Chapter 1763: See It for Yourself

Qiao Dongliang had always known the address of Qiao Nan’s rented apartment. He also knew that the apartment was rather small, but he had never visited it himself. As such, Qiao Dongliang had asked around for quite some time in order to find the apartment that Qiao Nan had rented.

“You’re Qiao Nan’s dad?” Seeing that Qiao Dongliang was pretending to be what he was not and looked as though he had quite thick skin, Qiao Nan’s landlord sneered. So this was that bast*rd father of Qiao Nan. True enough, one should not judge a book by its cover. He looked rather honest and kind, but who would have expected that he could be so ruthless and treat his own daughter so inhumanely?

“That right. Are you Nan Nan’s landlord? Thank you for taking such good care of Nan Nan. I’m here to see Nan Nan. Which apartment is she in?” Qiao Dongliang did not notice the landlord glaring at him. He had only said so because Qiao Nan had once mentioned to Qiao Dongliang that her landlord treated her well and that was why she was fine with living alone outside.

Now that he had this rare chance, Qiao Dongliang thought of his responsibility as a father and thus thanked the landlord

“Which apartment?” The landlord harrumphed and raised her voice. What a funny question! “Why don’t I bring you up to take a look?” If Qiao Nan herself was willing to rent such a small apartment for herself, there was no need for outsiders to feel bad for her.

“Oh, all right. I’m sorry to trouble you.” Qiao Dongliang was embarra.s.sed that he did not know which apartment his daughter was living in, and he even needed her landlord to show him the way. At the same time, Qiao Dongliang truly believed that Qiao Nan’s landlord indeed took good care of her. Otherwise, the landlord would not be treating him so nicely so much so as to show him the way.

Following behind the landlord, Qiao Dongliang had initially intended to climb up the stairs. But the landlord turned, and instead of heading upstairs, she walked beside the staircase. Qiao Dongliang already had one foot on the stairs and was thus puzzled upon seeing the landlord’s actions. There were no apartments downstairs, so where was the landlord bringing him to?

Actually, the landlord was not headed anywhere. Because this building was situated in a good location, the ground floor had been converted into shop fronts after knocking down the walls. As for the upper floors, they were rented out as apartments. However, there was a small dead-end corner in such a prosperous location, and that was the s.p.a.ce under the staircase that was situated outside the shop.

That small s.p.a.ce housed one face of a wall and a door and had a small little window of its own. Sticking the key into the keyhole, the landlord opened the door. “This was the place where Qiao Nan used to live. Do you want to take a good look at it and experience it for yourself?”

The landlord was not the kind of person to forgo her conscience just to make money. Such a tiny place was still all right in winter but was sweltering hot in summer. Because the place was so narrow and small, the landlord had never intended to put up a wall under the stairs to create another room before meeting Qiao Nan.

But at that time, Qiao Nan had been in such dire straits. She did not have much money on her and had no means of renting an apartment. Coincidentally, because the landlord had been renovating the apartments, the s.p.a.ce under the staircase had been piled up with a lot of things. Thus, a small s.p.a.ce of six to seven square meters was created in the hallway.

When Qiao Nan had approached her to rent this s.p.a.ce, the landlord herself had been taken aback. This was no room at all. It was too small for anyone to live in!

But Qiao Nan insisted on it. Seeing that Qiao Nan was in a difficult situation, she finally relented under Qiao Nan’s persuasion. Before Qiao Nan moved in, the landlord had specially hired some people to move the mess away. If someone was really to stay there, she would at least build a st.u.r.dy and solid wall. That did not cost much money anyway.

She had not intended to use that small s.p.a.ce anyway. Now that Qiao Nan was renting it, it would be an extra source of income for her nonetheless. As such, the landlord had tidied up the s.p.a.ce before letting Qiao Nan move in.

Upon hearing the landlord’s words, Qiao Dongliang was dumbfounded and stuttered. “You-you’re kidding, right? This is nothing but a small walkway under the stairs. Isn’t such a small s.p.a.ce usually used to store your things? How can someone live here?”

This was Ping Cheng, not the capital or some other places where land was extraordinarily expensive and where a small bas.e.m.e.nt could be rented out for two to three hundred yuan.

Even though Qiao Nan had always handed over most of her salary and had no money to buy her own apartment, Qiao Dongliang felt that there was no reason Qiao Nan would have to stay in such a wretched place given her earning power. To be honest, this was the first time Qiao Dongliang had visited Qiao Nan’s apartment.

When anything happened in the family in the past, Qiao Nan would always return to the Qiao family’s house. Otherwise, Ding Jiayi would take the initiative to find Qiao Dongliang. Qiao Dongliang thought that everything was fine and that his younger daughter was mild-tempered, good-natured, filial, and even handed all her income over to her family. As long as Qiao Nan had more interactions with Ding Jiayi, Ding Jiayi would eventually be moved by Qiao Nan.

But the problem was that the sight in front of Qiao Dongliang made him feel uneasy all over. It felt as though a cart of cooking condiments had been spilled in his heart and he was feeling all sorts of different emotions all at once. What he was not, though, was happy. “Do you mean that Nan Nan has lived in this place for several years?”

Qiao Dongliang refused to give up and asked once again. Qiao Dongliang thought that he had it tough and could tolerate arduous conditions, but he would not be able to survive in this place for a year, let alone a few years! But his younger daughter had done so quietly for several years!

“Not just a few years. Nan Nan has been living here for almost ten years. You’re quite amazing as a father.” Seeing that Qiao Dongliang really had no idea about what was going on, the landlord did not soften her att.i.tude toward him.

This was his own biological daughter they were talking about, not just some girl he picked up on the streets.

His unmarried daughter had been renting an apartment alone for ten years, but as a father, he had never once taken the initiative to check on his daughter or to take a look at her living conditions. How a.s.sured was he about his daughter? Or how indifferent was he toward his daughter that he was able to do such a thing? “Since Nan Nan isn’t here, don’t mind me asking. Is Nan Nan really your biological child? Was she adopted?”

How could they treat her like that if she was really their own child? Or even if she was simply adopted?

Qiao Dongliang’s whole face was flushed and did not know how to answer her. After a long while, he finally managed to say, “Has Old Ding visited this place?”

“Of course she has. Every time you guys need money, your wife comes over to kick up a huge fuss and take some money from Nan Nan.” The landlord was elated. If the Qiao family did not know the kind of place Qiao Nan was living in, she would not think badly of the Qiao family. Since Qiao Nan had already moved out, the Qiao family could just take it as though Qiao Nan was already dead and cut off all contact. If that were the case, she would have nothing to say.