Such was the advantage of having disciples located all over the world.

  Lin Yuankang’s disciples were not only working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but also embassies of various countries.

  Hence, if Qiao Nan needed any books, there were no books that Qiao Nan’s seniors could not get. There were only books that Qiao Nan could not think of. This applied to other more important items as well.

  The master grandpa who liked to tease him in the past was only carrying him today and looking at a pile of unknown items. Er Bao blinked his eyes, made noises, and reached out his fair and chubby hands to touch the things in Lin Yuankang’s hands. Were those things very interesting? He would like to read it too.

  Lin Yuankang anxiously raised the items. “My Er Bao, be good. This is the homework that your mother took great pains to complete. If you spoil it, your mom is going to cry.” Having said that, Lin Yuankang grabbed Er Bao’s mischievous chubby hands. “Er Bao, be good. When Er Bao and your siblings grow up, I will definitely teach you. I’ll put in more effort to teach you than I teach your mom. There’s no hurry.”

  “.……” Qiao Nan curled the corners of her lips. She was someone who was reborn. In addition, she had great enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge. Hence, she was able to maintain her attitude without being distracted by some factors. She was behaving like a nerd. Besides taking care of the babies, she did not have any other form of entertainment or hobby. She was immersed in piles of books every day.

  If her master were to arrange so much homework for the triplets, she very much doubted if they would have the patience and willingness to stay at home without going anywhere.

  Qiao Nan never felt that it was especially tough or tiring when she did that.

  The problem was that Qiao Nan could not bear for the same situation to happen to her own children. She was not willing to restrict the children and drown them with homework during their childhood and teenage years. She opted to take this route but she did not have the right to request her children to follow in her footsteps. She hoped that her children could make their own choices when they grew up.

  However, the triplets were still very young and Lin Yuankang seemed so enthusiastic. Given the ways that Lin Yuankang doted on them, Qiao Nan was not sure if this master, who had some childlike innocence himself, would maintain his stance of nurturing the triplets to become top students when they grew up.

  \r \r \r

  At the thought of this, Qiao Nan’s worry eased and she allowed Elder Lin to continue teasing Er Bao.

  Time passed in the blink of an eye. From little babies who only knew how to lie down, the triplets gradually learned how to crawl, as well as walk, stagger, and ‘waddle’ like a duckling. Their little mouths were also constantly blabbering.

  “Mama, hug, hug.” San Bao had just opened her eyes. She had not woken up completely, yet she was already shouting for her mama’s hugs with a baby voice.

  At the sight of her chubby daughter reaching out with her round and fleshy hands that had not slimmed down at all, Qiao Nan smiled gently. She kissed the back of her daughter’s hands before carrying the nice-smelling and soft baby into her arms. “San Bao, shall we drink some water?”

  “Okay.” San Bao murmured but she still did not open her eyes.

  After taking a few sips of water, San Bao became soberer. She was twisting her chubby and round body in her mother’s arms. “Mama, hug.”

  It was September now. The weather was still very hot. It was only cooler in the morning and night time.

  As such, the Zhai family let the triplets wear bright red dudous[1] and pure cotton open-crotch pants. When a child with a head-to-body ratio of 1:3 wore these clothes, it complemented their fair and tender skin. The triplets were so beautiful that they looked like they were qualified to participate in television shows and advertisements.

  The little girl stuck to her so much. Qiao Nan felt both happy and helpless.

  The weather was so hot. She did not even allow her husband to hug her. However, she could not refuse the requests from her three children.

  Qiao Nan rubbed the dry and smooth little back of San Bao before gently swaying her. “Isn’t mama carrying San Bao now?” If not, in what way should she carry her?

  San Bao opened her mouth and smiled. She was pleased. Her little face was buried in her mother’s soft and nice-smelling chest. She was rubbing it happily. “Kekeke……”

  “Shhh. Your two brothers are still sleeping. Let’s not disturb them.” Her little daughter looked so adorable and cheeky. Qiao Nan loved her so much.

  San Bao turned her head. Her dewy eyes stared at her two brothers, who were sleeping on the bed like little piglets with sprawling limbs. She laughed even louder. Using her chubby and short fingers, she drew lines up and down her pink and tender cheeks to express: Shame, shame!

  Zhai Hua often made this action when she teased the triplets.

  This was the time when the triplets loved to imitate others most. Zhai Hua had not done it that many times but the clever triplets had already learned how to use this action to shame Zhai Hua, this auntie.

