Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Really?” Er Bao pulled Qiao Nan’s hands and asked worriedly. “Recover very soon. How soon? How many days? Will I be able to see master grandpa and ask him to play with me tomorrow?” Children did not have a strong sense of time. When he heard Qiao Nan say that he could recover faster, to Er Bao, it should be considered fast if master grandpa were to recover from his illness tomorrow.
Da Bao pulled Er Bao’s hands and led him into the house. “Don’t ask such a silly question. If master grandpa really recovers, you also have to let him rest well. You’re only thinking of asking master grandpa to play with you. Not obedient at all.”
“But I also miss master grandpa,” San Bao said unhappily. “I’ve not seen master grandpa for a long time. Doesn’t grandpa miss San Bao?” Using her two little arms, San Bao tried her best to draw a big circle to express the intensity of her longing for master grandpa.
Watching the children walking in quick steps in front of her, Qiao Nan smiled. She realized that she might not need to work on the topic of master grandpa anymore. Perhaps Da Bao alone would be able to help her settle Er Bao and San Bao. Yes, it was a blessing to have an obedient and sensible elder son.
His cousins were walking in front of him. Like a rabbit, Xiao Bao hopped and ran home, while wrapping his little hand around one of his auntie’s fingers. He did not feel nervous about his cousin’s bickering at all. Obviously, his mood was as good and high as a kite soaring high in the sky.
Xiao Bao was granted his wish to stay at the Zhai family’s residence. During the day when his auntie went to work, he had his cousins keep him company and play with him. When nighttime arrived, with a gentle voice, his auntie would always narrate a bedtime story to him.
However, his cousins were already sleeping on their own. There was thus one more little bed in the bedroom prepared for him; he had to sleep by himself too. After successfully sticking around at the Zhai family’s residence for the remaining National Day holidays, Xiao Bao returned to the Tian family’s residence, crying and screaming to heaven when Tian Dong forcefully carried him back.
Miao Jing stroke Qiao Nan’s face. “No wonder Xiao Bao’s grandma is always feeling jealous. Tell me. What did you do to Xiao Bao to make him like you so much? If this goes on, isn’t Xiao Bao going to be a child of our Zhai family? I almost can’t differentiate it now. I’ve never seen a child crying in this manner when he is about to go home.”
Hua Hua was seldom at home. In Xiao Bao’s heart, the grandparents in the Tian family should be his closest and favorite kin. Unexpectedly, Xiao Bao loved the relatives at the Zhai family to the core although he clearly did not spend that much time at the Zhai family’s residence.
Her own child liked someone else so much that he did not fancy her attention. Just by imagining this, Miao Jing felt so upset that she almost lost her appetite for dinner. One could imagine how vexed and upset Xiao Bao’s paternal grandmother felt when looking at how Xiao Bao behaved every day.
After giving a bitter smile, Qiao Nan moved behind to give way. “What can I do to Xiao Bao? I treat him almost the same as how I treat the triplets.” Qiao Nan also did not know why Xiao Bao liked her so much. She was a first-time mother. When she took care of the triplets, she was always worried and troubled that she would not be a good mother, that the triplets would suffer grievances or pick up bad behaviors.
She did not think that she had the capability to ‘seduce’ Xiao Bao and steal his heart.
Miao Jing revealed an unfathomable smile. Nan Nan treated Xiao Bao as well as she treated the triplets. Wasn’t this already enough to make Xiao Bao pledge his loyalty to his auntie? Hua Hua had been a fake lad since she was a child. After she grew up, besides giving birth to Xiao Bao, Miao Jing had never seen Hua Hua behaving the slightest bit like a mother.
In that case, Xiao Bao’s longing and feelings for motherly love all came from Nan Nan. Was there any child that would not love to have a mother? Although to Xiao Bao, this ‘mother’ was, in fact, his auntie.
“Xiao Qiao, take a look at these documents.” He Yi threw a thick stack of documents on Qiao Nan’s table. If there had been dust on Qiao Nan’s table, it would definitely fly around when such a huge stack of items was thrown onto it.
Qiao Nan looked at the stack of old documents, innocently blinking her eyes. “Minister He, where did you dig out these antiques from?” At one glance, she knew that these documents had been in existence for ages. There were some pages that had turned yellow. If one was not careful when they flipped the pages, they could be ruined very easily.
“Since you know that these are antiques, please be a little more careful. I will ask you questions when you finish reading them.” He Yi rolled his eyes at Qiao Nan for not admitting to receiving a bargain. Even when others requested him, he did not agree to give out these antiques. Part of them was passed down to him from his master, and he was now passing them to his junior sister.
Although Qiao Nan was smiling, her attitude was still as serious as ever. “I promise that I will complete the mission tasked by Minister He.” Used to reading, Qiao Nan would feel uneasy all over if she were to flip fewer pages of a book a day. Qiao Nan was most pleased to accept such a task.
After He Yi left, an elderly in the department approached Qiao Nan quietly. “Tsk, Old He treats you quite well, almost treating you as his own daughter. I have worked in this department longer than Old He. After so many years, this is my first time seeing Old He take out these things for someone. One has to know. Old He was not even willing to lend these to some of his former colleagues who wanted to borrow them from him.”
Actually, what this retiring senior wanted to ask most was whether Qiao Nan was He Yi’s illegitimate daughter. Otherwise, why would He Yi let Qiao Nan have all the good things in the world? There were so many other people in the department and Qiao Nan joined the latest.
Why was it that He Yi treated everyone normally except for Qiao Nan? He looked at her in such a different light.
Qiao Nan did not seem to have detected the suspicion from this person’s tone. She answered earnestly, “Senior, rest assured. No matter what mission Minister He hands to me, I will definitely complete and deliver it with both quantity and quality. This is such an excellent training opportunity. How can I give this up? I will strive to improve myself and not become a burden to the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
“It’s good that you understand. Read these documents properly. Keep a tight watch on them as well. Don’t lose any piece of them. If that happens, you won’t be able to explain to Old He.” This elderly was very curious but he was not a bad person. When he saw that he could not get any information out of Qiao Nan, he did not continue to pester her. He returned to his seat and continued with his work.
Qiao Nan was not sure, but Deng Wenchang had long heard from his father that He Yi had a stack of extremely important old documents in his hands. Those were passed down from Elder Lin, who had retired from the central government. After He Yi became the successor of these documents, as time and things evolved, he had tidied up and added a lot of contemporary information to them.