Prospect
Prospect
When she had gotten married, her parents-in-law had sent her away with only a five-piece gold ornament set that was worth a little more than ten thousand yuan. Thinking about how a forty-year-old woman who was getting remarried could receive such a gift while she had only gotten simple gold ornaments when she had gotten married at a young age, the shopping guide lady could not help but wonder why there was such a stark difference in their lives.
The day after making their purchase, the couple called a taxi and headed for the Zhai family's old villa in Qingshui Town. "The environment here is really great. It's no wonder Zhai Sheng was willing to return here. Old Zhai, we should spend some time here too."
Having been abused by the air in the capital for a long time, Miao Jing was really happy seeing such beautiful scenery in Qingshui Town. She had asked Zhai Hua to bring her granddaughter, Wei Jiajia, to visit her yesterday, but up until the moment she left today, she had yet to meet her granddaughter. Zhai Hua had called, saying that her granddaughter was busy with some kind of English enrichment class.
"As long as you're happy." Zhai Yaohui, who was old and could no longer run around, felt that it was not important where he lived. What was important was who he lived with. "This rascal. When has he ever put himself at a disadvantage apart from that incident? When the old master was still alive, his heart and mind were always on this house. I guess he probably feels the same way about this house since he was close to the old master."
Zhai Yaohui did not have much feelings for the old villa. By the time he was old enough to recognize his surroundings, he had already been living in the quad in Ping Cheng. He had only heard about how this had been the place where his parents had gotten to know each other and thus had a special place in the old master's heart. His parents' ashes had always been buried together here in Qingshui Town. "We have to go pay our respects to the old master and my mom now that we're back."
"Don't worry. I took care of those things before we left yesterday. We can visit your parents today if you'd like." As a daughter-in-law, Miao Jing had always had such an intention.
Zhai Yaohui had always been at ease letting Miao Jing handle these things. "When we pay our respects to my parents, it might not just be the three of us this time. We might have an extra person tagging along." Zhai Sheng had not said anything. All he had done was mention that he had a prospect in mind. But he had not said anything about how he got along with that woman or how far they had progressed. As such, he knew nothing as well.
To be honest, Zhai Yaohui felt that the hundred-thousand-yuan bracelet was just a backup. After all, they could prepare these things in advance. They could not express their support if their son had not progressed to that stage.
"Do you think that lady will be at home?" Miao Jing wished to see the lady whom her son had his eyes on, yet she did not want to be seen. If she was there, that would mean that the two of them shared a good relationship. After her experience with Qiu Chenxi, she preferred someone who would be more reserved even if she had never been married.
"Old-old chief!" Xiao Xu was scared stiff by the sight of Zhai Yaohui. The old chief was something of legends in the military now. Xiao Xu had always known that this old chief was his current chief's father but had never met him up until today. "I-I'll let the chief know."
My goodness! The old chief had come to visit the chief!
Upon hearing Xiao Xu's voice, Xiao Zhao had actually been rather curious and had wanted to take a look outside. It was just that she had Xiao Xu's words in mind. Unless he called her, she had better not go up to others. Otherwise, not only would they dock her pay but they might fire her as well!
On the account of the good salary, Xiao Zhao dared not go against Zhai Sheng's rules. Even though she was curious about the guests who had just arrived, she simply did her job by making tea and cutting fruits in the kitchen. She would then let Xiao Xu bring them out later.
The moment Zhai Yaohui and Miao Jing returned to the old villa, a pair of eyes had already started to observe silently.
There was nothing special about the Zhai family's old villa, and it was very simple. It seemed as though no one had taken the effort to spruce the place up. As for anything belonging to women, Zhai Yaohui and Miao Jing had not seen any of such things.
A while later, Xiao Xu walked out of the kitchen with Xiao Zhao, holding freshly-cut fruits and freshly-brewed tea. The moment Xiao Zhao walked out, Miao Jing's eyes lit up and she looked questioningly at Zhai Yaohui. Was this the lady?
Zhai Yaohui patted Miao Jing's hands, asking her to calm down. How would he know if this was the lady? Zhai Sheng would give them the answer very soon.
As the only other woman present, Xiao Zhao was being carefully observed. After all, Xiao Zhao was Zhai Yaohui's and Miao Jing's only suspect. Knowing that the chief's parents were here, and knowing how the chief's father had been more outstanding than him, Xiao Zhao did not feel flattered by the elderly couple's keen observation. In fact, she was rather frightened.
She could not help but look down at her own clothes. They were rather normal and were not unsuitable. Why were the chief's parents looking at her as though she had done something wrong?
Of course, Zhai Sheng knew what Zhai Yaohui's and Miao Jing's gazes meant and thus answered straightforwardly, "No, she's not here."
"Oh, she's not here." Miao Jing breathed a sigh of relief. "She's not taking care of you?" If that were really the case, she was not a good lady.
Thinking about the phone call from a couple of days earlier, Zhai Yaohui asked, "Is it the lady who picked up the call the other day?" Zhai Sheng did not like using such products, but he cared very much about his own privacy. That was why there was a reason to suspect someone who had answered Zhai Sheng's phone on his behalf.
"Yes."
"Where's she?" Since he already had someone in mind, why was there another woman in the house?
"Back at home." He had not reached that stage with Qiao Nan yet. In fact, Qiao Nan did not even know that he had an intention of marrying her, so how could Qiao Nan be living in the Zhai family's old villa?
Zhai Yaohui did not nitpick. "Is she a local?" That would mean she was from the same hometown as the old master.
"No, she's like us. She's from Ping Cheng. She used to live in the same quad as us. Her surname is Qiao." He would have to come clean about Qiao Nan's identity sooner or later. Zhai Sheng did not think that there was anything wrong with Qiao Nan's past. The problem lay with the Qiao family, not Qiao Nan, who was simply being made use of. As such, Zhai Sheng did not try to hide anything about Qiao Nan's background.
Xiao Xu blinked in confusion. A Qiao? Was the chief talking about Sister Qiao? Amongst the people he knew, there was only one person who had the surname 'Qiao', was from Ping Cheng, and knew the chief. That was Sister Qiao! No wonder he had heard Sister Qiao address the chief as 'Brother Zhai' when he had returned with the doctor and Sister Zhao the other day. He had initially thought that he had heard it wrong or that Sister Qiao had had a slip of the tongue.