were what truly mattered to Zhu Baoguo.
“No!” Wang Yang stood up abruptly. “Never.”
Initially, Zhu Baoguo still had doubts about Qiao Nan’s solution, but when Wang Yang denied the plan, Zhu Baoguo knew that this would work. Without any delay, he slapped on the table and said, “Fine, let’s settle it this way. I will call my Dad now.”
“You…” Wang Yang wanted to bite back his tongue. He regretted it when he first disagreed to Qiao Nan’s idea.
He had been too agitated and anxious and could not stop himself from objecting to Qiao Nan’s idea. He shouted another ‘No’ to her idea.
While Zhu Baoguo was gloating over Wang Yang’s outburst, Elder Zhu and Zhu Qin looked surprised. Wang Yang paled in anger and turned to glare at Qiao Nan.
“What are you doing!” Zhu Baoguo saw Wang Yang’s ferocious stare. With a ‘whoosh’, he stood up to give Wang Yang a push. “What is wrong? Are you unwilling to go with the plan? Are you scared? It’s too late! I would punch you if you dare to glare at Xiao Qiao!”
“Stop it.” Elder Zhu pulled at Wang Yang. Wang Yang turned green in anger instantly.
It was always like this!
Why was it that whenever Zhu Baoguo got into a quarrel with him—even though it was Zhu Baoguo who initiated the fight—his Grandpa would always pull him aside to stop the quarrel?!
Wang Yang, who had been through these, knew it all too well that in these situations, whoever was pulled to a side would be rendered defenseless, not having a chance to retaliate.
“Make the call now. If they were to continue with the quarrel, would I still dare to visit my parent’s house? Can Yang Yang still stay here?” Zhu Qin was annoyed as well. “Is no one going to make the call? Should I do it?”
Zhu Qin picked up the phone and dialed the number that she knew by heart. “Hello, is that you, Brother? I have something to tell you…”
Wang Yang was speechless when Zhu Qin made the phone call. That was his mother, his biological mother!
But he dared not do anything now. If he hung up his mother’s phone, it would be tantamount to confessing without being pressed, admitting that someone indeed plotted against Zhu Baoguo that day so that he would oversleep, and that the mastermind was him.
Still, even if he did not stop his mother, his smart uncle would be able to make the connections when traces of sleeping pills were detected in Zhu Baoguo’s urine.
Wang Yang’s visage was green and purple with fear. His expression changed swiftly like a chameleon. Qiao Nan could not help but feel awful for him.
Whether they were going to investigate or not, it was hopeless for Wang Yang nonetheless. There was no way he could escape unscathed.
“Qiao Nan, next…” Elder Zhu was not muddleheaded. He noticed Wang Yang’s countenance had changed and his attitude was different from before. He seemed to have understood what was going on.
Qiao Nan pursed her lips. Did he mean to shoo her off?
Qiao Nan looked at Zhu Baoguo. “Can you handle what is going to happen next?”
Zhu Baoguo blushed. He treated Xiao Qiao as his younger sister and had mentioned that he would help her out if she met with any problems. But now it seemed like Xiao Qiao was the one who rendered her help. “Don’t worry, I can handle the rest.”
Xiao Qiao had helped him make all the necessary arrangements. As long as his father came back, it should work out as planned.
After getting an affirmative response, Qiao Nan stood up. “Elder Zhu, excuse me for imposing on you.” With that, Qiao Nan left.
“…” Elder Zhu did not know whether he should cry or laugh. He just noticed Qiao Nan always addressed his relative by marriage as Grandpa Lee, whereas she addressed him as Elder Zhu.
He was not pleased that Qiao Nan, an outsider, was here to meddle with their family’s affair. Honestly speaking, Qiao Nan was not willing either.
A few days back, Elder Zhu had just said that he would find a chance to thank Qiao Nan for helping Zhu Baoguo with his results and his conduct. With such an incident at home, he did not thank her but had offended her instead.
All in all, Qiao Nan had nothing to do with their family dispute. She only came to help Zhu Baoguo.
As an outsider, she went to great lengths to help his grandson. On the contrary, as his family, what did they do for him?
At the thought of Wang Yang who was embroiled in this dispute, Elder Zhu’s headache acted up again. Wang Yang had always been obedient and well-behaved so why would things turn out like this?
After Qiao Nan left the Zhu family’s residence, she went straight to Zhai family’s residence.
Qiao Nan could spend hours poring over the books and cassettes that Zhu Baoguo gave her. Even after the exams, she decided to keep to her habit of doing revision daily. Otherwise, she might be too lazy to pick up this habit again in the future.
“Brother Zhai, you are back?” Qiao Nan was surprised when she saw Zhai Sheng. She had not seen him for almost half a year.
“Yes. Have you finished your middle school exams?” Zhai Sheng grew to be even more reticent in less than half a year. The aura he exuded had changed as well.
In the past, Zhai Sheng did not know how to conceal his abilities. He used to exude a strong and domineering aura like that of an unsheathed sword; now he knew to hide his light under a bushel, similar to an unsheathed sword that lulled the enemy’s vigilance.
Although his sense of presence was no longer so domineering, Qiao Nan still felt stressful even when he was at a considerable far distance from her.
Qiao Nan scolded herself for using such a bad analogy. She was not writing classical Chinese now. She should compare Brother Zhai to a gun instead of a sword.
“How did you do on your middle school exams?” Zhai Sheng noticed Qiao Nan’s complexion was rosier than before. It seemed like this young lady had led a good life in the past half year during his absence.