Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Her Past Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Her Past The person was Yao Jian.

As An Jinhua’s secretary, he kept a low profile, and if one did not pay careful attention, it was easy to overlook his presence.

Qiao En immediately took out her phone and snapped a photo.

Earlier, Qiao En had bumped into him with Su Nian, the two behaving intimately, their relationship appearing extraordinary, but now, he was entangled with Zhang Xiaoxia.

Qiao En felt as if her mind was tangled in a mess, impossible to sort out.

Why did these two seemingly unrelated women both have connections with Yao Jian?

Qiao En was perplexed beyond measure.

The priority was to stop Qiao De from being with Zhang Xiaoxia.

Conspiracy, everything was a conspiracy.

Su Nian lurked in the shadows, elusive. She never dared to reveal herself, but under the guise of Qiao En, she had done quite a few things. What did she want to do? No one knew. But one thing Qiao En knew was that she definitely wanted to destroy her.

So, what about this Zhang Xiaoxia?

Why was Qiao De determined to marry a woman who frequented entertainment venues? Qiao En had asked him numerous times, but he always remained silent. What then was the truth? What exactly was the truth?

A string of question marks flooded toward Qiao En from all directions.

She felt a dark pond ahead, eager to engulf her.

Midway, she switched buses and rushed directly to Qiao De’s dormitory.

It was already very late, the dormitory door was closed. Qiao En found the dorm supervisor, lied about a family emergency, and thanks to his warmheartedness, he helped her call Qiao De down from the dormitory.

However, seeing Qiao En again, Qiao De turned impatiently to leave.

Qiao En quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm, “Ah De, tell me, is someone threatening you? Or did they set you up to take out high-interest loans?”

Qiao En spoke quickly, anxiety shimmering in her bright eyes.

She was eager to learn the truth from Qiao De’s lips.

In this battle, she fought against many from the start, and she never really had a chance of winning. Those people hid in the shadows; they had united to ensure Qiao En would forever be mired in muck.

She almost resigned herself to fate, but ultimately, she refused to bow down to destiny.

“What exactly do you want?”

Qiao De became angry and forcefully pushed Qiao En away, his youthful face contorted with pain and frustration.

“Ah De, haven’t you always wanted to study abroad? I’ll find a way for you, can you go abroad as soon as possible?”

Fleeing, perhaps, was the only solution Qiao En could think of at that time.

But when Qiao De heard this, he just let out a cold laugh.

“Study abroad? Why should I go and study abroad? When I wanted to go, you guys didn’t help me. Now that I don’t want to, you’re asking me to go. Do you think I am some playdough to be molded however you want? Qiao En, I’m telling you, I won’t listen to you anymore. Tomorrow, I will go through the procedures to drop out of school, I am going to marry Xiaoxia, give her a grand wedding, and have a bunch of children with her. I want to live an ordinary life.”

He vented a lot, but to Qiao En, all these comments sounded incredibly naive and ridiculous.

She really wanted to help Qiao De, but he pushed her away time and time again.

Qiao En took a deep breath, striving to calm herself.

“Ah De, I’m going to ask you one more time, do you really want to marry that woman?”

“Of course.”

Qiao De answered resoundingly.

“She’s involved with other men outside, do you know?”

Qiao En really didn’t want to bring up this matter, as Qiao De was a man, and she wanted to preserve some dignity for him.

But she thought too much about it.

Qiao En’s words seemed to be known to Qiao De already, as he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Xiaoxia’s job nature is special, and it’s inevitable that she interacts with all sorts of men. But what of that? No matter what job she has, I respect her choices. Even if she becomes an escort, I still would marry her.”

With that said, there was nothing more for Qiao En to persuade.

“If there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”

Qiao De didn’t look at Qiao En again and walked toward the dormitory.

“Ah De, about that concert ticket…”

That issue was in the past, but it was like a thorn stuck between Qiao En and Qiao De.

Nobody had mentioned it, but both knew it well.

Qiao En had barely started speaking when Qiao De harshly interrupted her, “I don’t want to hear any explanations.”

He yelled loudly and then ran away faster.

People often say that family bonds are inseparable.

But a concert ticket had made Qiao De forget everything Qiao En had done for him, bitterness grew in his heart, blinding him.

When Qiao En returned home, Qiao’s mother had already tidied up everything possible in the house.

“En ya, find me a car tomorrow. I will move the stuff back to the countryside first, tidy up that house, and once you and Ah De are both married, your dad and I will leave.”

This house was bought by Qiao En not long after she entered Nanchen as a retirement home for the two of them. She thought that from then on, their family would finally have a refuge in this city.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye; all her efforts turned to naught.

“Okay.”

Qiao En replied with a single word.