  “This naughty girl.” Qiao Nan grabbed her daughter’s hands and bit it gently. Her daughter was bullying her two sons who had not woken up yet. At the sight of the clock by the bedside showing half past six, she was leaving for school soon but her two sons were still in deep slumbers. Qiao Nan could only wake them up. “San Bao, let’s wake your brothers up together, okay?”

  Da Bao and Er Bao had been sleeping so soundly. She could just let them continue to do so. Why did she have to wake them up? It was not because Qiao Nan was heartless.

  During the first half of the year, in May, the triplets were eight months old and learning to crawl.

  One day, Qiao Nan woke up a little earlier to prepare some materials that would be handed to the professor. She also had some questions about her thesis that she had to consult her professor beforehand.

  That professor was quite busy and was seldom in the school. If Qiao Nan did not arrive at the school and prepare the items beforehand, given the many questions that she had, she was not sure when she could resolve them and complete her homework and thesis.

  Qiao Nan was up early and the triplets were sleeping soundly.

  Initially, Qiao Nan thought that it would be fine. The triplets were already used to her going to school. Hence, it was not an issue for her to leave earlier for school and let them continue to sleep.

  Also, the auntie and her mother-in-law were at home. Although her sister-in-law was not at home, it should not be difficult to watch after three sleeping kids.

  Qiao Nan had the heart of a benevolent mother and did not disturb the three sleeping children. Who would have known that the triplets would flare up when they did not get to see their biological mother first thing in the morning and after knowing that their mother left the house early. They cried loudly. Miao Jing could not appease them no matter how hard she tried to. She was so anxious that she could only give Qiao Nan a call.

  In the end, Qiao Nan put in so many good words on the phone to finally appease the triplets. They did not continue to kick up a fuss then.

  Even if that was so, when Qiao Nan came back from the school, their three pairs of eyes glanced at Qiao Nan from time to time. However, different from usual, they neither took the initiative to reach out their hands to request for hugs nor stuck by Qiao Nan’s side. Instead, they lined up, turned their backs on Qiao Nan, and showed her their little bums. It was obvious that they intended to give Qiao Nan, this insensible mama, cold shoulders.

  [1] Dudou is a traditional Chinese form of the bodice which is originally worn as an undershirt with medicinal properties. In modern times, it is a sleeveless and backless halter-top blouse

  1241 They Know How to Call Mama Now

  Henceforth, Qiao Nan dared not leave the house quietly when the triplets were sleeping. She no longer dared to let them sleep longer and more soundly in the morning.

  Fortunately, the triplets were quite good-tempered in front of their biological mother. They had never thrown tantrums after being woken up.

  At the sight of her sons’ sweet and nice-smelling little faces, Qiao Nan’s eyes brimmed with gentleness.

  She touched the fair little tummies of Da Bao and Er Bao, who were moving up and down, and planted a few kisses on their faces. “Da Bao, Er Bao, wake up. Mom is going to school soon. Are you going to send me off?”

  The triplets were still very young. Although they were beginning to walk now, they were not very stable in their steps. Da Bao and Er Bao did not speak as well as San Bao. They were boys after all. They were not as eloquent as San Bao but their stout little legs had more strength than hers.

  San Bao had learned how to walk too. However, the strength and stability of her legs were weaker. She would fall after staggering a few steps.

  Da Bao and Er Bao could walk quite a long stretch of road now. Each time Old Master Zhai watched them walk with serious expressions on their cute little faces, he joked that although they had not grown up, they were already displaying the charisma of a leader.

  As such, the triplets obviously could not send their mother to the door. At most, they would sit or stand as they watched Qiao Nan put on the shoes and leave the house.

  As long as the triplets could send Qiao Nan off to school with their eyes, they would not throw tantrums even if they missed her after she left.

  On the contrary, if the triplets did not personally ‘watch’ Qiao Nan leave for school, they would flare up and cry for a long time no matter what the adults did to appease them.

  True enough, after being kissed by their mother, both Da Bao and Er Bao opened their little mouths and yawned. Their chubby hands rubbed their eyes. They moved and sat up on the bed in a steady manner.

  \r \r \r

  When Da Bao and Er Bao opened their eyes and saw their sister in their mother’s arms, smiling and looking at them with her pair of bright and dewy eyes, Da Bao and Er Bao sobered up more. They not only looked at Qiao Nan but also called her ‘mom’.

  Da Bao and Er Bao were slower in picking up speech than San Bao. They also spoke fewer words. Strangely, San Bao would call her mother ‘mama’. On the other hand, besides the first few words, Da Bao and Er Bao, who spoke less, were articulate when calling her ‘mom’. The pronunciation and pitch were also perfect.

