Qiao Nan had to get someone to show her around the capital. As for the expenses, Qiao Nan would have to pay for it. It had nothing to do with her.

  Qiao Nan had to pay for her transport to and fro as well.

  Now that Qiao Nan was married and led a pampered life, she must not forget that her parents were not well-to-do. Since her mother was in the capital, no matter how unwilling she was, Qiao Nan had to fork out some money to take care of her.

  In short, Ding Jiayi had it all planned out. She would make the trip to attend the one-month-old celebration of the triplets. She would use Qiao Nan’s money to prepare gifts for the triplets so that it would look good on the Qiao family. After she was done with feasting and traveling around the capital, she would get another sum of money from Qiao Nan as a token of appreciation.

  Everyone was more than willing to take up such a task.

  Therefore, Ding Jiayi was dying to attend the one-month-old celebration of the triplets and she had to go.

  She would treat it as a compensation for not being able to go to the capital and spend Qiao Nan’s money during the summer break.

  Although Qiao Dongliang could not tell what Ding Jiayi was up to, given her attitude and that they had been married for more than twenty years, he could tell that she must be up to no good. She sounded so happy at the mention of attending the triplets’ one-month-old celebration. She must be thinking of taking advantage of Qiao Nan.

  Otherwise, given that the triplets were Qiao Nan’s babies, Ding Jiayi would definitely be angry and jealous that she had such a good life. Even if she had changed her attitude toward Qiao Nan, she would not feel so thrilled at the thought of going to the capital.

  Qiao Dongliang was unable to attend the one-month-old celebration of the triplets as he had to work and he felt inferior in front of the Zhai family. As for Ding Jiayi, she did not attend because Qiao Dongliang stopped her from going.

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  He might not be able to make it look good on his younger daughter and his grandchildren, but he could not allow Ding Jiayi to make things difficult for them.

  Previously, Qiao Dongliang did not make a phone call to explain to her. He kept silent and felt that things were over and there was no need to bring it up.

  However, now that he made the phone call, Qiao Dongliang wanted to make use of the chance to bring it up and explain to Qiao Nan why he did not go to the capital at the end of October.

  “Dad, say no more. I understand.” Qiao Nan interrupted Qiao Dongliang. She would feel more at ease if her father did not explain to her. She was upset that he waited until now to give her an explanation. “Dad, you must have received the money. Buy more good food for yourself for the Lunar New Year. We will let you know when we will go back to Ping Cheng. I will give you a phone call later. Dad, I have to go. The triplets will be waking up anytime soon. They will cry if I am not around.”

  Qiao Nan hung up the phone without further ado. Qiao Dongliang felt dejected.

  Although Qiao Nan said that she understood, Qiao Dongliang knew that she was angry.

  Qiao Dongliang was in a panic that his daughter was angry with him. Although he felt forlorn, he could do nothing about it. He knew that although he was the father, his younger daughter had the right to be angry with him.

  Qiao Dongliang was helpless with this dead-knot situation.

  “What’s wrong? You look like your mom has just passed away. Did you talk on the phone with the wretched girl? She must have lost her temper at you.” Ding Jiayi noticed that Qiao Dongliang looked gloomy when she walked into the room. She gloated at him and made disdainful remarks. “I have told you long ago what kind of person that wretched girl is, but you refused to listen to me and allowed yourself to be fooled by her. Now that she is leading a good life, she will not remember that her parents are not doing well. No matter how heartbroken you are, she will not be bothered with you.”

  At the mention of this, Ding Jiayi felt as if her heart was dripping blood.

  It was such a waste to get people to send the three golden bangles that were worth a few thousand yuan to the capital.

  The presents that Old Qiao bought might be expensive, but the wretched girl did not appreciate them. If he had extra money to prepare presents for the wretched girl, he should have saved them up to prepare a dowry for Qiao Zijin when she got married.

  Ding Jiayi had many friends. She heard a lot from them about what one needed to prepare when the daughter or the son was getting married. Ding Jiayi already had in mind what she would prepare for Qiao Zijin when she decided on the date and was getting married.

  Ding Jiayi had a lot of ideas in mind. She wanted to give Qiao Zijin a perfect wedding.

  However, she had to wake up to reality.

  Now that she did not have any money and the perfect wedding that she had in mind would require lots and lots of money, Ding Jiayi’s dreams were shattered to pieces.

  Money, money, money!

  Everything needed money.

  She was angry at herself for not being able to print banknotes. They did not have any money, yet Old Qiao wasted the hard-earned money on the wretched girl. If he had the money, he should not waste it on the wretched girl.

  “Now that the wretched girl is leading a good life, she is very stingy with us. It is no wonder people say that rich people are stingy. From the looks of it, she has totally forgotten about her parents who brought her to the world and took care of her. She does not appreciate us for our efforts. Such a heartless girl will suffer retribution sooner or later.”

  Ding Jiayi was getting riled up.

  That day, she made a call to Qiao Nan, telling her the amount of money that Old Qiao spent to buy the golden bangles.

  Ding Jiayi exaggerated the amount spent so that she could stand to gain.

  After the call, Ding Jiayi waited at home for Qiao Nan to send the money to her. After getting the money, she would return the amount that Old Qiao spent on the bangles to him. She would keep the rest of the money for herself so that Old Qiao would not notice that anything was amiss. It would be Qiao Nan’s way of being filial to her.

