Chapter 604 - Come Clean
When Miao Miao was young, she was simple and kind, and did not resort to any tricks.
Every time he saw Miao Miao, he felt as if she was a sunflower that bloomed in the sun. She was bright, sunny, cheerful, and hopeful toward the future.
But right now…
“Where is your mom heading to?” Zhai Yaohui could not help but ask Zhai Sheng who happened to come out right then.
At the mention of this, Zhai Sheng’s face turned black. “Where do you think my mom could have gone? Who else can my mom have a good chat with?”
When Zhai Yaohui heard what Zhai Sheng said, he could understand the change in his expression. Everyone who was in his position would feel the same.
Miao Miao introduced a prospective girlfriend to her son during the blind date yesterday. It was equivalent to snatching Qiao Nan’s boyfriend.
However, Miao Miao was unaware of it. She felt that she had suffered grievances and needed someone to talk to, and she happened to look for Qiao Nan, whose boyfriend was the party concerned. Qiao Nan could only suffer in silence.
Zhai Yaohui had no choice but to speak up for Miao Jing. “You must not be angry with your mom. She does not know about your relationship with Qiao Nan. If she knows, she will certainly not do this.” Miao Miao would either accept Qiao Nan or sever all ties with Qiao Nan. She would not snatch Qiao Nan’s boyfriend on one hand and pour grievances to her on the other hand.
Initially, Zhai Yaohui did not approve of Qiao Nan’s relationship with Zhai Sheng. He merely acknowledged that she was Zhai Sheng’s girlfriend.
But after what happened today, Zhai Yaohui began to sympathize with Qiao Nan. She was unlucky enough to be in a relationship with his son!
“Qiao Nan, I am going for a run.” At the Qiao family’s residence, Shi Qing felt awkward when facing Miao Jing, so she thought of an excuse to get away.
Previously, when she went to the Zhai’s family residence to look for Brother Zhai, Auntie Miao would always be on the alert and be wary of her. She could understand her behavior as she was Qi Minlan’s niece. But now that she was at the Qiao family’s residence instead of at the Zhai family’s residence, it was too much of Auntie Miao to look at her in the same way.
“What’s there to run for? Do your homework in the small room!” Qiao Nan threw the schoolbag to Shi Qing. It was September now. The Indian summer was unbearable, especially now that it was near noontime. It was no different from the summer. It would be bad for one’s health to run at this time.
“Alright.” Shi Qing took the schoolbag abidingly and went to the room where Qiao Zijin lived in previously to do her homework.
Ever since she received the information that Shi Peng sent to her regarding the Qiao family, Shi Qing had only dislike for Qiao Zijin, whom she had never met before. Normally, she would never go into the room that she once lived in.
But it was a special situation today. She knew that Miao Jing had something to talk to Qiao Nan. Hence, she could only leave the living room.
As soon as Shi Qing left, Miao Jing began to pour her grievances to Nan Nan. “Nan Nan, what wrong have I done? I have good intentions but nobody appreciates it. Zhai Sheng is like this, and even Hua Hua…” Miao Jing’s heart ached at the thought of the hurtful words that her daughter said.
Qiao Nan also wished to cry out loud. What wrong had she done to deserve such treatment?
“Auntie Miao, do you want to hear the truth or some comforting words?” It took Qiao Nan quite a while to set aside the heartache she felt before she braced herself.
“The truth.” Miao Jing hesitated for a moment and chose to hear the truth. She knew what those comforting words were, and she had no need of them. Because it was Qiao Nan, Miao Jing wanted to hear the truth.
“Auntie Miao, since you want to listen to the truth, I can only say that you have a double standard when dealing with things. Take for instance what happened with Chief Zhai back then. Old Master Zhai was indeed the person who pushed for your marriage with Chief Zhai. Without his insistence, Chief Zhai’s girlfriend seemed to be Qiu Chenxi’s mom back then, am I right? Old Master Zhai is Chief Zhai’s father. Old Master Zhai must have let Chief Zhai marry you for Chief Zhai’s sake. He couldn’t possibly want to harm Chief Zhai. That was an act of a loving father. However, if you approved of his actions, you would not have agreed for the Zhai family to be in contact with the Qiu family and be so nice to Qiu Chenxi all these years, even to the extent of planning for Brother Zhai to marry Qiu Chenxi.”
“Auntie Miao, you wanted Brother Zhai to marry Qiu Chenxi just to fulfill Chief Zhai’s dreams. You felt that you owed it to Chief Zhai, so even though you knew that Brother Zhai does not like Qiu Chenxi, you would rather let him suffer and go according to your wishes than to change your mind, right? Back then, you felt that you owed it to Chief Zhai and hence Brother Zhai had to repay your debts. Now that you no longer think so, you want to dictate Brother Zhai and want him to obey your wishes and marry a girl whom you think is suitable to be the daughter-in-law of the Zhai family. Auntie Miao, you have not really taken care of Brother Zhai and Sister Zhai Hua. To put it bluntly, apart from giving birth to them, you have not given them anything since they were young. It was the Zhai family who nurtured and raised them up, isn’t that so?”
Auntie Miao came from a family of farmers. Her grandpa and father were farmers. Back in the revolutionary era, it was good to be farmers.
However, during the postmodern era, Auntie Miao’s family background was considered simple and they had neither power nor social status. What they lacked the most was money.
After Auntie Miao married Chief Zhai, she had never held a job. She did not work to raise her children. In fact, the Zhai family had to pay for her expenses.
Though it was said that Auntie Miao helped Chief Zhai take care of the family so that he could focus on his career, Auntie Miao had, in fact, been keeping an eye on Chief Zhai. Though she stayed by his side, she never helped him take care of the Zhai family.
She did not work and did not take care of her children. Had she fulfilled her duties as a housewife?
If they were to divorce, according to the current law, Auntie Miao would not deserve to have half of the family assets.
She did not make any contributions.
But she held the power and authority!
Miao Jing was stunned. Was she as terrible as what Qiao Nan made her to be?
Miao Jing almost had an emotional breakdown, but Qiao Nan was in a worse state than her. She never expected that Auntie Miao would introduce a blind date to Brother Zhai and make use of her birthday to make Brother Zhai go to the blind date!
Qiao Nan’s tone was full of pain and frustration. “Auntie Miao, you come from an ordinary farming family as well. Why do you look down on ladies whose parents do not work for the government? Auntie Miao, if I am the person who is in a relationship with Brother Zhai, and he wants to marry me, will you hate me and refuse to accept me? Even though you know that we have the intention to get married, will you still insist that we break up and for Brother Zhai to go to a blind date? Auntie Miao, am I so undeserving of your liking and your acceptance?”
A woman would have two mothers in her lifetime—her biological mother and her mother-in-law.
Qiao Nan did not understand why she did not have any luck with her ‘mothers’. Her biological mother treated her badly and Auntie Miao was so cruel to her.
Auntie Miao liked her very much as a junior and wanted to take her as her goddaughter.
Goddaughter was considered as half a daughter, and a daughter-in-law was considered as half a daughter as well. Why was it that Auntie Miao treated them so differently?