Chapter 142: Time Reveals a Person’s Heart

Qiao Zijin was such a tattletale. She added fuel to the flames and ‘ratted on’ Qiao Nan.

“Alright, don’t mention this anymore. It makes my blood boils. Let’s hurry to the hospital. We would not want Qiao Nan to be the only one by your dad’s side when he wakes up later. If that really happens, your dad will definitely side with Qiao Nan and will only have eyes for her. If that comes to pass, you can forget about being in his good graces in the future.”

“You’re right, Mom. Let’s run there.” They dared not take any form of transport to the hospital as there was no money at home. They could only go there on foot.

By the time they ran all the way to the hospital, it was eight in the morning.

The first question Ding Jiayi asked Qiao Nan when she reached the hospital was, “Has your dad woken up?”

“No.”

“Phew, that’s not bad.” Ding Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Old Qiao had not woken up, Zijin still had a chance.

“Not bad?” Qiao Nan asked in disbelief. “Mom, what is good with Dad’s condition now?!”

“When did I say it’s good? I said it’s still early. The doctor said he must be under observation for twenty-four hours, so it’s still early.” Ding Jiayi denied having said ‘not bad’. “Alright, you have looked after your dad through the night. Your sister and I will take over from here. You can go back to rest.”

“Why would you ask me to take a rest again? Are both of you very sure that you can do a good job and look after my dad?! You had better not fall asleep and fail to inform the doctor when my dad shows signs of relapsing!”

“What do you mean?” Ding Jiayi paused momentarily and looked at Qiao Zijin. “Zijin, what happened? Why did your dad go into the operating room again?”

Qiao Zijin felt a twinge of embarrassment and gave Qiao Nan a slight push. “I was too tired yesterday. I am well rested today, so there will not be any errors. Besides, Mom will be here with me. You do not have to worry. You had better worry about yourself.” They still did not know where Qiao Nan borrowed the money from. Anyway, their mother had said that whoever borrowed the money would have to return it themselves.

To think that Qiao Nan still wanted to continue with her studies... Dream on!

Not waiting for Qiao Nan to reject, Qiao Zijin gave Qiao Nan a hard push and closed the door shut as soon as Qiao Nan left the ward. “Qiao Nan, have a good rest at home, Mom and I will look after Dad. There will be no problem.”

Qiao Zijin leaned against the door, preventing Qiao Nan from opening the door and entering the room. She talked to her from the other side of the door.

After staying up the whole night, Qiao Nan was no match for Qiao Zijin.

After being pushed out of the room and having the door closed on her, Qiao Nan really wanted to give Qiao Zijin a good thrashing. If Qiao Zijin was not her biological sister, she wished she could chop Qiao Zijin with a kitchen knife.

But this was the hospital. Qiao Nan did not want to create a din lest she disturbed other patients.

Qiao Zijin did not care about disgracing herself, Qiao Nan did. She would not behave brazenly at the hospital. She could only leave and go back home to rest.

Qiao Zijin smiled when she heard Qiao Nan walked away. Qiao Nan was no match for her.

“Has she left?” Ding Jiayi, who was watching by the side, did not try to stop Qiao Zijin. In fact, she looked favorably on it.

“Left for home. I am her sister, and she had stayed up through the night. I have her best interests at heart, and I wanted her to go back to have a good rest. She should thank me for that. Why shouldn’t she leave?” Qiao Zijin snorted proudly. “I am a good sister.”

“Alright, you can knock it off in front of me. Hurry up, you should rub at your eyes and make it red. You should have seen how Qiao Nan looked just now. Look at you. If you tell your dad that you stayed up all night, he will not believe you. Don’t forget that your dad was once a scout in the army.” Ding Jiayi remembered that her husband used to be a scout in the army.

“You’re right. Oh, why are there a basin and a towel here? It’s perfect. I can get some hot water, soaked the towel with it, and placed it on my eyes.” Qiao Zijin took the towel and basin and went to get the hot water.

Ding Jiayi sat down, feeling slightly weary. She looked at Qiao Dongliang and sighed. “Old Qiao, you must get well soon. The Qiao family cannot do without you. Zijin cannot do without you. You said that you want to take in a husband for Zijin. We would still need to buy a house in the future. All of us are depending on you.”

She had to work to realize that earning money was not an easy task.

Yesterday, her boss found out she skipped work and made her worked all night long. Ding Jiayi had to admit that she was advanced in years and could no longer do manual work. Besides, the job was too tiresome. She missed the days when she was still a housewife.

After the incident yesterday, Qiao Zijin took great care in looking after Qiao Dongliang. Ding Jiayi made use of the free time and took a nap by the side of the bed.

When it was noontime, Qiao Zijin finally had a rest and poured a drink for herself. She noticed that Qiao Dongliang’s eyelids were twitching. “Dad... Dad, are you awake?”

“What? Is Old Qiao awake?” Ding Jiayi, who was asleep, heard her words and woke up immediately. “Old Qiao?”

Qiao Dongliang, who had slept for a whole day, fluttered his eyelids and opened his eyes slowly. He opened his mouth and said in a dry, hoarse voice, “Yes.”

“Old Qiao, you have finally woken up!” Ding Jiayi’s worries and fears dissipated the moment Qiao Dongliang opened his eyes and made a sound. “Old Qiao, you gave us such a big fright this time. If anything happens to you, how are Zijin and I going to survive?”

Qiao Dongliang tried to move his lips with difficulty, his throat was very dry.

Qiao Zijin noticed that Qiao Dongliang looked like he wanted to lick at his lips and asked, “Dad, are you thirsty? Let me pour you a drink.”

By the time she poured the drink, she realized Qiao Dongliang was injured and could not move. He was lying flat on the bed. She had no idea how to feed him the water. “Mom, Dad wants to have a drink. How... how am I supposed to do it?”

“Do it slowly.” Ding Jiayi was clueless as well. She had no experience in taking care of patients. She could only hold Qiao Dongliang’s head steady to help Qiao Zijin with the feeding.

In the end, Qiao Dongliang ended up not having any water at all. All the water dripped out and his collar was wet from the water. Qiao Zijin could not help but feel embarrassed.

“Dad, I... I am sorry.”

“Zijin, don’t be anxious. It’s alright. Your dad will not take it to heart.” Ding Jiayi saved her from further embarrassment. “Old Qiao, you must not have known that after you were hit by the car, Zijin was worried sick. Look at her eyes, she stayed with you and cried throughout the night. She did not even sleep a wink. It is as the saying goes: ‘As distance tests a horse’s strength, time reveals a person’s heart’. You should realize by now which daughter is filial to you. As for Qiao Nan, forget about her. I don’t want to talk about her anymore. No matter how heartless she is, I gave birth to her after all. But Zijin is so pitiful and has tired herself out.”

“Mom, I am fine. I am not tired at all. He is my biological dad, so it is my duty to take care of him and wait on him,” Qiao Zijin rushed to answer. “Dad, Nan Nan is still young. She cannot stay up through the night. As her elder sister, I should do more.”