  In that case, Ding Jiayi would not have any qualms about keeping the extra money.

  She was not worried that Qiao Nan would bring up this matter to Qiao Dongliang. She knew that even if they really talked about this matter, they would not speak of the exact amount. They would only make a passing remark about it.

  To her surprise, Ding Jiayi did not receive a single cent of money. She made the phone call when Qiao Nan was still pregnant with triplets. Qiao Nan had already given birth to them and they were already teething. It seemed as if Qiao Nan had totally forgotten about the phone call.

  Since Ding Jiayi exaggerated the amount of money spent, she was not bold and daring enough to demand the money from Qiao Nan. Furthermore, she had to keep it a secret from Qiao Dongliang. If he discovered it, he would demand an explanation from her. After all the things that happened in the Qiao family, Ding Jiayi was quite fearful of Qiao Dongliang.

  1208 Poor But Generous

  Qiao Nan could not understand what was on Qiao Dongliang’s mind. Ding Jiayi, who stayed under the same roof with Qiao Dongliang, had no idea what her ex-husband was thinking of either.

  Even though it seemed that he understood and finally realized that Qiao Nan was not a good daughter and was willing to stay with Zijin and her, whenever she schemed against Qiao Nan, Qiao Dongliang would be angry with her. He would get into a quarrel with her and ordered her not to do whatever she had in mind.

  But on the other hand, it did not seem that her ex-husband sided with Qiao Nan like before.

  The wretched girl became emboldened after getting married into the Zhai family. She no longer cared about the Qiao family. She placed the interests of the Zhai family above them.

  Now that Old Qiao stayed with her and provided for Qiao Zijin, she knew that the wretched girl must be very displeased with Old Qiao.

  What he did was tantamount to driving a wedge between him and his daughter.

  It could be a simple matter. Ding Jiayi could not understand why Qiao Dongliang made it so complicated. She felt confused. “You are indeed generous to give three golden bangles to them as presents. Did you see that? You spent all the money to prepare the presents for the triplets. Despite knowing that we are not well-to-do, the wretched girl never helps us in any way. She keeps quiet even though you spent such a huge sum of money on the presents. As a man, you need to have some money with you when you are outside. In my opinion, the wretched girl has no regard for you.”

  She had never seen such a heartless child, although she was the person who gave birth to her.

  “Alright, stop calling her as the wretched girl. Regardless of whether Nan Nan is heartless or not, I will support her no matter what her decision is. With a mother like you, if she is ‘with a conscience’, she will be making life difficult for herself. She has to be heartless to people like you. If she is nice to you, it will be a waste of her effort!”

  Ding Jiayi thought that this was the right time to badmouth Qiao Nan. She felt that it was a good opportunity to get Qiao Dongliang to side with her.

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  What Ding Jiayi did not know was that Qiao Nan might be heartbroken that her father was muddleheaded and was disappointed with him, but she was not without a conscience. She knew that she had to take care of her father and she never really left her family in the lurch or severed all ties with them.

  As soon as she received the three golden bangles, Qiao Nan contacted Qiao Dongliang to express her gratitude. She gave him a sum of money, which included the amount of money that he spent on the bangles as well as another sum of money for his personal use.

  It was in the early 2000s. One would usually be paid a few hundred yuan per month.

  Qiao Nan gave Qiao Dongliang more than one thousand yuan. It was equivalent to Qiao Dongliang’s salary for three months. If this was considered as heartless, what about Qiao Zijin, who was two years older than Qiao Nan but still needed Qiao Dongliang to provide for her?

  Qiao Dongliang felt guilty taking money from Qiao Nan.

  Qiao Dongliang’s heart ached and he could not help but blame himself when he learned that Qiao Nan was willing to come to Ping Cheng so that she could visit him. However, she could only stay for a night and had to go back to the capital to take care of her triplets.

  It was all because of him that the younger daughter made such a decision.

  Qiao Dongliang was already heartbroken that Qiao Nan could not stay for a few more days to accompany him, yet Ding Jiayi kept nagging at Qiao Dongliang and badmouthed Qiao Nan.

  Upon hearing Ding Jiayi’s words, Qiao Dongliang felt like giving her a tight slap on her cheeks. However, the Lunar New Year was coming. It was unlucky to get into a fight or quarrel. But if Ding Jiayi was not tactful and kept shooting her mouth off, Qiao Dongliang might not be able to stop himself from slapping her on the cheeks.

  “What are you quarreling about?” Qiao Zijin stayed in the room, idling around. She could not stand the increasing noise outside and came out to check. “The Lunar New Year is coming. Don’t you find it shameful to keep quarreling? The neighbors will be laughing at us. We should have been the happiest family in the quad this Lunar New Year. Now that things have come to this, and the neighbors are waiting to watch a good show, do you intend on getting into a quarrel and becoming the joke of the quad?”

  Nothing went well for Qiao Zijin in the past half a year. It was terrible.

  During summer break, Chen Jun came back with Qiao Zijin from the capital and initiated a breakup.

  Qiao Zijin sensed that Chen Jun might be serious, but she told herself that it was impossible for Chen Jun to break up with her.

  Chen Jun was scheming and he had spent so much money on her. How could he bear to break up with her before he had any returns and give up on getting close to the Zhai family?

