“San Bao is so soft. I am afraid that I will use too much strength and make her feel painful. I feel so nervous when carrying her.”
Carrying the soft and tiny baby, this kind of unrealistic, fear, and nervous feeling was almost similar to that of the times her life was at stake when she was carrying out her mission.
Seeing that the usually fearless Shi Qing look so lost and helpless, Qiao Nan smiled. “Don’t worry. The triplets are already four months old. I heard from the elders that they are considered sturdy once they start to teeth. They are not as delicate as you said. As long as you don’t exert too much strength, you won’t hurt the triplets.”
Perhaps the little girl was pleased with the bite given by Shi Qing earlier. She did not reject or resist Shi Qing, this ‘stranger’, at all when Shi Qing carried her. Instead, she was flinging her little hands and kicking her little legs, looking quite happy and carefree.
Shi Qing looked around. “Do you have any toys at home for the triplets? Let me use them to play with her. I can’t possibly let her play on her own?” Her goddaughter was quite good at finding her own enjoyment.
“Don’t create trouble. San Bao is willing to play by herself. Don’t make fun of her. Otherwise, I can’t coax her if she really needs someone to do so in the future. I have three children.” It was not just San Bao. Da Bao and Er Bao were also at the very ideal stage whereby they could play by themselves. Without thinking, Qiao Nan could imagine the tizzy scenarios if the triplets needed people to coax them.
“Right, didn’t you say that Zhu Baoguo will be coming with you today? Where is he?” At the thought of the situation when Shi Qing came upstairs, Qiao Nan blushed. “He’s downstairs? When did he become so obedient?”
Shi Qing was so close with her that she dared to enter the bedroom without knocking on the door despite knowing that she was already married. In Qiao Nan’s view, Zhu Baoguo could not possibly have more courtesy than Shi Qing.
Fortunately, the auntie’s voice was loud enough and Zhai Sheng’s actions were swift enough. Shi Qing almost saw some censor-warranted scenes not meant for children, and Brother Zhai’s image would crumble then.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re really different now. You’re a true-blue young woman now.” Shi Qing did not see any of those scenes. However, although one had not eaten pork, they would have seen a pig run away. “Brother Zhai did not have his eyes on you for just one or two days. Both of you are married for a year, but the total time you spent with each other is less than a month. When you are in the army for three years, even a sow is considered pretty. I understand. Zhu Baoguo is not here yet. He’s not downstairs. He’s different from me. He said he is the uncle and went to buy gifts for the triplets.”
Qiao Nan was so furious at Shi Qing’s thick-skinned demeanor that she nearly slapped her. “Your parents still don’t know that you’re back?”
“…” Shi Qing’s body turned stiff. She then rubbed and buried her face in San Bao’s arms. “San Bao, why do you smell so nice? You smell really nice. What did you apply? Come, let godmother smell you properly. Let godmother rub you more and see if I will become as nice-smelling as you.”
San Bao did not understand any of Shi Qing’s words. Nevertheless, this did not stop her from feeling happy. She was giggling nonstop.
“Our San Bao is really a cheerful lady who loves to smile. She will be very popular in the future.”
After saving her daughter from Shi Qing’s arms, Qiao Nan kicked Shi Qing away. “Enough. Don’t make fun of San Bao anymore. Your standard of diverting the topic has deteriorated too much.” Qiao Nan patted San Bao’s back gently to help San Bao catch her breath. She also took the bottle of warm water that Zhai Sheng had prepared for the triplets in the morning.
The milk bottles were still a little warm. Hence, Qiao Nan did not need to do anything more. She simply fed San Bao water with the bottle.
True enough, after having so much fun with Shi Qing, San Bao held onto the milk bottle and started drinking lots of water from it. She was feeling thirsty.
“Alright, I admit my mistake. Let’s get back to the topic. Let me ask you a question. You see if you’re going to reply.”
“What question?”
“It’s regarding the Qiao family. You’re already the daughter-in-law of the Zhai family. Are you going back to the Qiao family during the first few days of the Lunar New Year? I predict that there are a lot of people from the Qiao family waiting to lure you into their traps. They want to gain something from you.” After she came back, only Shi Qing remembered that although Qiao Nan seemed very blessed to have fallen into a nest of fortune, she had huge lurking dangers by her side: the Qiao family!
Qiao Nan’s smile faded a little while she was coaxing San Bao. “There’s no hurry. Let’s take a step at a time. If they don’t look for trouble in the future, there won’t be any more issues then.” However, Qiao Nan knew that the possibility of this happening was almost zero.
Knowing that Qiao Nan’s words were no different from self-denial, Shi Qing could not be bothered to continue talking to Qiao Nan about such a dampening topic.
Hearing the bustling atmosphere downstairs, Shi Qing’s eyes lit up. “Zhu Baoguo is here!”
Qiao Nan put San Bao, who was as warm as a little heater, in Shi Qing’s arms. “Carry San Bao downstairs. I have not brushed my teeth yet.” She had finished serving her three children but had not tidied herself up.
“Sure.” Carrying the soft and tender San Bao, Shi Qing could not ask for anything more. “San Bao, follow godmother downstairs to see who came. If the other party’s presents are not to our liking, let’s don’t bother about him, okay?”
San Bao, who had not learned how to speak, could feel Shi Qing’s kindness toward her. At the sight of Shi Qing chatting with her enthusiastically, San Bao continued to have a foolish grin on her face although she did not understand any of the words. She was drooling so much that she had wetted her bib thoroughly.
At the sight of the few pieces of clean and dry bibs on the pinkish baby crib, Shi Qing carried the sturdy San Bao like Hercules with one hand and grabbed a few more bibs with the other hand. She believed that her grandsons’ situation was not any better than that of her goddaughter, given that the latter had so much saliva.
“I know that you have arrived.” After she came downstairs, Shi Qing saw Zhu Baoguo surrounding and staring at Da Bao and Er Bao with a yearning look. His eyes were filled with the urge to carry them but he dared not do so. That look of excitement was as if he was a wild wolf that had been starving for more than ten days and finally sighted two big and white rabbits.
Zhu Baoguo lifted his head. “This is San Bao?” The only daughter?
“Yes.” Shi Qing lifted San Bao proudly. “Is my goddaughter good-looking?”
At the sight that San Bao’s facial features, besides her nose, looked so much like Qiao Nan’s as if they were made from the same mold, Zhu Baoguo liked her very much. “Yes, San Bao is very good-looking. She’s the most beautiful young lady among the many children that I have met.”
“Hmmph!” Shi Qing snorted unhappily. She was well aware that Zhu Baoguo praised San Bao in this way because San Bao looked very much like her biological mother, Qiao Nan. It seemed that Zhu Baoguo had not really forgotten Qiao Nan and still had little feelings for Qiao Nan.
“Ooo… Ah…” San Bao widened her bright eyes. Seeing so many unfamiliar faces and the house bustling with life, the little girl smiled and looked exceptionally happy. However, in a group of unfamiliar folks, San Bao picked the tallest one amongst them. She expressed an exceptional liking for Zhai Sheng, her biological father, whom she had just interacted with for a few days.
