He had thought that it was strange. The doctor had clearly said that Nan Nan would be fine as long as her condition stabilized and she awoke. Zhai Sheng had also texted him to say that Nan Nan was fine and that the doctor had said so too. Why had Nan Nan’s condition deteriorated so rapidly in the time that he took to get to the hospital? He had probably lost three years of his life from that scare…

  Qiao Zijin was not just lying. Her words were no different from cursing Qiao Nan.

  “Dad, why did you hit me? Nan Nan is gone and I’m your only daughter now! How could you hit me?” No matter how good Qiao Nan was, she was gone. Wasn’t her dad afraid that he would have no one to send him off when he passed on if he hit her now? Her dad had to be crazy! Was her dad counting on Zhai Sheng to support him in his old age? Humph, once she married Zhai Sheng, she would have the last say as to whether Zhai Sheng would support her father!

  “Nonsense!” Qiao Dongliang had the urge to sew Qiao Zijin’s mouth up with a needle. Ever since Qiao Nan had been admitted into the hospital, everyone had been worried and could never sleep well, afraid that something would happen to Qiao Nan in the middle of the night.

  Miao Jing and Zhai Yaohui had only arrived at the hospital after the children were born. Because of that, Miao Jing had berated Zhai Sheng for not letting them know about Qiao Nan’s labor earlier so that they could have cheered Qiao Nan on.

  It had not been easy to overcome all those storms to welcome a bright new day, but Qiao Zijin had given them such a scare! “Isn’t Nan Nan doing just fine? Are you dreaming in broad daylight?”

  \r \r \r

  Sleepwalking wasn’t scary, but why did she have to scare others too?

  “She’s fine?” Qiao Zijin was stunned. She had even thought that her dad had beaten her because he didn’t agree with Zhai Sheng marrying her. Besides, Qiao Nan was clearly taking her last breaths earlier. How could she be fine now?

  “Hehehe….” Qiao Nan laughed as she got Zhai Sheng to support her to sit up. “I’m sorry but I’m not prepared to die just yet. If you want to mourn me, you can come back in another few decades. But I don’t know if you’ll still be around then.” Qiao Nan was truly enraged by Qiao Zijin’s shamelessness, and she refreshed Qiao Zijin’s memory.

  Qiao Nan had only told Zhai Sheng about Qiao Zijin’s plans. She felt too ashamed to even mention it to her elders. She had no other choice. In front of her parents-in-law, having a relative like Qiao Zijin had already become an embarrassment to her. As for Qiao Dongliang, Qiao Nan was afraid that Qiao Dongliang would feel ashamed for having raised a daughter like that.

  A sister-in-law marrying her brother-in-law to take care of her sister’s newborn children. Things like that didn’t happen anymore, alright?

  “You’re not dead?” Qiao Zijin was wide-eyed. Why was she not dead? Wasn’t she dying? Qiao Zijin stared at Qiao Dongliang, full of questions. It was Qiao Dongliang who had told her that Qiao Nan was going to pass away soon.

  Qiao Dongliang frowned. Why did he not understand the conversation between Nan Nan and Zijin? He looked again at Qiao Zijin’s puzzled face and he could not help but ask, “Has there been a misunderstanding? Zijin, why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Dad, didn’t you tell me…” That Qiao Nan had only a few more hours to live?

  “What did I tell you?” Qiao Dongliang was truly confused. What had he told Zijin that had concerned death? “Tell me, Zijin. What did you tell Nan Nan?” Qiao Dongliang didn’t want to hear the word ‘death’ now that Qiao Nan had just returned from death’s door after giving birth to her children. The mention of that word was enough to make him shudder.

  But since there was a misunderstanding, he would have to clear the air.

  Qiao Zijin took a deep breath and stared blankly at Qiao Nan. After confirming that Qiao Nan had no intention to stop breathing anytime soon, Qiao Zijin kicked up a fuss. “Nan Nan’s fine?” Didn’t they say that it was dangerous for older patients to give birth? Didn’t they say that there was a much higher risk for multiple births than a singleton? Qiao Nan satisfied both those conditions, so why hadn’t she died?

  Shouldn’t Qiao Nan have died without any question?

  If Qiao Nan was not dead, why had she sobbed and comforted them earlier? Had it been a joke or a performance?

  Qiao Dongliang looked at Zijin with a strange gaze. “Didn’t I tell you that Nan Nan’s condition stabilized after she gave birth? Nan Nan’s condition was a little unstable earlier but she’s fine now since she’s already woken up.”

  Had he not made that clear with his words? Why did he feel that Zijin’s understanding was completely different from what he meant? Did that mean that Zijin had thought that Nan Nan was in grave danger and about to die when he had said that Nan Nan was safe? That was absurd! Why would Zijin have such a ridiculous misunderstanding?

  Qiao Zijin pouted. So, that was what her dad meant earlier. He hadn’t meant that Qiao Nan had only a few hours left to live. What he meant was that Qiao Nan had already passed the critical period and had woken up. Qiao Zijin was puzzled. With just one out of those two conditions, it was not uncommon for other women to die. But why had nothing happened to Qiao Nan even though she satisfied both those conditions? “Were you acting earlier?”

  Qiao Zijin’s expression changed once again. If she had indeed misunderstood her dad’s words, then what did Qiao Nan mean? Qiao Nan had acted as though she was going to die earlier. If not for her struggling and looking in pain, would she have misunderstood the situation?

  Qiao Nan thought Qiao Zijin’s words were ridiculous. Acting? How had she been acting? Had it not been for Qiao Zijin mentioning the triplets, making her misunderstand that something had happened to them, her expression wouldn’t have changed either. Qiao Zijin was really hopeless! She was the one who had misunderstood the situation but had the guts to blame her for ‘acting’? “I wasn’t acting. When you rushed up to me, you pressed on my wound.” Up until now, Qiao Nan’s wound was still acting up from time to time. Thankfully, she had realized that Qiao Zijin had misunderstood that there was something wrong with her, and nothing had happened to the triplets.

  “She pressed on your wound?” Zhai Sheng asked as he glanced coldly at Qiao Zijin. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ll get the nurse over to see whether anything’s wrong with it.”

  Miao Jing and Zhai Yaohui eyed Qiao Zijin with an unfriendly gaze. Qiao Nan had just given birth the day before and had just gotten out of danger. Anyone with the slightest bit of common sense would know not to pounce on Qiao Nan, much less on her wound. What kind of relative was Qiao Zijin? She was much more like an enemy! An enemy would know only to curse others!