Therefore, her mother-in-law must have a good impression of her so that she would have good days ahead of her. As for the troubles at her parental family, Qiao Zijin could no longer be bothered with it.Her mother had better be healthy and well. If anything happened, Qiao Nan had better take care of her mother. Her mother could give up the thought of getting a single cent from her. Since her mother refused to help her at all, there was no way that she would provide for her mother.

Qiao Zijin had always been narrow-minded. Moreover, recently, Ding Jiayi refused to fight for her interests and she would keep her money with herself, refusing to spend any money on Qiao Zijin.

Qiao Zijin was merely learning from her. Since her mother valued money more than her and was unwilling to spend them on her children, she would be calculative as well. The only difference was that when she married, she would have children of her own. She had to take care of her own expenses as well as raise her children. She would not have extra money to provide for her mother.

Qiao Zijin had totally forgotten about Qiao Dongliang. In her opinion, Qiao Nan had to be responsible for him. He was Qiao Nan’s father. Her father left her and her mother to live with Qiao Nan during her crucial years in high school. From then onward, she told herself that she no longer had a father.

Since she did not have a father, there was no need for her to provide for him.

Zhou Zheng felt uneasy after receiving Qiao Zijin’s call. He hesitated for a long while before he called his parents and told them everything that Qiao Zijin told him. “Dad, Mom, do you think Qiao Zijin is trustworthy? Why do I feel insecure?”

After dating Qiao Zijin for a year, Zhou Zheng was well aware of the shortcomings that she had. Like his name, Zhou Zheng was straightforward, rigid, and inflexible.

It was because of the Zhai family that Zhou Zheng dated Qiao Zijin. The Zhou family had always wanted to be related to the Zhai family. To their surprise, it was a dream-come-true for them.

Zhou Zheng knew the kind of person that Qiao Zijin was before they started dating. Zhai Sheng would not use Qiao Zijin to deceive others. Marriage was between two parties. Both had to be willing parties. It would not be right if there was any deception involved.

Zhou Zheng knew Qiao Zijin’s personality. If he was willing to start a relationship with her, although he would not strike it big, the Zhou family could be assured that they would have better days in Ping Cheng. For instance, Zhou Zheng used to work as a contract worker in the government sector. Right now, he was converted to a permanent worker. Father Zhou’s business did not expand, but he made more money now.

The Zhou family and Zhou Zheng led better lives as Zhou Zheng was willing to be with Qiao Zijin and marry her despite knowing about her flaws.

Although it was not anything substantial, it was practical and would be a great help to their lives. The Zhou family was glad that they had so many benefits even before marrying Qiao Zijin. If they became relatives with the Zhai family, they would be given even more benefits.

Father Zhou finished the remaining cigarette in one single puff. He let out a painful breath, choking on the smoke.

“Don’t you know that you are no longer young? Why did you smoke so many cigarettes like when you were young? Aren’t you worried about your lungs? Are you courting death? Let me warn you. After Zhou Zheng marries Qiao Zijin and we have a grandchild, I forbid you from smoking in the house. What if the grandchild chokes on your smoke and falls sick?” Mother Zhou was indirectly telling Father Zhou and Zhou Zheng that regardless of what kind of girl Qiao Zijin was, or how strange the situation was, they would hold the wedding banquet in more than a month’s time.

The in-laws were different from the parental family. After Qiao Zijin married into their family, she would discipline and take her in. She would not allow Qiao Zijin to affect her husband’s business or her son’s job.

A daughter-in-law was supposed to fulfill two purposes: to bear the Zhou family a child and to bring benefits to the Zhou family.

Qiao Zijin was so much better than other ladies in these aspects. There was no way that her son’s previous girlfriend could be compared to Qiao Zijin.

The previous girlfriend had the same temper as Qiao Zijin, but she was a spendthrift. She spent a lot of the Zhou family’s money on herself. Although she had given her son a lot of money, he would come asking them for money in no time.

One would only know the truth upon a comparison. Compared to her son’s previous girlfriend, Mother Zhou preferred Qiao Zijin.

Father Zhou understood the rationale as well. “Didn’t you say that Qiao Zijin and the daughter-in-law of the Zhai family do not have a good relationship? I don’t understand. Why will the two daughters of the Qiao family not get along well with each other?” If his future daughter-in-law had a close relationship with the daughter-in-law of the Zhai family, the Zhou family would be lucky!

Zhou Zheng’s face sank, apparently agreeing with his father.

Zhou Zheng had differing opinions from his mother. Although his previous girlfriend was a spendthrift, they had been together for a long time and he liked her very much. If he was successful and earned lots of money, it was alright that the woman that he liked spent his money. He spent the money so that his girlfriend would be well-dressed and it would look good on him when they went out on dates.

Zhou Zheng’s ex-girlfriend had nothing special except that she was good-looking.

After being introduced to Zhou Zheng’s girlfriend, his friends would sing her praises, saying that his girlfriend was prettier than the female celebrities on television.

Qiao Zijin was not as pretty as Qiao Nan, and she could not match up to Zhou Zheng’s ex-girlfriend. In general, she had regular features. Although she was not considered as pretty, she was not ugly either. Her fair complexion made her look refreshing.

However, Qiao Zijin’s boyfriend was Zhou Zheng. His ex-girlfriend was very beautiful. When one was used to having meat and fish and was keen on having more of the good food, one would naturally feel upset that one was forced to eat vegetables and tofu. Since he used to have such a pretty girlfriend, he would naturally make a comparison and would not be in a good mood when he was with Qiao Zijin.

Qiao Zijin knew the reason why Zhou Zheng was willing to start a relationship with her. She knew that the Zhou family benefited from their relationship and the Zhai family would give them a helping hand. Therefore, Qiao Zijin did not curb her temper when she was with Zhou Zheng.

If Zhou Zheng was polite to her, Qiao Zijin would rein in her temper and be gentle toward him. But if Zhou Zheng sounded as if he shunned her and that he preferred his ex-girlfriend, Qiao Zijin would not allow herself to be mistreated since the Zhou family had stood to gain from their relationship. She would tell him outright that if he was displeased with her and despised her, they could break up right away.