  However, after they returned to the capital, she realized that Chen Jun was indeed serious. He did not contact her when they were back in Ping Cheng. Qiao Zijin, who felt insecure, disregarded the fact that she should be demure and took the initiative to call Chen Jun.

  But Chen Jun would not answer her call. Whenever she called the Chen family, it would be the auntie who answered the phone.

  In the past, the auntie at the Chen family would be very polite to her when she answered the phone. However, she was indifferent to her nowadays. She would say that Chen Jun was not at home or that he was outside and was busy.

  In short, Qiao Zijin was not able to meet Chen Jun or go on a date with him. She could not even talk to him on the phone.

  Half a year had passed. Qiao Zijin might be foolish and innocent and wanted to keep deceiving herself, but she knew that Chen Jun was serious about breaking up with her. He was not doing so to keep her on tenterhooks or to give her a scare so that she would behave herself in the future.

  Qiao Zijin was certain that Chen Jun wanted a breakup and wanted to seek another way to success. He no longer wanted to be with her.

  All along, Qiao Zijin was not interested in her studies. Now that Chen Jun broke up with her, it had a drastic impact on her results. She failed in three of her subjects, and she had to retake the exams.

  The problem was that Qiao Zijin had to revise for the subjects that she failed in the semester. The revision period would last for half a year.

  She had to prepare for her exams in the coming semester as well as retake the exams for the subjects that she failed previously.

  It was torture for Qiao Zijin who was not good in her studies.

  When it rained, it poured.

  Everyone was happy that the Lunar New Year was coming. The Qiao family was the only family that was without a moment of peace and quarreled all day long. Qiao Zijin, who had a bad temper, could not help but flare up.

  1209 Compromise

  “why do you keep quarreling? if you can’t stay together under one roof, just go your separate ways. i did not insist that the two of you stay together. since both of you are divorced and have not got back together, you can go back to the way you were last year. i did not stop the two of you from filing a divorce when i was in high school. now that i have grown up and have started dating, i have no need for my parents anymore. don’t make it such that you have to be together for my sake. i won’t accept such excuses!”

  qiao zijin, who had a nasty temper, no longer behaved like the well-behaved and nice girl that she pretended to be. “if you want to maintain the status quo, keep quiet and stop quarreling. if not, scram!”

  qiao zijin was fearless when she told her parents to scram.

  the house that qiao dongliang and qiao nan used to stay in had been taken back by the school. if qiao dongliang left their house, he would be left with no place to stay in.

  qiao zijin no longer needed to worry that qiao dongliang would leave them if he was angry with ding jiayi, and neither did she have to worry that she would have a difficult life ahead.

  right now, if her father provoked her and her mother, he should be worried that they would send him out of the house and he would have to sleep on the road.

  her father must get the facts right. he must be out of his mind to offend her.

  did he think that he still had the final say in this house?

  not only was ding jiayi dumbstruck by qiao zijin’s outburst, but qiao dongliang felt as if he had been struck by lightning as well. he stiffened and did not know how to react. he felt heartbroken at her words. he stared at qiao zijin, widening his eyes in disbelief. he wondered if qiao zijin was telling him to scram.

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  seeing that her parents were shocked at her outburst, qiao zijin cooled down slightly. “alright, it is the lunar new year. let’s not quarrel with each other, shall we? mom, you might be unhappy, but you have to admit that she is doing well now. in the future, stop calling her as the wretched girl. like you said, qiao nan is heartless. she might not treat you nicely even if you try to please her. if you keep scolding her, will she treat you as her mother and listen to you? stop deceiving yourself.”

  now that things had come to this stage, qiao zijin had no other choice but to compromise.

  if she continued to be at loggerheads with qiao nan, it would not have any impact on qiao nan. instead, she would be making life difficult for herself.

  qiao zijin had learned her lesson after chen jun broke up with her.

  “mom, you must remember that we will have good days ahead if qiao nan is willing to acknowledge us and help us occasionally. this applies to you and me. it is useless to have a sharp tongue. will being sharp-tongued help me secure a good job after i graduate? will qiao nan be willing to give money to you?”

  what happened during the summer break was her fault. she was being too obstinate. she only managed to get inside the zhai family’s residence, but the zhai family did not treat her like their relative or ask her to stay for the night.

  it was because of the zhai family’s attitude toward her that made chen jun break up with her despite the fact that he had invested so much money on her.

  if she had a better attitude back then, even if the zhai family did not treat her as their relative, she could behave affectionately to them. given the zhai family’s upbringing, they would not go overboard and reject her. in that case, she believed that chen jun would not have broken up with her.

  after chen jun broke up with her, qiao zijin was able to draw a lesson from her painful experience. she reflected on her mistakes and was able to realize her shortcomings and achilles’ heel.

  her temper and pride were worth nothing if she could not have good days ahead!

  qiao zijin calmed down after she lost her temper at her parents.

  although ding jiayi was no longer as willing to spend money on qiao zijin like before, she would still listen to qiao zijin’s words.

  now that qiao zijin had said so, ding jiayi had no wish to be at loggerheads with qiao nan. ding jiayi had long harbored the thought of basking in qiao nan’s glory and enjoy the benefits that in-laws of the chief would have. it was rare that qiao zijin could sort out her thoughts and was willing to compromise. ding jiayi was glad that she made such remarks.

  qiao dongliang, who did not harbor such greedy thoughts, was dumbfounded by qiao zijin’s words.

  qiao dongliang, who was in good health and had a good posture like a soldier, seemed to have aged in that one minute’s time.

  a man in his forties should be in his prime. that was why there was the saying that men in their thirties were the best.

  however, qiao dongliang looked pale and sickly at the age when he should look his best. he hunched slightly and seemed to have aged ten years in that short time. he seemed to be past his prime.

