Until now, Elder Lin had not yet appeared in the Zhai family. It was unusual for the neighbor not to be the earliest among the rest to come over and celebrate the triplets’ birthday.
Early this morning, the triplets had already stretched out their necks and looked at the door from time to time or raised their ears to hear if there was any movement next door.
Every time the three children heard a commotion but weren’t sure where the sound came from, they widened their eyes and looked toward the door with eyes full of hope. However, they were left disappointed every time. Until now, Elder Lin had not knocked on the Zhai family’s door.
“Da Bao didn’t sleep, then what about you? You didn’t sleep well as well?” How would Zhai Hua not have noticed Qiao Nan’s strange look? “I feel that you look worse than Da Bao. The arrangement for this birthday party isn’t that complicated. Furthermore, there’s Mom and auntie to help you. You shouldn’t have been handling everything alone, thus tiring yourself out. Or are you tired because Zhai Sheng was not sensible enough?”
Everyone was part of a couple who were madly in love. Zhai Hua led a very sweet life. She felt that Qiao Nan and Zhai Sheng must be the same as well.
In the past, Zhai Hua had seen clearly how much Zhai Sheng, her brother, yearned for Qiao Nan. Now, their relationship shouldn’t be worse off than before. After all, although they had been married for seven years now, the way they interacted clearly showed that they were still in the stage of love.
When Zhai Hua said this, she meant it as a dirty joke. It was a pity that Qiao Nan didn’t cooperate and couldn’t smile. “Nothing. Don’t think too much. My workload has been heavier recently, so I’m more tired. I was also busy preparing for the triplets’ birthday. I’m fine. I’ll recover after resting for a few days.”
“Oh, right, where’s your master? Today’s the triplets’ birthday. I thought he would be the first to reach. So many people have arrived but he hasn’t yet. How rare.” Zhai Hua had to touch the tender spot. She said it herself that Lin Yuankang would be more nervous about and value the triplets more than anyone else.
Something was definitely wrong since Lin Yuankang hadn’t arrived. Wasn’t she trying to stir up trouble by mentioning this at this moment?
Indeed, San Bao, who had been pampered by Lin Yuankang since she was young, couldn’t hold back any longer. Her lips twitched, her eyes became red, and she sniffed. “Mom, it’s our birthdays today. Isn’t master grandpa coming?”
Lin Yuankang had already spoiled San Bao since she started drinking milk. She was never once ignored by Lin Yuankang. This time around, San Bao felt that she was one of the most pitiful children to have celebrated her birthday. “Mom, I want to see master grandpa.”
Er Bao frowned. “Mom, is it because master grandpa is old and his legs are weak, thus he couldn’t come over? Why don’t we do this? Let’s go next door and cut the cake at master grandpa’s house, shall we?”
Er Bao knew that one’s legs would become weaker as one grew older. Not to mention others, Old Master Zhai’s walking speed was obviously much slower than before.
When the children were two or three years old, they followed Old Master Zhai and walked outside. Even if Old Master Zhai deliberately slowed down, they had to run a few steps from time to time in order to keep up with him. Now, they had to slow down from time to time or deliberately stop to look at the flowers and grass on the roadside so that they could maintain a similar walking speed as Old Master Zhai.
In this year, in Er Bao’s memory, he had rarely seen Lin Yuankang walking on his own. When he headed out, he was in a wheelchair and someone was pushing him. “Mom, why don’t we get master grandpa to sit in that wheelchair and the three of us push him over? Which idea do you think is better?”
Er Bao was a cunning child. He wasn’t trying to get Qiao Nan to choose the better idea. He was just telling Qiao Nan that today was their birthday, and regardless, they wanted to see master grandpa. If he couldn’t come over, they would go over. As long as the end result was the same, it didn’t matter to them where they cut the cake.
As she listened, Zhai Hua felt that something was amiss. “What’s wrong with Elder Lin?” In the past, Elder Lin cared about the triplets more than anyone else. Listening to Er Bao’s tone, it seemed that the triplets hadn’t seen him for a long time.
Even the three children got impatient from waiting. How could Elder Lin hold it for so long and not come over to look at them?
“What’s wrong?” At this moment, the Zhai family’s door opened and Elder Lin’s loud voice traveled over. “Oh, have the presents been unwrapped? So early? I’m late. How about the cake? Have you blown the candles?”
“Master grandpa!” At this moment, Er Bao and San Bao were extremely happy. They smiled and pounced on Lin Yuankang, who was seated in the wheelchair.
Lin Yuankang hurriedly stretched his hand out and stopped Er Bao and San Bao, half-refusing them. “The two of you are now as heavy as piglets. Three years ago, master grandpa could no longer carry you. By rushing over like this, you’re going to break my bones. San Bao, you’re a big girl now. You have to walk over slowly. Otherwise, you will fall. If you fall, you’ll get hurt and bleed. Don’t cry then.” Because at that point in time, master grandpa could no longer be by your side, wipe your tears, and coax you to smile.
“Master grandpa.” San Bao blushed like a flower. “Master grandpa, is this dress pretty? Mom bought it for me.”
“Pretty. Our San Bao looks good in anything.” Lin Yuankang opened his eyes wide. He couldn’t bear to blink and just looked at San Bao, then Er Bao and Da Bao. In short, he wasn’t willing to miss a glance at any of them. “After today, our triplets will be one year older. The three of you are the most good-looking and smartest children I’ve ever seen. When you grow up, you have to be as outstanding as your mom, okay?”
Lin Yuankang knew that because of how outstanding Qiao Nan was and how smart the three children were, people in the quad often praised that the Zhai family was lucky to have good-looking and clever grandchildren. Such an advantage was already demonstrated when the three children were in kindergarten.
At this moment, someone said things like one might be intelligent when young but not when older and that the Zhai family might have produced three children similar to Fang Zhong Yong, the child prodigy who lost his talent when he was older.
Faced with these malicious words, Lin Yuankang was angry.
