“They must be pretending.” Qiao Nan, who was holding her chubby daughter in her arms, joked. “They are very smart. They strive to give the best performance when they are outside and will not cry. But when they are at home, there is no need to hide their true feelings. In fact, they have a bad temper.”
San Bao blinked. Her dark and round eyes kept staring at her mama. She then turned her chubby cheeks sideways and brushed her cheeks against Qiao Nan’s chest. It was obvious what she was doing.
Qiao Nan patted San Bao’s bottom. Qiao Nan’s heart ached for San Bao, and she felt guilty. “San Bao, be good. I will feed you with formula milk.” Qiao Nan, who used to have sufficient breast milk for the triplets, stopped secreting milk naturally when the triplets were five months old.
Qiao Nan had no other choice but to wean the triplets off the breast milk.
“The formula milk is ready.” The auntie was an able worker. She knew the lifestyle of the triplets very well. After they woke up, urinated, and pooped, they would feel hungry and would cry for their milk.
San Bao, who lay in her mama’s arms, saw the milk bottle in her mama’s hands. She flailed her hands, as if she shunned the milk bottle. In the end, she had no other choice but to take the milk bottle with her chubby arms and started to suck on the milk bottle.
It was more important to drink her fill and grow up tall and strong.
As the mother, since the triplets were awake, she had an obligation to stay by their side and entertain them.
She had to coax them and tuck them into bed before she could do her schoolwork.
“Are they asleep?” The triplets slept soundly. They were sprawled out on their backs in the baby cribs. Their bulging tummies would rise and fall with every breath they took. They bent their knees like a little frog in surrender. They looked so adorable and endearing. Miao Jing’s heart melted at the sight of her grandchildren. “My dear triplets, eat well and sleep well. You will grow up to be strong and healthy.”
Her grandchildren might be born one month before their delivery date. However, when they were placed side by side with full-term babies, they seemed to be taller and bigger than them. Miao Jing could not help but be so proud of the triplets.
Every elder who lived in the same district had nothing but praises for the triplets. They were amazed that they were so healthy and strong. They praised the Zhai family for raising them well. It was the Zhai family’s fortune that the triplets were well-behaved and that they ate well and were very healthy.
Qiao Nan, who was using the internet, had to multitask while she listened to Miao Jing. She agreed with her. “Right now, the triplets will spend less time to sleep. They are very energetic. Thankfully, they are able to fall asleep in no time when they feel sleepy. One does not need to cajole them to sleep. We can just put them on the bed and they will fall asleep right away.”
“You’re right. It is such an easy task to take care of the triplets. Other families are kept busy with a single child of a similar age. We have three babies at home but we are able to take good care of them. The triplets are the most adorable and well-behaved children in the world.” Her grandchildren were the best. Miao Jing was a besotted grandma. She only had eyes for her grandchildren. No other babies were better than her grandchildren. “I noticed that you have a red file with you. Did you get a scholarship again?”
Now that the children were asleep and Miao Jing was free, after caring for her grandchildren, she turned to show concern for her daughter-in-law.
Miao Jing was very emotional when Qiao Nan came home with the red file. She felt as if Qiao Nan was awarded the first-prize scholarship. “Nan Nan, what scholarship did you receive this time?”
Qiao Nan did not go to school for half a semester. The Zhai family did not expect that Qiao Nan would receive a scholarship to do the Zhai family proud. It was too much to ask of her.
It was already considered good enough if Qiao Nan passed all her subjects and had average results for the subjects. Qiao Nan was already doing the Zhai family proud. They should prepare a sumptuous meal to celebrate for Qiao Nan.
Therefore, Miao Jing was very surprised when she saw the familiar red file.
“I received the second-prize scholarship. This is not the best scholarship. Therefore, there is no hope of me getting the school-based scholarship.” There was a huge difference between a second-prize and a first-prize scholarship. Other than the number of scholarships that was awarded, the amount of money was different as well. After Qiao Nan found out that she received the second-prize scholarship, she knew that she might not be able to receive the school-based scholarship in the future.
Thankfully, she managed to get the scholarship twice in a row. It was already good enough for her.
There were many other students in school, but there were only a few students who would receive the scholarship. It was even more difficult to receive a school-based scholarship. Qiao Nan was a freshman. She had no connections and was clueless. However, she was able to receive the school-based scholarship twice in a row. She must have done good deeds in her previous life.
Miao Jing hurried to explain. “Don’t misunderstand. If you receive a third-prize scholarship, all of us would set off firecrackers to celebrate, let alone the school-based or second-prize scholarship. Nan Nan, you are so outstanding. I believe that since you are the triplets’ mother, they will definitely grow up to be talented and intelligent. They will learn from you and they will be smart and outstanding.”
No other student was as efficient and capable as Nan Nan.
While she was in school, she was already pregnant. She missed the lessons for half a semester, but her results were better than all the other students who had been going to classes diligently every day.
If they were not pleased that Nan Nan received the second-prize scholarship, and instead blamed Nan Nan for not doing her best, what about all the other students in the college who did not receive any scholarships?
Learning was to keep improving. One would not be so heartless and callous and place such importance on results.
Qiao Nan finished typing and sent the message to her senior. She finally had time to answer her mother-in-law. “Mom, don’t say this in front of the triplets, especially after they grow up and could understand us. They are still young and malleable. They do not know what is self-discipline or self-control. As their elders, we must pay extra attention to it so that they will not walk down the wrong path.”
Grandparents would usually dote on their grandchildren.
Her mother-in-law was not close to her son and daughter. Therefore, she devoted all her feelings to her grandchildren.
Qiao Nan was glad that the triplets had a loving grandma who doted on them.
However, Qiao Nan would not be able to take it if she went beyond the limit. Therefore, in order to prevent things from getting ugly, it was better to spell things out beforehand and have a good discussion about it.