  “dad, what’s wrong?” qiao dongliang remained silent for a long while. qiao zijin sensed that he was behaving oddly.

  qiao dongliang sighed after a long while. there were mockery and bitterness on his face. “what’s wrong with me? i just feel that i have aged and i can’t keep up with the times and the changes in the way people think. i am old and incapable. i should admit that i have aged and that i can no longer keep a check on so many things. you and nan nan have grown up. you have your own way of thinking and have a mind of your own.”

  “fine. you can do as you please in the future. i won’t give any comments. even if i say anything, no one will listen to me. i am too arrogant and proud of myself. in the end, i am just a joke.”

  “dad, what do you mean by that?” qiao zijin was alarmed. her father sounded strange. “dad, do you want to leave me in the lurch and go back to qiao nan? you are right. qiao nan is the zhai family’s daughter-in-law. back then, both of you were able to live in a big house and had color television and refrigerator in the house even when she had not married zhai sheng. if you stay with her right now, you will have a far better life than before. it is no wonder that you look down on your daughter that has to ask you for money.”

  qiao zijin said all those words in a pique of anger. she was trying to spite qiao dongliang and stop him from going back to qiao nan.

  her boyfriend was no match to qiao nan’s husband. even if chen jun did not break up with her, it was still because of qiao nan that he was in a relationship with her.

  chen jun used to teach her how to behave and act so that the situation would be to her advantage. qiao zijin did not understand the reasons behind them and found it difficult to do as he said. now, qiao zijin finally understood why he did all that.

  she had to make use of qiao dongliang and ding jiayi to be able to bask in qiao nan’s glory, especially qiao dongliang. he was the key person.

  1210 A Vicious Cycle

  when ding jiayi was muddleheaded and qiao nan was almost forced into a dead end, it was qiao dongliang who decided to file for divorce and draw the line with ding jiayi. it was only through a divorce could he stop ding jiayi from scheming against qiao nan.

  if qiao dongliang did not file for a divorce—even if qiao nan would marry zhai sheng eventually—she would have to go through twice as much trouble and difficulties.

  it was due to qiao zijin that ding jiayi treated qiao nan badly.

  therefore, in the entire qiao family, qiao nan would only turn soft-hearted on qiao dongliang.

  qiao zijin could not offend qiao dongliang. instead, she must please him such that he would treat her like how ding jiayi treated her and do his best to help her. she must not lose her father again.

  if she lost his support, qiao nan would definitely rejoice over it.

  “nothing. i am just tired.” qiao dongliang could not be bothered to say anything else. “i will go back to my room to sleep. if i am not wanted in this house and there is no place for me, just let me know. i will find another place to stay. it is the end of the year now. it might not be that easy to rent a place. i will try my best to get a house after the fifteenth day of the lunar new year.”

  his elder daughter had told him to scram!

  it was so ironic!

  true enough, he had failed as a person.

  ding jiayi reacted strongly to qiao dongliang’s words. she stopped him. “zijin is in a bad mood and said all these in a pique of anger. she did not mean it. old qiao, why did you take issue with her? we are one family and you are her father. why did you take her words seriously? zijin is such a good child. she will not think that way. we all know that chen jun has broken up with zijin. we must understand that she is in a bad mood. if we are unable to console her, it will be good for her to vent her frustrations. why did you take issue with her?”

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  they might not have gotten back together, but at the very least, she had qiao dongliang by her side.

  ding jiayi stayed by herself for the past few years. she was left alone at home while her daughter was in school. she no longer wanted to live such a miserable life.

  although they did not get back together, ding jiayi was contented that they stayed under the same roof. she could not take it if qiao dongliang left her.

  “dad, i am sorry. i am in a bad mood. i should not have shot my mouth off and hurt you with those words. dad, i apologize to you. please don’t be angry with me.” qiao zijin, who had sorted out her thoughts, apologized to qiao dongliang right away. she did not find that it was unbearable to make an apology.

  she was apologizing to qiao dongliang. she was not giving in to qiao nan. she was able to swallow her pride to do it.

  furthermore, after sorting out her thoughts, qiao zijin would not hesitate to back down to qiao dongliang or qiao nan.

  since she had taken the first step, it was not difficult to take the second and third steps.

  qiao zijin behaved like a child. she pulled qiao dongliang’s sleeve and acted coquettishly. “dad, don’t be angry with me. we are one family. we are the closest kin. apart from mom, nan nan, and you, i have no other relatives. dad, if you ignore me, what should i do?”

  on the one hand, qiao zijin was backing down. on the other hand, she was reminding qiao dongliang about the hard facts.

  qiao nan was no longer close to him. ding jiayi and qiao zijin were the only relatives that he had. if he fell out with qiao zijin, he would have no one by his side.

  once he moved out, qiao dongliang would be without any relatives.

