“Thankfully, I can send all of you to early childhood school after the summer break.”

  “San Bao is going to school?” San Bao’s eyes lit up and she raised her voice. She was thrilled. “Going to school! San Bao is going to school! San Bao will rank first like Mom!”

  Er Bao sighed, patting San Bao on the shoulder to comfort her. His tone was regretful and sorry. “San Bao, you can give up your dream of ranking first. I will be in the first place.” He was the closest to his mom. He would be the one who always ranked first like her. San Bao was too delicate. She would not be able to rank first.

  Da Bao arched his eyebrows. His silent demeanor was similar to his father, Zhai Sheng. He was only three years old but he already resembled his father’s temperament.

  Although Da Bao did not say anything, Qiao Nan could tell from his expression that he was saying that he would rank first. The two little brats should not waste their efforts to fight with him.

  In short, the three children wanted to fight for the first place, and neither would give in to the other. It was as if one would not care about kinships on the battlefields.

  Qiao Nan, exhausted, could not be bothered to dissuade them. “Alright, the graduation ceremony is ending. Senior Xu, can you send the four of us back?” When the triplets first arrived at their mother’s school, they were unfamiliar with the place and there were a lot of strangers there. Therefore, they were more reserved and seemed to be quiet and well-behaved.

  That was why Qiao Nan was able to take it easy and rest at the beginning.

  But the triplets eventually familiarized themselves with the environment and began to make trouble for Qiao Nan. Qiao Nan could not help but sigh in exasperation. She grabbed Xu Shengnan, refusing to let her leave. She was unable to take care of the three children by herself.

  \r \r \r

  Therefore, when she was at home previously, she had already stated that she was alright with going to her graduation ceremony by herself. She did not feel sorry that she had to attend her graduation ceremony by herself.

  Xu Shengnan was about to say yes when she noticed a tall and well-built man walking toward Qiao Nan from the back. She smiled. “I have no problem in sending all of you back, but I am not interested in being the third wheel. I will not be able to be your escort today. It’s okay. There will be a chance next time.” At least, the man had a conscience.

  Junior Qiao’s in-laws might be powerful and influential, but it was useless if her husband and her in-laws did not treat her well.

  Junior Qiao was married at a very young age. Thankfully, her husband was considered to be quite a good catch. He was able to make time for Junior Qiao’s graduation ceremony despite his busy schedule. He still had a conscience. There were a lot of temptations in the school, but Qiao Nan was not moved and she did not waver. She had made the right choice by choosing to be with her husband.

  “Dad!” San Bao, who turned her head, was the first person to notice Zhai Sheng. Her loud, high-pitched voice attracted the attention of the other students.

  This was the first time that they saw Qiao Nan’s children and realized that she was married.

  To their surprise, one hour later, their ‘dad’ would turn up as well. Qiao Nan was the school belle, yet she was married at such a young age.

  All the men present could not help but fix their gaze on the man whom San Bao addressed as her father and made a comparison between the man and themselves secretly. Zhai Sheng stood tall and upright, exuding a domineering and aggressive aura. The young men who were about to join the workforce took a single glance and fixed their gaze on somewhere else hastily. They no longer dared to underestimate him.

  Zhai Sheng had been through many dangerous missions and braved the storm of shots and shells. He who had shed blood in his assignments looked powerful and dangerous. The college students who had just graduated were not his match.

  One glance at him and they knew that they could not afford to offend such a man like him!

  Qiao Nan looked in his direction and saw that it was indeed Zhai Sheng. She let go of San Bao whom she had been restraining from running around. San Bao screamed and dashed toward Zhai Sheng. She grabbed Zhai Sheng’s pants with her tiny hands, and she lifted her leg into midair, wanting to get onto Zhai Sheng’s shoulder.

  When the triplets were less than two years old, they used to shun Zhai Sheng who would fight for their mother’s attention with them. After the Lunar New Year, their nominal age was three years old, and they seemed to understand the importance of their father. They no longer shunned him but loved being around him instead.

  Under Old Master Zhai’s and Zhai Yaohui’s influence, the triplets would watch videos on The People’s Liberation Army. They grew to adore and admire the soldiers. When they knew that the baddie father who was seldom home was a soldier as well, they were elated. They kept saying that their father was the national hero.

  The triplets had a rough idea of what a hero was, but it was under the elders’ influence that they hailed their father as a national hero. In fact, they had no idea what it meant.

  Seeing how close his daughter was to him, Zhai Sheng’s icy demeanor changed to reveal a bright smile on his face. “San Bao, have you been obedient? Have you been listening to your mom?”

  “Yes!” San Bao puffed her chest and shouted at the top of her voice. She totally forgot that she was being naughty three minutes ago.

  “Dad, me too.” Da Bao would not lose to his sister. He was the best-behaved child among the three of them.

  Er Bao smiled until his eyes turned into crescent moon-like shapes. He seemed like a small Buddha. “Yes, I am very well-behaved.”

  All of them wanted to show their heroic father that they had been well-behaved.

  Zhai Sheng smiled and did not expose their lies. He carried his daughter with one arm and walked toward Qiao Nan. By the time he stopped in front of Qiao Nan, his icy cold stare turned into a loving and tender gaze. “Congratulations on your graduation. This is my gift to you.”

  Zhai Sheng took out a square box and passed it to Qiao Nan.

  Peking University was huge and packed with students. But Qiao Nan’s family of five garnered the attention of everyone present. Many people held their breath as they waited to see the graduation present that Qiao Nan’s husband gave her. From the size of the box, it did not look like a necklace. Could it be a bangle or a ring?

  Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes felt dry. She could not help but blink. Lü Yan had a tight grip on her sleeve. She gave her a slight push. “Let go. Today is the graduation ceremony. What are you afraid of?” Although she had never seen the man in the school, it turned out that Qiao Nan was telling the truth when she said that she had a fiancé.

  Now that she saw the three children, Yu Xiaoxiao was even more certain that Qiao Nan was engaged and married to the man.

  They spent four years in college and Qiao Nan’s children seemed to be about two to three years old. Yu Xiaoxiao could not help but feel jealous and gloomy. However, she was not very certain what she was upset about.

  “It turned out that he is a soldier.” They had been classmates for four years. This was the first time that they saw Qiao Nan’s fiancé.