The triplets were chubby and round. Even if it was Qiao Nan, who was the shortest in the Zhai family, they still had to look up to take a good look at her. The two persons in front of them were much taller than their mother. In the eyes of the triplets, they were simply giants.
“Grandma!” San Bao, who was the quickest in learning how to speak, shouted at her grandma in alarm. She shrieked and kept calling out for her grandma.
She knew that when her mother was not around, her grandma had the final say. If she encountered any problems, she would grab hold of her grandma’s thigh and cry to her for help.
“Is this San Bao? You are my sweet darling.” Zhai Hua was overjoyed at the sight of San Bao. She was chubby and round and she wore a plain cotton thin dress. She walked forward and gave San Bao a big hug. She took in a deep breath. Yes, San Bao still smelled of milk. It was the best smell ever.
“San Bao, the dress is so pretty. Who bought it for you?”
Zhai Hua loved how San Bao looked in her dress. San Bao had fair and tender complexion, while her dress was a pale shade of dark blue.
The cotton material of the dress added a plain touch to the dress.
Because it accentuated San Bao’s fair and tender skin, it seemed to glisten under the sun.
Zhai Hua loved it that her dress had the design of a Chinese traditional costume. The lapels overlapped each other and two small ribbons formed half a butterfly knot on the front.
There was a bright red string on San Bao’s thick neck. Her neck was almost as thick as her thigh.
Zhai Hua, who behaved like a ruffian, tugged at San Bao’s lapels to reveal a bright red undergarment that she wore beneath her dress. She looked so charming in that outfit of hers.
“Bad. Release, release. Wa…” San Bao was frightened by the person in front of her. She shouted at the top of her lungs, calling Zhai Hua as a bad guy and telling her to release her. San Bao, who was impatient, did not give Zhai Hua time to react. She noticed that Zhai Hua still held onto her, and she cried out in anxiety and fear. “Grandma, grandma, bad, bad. ” Grandma, a bad guy was trying to take San Bao away.
Da Bao and Er Bao behaved like two little cubs. They glared at the person who was holding San Bao. They looked grim and they clenched their fists, charging toward Zhai Hua, not bothering to waste time talking to her. They gave ‘punches’ to Zhai Hua from all sides, forcing the bad guy to let go of their sister.
“Brother.” Her brother was brave to protect their sister. San Bao shouted to her brothers for help. She did not want to be taken away by the bad guy. She wanted her mama.
“What’s wrong?” Miao Jing, who just had left the triplets seconds ago to go to the kitchen to bring warm water for them, rushed out from the kitchen when she heard the cries of San Bao. Her heart ached for her. “San Bao, who bullied you? Tell me…”
Miao Jing was stunned momentarily when she realized that the person who held San Bao in her arms was Zhai Hua. “Both of you are back.”
Zhai Hua smiled. She was about to tell her mother that she missed her when Miao Miao acted like a shrew and snarled. “Such a brat. You are already so old, yet you dare to bully San Bao, and you still call yourself a woman. Put San Bao down right now. Pass her to me!”
San Bao had been frightened to tears. Looked at how she was crying.
“Grandma!” The triplets felt emboldened at the sight of their closest kin. They knew that the two bad guys would not take San Bao away. Their grandma would be able to drive the bad guys away and snatch San Bao back.
Miao Jing put down the water in her hands. She seemed like the tigress who was about to snatch the cubs from the enemies. Zhai Hua took a few steps backward in shock. To the triplets, it was as if Zhai Hua was unwilling to return San Bao to Miao Jing. San Bao was nervous and she kept kicking in Zhai Hua’s arms, her hands reaching toward Zhai Hua’s face.
“Oh, my goodness.” Zhai Hua felt pain on her face. She realized belatedly that her niece had been in shock and she was really crying. She was not pretending. Her niece was too heartless. How could she forget her and want to hit her?
Miao Jing made use of the chance while San Bao was fidgeting to snatch San Bao from Zhai Hua. “San Bao, be good. Grandma is here. Don’t cry. You won’t look pretty if you cry.”
“Grandma.” San Bao buried her face in Miao Jing’s shoulder, looking as if she had had a bad fright. She sobbed before she was reminded that she had forgotten about something. She turned to look at Zhai Hua. “Grandma, hit, hit, hit.” San Bao raised her chubby arms and made a move to hit in the air. She wanted Miao Jing to take revenge and hit the bad guy to retaliate on her behalf.
“Hahaha…” Miao Jing was thrilled that her granddaughter who would turn one year old soon was so smart. She knew that one must take revenge. “Sure, your auntie is too much. She should not have frightened San Bao. The auntie is such a bad girl. I will take revenge on your behalf.” With that, Miao Jing patted Zhai Hua lightly. She did not really hit her. In fact, she was merely dusting the dust off Zhai Hua.
“Auntie?” Now that she had taken revenge, San Bao was not one who bore grudges. She no longer shunned Zhai Hua like before. Instead, she was interested in the ‘auntie’ that her grandma was talking about.
Initially, Zhai Hua felt aggrieved that her mother favored the granddaughter over her daughter. But then, San Bao made baby sounds and wrongly pronounced ‘auntie’ in front of her. Zhai Hua felt invigorated as if she had taken the tonics. She looked radiant and energetic. “San Bao can talk and she can say the word ‘auntie’!”
Miao Jing felt very pleased. “You may have missed it, but other than ‘auntie’, San Bao called me ‘grandma’ several times just now. Nevertheless, San Bao pronounces ‘mom’ most accurately.”
San Bao was at the development stage where she would be able to say one word by one word. The Zhai family had taught San Bao how to greet the elders at home. San Bao remembered what they taught her, but she was unable to make a connection or use the greeting on the correct person.
Apart from correctly calling Qiao Nan as her mother, Miao Jing took two to three months to teach San Bao to remember that she was her grandma.
Since San Bao started learning to speak when she was eight months old, Miao Jing would stay by her side and taught her how to speak the word ‘grandma’.
Da Bao and Er Bao stood on each side of Miao Jing, grabbing onto her trouser leg. They seemed to be in a confrontation with the two strangers in their house, forming an alliance to protect their grandma and sister.
Da Bao and Er Bao were chubby and round. They were still babies, yet they acted as if they were guardians, protecting Miao Jing from harm. Everyone was amused by their behavior.
To Miao Jing, who had fallen head over heels for the triplets, Da Bao’s and Er Bao’s behaviors were not foolish and stupid. Instead, Miao Jing was moved by their actions.