Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qiao Nan had experienced occasions, both locally and overseas, with constant flickers and flashes of lights from countless cameras and video equipment within ten meters from her, which were capable of making one’s eyes uncomfortable. Qiao Nan had managed such major occasions steadily. Now, she was just attending a small wedding banquet and dragged onto the stage to deliver an impromptu speech. Could this be difficult for Qiao Nan?
What a joke!
Qiao Nan took over the microphone from the emcee in an unexpectedly calm manner. “In my view, be it men or women, marriage represents the beginning of a second life. No matter how one’s previous life was, the most important thing now is to grab hold of their second life and let it make up for the regrets and shortcomings of their first life. I sincerely hope that the bridegroom and bride can rationally manage their approaching second life with more mature foresight and mentality and live wonderfully, happily, peacefully, and healthily for the rest of their lives.”
Initially, some people could not really come back from their senses after listening to such a congratulatory speech.
It was only until when Qiao Nan returned to her seat that some people were struck by the logic of Qiao Nan’s words as they reminisced. When one was in the maternal family, she was a daughter. After she was married, she would become someone’s wife. Of course, she could not continue with her old ways of living in the maternal family when she was with the in-law family. She had to adapt to a new way of life.
This applied to both the bride and bridegroom.
Not everyone could understand the profound part of the speech, but most people could understand the simple part. The bride’s biological sister said that she hoped that the bridegroom and bride could lead a good life after marriage. There was no doubt about this point.
At that moment, loud and thunderous claps for Qiao Nan could be heard again.
Others could not understand these words, but not Qiao Zijin. Qiao Zijin’s expression turned pale for a while. Fortunately, she had applied blusher on her face. Otherwise, she would not be able to hide her pale face under the focus of everyone’s attention.
Qiao Zijin’s hands grasped the bouquet of flowers in her hands. This was the most beautiful moment of her life, yet Qiao Nan had to say such words of warning and sarcasm to her. Qiao Nan was truly a heartless and cruel bitch!
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She did not watch Qiao Nan make a fool out of herself. Instead, she was slapped in the face a few times calmly by Qiao Nan. Qiao Zijin had lost her interest in this wedding. If it was possible, she did not even wish to continue with it. Anyway, she and Zhou Zheng had already collected the wedding certificate. Was she not Zhou Zheng’s wife if they did not hold the wedding banquet?
After they went through the wedding process, the final step was for the newlyweds to give a toast to the guests today.
Qiao Nan, who had taken her fill, wiped her mouth and informed her neighbors. “My mother-in-law is taking care of the three children alone at home now. I’m a little worried and will make a move first. If there is a chance in the future, I will come and visit aunties and uncles again.”
“Aye, okay. Nan Nan, take your time.”
“Yes, pay attention to safety on the way home.”
After greeting the neighbors, she also notified Qiao Dongliang so that the latter could pass the message to Qiao Zijin. After thinking, Qiao Dongliang said, “Wait a while. I will inform the in-laws that I am leaving with you. I miss the triplets too. Yesterday, I had so much fun with them. Perhaps the three of them are thinking about me, their maternal grandpa.”
From the beginning to the end, Qiao Dongliang was only an ornament.
During the short walk of the bride’s first march in, Qiao Dongliang was dragged to become part of the ‘crew’. After he passed Qiao Zijin’s hand to Zhou Zheng, it was ‘mission accomplished’.
The moment Qiao Zijin’s hand was taken by Zhou Zheng, Qiao Dongliang had the feeling of a huge burden being lifted off from his shoulders. He could finally straighten his heavily saddled waist.
Zijin was now married. In the future, he did not need to take this daughter in hand anymore. Whether her marriage life was good or bad would all depend on Zijin herself. If she did not have a good life, she was also the cause of the problem. He could not even take in hand the three women of his family, so how could he reach out to other people’s family?
“Mom?” Click! As soon as the door was opened, the sharp-eared San Bao ran in the direction of the door.
“San Bao, look. Who am I?” Qiao Dongliang was quicker than Qiao Nan in showing his face, making San Bao laugh.
Pleasantly surprised, San Bao called, “Maternal grandpa!”
After two days of companionship, besides San Bao, all the three children’s bond with Qiao Dongliang, this maternal grandfather, had deepened tremendously. At this moment, when they saw Qiao Dongliang appear, the triplets were elated. San Bao waved her hand. “Maternal grandpa, come and catch San Bao!”
“Ooo-ah! The big tiger is going to eat the little rabbit.” Qiao Dongliang yelled, made his hands look like claws, and dashed toward San Bao. Da Bao and Er Bao also laughed and ran, shouting, “The big tiger can’t catch us! The big tiger can’t catch us!”
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Someone was playing with the three children. Qiao Nan and Miao Jing had nothing to do then. Miao Jing looked at Qiao Nan. “How was it? Nothing happened, right?”
“Even if there was, it’s not something major. I could handle it. It has been so many years. I am already used to it. Qiao Zijin is not capable of coming up with new or formidable tricks.” She was not controlled by Ding Jiayi anymore, and Ding Jiayi was no longer that old gun in Qiao Zijin’s hands. After losing these two great assistants, Qiao Zijin could not stir up any waves in front of her.
Miao Jing nodded understandingly. In that case, Qiao Zijin had really schemed against Nan Nan again on the day of her wedding. Unfortunately, the outcome was to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it. She was so miserable. She had to feel upset even when she was a bride. The most pitiful thing was that Qiao Zijin brought this upon herself.
“Mom, are we going back tomorrow?” Qiao Zijin’s wedding was over. Of course, there was no need for her to continue staying in Ping Cheng.
Miao Jing took a glance at Qiao Dongliang. “Are you sure about going home tomorrow?”
“…” Qiao Nan clutched her head in pain. “Why don’t we stay for one more day? I seldom come back and the chances of my dad going to the capital are very slim.” She stayed so far away and Qiao Zijin had the heart of a stone. Thinking about it, after Qiao Nan had children in the future, Qiao Zijin might not even be willing to let her child interact with her father and experience the joy of spending time with his grandchildren and family.
It was no wonder that her father had always wanted a son. With a son, his grandchildren would not be too far away from him. However, with a daughter, it was uncertain how many times he could see his maternal grandchild in a year; it depended on where his daughter was married to.
“Fine, if you say so. We’ll stay for one more day.”
“Okay.”
After finalizing the discussion, the mother and daughter-in-law no longer talked about this topic. When they were having dinner, Qiao Nan invited Qiao Dongliang to continue to visit the old house of the Zhai family to look after the triplets. Qiao Nan also conveniently told Qiao Dongliang that they had reserved the flights to return to the capital for the day after.
Qiao Dongliang’s smile faded much after hearing it. However, on the day of the third, Qiao Dongliang came to the house of the Zhai family early in the morning and played with the three children enthusiastically.
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