  if qiao dongliang did not want to stay alone and without any relatives, he should know when to stop now that qiao zijin had apologized to him.

  qiao zijin became more scheming over the years.

  ding jiayi no longer loved qiao zijin unconditionally like before. instead, she would be all bark and no bite. even if she was upset with qiao nan, she would only nag at her on the phone, but she would not do anything to qiao nan or force her into a dead end.

  now that ding jiayi no longer helped her go against qiao nan, qiao zijin had to learn to be scheming. otherwise, she might not have any say in the family.

  qiao zijin had no idea why ding jiayi dared not do anything to qiao nan. actually, ding jiayi was not afraid of qiao nan. although qiao nan had married well, she did not think of basking in qiao nan’s glory or being on good terms with her so as to benefit from it.

  in fact, ding jiayi remembered that there was once when she hit qiao nan and pulled her hair. in the end, qiao nan instructed other people to beat qiao zijin and cut her hair to uneven lengths.

  that was the only time qiao nan retaliated against her by targeting qiao zijin. thankfully, she was lenient on her and did not go overboard.

  although ding jiayi always scolded and bullied qiao nan, she was timid in front of strangers. she was worried that if she provoked qiao nan again, she might not go lenient on qiao zijin. she also feared that there would be a day where she stopped targeting qiao zijin but turned to deal with her instead.

  ding jiayi dared not be too insolent and reckless as she was worried about qiao zijin’s as well as her safety.

  qiao dongliang could tell that qiao zijin was not sincere in her apology. he understood that she was telling him to know his limits.

  qiao dongliang might have turned soft-hearted on qiao zijin and wanted to forgive her, but he had been dealt with too many blows. he was weary and had turned numb to her pleas. “stay angry with you? i won’t be able to stay angry with you for long. i won’t be able to keep my frustrations for long. don’t worry. i will not abandon you. nan nan is right about one thing. let’s just take it that i owed you in the previous life.”

  there was no way that the elder daughter would change. unless she was married, he couldn’t wash his hands off them.

  he asked for it. this was not the first time that the elder daughter lost her temper at him, but he could not help but forgive her, hoping that she would be a well-behaved child like the younger daughter. he wished that she would have a good marriage and a bright future.

  the elder daughter might be mean to him, but it was a fact that he owed her in this life.

  perhaps he would finally be rid of his burden when his elder daughter was married.

  at times, qiao dongliang hated himself for having such a personality. nevertheless, qiao zijin was his elder daughter. he had a responsibility to make sure that she married well and had children.

  no matter whether qiao dongliang was able to sort out his thoughts or not, he felt weary and disheartened. he did not have any strength left in him to mull over the fact that his younger daughter could only stay for a day in ping cheng for the lunar new year.

  qiao dongliang felt weary. after talking to him on the phone, qiao nan was just as disheartened as him.

  qiao dongliang was disheartened by qiao zijin’s behavior, while she was weary because of her father.

  1211 Teething

  Qiao Nan was more fortunate than Qiao Dongliang. She had triplets who loved her and her in-laws who cherished her.

  Zhai Sheng noticed that Qiao Nan was upset. He passed Er Bao who was cheeky and full of mischief to her.

  Er Bao was indeed the cheeky child. As soon as he was in his mother’s arms, he gained her full attention by uttering unintelligible sounds. He reached his hands toward Qiao Nan’s face and kicked his legs.

  Seeing how Er Bao kept moving about in her arms, Qiao Nan had no way to think about other matters and could only give him her full attention. “What’s wrong with Er Bao?” She gave a slight bite on Er Bao’s hands that kept moving about, smacking his bottom.

  At times, she could not understand where Er Bao learned the cheeky moves and behavior from.

  She had become the mother of three children all at once, but their personalities were vastly different. Qiao Nan had no experience with other children. She was not sure if all the children were as active and cheeky as her triplets.

  Er Bao flailed his arms happily as he had gained his mother’s full attention. He kept twisting about like a carp that was just taken out of the river. Qiao Nan almost lost her grip on Er Bao.

  Thankfully, they were at home and Qiao Nan was sitting on the sofa with Er Bao in her arms. Otherwise, Qiao Nan might be given a fright by how active he was. “Little mischief, do you know how heavy you are? If you keep moving about, what should I do if I lose my grip on you?”

  Qiao Nan was troubled. “Although I can still manage to carry you now, I don’t know how long I will be able to continue doing that. Perhaps I will not have the strength to carry you when you are one year old.”

  Qiao Nan did not have enough breast milk for the triplets. Tian Dong had done the research previously and they were able to feed the triplets with the formula milk that his friends bought for him.

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  The triplets had a huge appetite and they had strength in their arms and legs. At times, there was no need for other people to feed them. They would hold the milk bottle with their arms and legs and drank the milk happily.

  The triplets loved the solid food that was given to them. They would finish them as soon as it was given to them. The people who fed them were not in time to feed them. The triplets had just been fed with a spoonful of food, yet they would make sounds to have another spoonful of food.

  It was no wonder that they grew bigger and heavier since they slept and ate and were without any worries.

  The Zhai family was proud that the triplets were chubby and they looked as large—if not slightly bigger—as full-term babies. It proved that the Zhai family had taken good care of them and they were in good health.

  When they went to the hospital for their checkups, the doctor was surprised to see that they had grown up as well as full-term babies.

