Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Da Bao came up with an equation in his head: his grandpa followed by his father and other people.
Since he was part of the food chain, he had to be at the top of the food chain. He did not want to be in the middle like his father. He was Da Bao. He had to be at the top position. Er Bao was in the middle, so it would be suitable for him to be in his father’s position. Da Bao reached his hand to touch San Bao’s plaits. “San Bao, don’t worry. I will protect you.” Undoubtedly, San Bao had the lowest position in the food chain.
San Boa knitted her brows. She could not really understand what Da Bao was talking about. “Emm, Da Bao and Er Bao have to protect Mom and me.” Her father told them that the men in the family had to protect the women. San Bao was a lady, so Da Bao and Er Bao had to protect her.
“San Bao, shall I protect you as well?” The three kids had a good relationship with each other, and they were particularly funny and adorable when they were together. Their conversation was really hilarious. But Qiao Dongliang’s heart ached when they talked about protecting each other. It would be good if Zijin and Nan Nan could have a good relationship like the triplets when they were young. If so, everything might be different today.
Qiao Dongliang could not change the relationship between Qiao Nan and Qiao Zijin. But he could salvage his relationship with the triplets. He was their grandpa but he seldom spent time with his grandchildren. Qiao Dongliang hoped that he could have a closer relationship with them. He might not have an affinity with his daughters, but he hoped to have a stronger bond with his grandchildren.
San Bao was the only baby girl in the family. Qiao Dongliang would naturally pay more attention to San Bao than Da Bao and Er Bao.
San Bao blinked and smiled at Qiao Dongliang. “Okay, you shall protect San Bao and Mom.” San Bao would not say no since there would be one more person who would protect her. Instead, she was glad.
“Yes, I will protect San Bao and your mom.” Qiao Dongliang choked up at the mention of protecting Qiao Nan. Would he be able to protect Nan Nan in this life? Would he be able to make good on his oath?
San Bao, unaware of her grandpa’s feelings, giggled with joy and ran all over the house after receiving an affirmative answer. Qiao Dongliang smiled and caught up, making a funny face at her. He seemed like a big eagle whose goal was to catch San Bao. Qiao Dongliang kept chasing after her, and San Bao screamed excitedly, her short legs carrying her all around the house.
Da Bao and Er Bao could no longer stay still. They ran together with San Bao, making Qiao Dongliang chase after them.
Qiao Dongliang had little experience with coaxing children, but he was quite good at teasing them. The room was filled with the screams and laughter of the triplets.
Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin heard that Qiao Nan and Miao Jing had returned to Ping Cheng. Qiao Zijin could not hide her smile when she learned of this news. Since Qiao Nan and Miao Jing were back, she did not believe that Qiao Nan would not do anything for her wedding.
Previously, she had been mentally prepared that Qiao Nan would ignore her. Therefore, their arrival in Ping Cheng came as a surprise to her. But Ding Jiayi’s and Qiao Zijin’s happiness were short-lived. They heard that Qiao Dongliang was here and he specially went to the Zhai family’s residence to play with the three children. The thirtieth of September had almost come to an end and Qiao Zijin would get married to Zhou Zheng in another day. But they still did not get to see Qiao Nan and Miao Jing. The Zhai family also did not send people to invite them over to their house to catch up with each other.
Ding Jiayi still remembered her past deeds. Although she knew that Qiao Dongliang was at the Zhai family’s residence, she felt guilty and did not dare to visit him. Qiao Zijin was different. She mustered her courage to go to the Zhai family’s residence and pressed the doorbell. To her surprise, it was the temporary helper that the Zhai family hired who opened the door. “Who are you? Is anything the matter?”
Qiao Zijin stiffened. “Hello, I’m Qiao Nan’s biological sister. I heard that she is back, so I came to see her.” The temporary helper that the Zhai family hired did not know of her existence. If it was in the past, Qiao Zijin would have pulled a long face and left.
But right now, unless she did not want to lead a good life in the future, she could not afford to be willful.
“Are you Brother Qiao’s daughter? That means that you are Qiao Nan’s elder sister?” The auntie was shocked. She had no idea that the Qiao family had another daughter. “Why didn’t you come with your dad yesterday? Also, your dad brought the three children out to play this morning. Qiao Nan and Madam Zhai went with them as well.”
Since they were close relatives, why was it that this lady knew nothing about the Qiao family? Was she a swindler?
Qiao Zijin forced a smile on her face upon seeing the doubts in the auntie’s eyes. “I see. Well… goodbye. But when they come back, please let them know that I’ve come to look for them. If possible, please let me know when they are back. I haven’t seen the triplets for a long time. I wonder whether they will recognize their auntie.”
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“Sure.” The auntie nodded. Regardless of whether she was a swindler or not, it was fine as long as she did not barge in since no one was at home. “Rest assured. I will relay your words to them.”
With that, the auntie closed the door so that no one would barge into the Zhai family’s residence.
At the sound of the door closing on her, Qiao Zijin almost lost the smile on her face. She took heavy steps back to her house.
“Zijin, Zhou Zheng’s on the phone.” Ding Jiayi passed the phone to Qiao Zijin. She came back at the right time.
Qiao Zijin took a deep breath. Her intuition told her that she would not be happy to answer Zhou Zheng’s phone call. “Tomorrow is the wedding. What is the matter?”
“I heard that your sister and Madam Zhai have come to Ping Cheng.” Zhou Zheng’s voice was full of joy.
“Well, yes. Tomorrow is our wedding day. What’s so strange about them coming back?” Qiao Zijin’s voice was very calm. She was not angry or unhappy. Her voice was as peaceful as the lake that had no ripples.
Zhou Zheng paused momentarily. “Are you upset?” It would definitely look good on her if Qiao Nan and Madam Zhai attended their wedding. He heard that Zhai Sheng had been promoted to deputy brigade commander and Qiao Nan was the wife of the deputy brigade commander. He had never seen the wife of the deputy brigade commander before, let alone Madam Zhai. Among the people that he knew, none of them had ranks higher than a company commander!
“Unhappy? I’m getting married. Do you think I am happy or not?”
“Happy, of course you are happy. I am particularly happy at the thought that after tomorrow, the two of us can live together, and when I wake up every day and open my eyes, you will always be there by my side. Zijin, I can’t wait until tomorrow.” Zhou Zheng was sharp. He did not divert to other topics lest he end up in an awkward situation.
“That’s good. Is there anything else?” Qiao Zijin replied faintly. She did not feel the least pleased at Zhou Zheng’s honeyed words.
