Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Hua Hua, please help.” Miao Jing did not wait for Zhai Hua’s reaction. Anyway, she had already decided and would not change her mind. This young lady was not related to their family anyway. Did it matter whether she liked or disliked her?
Zhai Hua tugged the corners of her lips. She then opened the back door and led the way for Qiao Nan.
When she saw the back door of the Zhai’s residence opened, Qiao Zijin gritted her teeth and moved forward with a smiling face. She behaved as if she had completely forgotten what just happened. “Nan Nan, you must have put away many items at the Zhai’s residence. I’ll help you move them.”
“Wait.” Qiao Nan blocked Qiao Zijin from entering. “This is the residence of the Zhai family, not the Qiao family. It’s not convenient for you to go in. If you want to help, sure, wait at the doorstep. After I bring out the items, I’ll pass them to you. You can help me carry them home, then. There’s no need for you to go in!”
Qiao Nan was petty now. This was the residence of the Zhai family and not the Qiao family. Although she was not in the position to have the final say, the more Qiao Zijin wished to enter the house, the more she would not allow her to do so.
“Why does it have to be so troublesome? Can’t we just go in together?” Qiao Zijin’s face was pale with anger.
Zhu Yan laughed. “So shameless. Qiao Nan has already said that this is not your house. Do you think you can enter it as you wish? Besides, don’t compare yourself to Qiao Nan. Qiao Nan has the key to the Zhai’s residence. Can you compare yourself to her?”
Zhu Yan held on to Qiao Zijin. “Qiao Nan, go in and take the books. I’ll keep a watch on her.”
“Alright, sorry for the trouble.” Qiao Nan nodded. She then entered the Zhai’s residence and began to pack her books.
Zhai Hua followed her into the storeroom to help. But when she saw that Qiao Nan had so many belongings, she felt that it would be an arduous task to move them all. “There’re too many books. You’ll need to make a few trips. I remember that you have stored many secondary textbooks here. Since you’re already in high school, you won’t need them anymore. It’ll be cumbersome to move them. Leave those books that you don’t need for the time being here and take away only those that you need.” It would not be convenient for Qiao Nan to study at their house anymore.
“You can come again to take the rest of the books when it’s convenient.”
Qiao Nan smiled bitterly. “Auntie Zhai won’t be happy.”
Qiao Nan had sensed Miao Jing’s dislike for her. This was also one of the reasons Qiao Nan wanted to return the key and move away her belongings.
“My mom, she… she’s actually very nice. Don’t think too much.” Zhai Hua sounded like a stuck cassette and nearly could not continue. “There won’t be an issue. Trust me. Leave these books here and take away those that you need.” Otherwise, she really did not know how to explain to Zhai Sheng.
“By the way, there’s something that I need to discuss with you.” Zhai Hua said as she moved toward Qiao Nan and began to help her.
“Sister Zhai Hua, feel free to tell me directly. I have not even thanked you for your help just now. If not for you, most probably, I would never be able to clear my name.”
“What I want to say is that… don’t talk about me in front of Zhai Sheng.”
“Why?” Zhai Hua was the one who helped her. Why couldn’t she do so?
“Anyway, in short, don’t say anything.” If Qiao Nan told him, given Zhai Sheng’s intelligence, he would definitely give her a bashing.
Qiao Nan did not know that, as soon as Miao Jing was alerted of the commotion, Zhai Hua had followed Miao Jing to the scene as she heard Qiao Nan’s name being mentioned. As such, she had seen how Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin bullied Qiao Nan and smeared her name right from the beginning. She only went forward to help Qiao Nan clarify the matter at the end.
Zhai Hua heard about Qiao Nan and the latter’s family situation through Zhai Sheng, and Zhai Sheng heard about it from Qiao Nan.
It was a rare occasion that she could come into contact with the concerned party. Zhai Hua had to spend more effort to observe whether what she and Zhai Sheng heard was true or if someone deliberately made it up to gain sympathy.
Of course, the outcome of the observation was that Qiao Nan was more pitiful than what Zhai Sheng had described her to be. Her biological mother was worse than a stepmother.
Nevertheless, Zhai Hua was also guilty because of this.
If she had come forward to the rescue earlier, Qiao Nan would not have suffered so much. Zhai Hua could remember vividly the look of utter despair on Qiao Nan’s face. When she saw Qiao Nan then, she was not sure why, but she could not help feeling sad. She nearly cried.
Zhai Hua was able to understand fully how desperate and despaired Qiao Nan felt at that moment.
At the thought that Zhai Sheng cared so much for Qiao Nan, Zhai Hua felt so guilty that she did not have the face to see Zhai Sheng, her biological younger brother, anymore.
“Okay.” Qiao Nan nodded her head abidingly. “These are the things that I need for now. Sister Zhai Hua, help me carry some. I should be able to finish moving them in one trip. Right, Sister Zhai Hua, Brother Zhai lent this book to me. I’ll place it here. Remember to help me return it to Brother Zhai.” The three hundred yuan that Qiao Nan earned was placed in between the pages of this book.
As she was unable to return the full 1,800 yuan to Zhai Sheng at one go, Qiao Nan could only pay Zhai Sheng back in small installments.
“Sure, you can count on me.” Zhai Hua patted her chest and then lifted up most of the books. “Let’s go.”
There were a few people lingering at the entrance of the Zhai’s residence. They watched Zhai Hua and Qiao Nan came out, carrying a pile of books each.
Someone was pleased as he said, “Ding Jiayi, when did Nan Nan take things from the Zhai’s residence? Clearly, she sent things to the house.”
Ding Jiayi’s face turned red. She was so embarrassed that she did not know what to say. She just wished that she could cover her face and dig a hole to bury herself in. She wanted to save some of her face, but she seemed to have fully disgraced herself with the fuss today.
Zhai Hua walked in large strides and stopped in front of Qiao Zijin, who was held on tightly by Zhu Yan. She then passed the books to Qiao Zijin. “Aren’t you helping Qiao Nan move the belongings? These are Nan Nan’s books. Take them.”
“Aiyoh…” Qiao Zijin was caught off guard as she was forced to take over the books. She was weighed down by the heavy books and fell backward. The stack of books slammed right onto her. The most terrible thing was that Qiao Zijin was wearing a dress today. Her skirt lifted when she fell back and her thigh was directly exposed.
A few people who were coincidentally standing at the ‘right’ positions saw Qiao Zijin’s small ***.
“Zijin!” Ding Jiayi ran over anxiously to hold on to Qiao Zijin’s dress.
“Hua Hua.” Miao Jing gave Zhai Hua a stern look. Even if the members of the Qiao family was capricious and had character problems, the Zhai family should not take issue with the Qiao family, and neither should they take sides and do something distasteful.
“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Zhai Hua sounded impatient as she frowned.
Clearly, Qiao Zijin was the one who said she wanted to help. It was only a few books. How heavy could it be? Qiao Zijin had so little strength and simply dropped the books.
She was not so petty to use such a mean method although she wanted to help Qiao Nan.
“No, no issue. Yes, I’m the one in the wrong. I didn’t receive the books properly. You can’t blame Sister Zhai Hua.” After Qiao Zijin was helped up by Ding Jiayi, she put in good words for Zhai Hua in an understanding manner. “Auntie Zhai, please don’t blame Sister Zhai Hua.”