Chapter 212

Just as dawn was breaking, Mother Qiao saw a figure sitting by the bed, facing the balcony window, like a mountain rock. Looking closely, she realized it was Father Qiao, who had returned at some unknown time.

"You're going to scare someone to death early in the morning, why are you sitting there?"

She got up and walked over, seeing Father Qiao with a deathly pale face, staring with two large eyeballs, as if possessed.

"Hey, don't scare me, what's wrong?" Mother Qiao pushed him but saw no reaction, scared, she went to pat his face, shouting while patting: "What's going on? Did something happen to the company?"

Hearing the two words 'company', Father Qiao finally came to his senses, saying dully: "It's over... it's all over..."

He said stiffly, like a puppet: "People died... people died from eating it..."

Mother Qiao was shocked, shouting: "What people died from eating it? Speak clearly!"

After several rounds of questioning, Mother Qiao fell to the ground on her bottom.

It turned out that a health product developed by the Qiao family's company had caused an elderly person to die after eating it, and now the family members were making a scene. The other party had quite a bit of background and had the fire department investigate the company. Now they had no choice but to close down. They had been running around inside and out these days to turn over funds and appease employees, but after such a scene, not only did the investors they had finally managed to pull in cancel the contract after hearing about it, but more than half of the employees had resigned. Truly, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

"What to do... what to do... Meiyun, you have to help me..." Father Qiao grabbed Mother Qiao's pant leg in a daze, but was kicked away by her.

"Help you? How can I help you! I said it, the new formula wasn't tested, it wasn't tested! And you dared to take it to the market to sell!"

"Then wasn't I doing it to quickly make achievements and pull in investment? If it weren't for your daughter not introducing Guan Weizhi to me, these rotten things wouldn't have happened later!"

Upon hearing this, Mother Qiao pointed at his nose and cursed: "What right do you have to blame my daughter! She's a college student, what does she know? What right does she have to wipe your butt?"

Seeing that his capital was lost, Father Qiao also tore off his usual mask of a good person, pushing her and cursing: "I should have known not to marry a money-losing item like you! A husband-killing fate, ruining my financial luck! If my mother hadn't seen that you were bringing a boy with you, she would never have agreed to let you enter our family's door!"

"Qiao Songfan!!! You shameless thing!!!!"

Mother Qiao pounced on him and scratched his face, the two of them twisting into a ball, showing all kinds of ugliness.

"If it weren't for me! Could you have today?"

Father Qiao was a man after all, with great strength. He pushed Mother Qiao down, and Mother Qiao's head hit the corner of the sofa directly.

He pointed his finger at her angrily, roaring: "I'll put it this way today, if the company is gone, the whole family can go drink the northwest wind! I've had enough of you long ago, this time don't play dumb and not sign the papers! Qiqi is still young and can't afford to be delayed. I'll spare you some money for the sake of you serving my mother on her deathbed, you take it and leave! Don't even think about the house!"

In fact, Mother Qiao had long known that he was keeping a mistress outside, the one named Qiqi, the accountant in the company. The two were hooking up; at first, they were hiding it, but later in the company, the other party didn't hide it at all. When Mother Qiao wasn't there, she acted as the boss's wife. It was estimated that Father Qiao had promised her he would divorce, and she couldn't wait.

Mother Qiao had known about this for a long time, but had turned a blind eye from beginning to end. Now that she was being humiliated on the table, she smiled and kept crying, gritting her teeth not only with hatred but also with resentment.

The old lady hadn't made things difficult for her with her mother-in-law's airs while she was alive, but in the end, only she served the old lady by bringing her excrement and urine. This man who claimed to be a great filial son rarely came to take a look. Qiao Songfan had pursued her very enthusiastically before marriage, making her, a divorcee, feel very ashamed. She didn't expect that this man would change completely after marriage. Later, she found out that he had been diagnosed with infertility long ago. The previous object of marriage had dumped him, but the old lady was pushing hard, so he just found someone to marry.

Mother Qiao was strong-willed, coming from a small place, and had been divorced and despised. If she divorced again, she felt she would never be able to hold her head up in the future.

So even if her married life was unsatisfactory, she endured it in every way. The whole Qiao family looked down on Mother Qiao, feeling that she brought two burdens with her, and mocked Father Qiao for being a cheap father, so they squeezed her out in the open and in secret. Mother Qiao suffered, managed things inside and out, and was high-spirited. With nowhere to vent her anger, she held it in her heart. Over time, she became very vicious, and her good looks from her youth were gone, especially when she saw her daughter, she felt angry and was often impatient. Plus, the old lady favored boys over girls, so she let Jiming go to please the old lady more, while Qiao Suisui was timid when she was young, didn't like to talk, and would cry at every turn. The Qiao family didn't like girls to begin with, and she, as a mother, also felt she had no face, so when Qiao Suisui cried, she became even more annoyed. She added all her own dissatisfactions to the weak child. Over the years, it became a habit, as if this way had become a vent.

With a 'bang', Father Qiao slammed the door and left.

Mother Qiao sat withered on the ground wiping tears, and when she looked up, she saw Qiao Jiming standing at the bedroom door. His expression was very cold, so cold that even Mother Qiao felt a little trembling.

"Jiming, help me up..."

Qiao Jiming stood at the door without moving.

At first, he would stand up for Mother Qiao and comfort her, but over time, Qiao Jiming felt annoyed. Such a man, why not leave? Why always cling to face and repeatedly let himself fall into humiliation?

At this moment, he said expressionlessly: "Just sign it this time. I've already been recommended for admission, and I will earn money to support you and my sister later."

Mother Qiao was startled, her eye sockets aching painfully. She gritted her teeth: "I won't divorce. He wants to dump me just like that, no way! Then what have these years counted for! What has my contribution counted for! Why did I become a joke in the end?"

Qiao Jiming closed his eyes, sighed, and gave a sarcastic smile: "Then aren't you a joke right now?"

He turned and left, feeling that he couldn't stay in this house for a single moment, but heard Mother Qiao roaring behind him: "I didn't raise you for you to talk back to me! One or two, your wings have hardened, right! If I hadn't adopted you back then, could you have school to attend? Could you have food to eat?"

Mother Qiao said cruel words while crying, but regretted it extremely the second after she said them. Qiao Jiming was the son of her good friend. The couple died in a car accident back then, and both parents were gone. In the end, only she was willing to help, temporarily taking the month-old Qiao Jiming to raise. But she had already communicated with a distant relative of Qiao Jiming at the time, letting them adopt him. It was only later that she learned from Qiao Songfan that the old lady liked grandsons, so she had other thoughts, saying Qiao Jiming was her son.

Now, the youth in front of her had grown so tall at some point. His back was very straight, and at this moment, without looking back, he said in a calm tone: "I know, so I won't ignore you. I will support you until you are old, the only condition is, don't go bother my sister again."

After speaking, he left with big strides. In this house, in the end, only Mother Qiao was left alone.

A few days later, Qiao Suisui was attending class at school as usual. When class ended, the students were bustling out. Suddenly, a shabbily dressed man appeared at the classroom door. Seeing Qiao Suisui come out, he knelt straight in front of her.

"Child, give your father a way to live."

The person who came was Qiao Songfan.

He deliberately used this way of pretending to be pitiful to force Qiao Suisui to help him.

For a time, students in the hallway, in the classroom, and even from other departments crowded around to watch the fun. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Qiao Suisui, whispering constantly, and some even took out their mobile phones to record.

"Hey, what's going on? What kind of family ethics drama is this?"

"No way, it turns out Qiao Suisui's family conditions are so shabby."

"Ah, is she ignoring her father?"

(End of chapter)