She respected Qiao De’s choice, just as she respected the decisions of Qiao’s father and mother.

In this family, only she was an outsider, even if she bore the family name, the blood that flowed in her veins was ultimately not the same.

That night, Qiao En missed her biological parents for the first time immensely. Where were they? Why had they abandoned her all those years ago? Over the years, had they ever thought of her? Had they tried to find her?

She had many questions in her heart, but Qiao En didn’t know whom to ask.

The next morning, Qiao’s mother urged Qiao En to contact the movers.

“Mom, you don’t really need to rush to move back.”

While helping to load things onto the truck, Qiao En said.

Qiao’s mother was quick and efficient in her work, “It’s better to move everything earlier, I can go back and tidy up the old house.”

Two hours later, they set off for their old home.

Throughout the journey, neither mother nor daughter spoke. Qiao En was preoccupied, while her mother was immersed in the urgency of moving.

The country house was on the outskirts of a small town, in an old dormitory building allotted by Qiao’s father’s school.

The dormitory building was old, only three stories high, with over twenty units on each floor, each unit comprising a single room. Toilets and showers were communal, and cooking could only be done in the corridor.

The conditions of the old house were poor, cold in winter and hot in summer, not really suitable for living.

Close to noon, their vehicle stopped in front of the Tube Building, and Qiao’s mother, carrying a bag, briskly started moving things upstairs.

The small room where Qiao En’s family lived was on the third floor. By the time Qiao En got there, her mother had already opened the door.

The ceiling was covered in cobwebs, and the furnishings inside remained as they were when they moved out three years ago—broken tables, chairs, a simple fabric sofa. Everywhere she looked was covered in dust.

Qiao’s mother was cleaning with a feather duster, coughing continuously from the dust she stirred up.

“Mom, let me rent a new apartment for you.”

Qiao En suggested.

Qiao’s mother quickly refused, “It’s quite good here once it’s cleaned up. Back then, our family of four lived here without complaining about the cramped space. Now, both you and Ah De are about to start your own families. It’s just your father and I here, this place is good enough.”

Qiao’s mother had a resilient spirit; she soon had the room tidied up.

Qiao En helped her put things back in place, covered the sofa with a slipcover, and laid a mattress and duvet on the bed.

Memories seemed to slowly revive. When she was young, their family was poor, but Qiao En never felt it was hard. Their hearts gathered together, and that was the warmest place in the world.

But now…

“Mom, where is our old photo album?”

Qiao En remembered that they had always kept a photo album at home, filled with many photos of her and Qiao De as children.

Perhaps because she had thought of her biological parents the night before, Qiao En suddenly wanted to look at those photos.

“It’s in the box under the bed.”

Busy with her work, Qiao’s mother had a good memory; she could always remember where things were placed, no matter how much time had passed.

Qiao En bent down to pull out the old wooden chest from under the bed and wiped the dust off the outside of the chest with a wet cloth.

The chest wasn’t locked, and Qiao En easily opened it.

However, as she searched through the chest, she did not find the photo album her mother had mentioned.

“Huh, how can it not be here? I clearly remember, that photo album was right in this chest.”

Seeing Qiao En didn’t find it, her mother put down what she was doing and came over to search herself.

But, despite searching over and over again, the album remained missing.

“Never mind, let’s stop looking if we can’t find it. I’m hungry, mom, let’s go out and eat something.”

Qiao En proposed, and since her mother was also hungry, they locked the door and went out.

Just as they reached the downstairs, Qiao’s mother unexpectedly found the album in the trash bin at the stairway entrance.

“Isn’t this our family’s photo album? How did it end up here?”

Qiao’s mother picked it up and dusted it off.

She opened the album and began looking through it page by page.

All the photos related to Qiao En were gone.

“Mom, where are my photos?”

Qiao En also noticed the peculiarity, her expression suddenly becoming tense as she took the album from her mother’s hands and flipped through it from start to finish.

Gone, all gone.

Solo photos, graduation photos, family portraits… any photo that included her was missing.

“Yes, how could your photos be missing?”

Qiao’s mother was also puzzled.

Just then, a person suddenly came out of the washroom, carrying a laundry basin and walking towards them.

“Jinhua Auntie, you still live here? Haven’t moved, eh?”

Qiao’s mother recognized her immediately.

Jinhua Auntie was an old resident of the Tube Building, and before Qiao En’s family had moved away, the two families had been quite close.

“De’s mom, have you moved back in?”

Jinhua Auntie greeted Qiao’s mother, but soon, her gaze shifted to Qiao En with surprise.

“En ya, wasn’t this what you lost last night? I advised you at that time, the photo album, your parents treasure it, but you just wouldn’t listen. Look, didn’t I tell you so!”