  “Be good.” Upon hearing her sons calling her ‘mom’ with clear voices like birds singing, Qiao Nan seemed to have taken a bowl of shaved ice in the hot and scorching weather of summer. It felt so cooling and soothing. All the feelings of heat and bother had completely disappeared. “Da Bao, Er Bao, let’s drink some water.”

  Once Qiao Nan mentioned about water, the two children sat and waited obediently for her mother to feed them water one by then. They did not fight nor compete with each other.

  Just as the three children finished drinking the water, the door of Qiao Nan’s room opened. Miao Jing was smiling so much that her wrinkles could be seen. “I guessed that the four of you, mother and children, must be awake at this time. How’s it? My three little darlings, did you sleep well yesterday? Did you sleep soundly? Did you miss grandma?”

  They had not seen one another for only one night, but Miao Jing was persistent in asking them whether they missed her every day.

  The triplets had glib tongues. They seemed to know what their biological grandmother wanted and nodded one by one. In particular, San Bao, whom Qiao Nan was carrying, not only nodded constantly but also said in a baby voice, “Grandma, miss, hug, hug.”

  “Aye, my obedient little granddaughter.” Now, Miao Jing was smiling like an old chrysanthemum flower. The only daughter of the Zhai family resembled Zhai Hua in half her manners when the latter was a child. Of course, these were words from Old Master Zhai.

  When the triplets were playing, similar to Zhai Hua, this biological auntie, the young lady’s temper was strong. When she was domineering, even the boys had to give in to her.

  However, San Bao was not naughty. She looked so sweet and quiet when she was carried by the adults, such that the adults could not wait to dote on her. The little mouth that did not know how to speak much would either not move or when it did, the words that came out were so sweet that one could die for them!

  Muack! Miao Jing planted a kiss on her granddaughter’s little face. San Bao’s chubby hands were wrapping around her grandmother’s neck. She also pouted and kissed Miao Jing’s face twice. She then called in a sweet and gentle manner, “Grandma……” This greeting had a lingering sound at the back, sweet-talking Miao Jing so much that the latter was losing her sense of direction.

  The sticky little girl had been given to her mother-in-law. Facing Da Bao and Er Bao, Qiao Nan felt more at ease. “Da Bao, Er Bao, we’re getting down the bed.” Qiao Nan helped Da Bao and Er Bao wear their shoes before carrying them down the bed.

  Basically, since Da Bao and Er Bao learned how to walk, the first thing that they wanted the adults to do when they awoke was to wear the shoes.

  Da Bao and Er Bao would definitely look sullen and refuse to cooperate if any adults were to try to carry them.

  Unless they helped them wear their little shoes, Da Bao and Er Bao would not be willing to let the adults carry them downstairs.

  Boys were boys indeed. After Da Bao and Er Bao wore their shoes and touched the floor, the brothers immediately followed each other in the bedroom and walked in a circle.

  It was only until when Qiao Nan carried Er Bao and the auntie carried Da Bao that the three adults and three adorable little children went downstairs.

  With such a fuss, as expected, much time had passed.

  The price of coaxing the three children was Qiao Nan’s breakfast time. After downing half a bowl of warm porridge quickly, she picked up two buns from the table. She could not stay at home any longer. “Mom, I’m sorry to trouble auntie and you. I don’t have time to feed the triplets now. I have to leave first for a class in the morning.”

  “Okay, take your time. Don’t rush. At most, you’ll just be a little late.” Miao Jing had already guessed this situation. She was not only not angry but also helped Qiao Nan bring over her schoolbag and books. After Qiao Nan wore her shoes, she passed these two items to her. “The chauffeur is already waiting outside. Nan Nan, don’t rush.”

  “Mom!”

  “Mom.”

  “Mama!”

  As soon as Qiao Nan wore her shoes, Da Bao and Er Bao walked to the door on their own with their stout little legs. The auntie carried San Bao to the door. All of them were watching Qiao Nan. Qiao Nan felt so softhearted and had the feeling that she was being a sinner by leaving at this time.

  Qiao Nan bent down and kissed the faces of triplets. “Be obedient at home, babies. Mom is going to school. Mom will be back when it is lunchtime. Wait for Mom to come back, okay?”

  After fulfilling their wishes of receiving a kiss, the expressions on the triplet’s faces were extremely obedient and at peace. They nodded to express approval.

  “Hurry.”

  “Back.”

  “Wait, mama.”