Chapter 17: Guerilla Warfare

Right from the start, Qiao Zijin’s intention was to leave Qiao Nan with no alternatives. She never expected that the outcome was that she would dig her own grave.

After Qiao Zijin came out from the kitchen, for a moment, she did not know what she could do.

After some thoughts, Qiao Zijin prepared a cup of tea for Qiao Dongliang and then apologized to him in an honest and sincere manner. As for when the book was purchased, whether she read it before or after the middle school exams, she did not say a word.

Qiao Zijin was quite street smart, especially when it came to appeasing her parents.

Knowing the temperament of Qiao Dongliang, it was better to admit to the mistakes immediately than to argue and lie.

True enough, with this, Qiao Dongliang was forgiving and softly persuaded Qiao Zijin not to make the same mistake again in future, to do well in her studies. The behavior was unlike that of Ding Jiayi, who kept shouting at Qiao Nan to quit school.

After appeasing Qiao Dongliang, Qiao Zijin was certain that her younger sister Qiao Zijin had changed in these few days.

Qiao Zijin constantly reflected on herself – could she have accidentally let slip her intentions before Qiao Nan and resulted in Qiao Nan’s current attitude towards her?

Having successfully maintained the father-daughter relationship, Qiao Zijin decided to try again to mend the sister-to-sister relationship. “Nan Nan, can I come in?”

Qiao Zijin waited for a while but did not hear the voice of Qiao Nan. After some thought, Qiao Zijin simply pushed open the door and entered.

In fact, before today, Qiao Zijin would enter Qiao Nan’s room as and when she wanted to. There was never a need to knock on the door.

In the entire Qiao family, the family members only had the habit of knocking on Qiao Zijin’s door before entering. “Nan Nan, what are you reading?”

As Qiao Nan’s back was facing Qiao Zijin, Qiao Zijin could see that Qiao Nan was flipping the pages of a book but she could not see what book it was.

Qiao Zijin’s eyes lit up, revealing her excitement. All the textbooks had been sold by Mom. How could Qiao Nan have any decent books left to read?

Qiao Zijin shouted straight at the top of her lungs.

Her voice alerted Ding Jiayi who was behind the stove and Qiao Dongliang who was resting in the room.

When she heard Qiao Zijin’s hoarse voice, Qiao Nan’s face turned black and hid her books immediately. “What are you doing in my room?!”

“Nan Nan, what did you hide? Is there a secret between the two of us? Can I see? Nan Nan, I am the living example. Don’t pick up the wrong things from others and read those indecent books. If Dad knew, he would be so sad and angry. It is enough that I have made this mistake. I just promised Dad that it will not happen again. Nan Nan, be obedient, hand over the book, I will help you to ask for Dad and Mom’s forgiveness. You must also promise them that you will never make such a mistake in the future. If you are too afraid, I can help you to cover it up, but you must not keep this book.”

As Qiao Zijin spoke, she pounced towards Qiao Nan and wanted to grab the book was hidden in Qiao Nan’s arms, so that she would have the complete set of evidence.

“Ah.” Qiao Nan could not stop sneering.

With the voice of Qiao Zijin as loud as an opera singer, Dad and Mom could not have missed it unless they were deaf. And Qiao Zijin was still trying to sweet-talk her by offering to cover up the matter!

It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for Qiao Zijin, who had just done something wrong, to catch her red-handed. Qiao Zijin could not wait to let the whole world know.

“What is happening?!” Ding Jiayi rushed over with the spatula still in her hand.

After she heard Qiao Zijin’s words and also saw Qiao Dongliang who rushed over at the same time, Ding Jiayi began to bombard the father without any reservation. “See for yourself, this girl is so wild at heart, not to mention that she is always outside. I don’t even see her studying hard at home. Hiding to read novels? Zijin had completed her middle school exams, but her, this is the critical year that she will be advancing to secondary three. With her attitude, aren’t you pouring money down the drain if you allow her to study?!”

No, she must have a good talk with Old Qiao. To let such a person continue her studies would be a waste of the family’s money.

“Shut up!” Qiao Dongliang was in a fix. “You dare to scold Nan Nan, you have sold her secondary one and two textbooks, what can Nan Nan be reading?”

Qiao Dongliang had not forgotten this. “I was still wracking my brain, Nan Nan also needed to take the mid-term school exams. How is she going to revise her studies for this year?”

Just when Qiao Dongliang was thinking hard of ways to help the younger daughter borrow a set of the secondary one and two textbooks, she had also picked up the bad habit of reading novels. Qiao Dongliang felt so exhausted at heart.

“Nan Nan, you see, both Dad and Mom are angry, why don’t you take the novel out?” Qiao Zijin was quite happy and smug.

At this moment, she was unable to hide her emotions from Qiao Nan.

With more than a lifetime of experience, Qiao Nan’s eyes were venomously sharper than before. She saw straight through Qiao Zijin at one glance. Qiao Zijin was gloating. “I’m not giving it to you, or Mom either!”

Qiao Dongliang took a deep breath and said with his greatest patience to Qiao Nan, “Nan Nan, if you really wish to study hard, please give the book to me.”

Since he had forgiven one, he would have to forgive the other.

He could not possibly be generous to his elder daughter and petty to the younger one. Qiao Dongliang was could not bring himself to do that.

Qiao Nan breathed a sigh of relief. She handed the book to Qiao Dongliang.

If her book was with Qiao Zijin or her mother, she would not be able to keep it, even if it was a decent book.

“This is... ” When Qiao Dongliang saw that the younger daughter had handed to him a secondary one math textbook, he was stunned. “Isn’t your book – ?”

Was it sold by Lao Ding?

Qiao Nan’s face was red. “A summer vacation had passed. Maybe I really was a little crazy. I seemed to have forgotten what was taught in secondary one and two, so I wanted read more and pick up the knowledge again before the school starts.”

After all, she had not been studying for years. If she suddenly had to pick up her previous knowledge, Qiao Nan definitely needed some time.

Qiao Nan was not afraid of other things. She was only afraid that if she flunked the mid-term exams, she would have let down Qiao Dongliang. Her wish to study would also be dashed.

After all, her mother would constantly try to influence her father. Her academic results were the only reason and source of motivation for her dad to continue supporting her.

“Oh, good, good!” Qiao Dongliang felt at ease instantly. “But your book?”

“Yes, where did the book come from?!” Ding Jiayi’s face was as fierce as a tiger. She still wished that the wretched girl would fail her exams since she did not have the secondary one and two textbooks for revision.

Old Qiao now insisted that the wretched girl should continue to study. But if she graduated from junior high school, and did not do well, should she find a job instead?

The country currently only advocated a nine-year compulsory education, it was not necessary to go to high school. The tuition fees were expensive!

For her elder daughter, Ding Jiayi was willing to pay. However, at the thought of spending so much money on the younger daughter, Ding Jiayi felt the pinch.

“I bought it from the waste recycling station.” Qiao Nan answered with dignity.

“Bought, where did your money come from?!” Why didn’t she know that the wretched girl had hidden some money?!