Chapter 1704: Giving In

“But you were part of the labor force and the main source of income for the Qiao family.” Zhou Xing was in a dilemma. She seemed to be struggling with taking in what she had just heard and whether she should accept this truth that seemed to completely oppose what she had heard for the past ten years.

If Zhou Xing had grown up in a normal family with both parents by her side, she might not have been able to tell whom Qiao Dongliang favored among his two daughters from his words. But Zhou Xing was not such an innocent and foolish young lady.

She was only seventeen years old, but she had a deep understanding of how important money was to survive in society. At the same time, as inflation occurred, money would be worth less as time pa.s.sed. As such, the most valuable things were usually other things, such as houses.

She had no mother, but she did have a birth father.

Under such circ.u.mstances, her dad had not intended on leaving everything he owned to his daughter. What she could not accept was her dad trying all means to scheme against her to take over the money and houses that her grandparents had left to her. He had even tried to coax her as though she was a three-year-old child, just so that he could cheat her money.

They were both fathers, but when her grandpa got a divorce at that time, he had spent all his money on her mom and had even left the house to her mom and her grandma. From this point alone, her grandpa’s love toward her mom surpa.s.sed her father’s love toward her by a hundred, or even a thousand times.

Apart from himself, her grandpa had not taken anything along for Qiao Nan.

“But I was not the coolie of the family, and neither was I Ding Jiayi’s or your mom’s money-making tool. In a relations.h.i.+p, you must sow to be able to reap. I’ve told you about how Ding Jiayi raised your mom. Do you agree with how Ding Jiayi raised your mom? Could your mom still be normal after being brought up this way? Of course, at that time, I had no idea that this was how Ding Jiayi was raising your mom. I was just bitter that I had sacrificed everything for your mom, but your mom had even accused me of being worthless and useless because I could not let her live a luxurious life. At that time, I was still lying in the hospital after going through a surgery that was paid for with the money your younger aunt borrowed from other people. I was toeing the line of death!”

“…” Zhou Xing bit on her lip. She could not say with a clear conscience that Qiao Dongliang should dedicate his life selflessly to her mom just because he was her father. Even if her mom really took Qiao Dongliang to be an ox, Qiao Dongliang would work tirelessly, trying to fulfill her mom’s requests.

With a father like Zhou Zheng, Zhou Xing understood what a good father Qiao Dongliang was. They were both daughters, but her mom had been much luckier.

Her grandma’s teaching methods might have been wrong, but her grandma truly treated her mom well and was cold-hearted toward Qiao Nan. Similarly, her grandpa had fulfilled his responsibilities toward her mom. Her grandpa had more than one daughter but had unhesitatingly given almost everything to her mom. Not all parents were willing to do that for their children.

No, that was definitely not the case. Her father had never treated her as well as this for just a day!

“After going to high school, your younger aunt’s results were stellar, so she was always on a scholars.h.i.+p. Then, she went off to university and married your uncle. Of course, I haven’t needed to spend a single cent on your younger aunt’s expenses. If we were really to talk about it, I probably didn’t even provide for your younger aunt for many years. Apart from those few meals that I fed her, it’s really pathetic how little I have given to her compared to how much I’ve given to your mom.”

In the first few years, education was compulsory, as stipulated by the state. As such, Nan Nan only had to pay for her textbooks when going to school. When education was no longer compulsory and they needed to fork out a large sum of money for her to stay in school, Nan Nan strived hard. Initially, she won scholars.h.i.+ps through her stellar results. Then, when she got into university, she married a good husband.

As a father, he had done nothing for her. That was the truth of the matter.

Zhou Xing clenched her jaw tightly, her face paling. “I don’t know if I should believe your words. What you’ve said is very different from what grandma has said, and grandma has never even mentioned some of these things.”

Her grandma had only told her that her grandpa had cared a lot about his younger daughter, Qiao Nan. Her grandpa had gotten a divorce from her grandma for Qiao Nan’s sake. After their divorce, her grandpa wanted Qiao Nan and not her mom. Her mom was raised by her grandma, who had supported her until she finished her studies. That was the truth that she had known all her life.

She had never imagined that there had already been a war in the Qiao family when the sisters were still in junior high school, over having Qiao Nan leave school to work so as to let her mom continue with her own studies.

Between the sisters, it was obvious that Qiao Nan had better grades and that her mom’s grades could not match up to Qiao Nan’s. But the fight had started over having Qiao Nan leave school to work so that her mom could go to school. Based on this point alone, Zhou Xing could not help but suspect that her grandma had deliberately hidden part of the truth from her.

Her grandma had simply said what was advantageous to herself and had hidden whatever was disadvantageous to her mom and herself. But what she had hidden was much closer to the truth. Without this portion of the truth, she had the most important basis for her judgment, leading to her wrong judgment.

“How about this? You can choose not to believe me, but you should at least clear out everything that Ding Jiayi told you from your mind. Before I got divorced from Ding Jiayi, and up until your younger aunt entered high school, we were a family of four living in the Qiao family’s house. I’m sure our neighbors still remember what happened to our family. You can go find out for yourself. If you’re still doubtful, you can inquire at your younger aunt’s high school as well. The incident between Ding Jiayi and your mom may have happened twenty to thirty years ago, but I’m sure there are still quite a few people who still remember this incident.”

Qiao Dongliang was not afraid that Zhou Xing did not believe him. He was only afraid that Zhou Xing would not even bother to check up on the matter and relied only on whatever she had heard. As long as she investigated the matter, he had a bunch of witnesses to prove that whatever he had said was nothing but the truth.

“All right.” Zhou Xing lowered her voice. “I think I can guess why you’ve come to find me before even saying anything. My mom and Qiao Nan… I may have had some misunderstandings, but I’m sure I’m not mistaken about who you’ll choose between me and Qiao Nan’s three children.”

It was truly a tough call. They were all his grandchildren, so it was impossible that he had no feelings for her as her grandpa. The problem was that he did indeed have deeper feelings for Qiao Nan’s children. There were three of them and only one of her, after all.

Zhou Xing took a deep breath and gave in. “I’ll stop looking for Zhai Xin for the time being, and stop scheming against the Zhai family.” Until she got to the bottom of the matter and found out whether the truth was just as her grandma had said or whether it was like what her grandpa had said.