“Even if you know what happened to the Wang family, what can you do about it? Are you thinking of coming up with tricks to make matters worse?” Zhu Baoguo was asking for trouble. It was already good enough that he could stay sharp and was aware of the traps that Wang Yang had for him. Why would he have the audacity to meddle with the Wang family’s affairs?
“Xiao Qiao, you must not dampen my spirits. It will be good for me to know and learn more. You can’t deprive me of the opportunity to learn and improve!” Zhu Baoguo was displeased. He was clueless in the past. Now that he knew, he was learning and making progress!
Zhu Baoguo was so noisy that Qiao Nan could not concentrate on her book. She put down her book and asked, “Then, what do you want?”
“I want to find out what happened to the Wang family. Since the Wang family asked us to help them, my goal is to mess things up so that the Wang family can no longer take advantage of us and pretend that they are the ones who suffered.” Given that the Wang family behaved unlike their usual ways, it proved that what happened this time was very serious and not easy to deal with.
“As you said, there is only one purpose for the Wang family to keep coming to the Zhu family, and that is to ask for help. When you are back at home next week, you can sound your grandpa out. You can say that Zhu Qin is your auntie, and you can’t bear seeing her coming over to the Zhu family’s residence every single day, so you want to know whether it is possible to help her this time.”
“Isn’t the question too general?” He wanted to know the details.
Qiao Nan pursed her lips and said, “You should come up with ideas by yourself. Don’t forget about Grandpa Lee as well. Zhu Qin is Grandpa Zhu’s daughter. Since one doesn’t wash dirty linen in public and Zhu Qin is your auntie, he may not tell you everything. But Grandpa Lee is different. You are his only grandson. After Wang Yang plotted against you previously, he is very concerned about you. If you ask Grandpa Lee, I’m sure he will tell you everything. You must use your brain and maintain your relationship with Grandpa Lee. You should not neglect him just because you are not used to being close with him.”
Qiao Nan wished she could give Zhu Baoguo a smack on the head. “Why don’t you learn from Wang Yang and be close with whoever that will bring you benefits? The Zhu family is influential. Hence, Wang Yang stays close to Grandpa Zhu. Think about it. Isn’t Grandpa Lee just as influential? Why don’t you cozy up to him? Grandpa Zhu has to spare a thought for your auntie and subsequently, he will preserve the dignity of the Wang family. But Grandpa Lee won’t. You should make full use of this.”
Zhu Baoguo slapped his head. “That’s right! How could I forget about this? When I go back this time around, I will have to stay at the Lee family’s residence over the weekend. I won’t stay at the Zhu family’s residence.”
“In any case, if you want to know about the workings of the adult world, you do not need to ask Grandpa Zhu. You should ask Grandpa Lee instead.”
She heard that Elder Lee was the one who taught and guided her father.
At that time, when her father was in the army, he had a very good interpersonal relationship with his colleagues. That was why he almost became a battalion commander at a young age.
Since Elder Lee put in so much effort on the son of his old friend, he would definitely teach his only grandson everything that he knew.
“Alright, now that you have sorted out your thoughts, I want to continue with my reading. Don’t disturb me anymore. By the way, after you figure it out, let me know the details.” Qiao Nan opened her book, lost in her thoughts. Wang Yang not only worked with Chen Jun to plot against her, but he also dragged her mother and Qiao Zijin into it.
If the Wang family was down on their luck, her mother and Qiao Zijin would be having a hard time as well.
The Wang family was busy with solving their own problems.
She did not believe that Wang Yang, who had the interests of the Wang family as his priority, would have the time and effort to work on her until she stayed away from Zhu Baoguo.
Wang Yang did not seem like the type of person who did not know how to sort out his priorities.
Zhu Baoguo did not think much about it. He smiled and agreed. “Alright, no problem. Wait for my good news.”
“Dad, I am back.” Qiao Nan’s days were fully occupied with her schoolwork and studies that the first half of the second semester seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye.
“You are so early today. Are you having midterm exams?”
“Yes.” Qiao Nan nodded. “Dad, Brother Yang is married?” Looking at the pile of wedding candies on the table, Qiao Nan asked out of curiosity.
“That’s right. It’s a pity that you missed it. It was really lively. Uncle Yang spent a lot of money to invite his relatives and friends to the wedding dinner. The bride is quite pretty. Brother Yang is blessed.” At the mention of the wedding, Qiao Dongliang seemed to be in high spirits as if he was marrying off his children.
In fact, Qiao Dongliang had really thought about it. When he saw that the Yang family had such a lively and happy wedding, he could not help but think about how it would be like when Qiao Nan got married in the future. “How’s the midterm exam?”
“It’s about the same as before.”
“That’s very good.” Qiao Dongliang beamed with happiness. He was way more exhilarated than he was when he talked about the wedding in the Yang family. “Nan Nan, is there anything that you will like to eat? I will prepare it for you.”
“Dad, I will eat whatever you prepare. The stir-fried spicy chicken was very delicious. Should we settle on that?” Qiao Nan did not get to eat stir-fried spicy chicken at the canteen in school. She could only have them at home.
“Sure. I will buy some fresh chicken tomorrow.” Qiao Dongliang looked very energetic, completely different from his gloomy look from a month ago.
Qiao Nan sat down, her eyes swirling with thoughts. She looked at Qiao Dongliang. “Dad, it’s been more than a month. Have you been to see Mom and sister? Did they come looking for you?”
Since the Wang family had encountered some troubles, Wang Yang should not have the time for her mother and Qiao Zijin. Without his support, her mother and Qiao Zijin would definitely come back to Qiao Dongliang for money.
Qiao Dongliang was slow to react. He smiled and replied, “No. Why did you mention your mom and sister?”
“Nothing in particular. It’s just that I heard from Zhu Baoguo that the Wang family is very busy recently. Wang Yang is in his third year of junior high school. He has to study and worry about his family, so…”
Qiao Dongliang was silent. He then smiled in a mixture of mockery and indifference. “Your mom and sister are very capable. If Wang Yang is busy and forgets about them, they can take care of themselves. We don’t have to worry.”
“Oh, I will listen to whatever Dad says.” It was all for the better that Qiao Dongliang did not wish to pay more attention to Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi.
However, she had been used to Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin creating troubles for her. She could not help but feel odd that they had been quiet and without any news for more than a month. Qiao Nan was not used to it. It was not that she was asking for trouble, but she was worried that they would be up to no good.
This was like the calm before the storm!