  If she did not deliver the babies, she would not believe her eyes that the smart babies in front of her were triplets and that they were born prematurely.

  From her experience, triplets seldom grew up to be as big as full-term babies.

  Of course, the biggest credit had to go to Qiao Nan, the mother.

  In normal cases, pregnant ladies would feel a strain at the waist and back as the tummy grew bigger. It was strenuous on the pregnant lady. Since Qiao Nan carried triplets, her tummy must be three times as big.

  Many pregnant women could not take the strain to go through natural delivery. Some women had to take injections to give birth to the baby way earlier than the due date.

  As a young mother, Qiao Nan went through the difficult process of carrying the triplets. She waited until her water bag broke to give birth to the babies. She carried the babies for nine months, ensuring that they were well-developed and well-nourished.

  It was not rare to have babies born one month before the due date.

  In their hospital, many mothers who had a single child pregnancy delivered their babies around the ninth month.

  Babies born in the ninth month were not considered as premature babies and they would not have many health complications.

  Therefore, it was due to Qiao Nan that the triplets were able to grow up to be so healthy. “Your triplets are so fortunate. They are loved and cherished by many people around them, and they have a mother who is willing to endure hardships for their sake.” The doctor could not help but hold Da Bao’s chubby arms, feeling excited.

  The triplets were growing up healthily. Their arms were chubby and their knuckles were round. They were adorable.

  Babies were the cutest living beings in the world.

  Da Bao could not understand what the person in white was talking about, but he sensed that she looked friendly and amiable.

  Da Bao smiled at her, revealing a small tooth in his pink and healthy gums. He had an adorable and sweet smile.

  “He is teething? That’s great!” The female doctor is surprised. But it was indeed time for the triplets to start teething. She had done a checkup for the triplets and prescribed some teething rusks for the triplets. “This is from the hospital. If you trust us, you can take some back with you for the triplets to try. From now onward, the triplets will put everything that they see into their mouths. As the elders, you have to make sure that they do not come into contact with dirty stuff.”

  “We will definitely do so.”

  “We have already cleaned everything in the house,” Miao Jing said from experience. As soon as the triplets started to bite on things, she and the auntie spent three to five days to tidy the house. They threw away unwanted stuff and made sure that all the furniture was washed thoroughly so that the triplets would not come into contact with dirty stuff.

  Now that the triplets were teething, their gums would feel itchy and they liked to bite on things to stop the itch.

  Seeing that the triplets were teething, the Zhai family had prepared things for the triplets to bite on.

  They had boiled and disinfected the things that the triplets would bite on.

  The Zhai family was extremely careful with things that the triplets would use. They dared not be careless or sloppy. They did not want the triplets to touch dirty stuff and have an upset stomach.

  “That is good.” The doctor believed that the Zhai family would be able to take good care of the triplets. From their bright, active, and carefree looks, the doctor knew that the triplets were treated like the emperor and empress at home.

  Children were precious nowadays. Now that they had three children at one go, they would definitely pamper and dote on them.

  1212 Was Back

  This was the good fortune of the babies as well as the parents.

  The products recommended by the hospital were of good quality. Furthermore, Qiao Nan had been going to the same hospital since her pregnancy. She delivered the babies at the hospital and she brought the triplets for a checkup today. She trusted the hospital.

  Qiao Nan had been thinking if she should work together with the auntie to come up with small biscuits that were suitable for the triplets to chew on and grind their teeth.

  Since the doctor gave them good recommendations today, Qiao Nan could save her time and efforts to prepare the biscuits. She bought several teething rusks from the hospital, lest it go out of stock and the triplets have nothing to chew on.

  Since they had triplets at home, no matter what they bought, they had to purchase three times the usual amount. It amounted to a shocking number.

  “Ya.” San Bao was draped over Qiao Nan’s shoulder. She blinked her round and dark eyes, gazing at her auntie. She noticed that her auntie carried a huge bag with her. It was so large that her auntie could not be seen clearly. San Bao’s curiosity was piqued.

  “Does San Bao want to chat with me?” Zhai Hua, who had to carry all the bags, did not feel the slightest tired at all. She raised her head at San Bao’s voice. San Bao smiled warmly at her. Her smile was brighter than the flowers. “San Bao is so pretty. What I am carrying belongs to San Bao and your brothers. If San Bao likes it, shall I buy more of it for you in the future?”

  Zhai Hua doted on San Bao. Even though San Bao could not understand what she was talking about, she still gave her a brilliant smile. She thought that her auntie was chatting with herself.

  San Bao was all excited. She waved her arms as if telling her auntie to hurry up.

  San Bao opened her mouth and her saliva dripped all over Qiao Nan’s shoulder.

  Qiao Nan felt something warm on her shoulder. The next instant, her shoulders felt wet and cool.

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Nan was reminded of the weather in the capital. She changed San Bao to another position so that she would not drip her saliva on her other shoulder. She also placed a cotton towel on her wet shoulder.

  “You should hurry to get in the car. It is so cold nowadays. You must change out of your clothes once you reach home.” Miao Jing was nervous. San Bao had dripped a lot of saliva onto Nan Nan’s shoulder. If she stayed outside for another second, it might turn into thin ice.

