Chapter 44

Qin Jing was about to see Zhao Ying, and Zhenzhen felt nervous the whole way. The moment she got out she ran into a corner and found Chi Shen. "You have to buy a phone today!" When you're terrified there's no time to discuss, it feels unbearable.
"Okay." Chi Shen nodded obediently and didn't ask why.
Zhenzhen sighed and, while Qin Jing parked, told him what had happened. Her thoughts grew ever more chaotic. "What should we do? She's about to meet Zhao Ying and I'm not ready. I don't know how their meeting will go...maybe my mom should go back first, yes, let her go back first..."
In her previous life their first meeting had been when Zhao Ying moved into the Qiao household without so much as a greeting. She would never forget how, when her mother saw Zhao Ying's swollen belly, she locked herself in her room for three days, refusing food and drink, ignoring all pleas. When she finally emerged she looked like a walking corpse.
Then Qiao Jian laid everything out and they divorced. She watched Qin Jing close herself off completely; life withered away from her and in a few short months she aged by more than ten years. And it all began with that first meeting with Zhao Ying.
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. She muttered and was about to go find Qin Jing when Chi Shen took her hand.
When the cool warmth of his hand passed through her fingers, Zhenzhen froze for a moment and, oddly, calmed down.
"...You should take some herbal medicine to warm up, your hands are so cold." He even had the mood to tease.
Chi Shen looked at her earnestly. "It's okay."
"You don't understand..." Zhenzhen sighed. She wanted, like in those slap-in-the-face revenge games, to start taking everyone down from the moment she was reborn. But having watched Qin Jing sink into severe depression and live like a walking corpse for ten years, she simply couldn't bring herself to go that far.
Chi Shen held her gaze steadily. After a moment of eye contact, Zhenzhen sighed. "Alright, I overreacted. It's just...I had a dream once."
She wanted Chi Shen to understand how she felt, so she told him everything that had happened when Qin Jing met Zhao Ying in her past life, as if recounting a dream.
By the time she finished, Qin Jing had already parked and was waiting on the other side of the road for the light to change.
"Now do you understand why I'm scared?" Zhenzhen asked.
Chi Shen was silent for a moment, then shook his head honestly.
Zhenzhen: "..." I'd said all that for nothing.
"It was only a dream. You have to trust Auntie," Chi Shen said.
Zhenzhen touched her nose. Just as she was about to speak, Qin Jing ran over. "Shen Shen, why are you still here? Hurry to class, you're already late. Auntie will go to the office with Zhenzhen."
"Alright, good luck, Auntie," Chi Shen said, then lowered his head and headed back to the classroom.
Qin Jing smiled. Once his figure disappeared she turned to Zhenzhen. "Did you notice? Shen Shen seems to be getting more outgoing, he even just wished me luck."
Zhenzhen tugged at the corner of her mouth and forced a smile in agreement.
Seeing her downcast, Qin Jing mistook it for nerves. Smiling, she took her hand. "What are you afraid of? You have Mom."
Qiao Zhenzhen paused, looked up into her confident eyes, and felt the tension suddenly ease.
"You also have me. No matter what, I'll always support you," Qiao Zhenzhen said earnestly.
Qin Jing smiled. "Reciting lines? That's a bit too formal."
Qiao Zhenzhen chuckled and followed her into the office.
When they arrived, it was morning study time; the office was empty except for the homeroom teacher and the mother-daughter pair, Zhao Ying and her daughter.
The homeroom teacher stepped forward at once. "Sorry to trouble you, Mrs. Qiao. Thank you for coming in person."
"It's nothing, thank you for your trouble, Teacher Zhou," Qin Jing said politely, then turned to Zhao Ying and her daughter.
Zhao Ying gave Zhao Lianqiao a nudge, and with reddened eyes the girl stepped forward. "Auntie, I'm sorry..."
"You're apologizing to the wrong person," Qin Jing said coldly, rejecting the apology outright.
Zhao Lianqiao bit her lip, shot a quick look at Qiao Zhenzhen, then bowed her head. "Zhenzhen, I'm sorry."
Qiao Zhenzhen lifted an eyebrow and didn't respond.
Zhao Lianqiao flushed with embarrassment. Seeing no one to speak for her, she glared sharply at Zhao Ying. Zhao Ying didn't want to get involved, but reluctantly stepped forward. "Qiao Zhenzhen, Mrs. Qiao, please calm down. I've given this brat a good scolding, she won't dare do anything like this again. I'm begging you to show mercy and forgive her this once; she really knows she was wrong."
She fancied herself someone who would one day replace Qin Jing, yet here she was apologizing to her; every word sounded forced and awkward.
The apology was half-hearted, and Qin Jing noticed. She frowned and looked at Teacher Zhou, who returned a helpless expression.
This was a very awkward situation for Teacher Zhou. Qin Jing was the school director's wife, and the Zhao family had members of the school board backing them. Even without knowing who was pulling the strings, the pressure had landed on her; she had to resolve it quickly.
