"He complained to us that his daughter was disobedient and not close to them, and that it was better to have an adopted daughter," Old Wei said.
"I know that. If I hadn't watched the live stream, I really wouldn't have known they had a biological daughter."
"You know that her biological daughter is named Qiao Zaoyao."
Qiao Yingzhuo's face turned pale; he seemed to realize what he had said at their house that day.
"I know. I initially thought the name Qiao Zaoyao sounded nice, but I never expected it to have such a malicious meaning." The colleague also felt uncomfortable after learning about it.
“I never understood what it meant, but Qiao Yingzhuo was in a bad mood that day. He came to my house to drink, and he only said it when he was drunk.”
He said he consulted a fortune teller who said his daughter was blocking his son's path, and that he could only have a son if she died.
"He said it very sincerely, but she just wouldn't die."
Old Wei recalled the scene: "My wife and I got goosebumps on our backs. My wife had said before that Qiao Yingzhuo was a bad person, but I didn't believe it."
He sighed deeply: "How can I trust someone who isn't even good to his own daughter to do anything right at work?"
“You’re right, I’ll have less contact with him in the future.”
"I heard that Qiao Yingzhuo's biological daughter is doing well in school. If she can get into a good school this time, she will finally be free from this misery," Old Wei said with emotion.
“My wife works at a hospital. She once saw this child go to get an IV drip by herself. Pneumonia should require hospitalization, but she didn’t have that much money and no one to take care of her.” Old Wei shook his head. “I heard that the girl earned that money herself by working.”
"Wow, Lao Wei earns quite a bit in a month..." The two voices carried further and further away.
Qiao Yingzhuo, who was in the restroom, finally dared to come out. He hadn't expected that the reason why people in the company were so indifferent to him was this, nor had he expected that Lao Wei would cut off all contact with him because of a single sentence.
He lost interest in work in the afternoon and made an excuse to go home, only to find his wife crying.
The couple, one weeping and the other silent, finally asked each other after a long while, "Back then, Yaoyao's child was born with high hopes from both of us. How did things change afterward?"
"I don't know." Qiao Yingzhuo's mind was blank; he didn't know why either.
Now that I think about it carefully, they took good care of the child after she was born, so why were they so harsh on her?
"What did Yaoyao say when you went to see her today?"
"She still won't forgive us, and I think she really doesn't want to see me again." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again.
Qiao Yingzhuo stood up: "I'll go find her. You apologize to her, and I'll cover her tuition fees from now on."
"Don't go," Li Wenxiang called out to Qiao Yingzhuo. "If you don't want the child to continue hating us, then go."
"Then what am I supposed to do? What about my reputation? Now everyone in the company is saying I abused my daughter, but it was clearly you who did it!" Qiao Yingzhuo pointed at Li Wenxiang and said, "Why can't you treat everyone equally? How am I supposed to go to the company after this?"
Li Wenxiang looked up in surprise, then burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, my fault?"
She glared at Qiao Yingzhuo with resentment, a look that made the weak man Qiao Yingzhuo take a step back.
Li Wenxiang said, "It is indeed my fault. I am a vicious woman, but what kind of good man are you, Qiao Yingzhuo? You were the one who whispered in my ear that Qiao Zaoyao was not a boy and that she was blocking our son's path. Didn't you say that?"
"Me!" Qiao Yingzhuo was speechless; he had indeed said it.
"Neither you nor I are good people, this is our retribution, Qiao Yingzhuo, this is the retribution we deserve."
The day Qiao Zaoyao received her Tsinghua University admission letter, she felt like she was dreaming. In front of Sun Feifei, she pinched herself hard.
Sun Feifei said with a smile, "Congratulations on your hard-won success and transformation."
Qiao Zaoyao burst into tears upon hearing this. Only she knew how difficult the journey had been; she had persevered through gritted teeth and tears.
Over the next two days, she dealt with school matters. Because of her good grades, the school awarded her 100,000 yuan, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about tuition fees during her studies.
Qiao Zaoyao thought for a moment and bought Teacher Sun a small gift, which Sun Feifei accepted without hesitation—an overly pink thermos.
Qiao Zaoyao said, "Teacher, I'm going to Beijing at the end of the month. The restaurant where I'm currently working will take some time to pay me back at the end of the month. Once I get to Beijing, I'll find a place to work as soon as possible."
Sun Feifei looked at Qiao Zaoyao and said, "Actually, you don't need to worry about tuition fees now. You can go and enjoy a vacation of your own."
"No need." Qiao Zaoyao shook her head. "Right now, there is no such thing as enjoyment for me. I need to give myself more security."
Sun Feifei understood that she had gone through hardships, so she could only say gently, "Don't overwork yourself; your health is the most important thing."
Qiao Zaoyao nodded vigorously. It was only on the day she left the city that Qiao Yingzhuo learned that his biological daughter had been admitted to Tsinghua University.
He had become a marginal figure in the company, but fortunately they didn't use any underhanded tactics; they simply stopped inviting him to private gatherings.
"Old Joe hasn't congratulated you yet," he suddenly heard Old Wei say.
Now, only Lao Wei and I maintain a semblance of harmony in the company.
"Congratulations to me for what?" Qiao Yingzhuo scoffed inwardly. What good things could possibly happen to him now?
"Your daughter, Qiao Zaoyao, got into Tsinghua University, didn't you know?" Old Wei asked, seeing his confused look.
Qiao Yingzhuo was taken aback: "Tsinghua University?"
He shook his head: "Yaoyao hasn't contacted us for a long time. It turns out she got into Tsinghua University." He was overjoyed. Sure enough, their child was so successful.
He couldn't care about anything else right now. He opened WeChat and found Qiao Zaoyao in the corner.
Old Wei scoffed inwardly, thinking, "What father would go to such lengths to find his daughter's WeChat?"
Qiao Yingzhuo sent a red envelope as soon as he went up, but saw a bright red exclamation mark.
He was even more confused; Yao Yao had blocked him.
Old Wei looked at everything before him and left in silence. He hadn't expected the relationship between the Qiao father and daughter to have become so strained, and the last chat screen on WeChat was empty.
But on Qiao Yingzhuo and Qiao Nianxi's pages, he saw Qiao Nianxi thanking her father.
He used to not believe in supernatural phenomena, but after seeing Qiao Yingzhuo and Qiao Zaoyao, he truly believed in karma.
Qiao Yingzhuo lowered his head, feeling a tightness in his chest. He didn't even know when Yaoyao had blocked him.
With trembling hands, he sent Qiao Zaoyao three words: "I'm sorry," but he was still blocked.
If Qiao Zaoyao knew, she would only mock how hypocritical those three words were.
She knew that after she left that city, Li Wenxiang and Qiao Yingzhuo had nothing to do with her anymore, but they would stay with Li Wenxiang and Qiao Yingzhuo forever, and she would get better and better.
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