Initially, Qiao Dongliang did not have many expressions on his face, but there was a look of embarrassment and awkwardness on his face when he saw how Ding Jiayi behaved. However, he quickly recovered and welcomed them into the house. “Zhai Sheng, Nan Nan, take a seat. I will bring you some tea.” Luckily, they did not get back together.
As expected, Zhai Sheng and Qiao Nan did not bring the triplets with them. Qiao Dongliang felt sad that he was unable to see his grandchildren.
Even though he was disappointed, he did not say anything or let his feelings show. He maintained a calm expression as if he had never harbored the thought of seeing the triplets.
If Qiao Dongliang behaved like Ding Jiayi and made unreasonable requests of her, Qiao Nan would turn heartless toward him and treat him in the same way as how she would Ding Jiayi.
However, Qiao Dongliang would be nice to her at times. Qiao Nan could not refuse his kindness, and she did not know how she should treat him.
“Dad, let me help you.” Ding Jiayi hurried into the room to check on the bags of food and presents that Zhai Sheng and Qiao Nan gave them. It was rare that Qiao Zijin was ‘sensible’ and followed Qiao Dongliang into the kitchen. She helped brew three cups of tea and brought out a plate of new year cookies for them. “Dad, I remembered that Nan Nan likes these cookies. I told Mom to buy more of the cookies.”
Qiao Zijin was telling the truth. In her memories, Qiao Nan loved the cookies, so she told Ding Jiayi to buy more of the cookies.
Given Qiao Nan’s status, she had lots of money to buy whatever food that she liked.
However, even if Qiao Nan did not have a single piece of cookies that the Qiao family prepared for her, at least, it showed that they were being nice to her. She believed that Qiao Nan would not be able to give them the cold treatment and be calculative with them.
Qiao Dongliang remained silent, giving consent to Qiao Zijin. He went back to the living room with the tea while Qiao Zijin brought the cookies out.
“Brother-in-law, Nan Nan, don’t stand on ceremony. Now that you are back, make yourselves at home.” Qiao Zijin had a wide smile on her face. She was as cheerful as the neighbors who welcomed Qiao Nan back home. Qiao Nan could not stand the fact that she was being so affectionate to her. “I remember that this is your favorite food when you were a child. Many years have passed, but the traditional cookies still taste the same. They will never change. I bought it at the shop that we frequented in the past. The new shops are not able to create the same taste.”
Qiao Nan lowered her eyes. A year had passed. Other than growing older, Qiao Zijin had become smarter.
In the past, Qiao Zijin was very radical and annoying.
Right now, Qiao Zijin had turned to use the soft approach. Hehehe…
Qiao Nan took some cookies and placed them on the side table so that Qiao Zijin would not keep urging her to have more of the cookies. Qiao Zijin was so eagerly attentive that she might feed her with the cookies if she did not eat them.
Qiao Nan was ‘amazed’ that Qiao Zijin had made huge improvements, while Qiao Zijin was thinking to herself that Qiao Nan was too hard to please. She had a nasty temper.
They were one family. If they treated her nicely in front of Zhai Sheng, it was being considerate of Qiao Nan’s feelings.
It was good for the two parties. Why did Qiao Nan insist on giving her the cold shoulder?
If Qiao Nan continued to be at loggerheads with her parents, wasn’t she worried that the Zhai family would look down on her?
It was good to be confident, but if one was overly confident, one would fail in the end. “Nan Nan, why didn’t you try the cookies? Give it a try. Is it the same taste as before? I specifically checked that it is the same person from seven to eight years ago who made the cookies.”
Qiao Nan smiled. “It is the Lunar New Year. There is no way that one will go hungry. I am too full right now. I will have it when I am hungry and reminisce about the past.”
The cookies on the tables were not Qiao Nan’s favorite snacks. They were merely cookies that she used to anticipate every Lunar New Year.
Back then, Qiao Nan never had the chance to have any good food at home. Qiao Nan was not allowed to have meat at home. This was the case for the expensive new year cookies as well.
Qiao Zijin had the wrong impression that the snacks were Qiao Nan’s favorite food.
Like all other children, Qiao Nan was just an ordinary kid. During the Lunar New Year, children looked forward to having food that they could not have in normal days. To Qiao Nan, she did not like the cookies. Instead, it was the mother’s love that she had been looking forward to but was not able to receive. She hoped that her mother would have a look at her and realize that she was a well-behaved child.
The so-called favorite childhood time and childhood memories only reminded her of her unhappy childhood.
“You’re right. Have them when you are hungry.” Qiao Dongliang believed every word that Qiao Nan said. “The triplets should be four months old, right?” Qiao Dongliang changed the topic. Actually, he wanted to ask how the triplets looked like and whether they were healthy.
Zhai Sheng took out a photo from his wallet and passed it to Qiao Dongliang. “This was taken before the triplets turned four months. Nan Nan brought them to the photo studio to take photos. They have grown since they took the photo, but there isn’t much difference. The triplets don’t like to take photos. This is the only photo that we have.”
Of course, the triplets took more than one photo, but this was the only photo that the Zhai family was willing to give Qiao Dongliang.
Zhai Hua loved the triplets and she would spend her every day with them.
In order to make a record of their growing up process as well as to take down their adorable looks, Zhai Hua, the tough lady who was the least bit interested in photography, spent a bomb on a good camera. Because of this, she was scolded by Qiao Nan for being a spendthrift.
The triplets were only four months old, but they already had many photo albums at home.
Qiao Dongliang gazed at the photo that Zhai Sheng passed to him. He treated the photo with care and caressed the triplets who were smiling in the photo. His frown eased, and he had an affectionate smile on his face as he gazed at the photo. “The triplets are so adorable. They look exactly the same like Nan Nan when she was still a baby. All of them are so lovely and cute. Is this San Bao?”
The triplets looked beautiful and smart. Qiao Dongliang praised them as they were his maternal grandchildren and they had a strong resemblance to Qiao Nan.
Qiao Dongliang was able to tell right away which one was San Bao.
San Bao had the best features among the triplets and the strongest resemblance to Qiao Nan.
Qiao Dongliang noticed that San Bao looked very much like his younger daughter. Therefore, he was certain that the baby must be San Bao, the only girl among the triplets.
