“Why must I know his surname?” Deng Wenchang found it weird. “I have never seen him before. This is the first time I saw him.” He was not lying. He was telling the truth.
He Yi curled the corners of his lips, feeling perplexed. What was the Deng family up to? “Qiao Nan is married and her husband’s surname is Zhai.” It was impossible that Deng Wenchang had no idea who his enemy was and could not recognize him when he saw him.
Deng Wenchang’s heart jumped a beat. He was trembling. “His surname is Zhai? What a special surname. In the capital, the only Zhai family that is well-known is the family who was transferred to the capital two years ago. Uncle He, is there any relationship between them?” It turned out that the man had the surname of Zhai. His family did not know much about the Zhai family, but they were destined to be enemies.
Deng Wenchang knew that the Peng family’s target was the Zhai family, and Peng Yu was at loggerheads with a man named Zhai Sheng.
If the Deng family wanted to have a strong foothold in the capital, they had to depend on the Peng family. The only chance of the Peng family being successful was to usurp the Zhai family and take their position.
“What is their relationship?” He Yi was certain that Deng Wenchang was not playing dumb but was really clueless. “There aren’t that many Zhai families. Didn’t you see the car plate number of the Land Rover car just now? Apart from the people from the political and military families, who else could have this car plate number?” It was funny that he did not catch on. “Alright, it’s getting late. You should hurry back as well.”
He Yi got into this car and went home feeling invigorating and energized, while Deng Wenchang had a baffled and clueless look on his face.
His little junior was competent and capable, and she had the Zhai family as her backing. To be blunt, if anything happened, he would not be able to help her. Instead, it might be the other way round. The Zhai family might help him on account of her.
Nevertheless, he was glad that he was in this position.
His life was good. He was thankful to his master for recruiting a little junior who was blessed with good fortune at his old age. He was able to have brighter prospects even in his middle age because of her.
With the Zhai family around, the Deng family should abandon all hopes of Deng Wenchang replacing him to be the minister of Foreign Affairs.
When the couple reached home, Qiao Nan had just taken a seat when she received a phone call from Lin Yuankang. “Master, will you be coming back soon? Oh, you will be there for another ten more days. When you are back, I will prepare a feast to welcome you. The triplets are doing well. They are lively and healthy. I do not dare to bring the three of them with me outdoors. I don’t understand. They have just learned to take steady steps now, but why is it that they love to run around?”
Qiao Nan could not imagine what would happen when the children turned two to three years old. Would they go out of control like unleashed horses when they were outdoors and there would be no way to control them? The worst part was that she had three children. If there needed more than one adult to supervise one child, would they need to hire a lot of helpers before they could go outdoors with a peace of mind?
“Sister Zhai Hua? She is only four months pregnant. Her tummy is barely showing. I guess it will be another six months before she will be due for delivery.”
Lin Yuankang asked about Zhai Hua since he was reminded of her. He was not worried for her. When she was born, she was a healthy baby. Since a young age, apart from sustaining injuries when she was on her assignments, she seldom fell sick.
“Master grandpa!” San Bao, who had good hearing and liked to stay close to her mother, heard Qiao Nan when she addressed Lin Yuankang as her master. She knew who was on the line and shouted affectionately at her master grandpa who was on the other end of the phone.
Whenever San Bao greeted Lin Yuankang in her sweet voice, Qiao Nan felt particularly glad that her master did not have high blood pressure, high sugar level, and high cholesterol. Otherwise, he would have an overdose of sugar.
“Oh.” Lin Yuankang could not tell that his disciple was concerned for him. Right now, all he could hear was San Bao’s sweet voice. “San Bao, be good. You must listen to your mom and think of me. When I return, I will bring beautiful presents for you, and I will make sure that you look as pretty as the little princess.”
“Emm… Master grandpa, you must hurry back. I miss you.” The chubby girl nodded and she replied in her sweet and soft voice. It was even softer and smelled better than the newly-pounded glutinous dough.
Qiao Nan caressed her daughter’s fine hair that was plaited into small braids. She had to hand it to San Bao for being so competent in cozying up to someone powerful.
It was no wonder that the elders said that children were smart. They did not need to be taught and they knew what they should do. Whenever her master was at their house, Da Bao, Er Bao, and San Bao would make him happy and he would laugh out in happiness. He would always go back home in light footsteps with a beaming smile on his face.
After San Bao got a hold on the phone, she chatted with Lin Yuankang on the phone for twenty minutes. When the phone turned warm, San Bao still could not bear to end the call.
San Bao might be quick in learning how to speak, but she was still a child who was not even two years old. Her thought process was haphazard and she would talk about different topics randomly. There were many times where she did not make any sense at all. When she was too excited, she might even say some ‘alien language’.
But the elder and the toddler had a happy time chatting on the phone. No one was willing to hang up the phone.
Qiao Nan checked the clock on the wall. She knew that there was a time difference at the place that Lin Yuankang was in. If they continued to chat, San Bao might be holding off Lin Yuankang from doing his work.
Qiao Nan straightened her face and San Bao quickly said her goodbyes to her master grandpa. She held the phone in both hands and passed them back to Qiao Nan. “Mama, give you.”
Qiao Nan pinched San Bao on her nose, expressing her slight displeasure. “You are such a naughty girl, and you are very good at cajoling people. Don’t do this next time.” After hanging up the phone, Qiao Nan told San Bao off. “Master grandpa has serious work to do overseas. We should not disturb him, should we? Also, he is getting older, and his work is so tiring but he still has to prepare presents for San Bao. Doesn’t San Bao’s heart ache for him? Don’t you hope that he can have more time to rest?”
Qiao Nan was very worried that the work trip overseas would exhaust Lin Yuankang. After all, he was getting advanced in years. If not for the interests of the country, Lin Yuankang would not have agreed to the work trip, making life difficult for himself.
The tiring work should be left to the youngsters.
When Zhai Yaohui was at home, he seldom ventured out, but he would spend more time at the government and going on work trips.