Qiao Nan was a little doubtful when she passed Er Bao to Brother Zhai. “Brother Zhai, do you know how to? Do you want to learn first?”
“No need.” Zhai Sheng decisively carried Er Bao to his arms. Er Bao had eaten his fill. He was so sleepy that his eyes were shut throughout.
No matter how fussy Er Bao was usually, he would feel fall asleep easily after he had eaten his fill. As such, Er Bao was very easy-going at the moment. He would not make noise or fuss around, and whoever carried Er Bao could coax him to sleep immediately.
“I have seen how Zhai Hua did it when I was downstairs.” Upon watching, he had rehearsed it in his mind a few times. He should be given a chance to put it to practice now.
Fortunately, Zhai Sheng was very adept at learning new things. After patting Er Bao for a while, Zhai Sheng really managed to make him burp.
Undoubtedly, when Er Bao’s tummy was full and he was fast asleep, one after another, Da Bao and San Bao woke up in hunger and cried for milk.
Clearly, it was already late summer in November and winter was approaching. However, after feeding the three babies continuously, Qiao Nan was perspiring due to the ‘torture’.
“Come and have your meal, everyone.” Old Master Zhai and Zhai Yaohui, who were waiting downstairs, watched as Zhai Sheng and Qiao Nan walked down the stairs, holding hands. That degree of intimacy was as if they had just fallen in love.
Zhai Yaohui estimated that from dating until now, the two of them had been together for a few years. Unexpectedly, the relationship between his son and daughter-in-law was getting better and better.
Zhai Yaohui only calculated the actual calendar time. He did not assess in detail. Given that Zhai Sheng did not spend all 365 days a year at home, despite the certainty that they had been together for a few years, the actual time that they had spent together was, in fact, very short.
Furthermore, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
A year had not even passed since Qiao Nan was married to Zhai Sheng. They were still considered to be newly married.
Absence coupled with being newly married, it was not strange at all that Zhai Sheng and Qiao Nan would be so sticky to each other.
“Nan Nan, eat more.” Knowing that her daughter-in-law had not stepped out of the bedroom for the entire morning and Zhai Sheng only came down to carry the children when it was about four o’clock in the afternoon, Miao Jing could not help giving Zhai Sheng a few more glares. She felt that her son was too heartless.
Didn’t he see how thin Nan Nan had become while taking care of the three children?
In the past, she complained that her son was not home and could not stay by Nan Nan’s side to share some of the responsibilities.
Today, Miao Jing was shocked to discover a fact when her son was back: Her son’s return was not any better than his absence.
After he was back, he could not share the pressure with Nan Nan or reduce her burden. On the contrary, Nan Nan only needed to coax the three little ones when her son was not at home. Now, Nan Nan had to coax and take care of an additional person.
Her son’s return was not to share the burden with Nan Nan but to add on to it.
“What is the matter?” Qiao Nan, who was sitting beside Zhai Sheng, noticed that Zhai Sheng’s expression looked a little odd. After she poured a bowl of soup and put it in front of Zhai Sheng, she asked, “Do you feel unwell anywhere?”
That roll on the bed previously was too sudden.
Zhai Sheng even drew the curtains. Qiao Nan, whose eyesight was not better than Zhai Sheng’s, could not see his condition clearly.
At this moment, Zhai Sheng looked a little odd. Qiao Nan could not help suspecting that Zhai Sheng had deliberately drawn the curtains in the bedroom earlier so that she could not discover the new wound on him. “Is it because…”
Most of the missions carried out by Zhai Sheng were very dangerous. This was not the first time that Qiao Nan heard that Zhai Sheng was injured after completing a mission. She had also seen it for herself once before.
At the thought of this possibility, Qiao Nan’s expression looked uglier than Zhai Sheng’s. “Why don’t we make a trip to the hospital?”
No matter how much Brother Zhai did not want the family to worry for him, he should not hide the situation of his injury and endure it without muttering a word.
This would make everyone worried. It would also make the family feel upset if this were to happen many times.
Zhai Sheng squeezed Qiao Nan’s hands. “Don’t need to worry. I am fine. I am well and am not injured.” Upon finishing his words, Zhai Sheng glanced at Miao Jing from the corners of his eyes to remind his biological mother to restrain a little so that she would not scare Nan Nan.
Miao Jing had a guilty conscience, yet she felt indignant and glared back at Zhai Sheng. If he did not go overboard, would she step on his foot with all her might?
After thinking about it, Miao Jing felt that it was too tough on Qiao Nan to have to take care of Zhai Sheng, this older one, just after taking care of the little ones.
She wanted to ask Zhai Sheng not to go overboard by holding on to Qiao Nan and bullying her.
Did Zhai Sheng want Qiao Nan to take care of four children at the same time?
“Nan Nan still has classes tomorrow. She woke up very early in the morning. Nan Nan plans to shorten the college studies and strive to graduate a year earlier so that she could take care of the three babies. Let me warn you. It’s fine that you are not of any help. Don’t drag Nan Nan down. If you can’t do that, be careful that I will deal with you. If I can’t, there’s still the old master and your dad!”
Miao Jing was helpless too.
If her son was a little more sensible and caring, he should understand all these completely without the need for her to teach him.
After knowing that Miao Jing was fighting for her justice, Qiao Nan felt both touched and embarrassed. “Mom, have a piece of beef. Auntie cooked it and it tastes very delicious. Auntie selected the meat very well. There aren’t many tendons and the meat won’t get stuck in the teeth.”
Miao Jing immediately smiled like a flower. “Alright, Mom will try it. Um, it’s not bad.”
Once the daughter-in-law coaxed her, Miao Jing immediately cast the disobedient and insensible Zhai Sheng aside. They started behaving like a loving pair of mother and daughter-in-law as they filled each other’s bowl with dishes.
The mother and daughter-in-law were behaving so affectionately. Those who were unaware would think that today was not Qiao Nan’s meal with the in-laws. Instead, it was the rare occasion where Qiao Nan brought Zhai Sheng, this clumsy son-in-law, back to the maternal family to have a simple meal, and Miao Jing was the mother-in-law who had married off her daughter.
Zhai Hua looked at Zhai Sheng, amused, and laughed at him.
After Nan Nan came, Zhai Sheng’s and her statuses had been squeezed down the ranks.
After the three babies came, it seemed that Zhai Sheng had also fallen out of favor although he was the babies’ biological father.
Zhai Sheng did not bother about Zhai Hua’s gloating at all. His status and treatment had turned worse. Certainly, Zhai Hua’s situation was not any better than his.
As the only two biological siblings who grew up together, Zhai Hua had always ranked below Zhai Sheng. Hence, he did not think much of it. He would do whatever was needed.
“Zhai Sheng, come to my study room to have a game of chess after eating.” Old Master Zhai was older now and his appetite was not as good as before. If he were to eat too much, he would suffer from gastric pain due to indigestion and had to take medicine to resolve the problem.
Zhai Sheng knew that this meant that Old Master Zhai had something to say to him. “Okay.”
After the meal, according to the routine, Miao Jing and the trio helped the three babies change diapers, wash their bums, changed their clothes, and put them to sleep.
