Chapter 1206 Wishful Thinking
“fortunately, zhai sheng is still doing fairly well. if he did not make them comfortable and happy, they would have ignored him.”
zhai hua felt slightly better at miao jing’s words.
given that the triplets were still young, it was normal for them to like the people who fed them.
the chinese people would be busier as the year came to an end. every family would get ready for the lunar new year. compared to other families, the qiao family was busy in a different manner.
after pondering for a long time, qiao dongliang made a phone call to the capital, feeling gloomy. when he was dialing the numbers, he felt as if his hands were without any strength and they were very stiff. “h.e.l.lo, i am looking for qiao nan.”
“oh, sure. please hold on.” the auntie could tell that the other party was qiao dongliang. she handed the phone to qiao nan without any hesitation.
of course, the auntie would treat him nicely as it was qiao dongliang on the phone.
if the caller id display said that it was from the qiao family and the person on the phone was female, regardless of whether it was ding jiayi or qiao zijin, the auntie would not pa.s.s the phone to qiao nan, lest she be upset.
qiao dongliang might be muddleheaded, but at the very least, he still had some sanity.
“h.e.l.lo, dad?”
“yes.” qiao dongliang took a long time to answer. he was thinking of the six thousand yuan that he received. he felt upset. “nan nan, will you be back to ping cheng after the lunar new year?”
lunar new year was coming. it dawned on qiao dongliang that qiao nan was finally married and had become zhai sheng’s wife and part of the zhai family. she had taken on more roles apart from being his daughter.
last year during the lunar new year, qiao nan came back to ping cheng earlier than usual to prepare for the lunar new year.
unlike last year, he was not certain if he would be able to see his younger daughter when school reopened next year. his in-laws had moved to the capital and they no longer stayed in ping cheng.
now that his maternal grandchildren were in the capital, qiao dongliang wanted very much to go to the capital. however, he did not have enough money to make the trip. it was already a challenge for him to prepare presents for his grandchildren.
if he wanted to make a trip to the capital for the triplets’ one-month-old celebration, he would have to apply for unpaid leave. it would take several days to go to and fro and there were still many expenses to be taken care of. to him, it was not a small sum. furthermore, qiao dongliang felt inferior. unlike qiao nan, he was unable to mix well with the zhai family.
he was worried that his appearance would not look good on qiao nan and his three grandchildren and they would be looked down upon by others. qiao dongliang was particularly embarra.s.sed about the situation at home. he feared that people might ask about the qiao family or qiao nan’s relations.h.i.+p with her parents. by then, he would not know how he should answer them. people who knew about their situation would be in a difficult position as well.
there was so much that qiao dongliang had to worry about. therefore, he did not turn up for their one-month-old celebration. he was only able to get someone to pa.s.s the presents to qiao nan three months after the celebration.
qiao dongliang did not have many friends who would make frequent work trips to the capital.
the three bangles cost a few thousand yuan. he had to entrust them to someone trustworthy. he would not feel a.s.sured to get someone else to pa.s.s the bangles to qiao nan.
therefore, the triplets only get to wear the golden bangles given to them by their maternal grandpa when they were four months old.
the friend gave qiao dongliang a call after he pa.s.sed the bangles to qiao nan. qiao dongliang thought that his daughter would most probably come back to visit him. he did not expect that he would receive six thousand yuan from her in the afternoon.
qiao dongliang knew what his daughter meant by transferring the six thousand yuan to him. he spent around four to five thousand yuan on the golden bangles that he bought for his grandchildren. since his daughter gave him six thousand yuan, the extra one thousand yuan was meant for him.
since she had transferred the money to him, did it mean that nan nan would not be coming back?
qiao nan stared at the pa.s.sbook yesterday, feeling gloomy. now, she felt all the more upset at the dejected tone in qiao dongliang’s voice. “i will most likely pay you a visit, but i can only stay for one day. da bao, er bao, and san bao are still young. i will not bring them to visit you.” this was what zhai sheng had told qiao nan this morning.
“will you be back to visit me?” qiao dongliang sounded more cheerful. “but you can only stay for a day?”
qiao nan caressed da bao’s cheeks. she said without much emotion, “i have no other choice. the triplets are still having breast milk. i can only be apart from them for one day. moreover, although i am only in my second year, i have a lot of homework. i have already given up on taking a double degree.”
before she went to college, qiao nan had discussed with qiao dongliang that as long as she had the abilities, she wanted to apply to take a double degree when she was in her second year of college. she would study and work hard to graduate with a double degree within four years.
now, in order to take care of her three children, qiao nan had given up on that dream. it was already a stretch for her to spare time to go back to ping cheng and stay for a day.
furthermore, both qiao dongliang and qiao nan knew that there was no longer anything in ping cheng worth her visit.
if qiao dongliang was not in ping cheng, qiao nan would rather forget that she used to spend nearly twenty years of her life in ping cheng.
although qiao dongliang was in ping cheng, she would only stay for a day when she visited ping cheng. now, apart from herself, her focus was on her husband, her children, her in-laws, and their relatives.
her parents’ home?
she would take it that she did not have any parents’ home.
qiao dongliang wanted to persuade qiao nan to stay for a few more days so that he could spend more time with her, but since it was due to the triplets, he had no choice but to give in. “you’re right. the triplets are still young and could not go without their mother. it is good that you can come back for one day. actually, given your situation, i should pay you a visit instead. nan nan, i…”
since he had already made a phone call, qiao dongliang wanted to explain to qiao nan why he and ding jiayi were not present for the one-month-old celebration of the triplets.
ding jiayi wanted very much to go. she already had a plan in mind. she would prepare presents for them and she would not make it embarra.s.sing for the zhai family. she would show everyone that she was a generous and gracious grandmother.
of course, qiao nan would have to pay for everything. she could not possibly pay for them by herself. she was there so that it would look good on the triplets and qiao nan.
furthermore, she was qiao nan’s mother and the triplets’ grandmother.
since she came all the way to the capital for the one-month-old celebration of the triplets, the zhai family and qiao nan had to show their appreciation.