She did not want to go out with three children only to end up coming back missing one or two of them.

  The first time that such a situation arose, Miao Jing’s back was already aching in pain despite only managing to get San Bao back. Her back was so sore that she could not straighten it. In the end, she had to muster all her strength to get the triplets back. This was the first time since her marriage to Zhai Yaohui that she had such a difficult time.

  Bringing her grandchildren out for a stroll was twice as tough as the collective farming associations back then where everyone would farm and transplant rice seedlings in the spring. Miao Jing, who led an easy life all these years, felt as if she had returned to her younger days where she led a collective lifestyle. She was lost in thought.

  Having been fooled once, Miao Jing was more cautious when she brought the triplets out for a stroll the next time. She would make sure that the auntie went with her. She would also get the family chauffeur to go with her. She would ensure that she had the same number of adults as the children before she would give in to the triplets’ pleas to bring them out for a walk.

  Otherwise, if she did not manage to get two or more adults to go with her, Miao Jing would not allow the triplets to have a walk outside.

  “Mom, it has been hard on you.” Qiao Nan abandoned Zhai Sheng to sit next to her mother-in-law, massaging her shoulder and her waist to alleviate her backache. “After the triplets go to early childhood school, both of us will be freed. The three children are too energetic. Mom, should we sign them up for some interests classes?”

  They had to find a way for the three children to expend their boundless energy so that by the time they fetched the triplets, they would be quieter and better-behaved, and they would not climb about like monkeys.

  Now that the triplets had turned three years old, Qiao Nan and Miao Jing could not handle their boundless energy.

  \r \r \r

  “Nan Nan, if you can bear to part with them, I can bring them to the camp during the summer break.” There were child soldiers in the army. Of course, Zhai Sheng would not be in charge of them. The child soldiers were much older than the triplets. However, Zhai Sheng had faith in his children. Although they were only three years old, they would be able to adapt to and survive the lifestyle in the army and participate in activities similar to a summer camp.

  Qiao Nan rolled her eyes. “Haven’t we been through this topic? If the three children are interested, I will not interfere but support them no matter what they do. But they are still young and they could not tell what they really like. Therefore, I will not make the decision for them.”

  “Is there any difference?” Zhai Sheng looked at his wife, feeling perplexed. It did not matter whether they joined the army one year earlier or one year later. Nevertheless, the children in the Zhai family would have to go to the army.

  “Of course there is!” There was a pain in Qiao Nan’s eyes. “They have finally shed their baby fat and become taller. If they have a dark complexion like you and end up being tall and dark, it would be a pain to watch them.” She could not accept that her children, who had a fair complexion like the soft and tender bread, ended up to be as dark as the sorghum bread.

  “Hahaha……” Zhai Hua slapped her thighs and broke out into laughter, disregarding Qiao Nan’s feelings. “This is an apt description. Like Qiao Nan, the triplets have a fair complexion and beautiful features. Zhai Sheng, if they stay in the army with you for a month, they will really become tanned.” It seemed that Qiao Nan was in a good mood today. She was unaffected by the Qiao family.

  Zhai Hua turned gloomy at the thought that before Qiao Nan returned home, the Qiao family gave a call to the Zhai family.

  After Qiao Zijin graduated, Zhai Sheng helped arrange a job for her. Qiao Zijin wanted to find a suitable husband, and so she gave a call to her childhood friends in Ping Cheng, telling them to make the introduction.

  It had been a year since Qiao Zijin graduated from school. They would not interfere if she no longer wanted to work and wanted to be a housewife.

  Qiao Zijin had agreed on a wedding date with her boyfriend and she immediately made a call to the Zhai family. One could tell from her tone that she was asking for her dowry.

  The Zhai family already knew what kind of person Qiao Zijin and Ding Jiayi were. Ding Jiayi was not ashamed of asking for dowry from the Zhai family, but the Zhai family also knew to play dumb at times. They merely treated Ding Jiayi’s words as a joke.

  Would they take her seriously?

  Of course not! Those who believed her would be fools!

  Zhai Hua did not take Ding Jiayi’s request for dowry seriously, but she still gave Qiao Nan a gentle reminder. “Nan Nan, didn’t you say that there is someone by the surname of Deng who keeps targeting you at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? You should know that you have a clean history except for your parental family. Would he rake up the past scandals about your parental family to get back at you? In particular your mom, you should know that she is a disaster.”

  Qiao Nan’s smile vanished. “It is not that easy for him to make use of the Qiao family to get back at me. He has been targeting me like a game fowl for more than one year. I am someone not to be trifled with. Everyone is bound to have a few troublesome relatives at home. The Deng family is not much better than the Qiao family. If I want to look into it, the Deng family is more complicated than the Qiao family.”

  Ding Jiayi was used to mistreating and plotting against her. But she was timid and did not dare to do anything to outsiders. She was just a quail. She would not cause serious trouble.

  Qiao Nan was not worried about Ding Jiayi, but Qiao Zijin would be an issue. If Qiao Zijin was to go against her, Qiao Nan had no idea how far Qiao Zijin would go to make trouble for her. “I remember that Qiao Zijin has a boyfriend and they have been together for more than a year. Did they say when they wanted to get married?”

  She remembered that in the previous life, Qiao Zijin was pregnant and had decided on a wedding date with Chen Jun at around this time.

  “She did mention it. It was around National Day.” Ding Jiayi came up with a very grand reasoning for choosing this date. She said that Qiao Zijin doted on the triplets, so she picked this date to hold her wedding. Qiao Zijin wanted her wedding anniversary to be a few days away from the triplets’ birthdays.

  In that case, whenever she thought of her wedding anniversary, she would be reminded that the triplets were born at the end of September. The triplets’ birthday was a few days before her wedding anniversary.

  Hehehe, she had such good intentions.

  There were many people who chose to marry in October, around National Day. It was obvious that Qiao Zijin chose the date as National Day was round the corner. It had nothing to do with the triplets.

  Zhai Hua could not understand how could Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin be able to come up with such a blatant lie, and they sounded as if they were telling the truth.