  Back at the Zhai family’s residence, Old Master Zhai was playing chess with Zhai Sheng. Old Master Zhai looked up and smiled when he heard noises. “You’re back. What did the doctor say? Are the triplets growing up well?”

  “They are doing great. The doctor praised them for making such good progress. One could not tell that they are triplets. Their developments are similar to those of normal babies.”

  Miao Jing, who was carrying Da Bao, took off her thick jacket, revealing Da Bao’s hairy head.

  Da Bao, who was tucked inside the jacket, was finally freed of it and could see the world outside. He kept fidgeting in his grandma’s arms, wanting to lie down on the bed.

  Although he was not able to do anything when he was on the bed, he would at least have a bigger space to move about. He felt cramped when he was being held by the adults. He could not move his arms and legs. It was torture to Da Bao, who was very active.

  Da Bao was thrilled when he lay on the bed, feeling the soft touch of the bed. He flailed his arms and legs, as if he was swimming. He was much more adorable than the swimming frogs.

  Da Bao was very active, and so were Er Bao and San Bao. They had enough of being held by the adults. They wanted to lie down on the bed to have their personal time.

  One look at how the triplets were behaving, Old Master Zhai could tell that they were very healthy.

  Old Master Zhai had a big smile on his face as he watched his great-grandchildren fidgeted about. He raised his head to look at Qiao Nan. “Granddaughter-in-law, Shi Qing gave you a call just now and left a phone number for you. It is placed under the phone. You can find time to return her call.”

  Old Master Zhai knew that his granddaughter-in-law was very close to Shi Qing. Old Master Zhai did not stop Qiao Nan from befriending Shi Qing. It was fine as long as Qiao Nan knew what she was doing.

  “Oh, alright. Thank you, grandpa.” Qiao Nan’s eyes lit up upon hearing the news of Shi Qing. Speaking of Shi Qing, she was boiling in anger.

  After she married Brother Zhai, held the wedding banquet, and moved to the capital after the Lunar New Year, she had no news of Shi Qing. They had lost touch for nearly a year.

  She had not seen Shi Qing ever since she learned that she was pregnant. The triplets were already four months old. It was likely that Shi Qing did not know that she had triplets.

  On the day that Qiao Nan married Zhai Sheng, Shi Qing told her that she was certain that she would have children at a young age. Although Qiao Nan was very young when she married Zhai Sheng, given his personality, he would not be able to stop himself from leading a married life with Qiao Nan.

  Shi Qing pledged in all sincerity and seriousness that she would be the godmother of Qiao Nan’s children. Nobody could stop her from doing that, especially Zhai Sheng.

  True enough, Qiao Nan was pregnant at a young age and she had triplets.

  The triplets were already four months old. They were now in the developmental stages where they could recognize faces. However, Shi Qing had not turned up to visit them at all.

  Qiao Nan was disappointed and helpless that Qiao Dongliang could not be there for the one-month-old celebration, but she was infuriated that the godmother of the triplets was not present.

  Before that, Qiao Nan had tried all means and ways to contact Shi Qing. She even contacted Shi Peng to ask about Shi Qing. It turned out that Shi Peng was clueless as well. He did not know what his daughter had been up to either. He had lost touch with her since a long time ago.

  Nevertheless, Shi Peng was Shi Qing’s father.

  Shi Qing had told Shi Peng during the last time they talked to each other that she needed to undergo special training in school and had to cut off all contact with the outside world for a period of time.

  If Shi Peng was unable to contact her during this period, he must not panic or be worried. She was alright. She was in school and she was training under the teachers’ supervision.

  Since Shi Qing had already told him about her training and Shi Peng was not a nervous parent, he did not think too much about it.

  Since his daughter studied at such a school, he had to accept that she would need to undergo special training. Back then, Shi Peng stopped her from studying at such a school as he knew that she had to undergo such training.

  However, his daughter had already transferred to the school. It was useless for him to say anything. He had no other choice but to accept it. He had to sort out his thoughts and support his daughter to fulfill her dreams.

  Shi Peng had done a lot for his daughter.

  1213 Nasty Temper

  Qiao Nan did not know what it would be like to study at the military school. Zhai Sheng only briefly told her about it. Qiao Nan was very agitated to have news of Shi Qing.

  Qiao Nan patted San Bao’s chubby hands and smiled. “San Bao, your godmother is back. She has not been to see you since you were born. Should we give her some punishment?”

  Qiao Nan, who was a first-time mother, did not know that being a mother was equivalent to striking it rich.

  On the day that she gave birth to triplets in the hospital, her in-laws gave a red packet to her.

  The old master said that although there was no longer the custom of holding a bathing ceremony for the babies on the third day since they were born, he must still give each of them a red packet as a blessing. Therefore, Qiao Nan received three packets from the old master on behalf of the triplets. Thereafter, there was the one-month-old celebration as well as the hundredth-day celebration.

  The Zhai family had many relatives. As a result, the triplets received many red packets from them.

  Zhu Chengqi and Lin Yuankang were especially generous with the triplets. They gave the triplets red packets and each packet had a larger amount of money than the previous. It was as if they were bent on spending all their fortune on the triplets.

  Since Zhu Chengqi was so generous with the triplets, Qiao Nan wondered whether he would have the money for the bride price when Zhu Baoguo married Shi Qing in the future. Qiao Nan was kind enough to feel that she should return some money to Zhu Baoguo.

