Chapter 1702: Imparting Values

Translator:

Atlas Studios

Editor:

Atlas Studios

It was not as though she had no money to buy nice clothes. Would she really be cheated by nonexistent clothes that that person was talking about?

“Who am I? Haven’t you heard Ding Jiayi mention me or seen my picture at Ding Jiayi’s? When your mom was around, I didn’t discipline her well before she pa.s.sed away. The only thing I can do for her in this lifetime is to raise you well. Zhou Xing, listen. I’m your grandpa. You have to listen to me. Do you understand?”

Qiao Dongliang did not know whether Zhou Xing truly did not recognize him or whether she was simply pretending not to recognize him. Either way, that did not matter. All that mattered was that he recognized his own granddaughter.

“You’re my grandpa?” Hearing Qiao Dongliang’s words, Zhou Xing immediately came to her senses and a.s.sessed Qiao Dongliang. Yes, if she looked closely, the man in front of her did resemble the man in her grandma’s photo alb.u.m.

“It’s good that you know that you still have a grandpa.”

“Phew…” The female student who had brought Qiao Dongliang to see Zhou Xing breathed a sigh of relief. When she heard that Zhou Xing did not know Qiao Dongliang, and even said that Qiao Dongliang was a kidnapper, the female student had been badly frightened. She even thought that she had done something wrong! Thankfully, it was all a misunderstanding. “Grandpa, this leotard was given to us by the school when we registered and paid our school fees. It’s a uniform. I didn’t purchase it myself. It’s normal to wear such clothes when dancing because we get all hot and sweaty. Even if you were to buy one outside, all leotards look rather similar to this one.”

It was issued by the school, after all. From the design to the cutting of the clothing, they were all as conservative as possible.

She had not known that Zhou Xing’s grandpa was so old-fas.h.i.+oned. They had not found anything wrong with such typical leotards, but why had it become indecent in Zhou Xing’s grandpa’s eyes?

“Issued by the school?” Qiao Dongliang was rather respectful toward the school. “Why would the school issue such clothes to you young ladies? Do you have no other choice but to wear this when dancing?” He would have to go back and look around. He did not believe that he would not be able to find a looser-fitting piece of clothing with more cloth that would be more secure when dancing.

Wasn’t it just for a dance? Why did they have to dress so skimpily? No wonder Zhou Xing tried to leech on to Er Bao, trying to make Er Bao her boyfriend. At the very least, if Zhou Xing were to stop wearing such abnormal clothes, her mindset would be just a little bit more normal.

“Of course I can only wear this since it was issued by the school.” Zhou Xing took the opportunity to get away from Qiao Dongliang the moment he loosened his grip. Even if he had not, she had to!

Just based on what Qiao Dongliang had said, Zhou Xing knew that there was no way she could accept the clothes picked out by Qiao Dongliang. Besides, this was her first time seeing this grandpa of hers! Was it so easy to be a grandpa? He had never gone to visit her, but the moment he appeared, he was picking on her dressing and criticizing her clothes for being too revealing as though he was her parent.

Upon hearing that answer, Qiao Dongliang almost lost all respect for the school. What kind of school was this that they issued such revealing clothes to their girls? It was too indecent. “What do you guys wear once you stop dancing?”

Thankfully, Zhou Xing was alone in the room and was practicing alone when Qiao Dongliang entered the dance studio. There was not a single bystander, much less those boys whom Qiao Dongliang hated the most.

“We wear whatever we like when we’re not dancing. We’re not elementary school students. We don’t need to always be in a uniform.” The female student who had led Qiao Dongliang here laughed. “Grandpa, don’t think too much about it. In this school, we have more girls than guys. What you’re worried about will never happen.”

They were considered military performers, so there were males in this school as well. But just like the girls, they learned to dance and sing. No matter what, there was just some manliness lacking in them that failed to attract girls. Anyway, she would never take a fancy to them. As for Zhou Xing, she thought that Zhou Xing would probably not like those male military performers either.

After all, Zhou Xing had such brilliant cousins like Zhai Yi and Zhai Xin. Under Zhai Yi’s and Zhai Xin’s influence, Zhou Xing would never take a fancy to those men who were miles apart from the Zhai brothers.

Otherwise, why would Zhou Xing have agreed to help Zhai Xin out by saying that the two of them were in a relations.h.i.+p?

Based on how Zhou Xing behaved during that period of time, she felt that Zhou Xing really had some talent in acting. At that time, Zhou Xing truly acted like someone who had just fallen in love with an extremely handsome boyfriend. Even the smiles of someone truly in love could not compare to Zhou Xing’s sweet smile when she was acting.

“Yes.” With that answer, Qiao Dongliang’s expression brightened significantly. “Thank you for bringing me here. Zhou Xing, hurry and change out of these clothes. Let’s find somewhere and have a good chat.” He felt as though he might go blind if he were to see Zhou Xing in these clothes any longer.

“…” Zhou Xing pouted. She was extremely reluctant.

Last year, she had been on very good terms with Zhai Xin when Qiao Nan had suddenly appeared and requested to ‘have a chat’ with her. Right after that, she had been forced to break up with Zhai Xin. Now, the mention of ‘having a chat’ immediately made Zhou Xing feel all sorts of unease.

But he was her biological grandpa, after all. In front of her cla.s.smates, she did not want to disrespect her grandpa, but neither did she want to let others have something to attack her with. As such, she had no choice but to change out of her dance clothes and put on her day-to-day clothing to ‘have a chat’ with Qiao Dongliang.

When Zhou Xing put on her own clothes, she could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was just the beginning of spring, so the temperatures had not risen by much. If she were to go out in thinner down jackets, she would s.h.i.+ver bitterly.

Even though Zhou Xing was pretty, she did not make herself suffer. As such, she wrapped herself up warmly in long johns, a thick wool sweater, and a down jacket that went all the way down to her calves. Zhou Xing felt that Qiao Dongliang should have nothing to say about how she dressed now.

When Zhou Xing emerged from the dance studio, the female student who had shown Qiao Dongliang the way was no longer around.

Qiao Dongliang glanced at Zhou Xing, who was all wrapped up, and nodded in affirmation. “Winter here in the north is especially cold. Even when spring has already come, the temperatures are still low. It’s better to dress warmly. Besides, it’s only right for you to dress like that as a girl. There are a lot of bad people out in society today. Girls must know how to protect themselves. Not only is it ugly when you dress up flamboyantly, but it’s also easy for you to attract unwanted attention. When that time comes, the only one who’ll suffer is yourself. It will be too late to regret then.”

Qiao Dongliang grabbed the opportunity to constantly impart values to Zhou Xing. He was afraid that if he were to be too late in doing so or be incomplete in any aspect, Zhou Xing might very well fall into a pit that she would never be able to climb out of.