Qin Jing, understanding her difficulty, didn't press Zhao Ying further and simply outlined a solution: "An apology alone won't be enough. If you want us to drop the complaint, you'll need to show some sincerity."
"No problem, no problem, I'll pay whatever you ask." Since Qiao Jian would be the one to pay anyway, Zhao Ying was eager to save face before Qin Jing and promised on the spot.
Qin Jing sized her up from head to toe and, in a supposedly kind tone, said, "I don't think your family is well-off. Better not to boast."
Pfft... Qiao Zhenzhen couldn't help laughing. Noticing everyone looking at her, she quickly composed herself.
Her mother wasn't the type to look down on the poor; that remark was clearly meant to embarrass Zhao Lianqiao and her mother. Sure enough, as soon as the words left her mouth, the pair's faces flushed an ugly, deep red.
"Mrs. Qiao Zhenzhen, how can you look down on people like that? I may not dress as well as you, but that doesn't mean my family is poor," Zhao Ying ground out. Then, thinking of something, she put a hand on her hip and boasted, "I'm a little along, you might not be able to tell, but I'm already two months pregnant..."
"Mom! Why would you say that in front of the teacher!" Zhao Lianqiao snapped, her face changing as she hurried to stop her. Aside from Qiao Jian's warning, not to alert Qin Jing until he'd transferred all his assets, she didn't want word of the pregnancy spreading before Zhao Ying married Qiao Jian. She wanted to replace Qiao Zhenzhen with dignity, not be known as the daughter of a mistress who'd climbed up through an affair.
Zhao Ying realized her mistake, coughed, and fell silent. Qiao Zhenzhen shot the mother and daughter a cold look, pure disdain in her eyes. Qin Jing turned and happened to meet that expression.
Qiao Zhenzhen paused, then said casually, "Mom, hurry up and settle this. I have to get back to class."
"Yes, yes, we wouldn't want to interrupt the child's studies!" Zhao Ying quickly agreed.
Qin Jing smiled. "All right, I won't beat around the bush. I checked with a lawyer: if we sue, the compensation would be 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, plus a handwritten apology pinned to the forum for seven days, and a public apology in front of the entire school. I'm not asking much, just follow these terms."
"No problem, no problem, I'll give you 100,000!" Zhao Ying heard it was just an apology and money and agreed readily. To vent the earlier slight, she even threw in another fifty thousand.
Qin Jing showed no sign of surprise and looked to Qiao Zhenzhen. "What do you think?"
"Fine." Qiao Zhenzhen had no objection, an extra fifty thousand would see her through a year.
At the thought of handwriting an apology and having to apologize in front of the whole school, Zhao Lianqiao felt humiliated and tears welled in her eyes. As she began to plead, Qin Jing added, "Also, transfer schools."
Zhao Lianqiao snapped her head up. "What?!"
"Transfer, or be expelled according to school rules, it's your choice," Qin Jing smiled. "Sorry, I really don't feel comfortable having my daughter in the same school as someone who schemes like that."
Zhao Ying was taken aback, but thought a transfer was a small price to settle things quickly. Just as she was about to agree, Zhao Lianqiao protested immediately: "I won't!"
She had already lost face at this school. If she left now, she'd be a complete failure. Even if she later movedd into the Qiao family, she'd never be able to hold her head up before the students and teachers here. She had to stay to clear her name.
"You little brat, I don't care if you want to or not, haven't you caused enough trouble?!" Zhao Ying yelled and reached to strike her. Zhao Lianqiao stepped back to block her hand, and the mother and daughter began tearing at each other in the office.
Zhao Ying's face flushed with anger as she was about to strike again. Zhao Lianqiao suddenly panicked: "If I'm not at this school anymore, will you be any better off?!
Zhao Ying froze. She suddenly realized that if her daughter stayed, she could keep an eye on Qiao Zhenzhen and Qin Jing; if they left, the mother and daughter would be in the dark. Having thought it through, she instantly calmed and even reached out to straighten Zhao Lianqiao's hair.
Qin Jing couldn't make sense of their words; she only felt that Zhao Ying's temper flared and died down as quickly as it came, almost like someone unhinged. Just as she was thinking whether they should move to a safer place to talk, a knock came at the door. Everyone in the room froze, and the homeroom teacher said, "Come in."
The door opened to reveal Qiao Jian. He gave an awkward smile as he stepped in. "I came to check on things, how's the discussion going?"
When Qin Jing and Qiao Zhenzhen had left the room he went straight to the school. Worried that a confrontation might break out while he wasn't there and his beloved son might get hurt, he had waited and waited for them to finish. When they didn’t come out, his anxiety got the better of him and he had to come see for himself.
Qin Jing frowned when she saw him appear unexpectedly. She was about to ask why he was at the school when she glanced over and saw Zhao Ying give a sigh of relief. Zhao Lianqiao, at the sight of Qiao Jian, showed an abnormal excitement in that instant.
It was as if they'd found a strong supporter. Seeing Qiao Zhenzhen shift from calm to instantly alert, Qin Jing began to piece things together.