Chapter 903: Will Not Acknowledge the Fictive Kinship
The Feng family was Shi Qing's maternal grandfather's family, not hers.
She had a maternal grandfather's family too. However, her mother had already severed all ties with them.
She was not even going to meet her own maternal grandparents who were still alive. Wouldn't it be funny if she were to meet Shi Qing's maternal grandparents instead?
Qiao Nan went out and bought some basic necessities at a small stall nearby. She also bought a cup of instant noodles.
When Qiao Nan was in Ping Cheng, she would dry and make preserved vegetables on her own. As she was going to study in college, Qiao Nan brought along a few bottles of such preserved vegetables. Now, it could be put to good use.
After filling her tummy with a bowl of noodles, Qiao Nan then returned Brother Zhai Sheng's call. "Brother Zhai, it's me."
"Have you settled everything in the house?"
"Almost." Qiao Nan was sitting down and resting
"Where's the Feng family?" At the thought of the words that he had heard before he hung up the phone, Zhai Sheng's face turned sullen. He did not sound happy either.
Needless to explain, Qiao Nan was also aware that Zhai Sheng was not unhappy with her. "That's Shi Qing's second eldest cousin. I think he is called Feng Meng. Brother Zhai, don't need to bother too much about it. The Feng family is Shi Qing's relatives, not mine. I won't come into contact with the Feng family in the future."
After hearing Qiao Nan's words, Zhai Sheng's expression looked more at ease. "That's good too. The Feng family... is a little complicated. Please don't be influenced by Shi Qing."
Zhai Sheng knew a little about the Feng family. From a personal perspective, he could understand the Feng family's behavior. However, if he were close to them, he would not be able to understand or forgive them.
One had to assess for themselves what was right and wrong.
Zhai Sheng had never spoken about the Feng family in front of Shi Qing. However, he did not want Qiao Nan to be brainwashed by what Shi Qing said about the Feng family.
"Brother Zhai, don't worry. I know." Qiao Nan nodded. It was expected that there was nothing pure and simple in the social circle that Shi Qing was living in.
"I may make a trip to the capital in the near future. I will look for you then." Regardless, the Feng family's matter was a problem. Zhai Sheng would not feel assured if he did not go over and take a look at the situation.
"Is it because of work or personal matter?" If it was the latter, then there was no need for him to come.
Whether the Feng family was good or not did not have anything to do with her. As long as she did not provoke them, they would not waste their time and energy to target a student like her who was still schooling.
Zhai Sheng smiled gently. "It's pertaining to work. Most likely, my parents will be going as well."
Qiao Nan counted her fingers. "The bimillennium national day celebration?"
"Yes." The national day was a major occasion. Of course, the Zhai family had to go to the capital.
Initially, Zhai Sheng was injured and it would suffice that only Zhai Yaohui attended. Zhai Sheng's presence did not matter.
In the past, in order to keep a low profile, Zhai Sheng never attended this kind of event unless it was necessary. The headquarters of the Zhai family was in Ping Cheng while that of the Feng family was in the capital.
Of course, Zhai Sheng himself did not come into much contact with the Feng family.
This time, he wanted to attend because he wanted to give Qiao Nan backing and support.
The reason the Feng family disliked Qiao Nan was not important. Most importantly, he had to make the Feng family understand that Nan Nan was his fiancée and she was the daughter-in-law acknowledged by the Zhai family.
If the Feng family's style of behavior had not changed, then could they please keep their feelings to themselves and hide them silently in their hearts? As long as they could bear in mind Nan Nan's status and treat her with due courtesy on the surface, that would be enough.
Basically, the Feng family and the Zhai family did not have much interaction with each other and were on average terms. It was fine that they just maintain a 'hi and bye' relationship.
If the Feng family dared to bully the Zhai family because they were based in Ping Cheng and plot against or be rude to Nan Nan, then this time, the Zhai family would teach the Feng family a lesson.
When he thought of Feng Meng's ugly words, Zhai Sheng still felt quite unjustified. He was trying to contain his anger.
Feng Meng was a grown-up man, yet he was so petty and said such things to a young lady. Feng Meng's attitude also represented the Feng family's attitude toward Nan Nan.
The Feng family in Beijing had to target a young lady who had just been admitted to college. If words were to spread around, wouldn't the Feng family be afraid of being a laughingstock?
The more that was so, the more Zhai Sheng had to go to the capital.
Very soon, Shi Peng heard about this decision of Zhai Sheng.
Shi Peng sighed. He had not advised Qing Qing much regarding the Feng family. He hoped that Qing Qing could sort out her thoughts on this through her own effort.
The situation of the Shi family was already so complicated. The old master in his family was so muddleheaded. Would the clever Feng family not be aware of this?
Regardless of how much the Feng family doted on Feng Cheng, this daughter, didn't they still marry Feng Cheng to him and let her become the daughter-in-law of the Shi family? As such, the maternal granddaughter of the Feng family also became the granddaughter of the Shi family.
The old master of his family was a little muddleheaded but the good thing was that the interpersonal relationships of the Shi family were very simple.
The difference between the Shi family and the Feng family was that the Feng family could be considered rather complex and corrupted. It was like a huge vat of dye. There were diverse characters in the generations of the Feng family. There were all kinds of people.
The most ludicrous thing was that the Feng family had been staying in the capital but they boasted that they were an affluent and powerful family with a profound and deep history. There was also a differentiation between their direct and secondary lines of descent. This resulted in complicated and confusing roots in the huge Feng family.
The more people there were, the more gossip there would be. Naturally, the hearts of the people would become more complex.
Shi Peng had never told Shi Qing about these situations of the Feng family. It would certainly be a great blow to the child if he were to speak badly about her maternal grandfather's family in front of her. In particular, due to Qi Minlan and Qiu Chenxi, Shi Qing had always felt that the relatives from her maternal grandfather's family were very good.
The relatives from the paternal grandfather's family were not good. Moreover, those relatives from the maternal grandfather's side were not good either. In addition, Shi Qing was the only daughter in the family. Since young, she was very smart but she hardly made any friends. Under the pressure of various factors, Shi Peng was worried that Shi Qing would become rebellious if she could not take this well.
Now, Shi Qing had grown up and had the ability to assess for herself. She had also begun to come into contact with these matters where there was a fine line between right and wrong. Shi Peng might as well let go of his hands and take a gamble. He allowed Shi Qing to interact with the Shi family and grow up after suffering some setbacks.
As a college student and an adult, it was also time for his daughter to grow up.
"Zhai Sheng, are you really going to the capital? You should know that if both your father and you support Qiao Nan, the Feng family will change their attitude. Are you sure that this won't backfire?" Shi Peng gave Zhai Sheng a phone call and reminded him not to do the wrong things despite having good intentions.
There would not be much impact if the Feng family continued to detest Qiao Nan. After all, the Feng family would not do any bad things to Qiao Nan.
However, if the Feng family were to fully understand the status and influence of Qiao Nan in the Zhai family, they would certainly make use of Qing Qing's relationship with Qiao Nan to get close to the latter. "If we're careless, perhaps Qiao Nan will have another fictive family? Do you understand?"
Zhai Sheng, who was in the midst of removing his stitches, replied nonchalantly, "Do you think that Nan Nan will be similar to your daughter? The people from your Feng family are too complacent. They have forgotten the initial difficulties that they faced when they first started out in the capital. The saying of thriving in times of calamity and death in times of pleasure is very true. Now, the Feng family can only play such cheap tricks. It is hard to find someone that is truly capable and down-to-earth in the family."