Kidnapped
Kidnapped
"Old Zhai, what do you think? Do you think Qiao Nan is a good woman?"
"She's not bad." To people like them, someone with self-awareness was naturally better than someone with none. Besides, Qiao Nan's attitude was something most people would have. It was not strange at all. "She knows her place and boundaries. That's much better than some others." Zhai Sheng was almost forty-five. At that age, he could not afford to have a woman with a capricious nature. It was better to have a mature and calm woman by his side.
"So you're saying that Qiao Nan is suitable for Zhai Sheng and that we can consider her to be our daughter-in-law?" Apart from Qi Minlan and Qiu Chenxi as examples, Miao Jing trusted Zhai Yaohui's judgment of people.
Zhai Yaohui took a sip of water. "She's already entered our old villa. With Zhai Sheng's skills, I'm sure she won't be able to run away. Since she won't be able to run away, let's not be so hasty in making our decision. Anyway, don't we still have a whole month to observe her?" Zhai Yaohui was already certain that Qiao Nan would only be staying in the Zhai family's old villa temporarily for a month. But in a month's time, she would be able to live in her own house with no shame at all.
Zhai Yaohui had not said much, but after years of marriage, Miao Jing could still understand Zhai Yaohui's true feelings in his words.
Miao Jing was elated by Zhai Yaohui's attitude. They had indeed found the right daughter-in-law this time! Within this month, she would do her best to help her son change her mind so that he would rid himself of that identity of a bachelor as soon as possible.
The couple was having a heated discussion, but Qiao Nan was still feeling guilty over the whole situation. After being dragged out by Zhai Sheng, Qiao Nan could not hold back anymore, and she asked Zhai Sheng in a low voice, "Bro Zhai, has auntie misunderstood something?" At this time, she had not brought Zhai Yaohui into the picture. After all, Miao Jing had been the only one expressing her thoughts earlier. "If auntie has any misunderstandings, how should I explain it to her?"
She could not put it in a mean way, and neither could she afford to offend or agitate Auntie Miao. She was truly in a tight spot. Besides, she was unsure of what Zhai Sheng wanted.
"Yes, she has." Zhai Sheng did not deny it. It would be foolish not to deny it at this point in time. "You know about my situation as well. I got married late in life and got divorced less than three years after getting married. I've stayed single ever since then. Apart from me, my parents have another daughter named Zhai Hua. She's older than me and is married with a daughter. Since I'm the only one who's unmarried, it's inevitable that my parents pay more attention to me. It's hard for them not to misunderstand when anything happens. Even if it has nothing to do with that, they will try their best to come up with something. I'm sorry about what happened just now. Thank you for being so patient and not throwing a tantrum even after my mom bothered you for such a long time."
"Of course not!" Qiao Nan waved him away. "I can completely understand Auntie Miao's feelings."
"Do you feel bothered by my mom? If you do, I'll tell her not to disturb you in the future." Zhai Sheng's eyes glistened. His mom had already taken the initiative. As long as he could achieve his goals, he believed that his mom would not mind him saying such a thing. In fact, she would be more than pleased.
"No, that won't be necessary." She was here as a guest. It was not the Zhai family bothering her but the other way round. How could Qiao Nan possibly admit that Miao Jing's actions were indeed bothering her? Always the good person, Qiao Nan could only say that she was perfectly fine with the current situation. "Bro Zhai, please don't say that. If you do, I'll feel bad for staying here for a whole month. I'm the one who's inconveniencing you. Actually, regarding Auntie Miao… I'll just treat it as though I was chatting with her. It'll be fine. But Bro Zhai, it won't be so good for Auntie Miao if we don't clarify this misunderstanding. Will it affect you?"
Auntie Miao had only misunderstood her relationship with Zhai Sheng because she was worried about Zhai Sheng still being single. She could totally understand how Miao Jing would mistake her for Zhai Sheng's girlfriend now that she had suddenly appeared by Zhai Sheng's side, even though she was already an old lady in her forties.
A misunderstanding was still a misunderstanding, after all. They had to clarify the situation.
What if Auntie Miao treated this misunderstanding as the truth and stopped pressing Zhai Sheng to go on blind dates with other ladies? She could not possibly deny Zhai Sheng of the chance of getting remarried because of such a small misunderstanding!
Qiao Nan suppressed the slight joy in her heart that has arisen from this thought. She could not possibly deprive Zhai Sheng of the right to pursue his own happiness just because of her dream. She had to deal with this fairly and justly.
It had been painful for Qiao Nan to say it, and Zhai Sheng had been upset hearing it. He knew that Qiao Nan did not have any romantic feelings for him as of yet. But what did she mean by that tone and those words urging him to get married to someone other than her? It was all right if she did not like him, but did she have to hate him and try to push him away?
When had he done anything to anger Qiao Nan so much so that she could not wait to get rid of him?
"Why don't you take a look at your room?" Beginnings were always the hardest step. He had not reached that stage with Qiao Nan, after all. As such, Zhai Sheng had no choice but to swallow all his grudges and dissatisfactions for the time being. Zhai Sheng pushed the door open for Qiao Nan to enter the room. He who was the closest had the greatest advantage. Since she was already staying in his house, how could he, as a soldier, let his prey escape from his grasp?
Up until now, his prey had let her guard down and he had allowed for that to happen.
"Oh, that's fine. I'm all right with staying anywhere." Qiao Nan had never had the intention of picking a room to stay in anyway. Leaving with Zhai Sheng had been nothing more than an excuse. Qiao Nan had already thought through it. She would simply pick whichever room she saw first.
It was just that Qiao Nan had once again been frightened by Miao Jing's hospitality. She had not realized that they had walked past several rooms earlier. Now that Zhai Sheng pointed a room out for her, Qiao Nan simply agreed to it without hesitation.
"Then, I'll leave you to unpack. We should be able to have our meal in half an hour." In a gentlemanly fashion, Zhai Sheng stopped outside Qiao Nan's room, giving Qiao Nan some space.
"All right." Qiao Nan nodded, suddenly realizing that she had not used her brain and seemed to have lost all sense of rationality upon stepping into the Zhai family's old villa this time. "I-I know my way around. I can head over on my own later."