  However, now that she knew Shi Qing was back, she had to vent her pent-up frustrations. She must get Shi Qing to prepare red packets for the triplets to compensate for hurting the triplets’ feelings.

  “Owww.” San Bao could not understand what her mama was talking about. She noticed that her mama was smiling. Since she was smiling, it meant that she was happy. Therefore, San Bao curled the corners of her lips and laughed along with Qiao Nan.

  Her laughter seemed to be contagious, or perhaps there was a button on San Bao’s body. As soon as she laughed, Da Bao and Er Bao began laughing as well. The house was filled with Qiao Nan’s and the triplets’ laughter.

  \r \r \r

  Qiao Nan smiled daintily like a lady while there was the unique smell of milk in the triplets’ smiles. The house was full of laughter. This winter, the Zhai family’s residence felt particularly warm.

  The triplets just came back from the hospital and they must be thirsty. Miao Jing and the auntie filled the milk bottles with warm water for them to quench their thirst.

  Seeing that Qiao Nan and the triplets were laughing happily, despite not knowing what they were laughing about, Miao Jing broke into laughter as well. Qiao Nan took the milk bottle from her and carried San Bao without a word.

  San Bao, who recognized the milk bottle, stopped smiling. She clasped her hands over the milk bottle and began drinking the water.

  The triplets were thirsty after making the trip outside and laughing along with their mother.

  Miao Jing filled one-third of the milk bottle with water. The triplets finished them in no time.

  Miao Jing’s heart ached. “We are too inexperienced. When the triplets go out next time, we must bring the milk bottles along. We must remember to bring six milk bottles. Three bottles will be filled with milk while three bottles will be filled with water.” The triplets must not go thirsty.

  Zhai Sheng, who held Er Bao in his arms, frowned. “Mom, they are not that delicate.” In Zhai Sheng’s opinions, if they brought six milk bottles whenever they went out, it was as if they were into the business of selling milk bottles.

  Qiao Nan made San Bao stand upright after she finished her water. She could tell what was on Zhai Sheng’s mind. “Do you know how people looked at us when we visited the supermarket that sells mother and infant products? The outsiders already felt that we must be selling milk bottles. You should count the number of milk bottles that we have at home.”

  Qiao Nan had no other alternative.

  The triplets were growing and their appetites increased rapidly.

  The triplets were four months old and they did not need to use the milk bottle with the largest volume. When they were six to seven months old, they would have to use another type of milk bottles. A child would need at least three to four milk bottles. Now that they had three children at home, they would have around ten milk bottles at home.

  This was the number of milk bottles that they had when the triplets were four months old.

  The elders doted on the children. They knew that they had to change the milk bottles as they grew bigger. Therefore, they had already bought the milk bottles that the triplets would need when they were six to seven months old.

  The triplets would need at least two milk bottles to drink their milk as well as milk bottles to drink water.

  When they came out of the supermarket, they had nothing but milk bottles. Their car was full of milk bottles. It was a shocking sight. Everyone who witnessed this scene would ask them out of curiosity if they were running a mother-and-infant shop.

  Apart from milk bottles and formula milk, they bought a lot of diapers as well.

  The Zhai family had a room that was used to store the things that the triplets needed. Qiao Nan patted the round and chubby bottom of San Bao. Not every family was capable of raising triplets. The triplets were lucky to have elders to dote on them.

  San Bao was draped over her mama’s shoulder. Like her, her mama smelled like milk. But there was another different smell on her as well. San Bao smiled occasionally, opening her mouth to suck on her mama’s cotton collar. Once she sank her teeth on it, she began chewing on it.

  Qiao Nan noticed that her collar was wet. It must be that San Bao’s gums were itching and she needed something to grind on.

  Zhai Sheng glanced at Qiao Nan and passed a teething rusk to San Bao right away. The first thing that a four-month-old San Bao did when someone put something in her mouth was to open her mouth, bite on it, and grind her teeth!

  San Bao realized that the teething rusk in her mouth was tastier and nicer to chew on than her mama’s collar. She twisted her body, wanting her mama to carry her so that she could grab the teething rush in her hands and focus on chewing it.

  Other than San Bao, Da Bao and Er Bao were just as interested in the teething rusks. The triplets had discovered a new toy today.

  Qiao Nan breathed a sigh of relief. “My clothes will no longer be chewed on by the babies.”

  Zhai Sheng took a tissue and wiped Qiao Nan’s collar that was wet from San Bao’s bite. “Aren’t you going to give Shi Qing a call?” Zhai Sheng knew that his wife must be very worried about Shi Qing.

  They had lost touch for nearly a year. Qiao Nan had brought up Shi Qing to him more than once, asking him to check if there was news of her.

  Although Shi Qing was a woman, Zhai Sheng could not help but be jealous of her since Qiao Nan kept bringing her up.

  If they were on the phone, Zhai Sheng could only grind his teeth in anger. If he was next to her like now, when Qiao Nan brought up Shi Qing in front of him and made him jealous, he would not hesitate to ‘punish’ her on the bed!

  “This won’t do.” Qiao Nan wanted to give Shi Qing a call, but San Bao would not let her go. San Bao was contented to be in her mama’s embrace. If anyone dared to remover her from her mama’s embrace, she would definitely give them a punch. San Bao might be a young lady, but she had a nasty temper!