Chapter 2116: Decent
The elders in the family were naturally pleased that Jiajia was excited about having younger siblings. Qiao Nan was pregnant with three children! Ever since her stomach had started to show in the fourth month, Qiao Nan’s stomach was not only as big as a balloon, but it even seemed as though someone was constantly blowing it up. It even looked different in the morning and in the afternoon, less say each day!
At only five months pregnant, Qiao Nan’s stomach was so big that it resembled one of someone who was about to give birth. Everyone who saw Qiao Nan could not help but worry about her.
Zhai Hua was afraid that Jiajia would be insensible and accidentally press on Qiao Nan’s stomach. As such, Zhai Hua had decided to stay by Qiao Nan’s side the entire day to protect her until she left with Jiajia. She knew that everyone else but Jiajia in the family knew their limits. No matter how mature Jiajia was, she was still a child and would inevitably make mistakes at times.
After Jiajia left, Miao Jing and the auntie were the only ones, apart from Zhai Yaohui, staring at Qiao Nan’s stomach every day, worrying on her behalf. Qiao Nan’s protruding belly was so large that Miao Jing and the auntie could not help but want to stay by Qiao Nan’s side the entire day to prop up her stomach.
Her stomach was humongous and she was carrying three children! A mother’s love was indeed incredible.
In fact, it was not just the Zhai family. Whenever Qiao Nan left the house to exercise every day, their neighbors in the quad could not help but feel that Qiao Nan had indeed raised the level of the entire quad no matter how much they had looked down on Qiao Nan in the past. At this time, these people could not help but be kind to Qiao Nan. Not only did they look at her in a different light, but they even slowed down their steps and lowered their voices when walking past Qiao Nan for fear of scaring her.
Pregnant women could not afford to be scared.
Now that Qiao Nan’s stomach was growing so rapidly, everyone who took care of her in the Zhai family had started to tense up. On the day that Qiao Nan took her exam, Zhai Yaohui was no different from an anxious parent sending his child to the examination hall and insisted on seeing Qiao Nan enter the examination hall before he finally relaxed.
Initially, Zhai Yaohui had been rather supportive of Qiao Nan when he had first found out that Qiao Nan was so enthusiastic about learning and upgrading herself, thinking that Qiao Nan was a very opinionated child and a good match for Zhai Sheng.
But it was only natural for him to change his mind after learning that Qiao Nan was pregnant with the triplets. While it was good that she wanted to improve herself, she had to look at the situation she was in. Now, there was nothing more important than the health and safety of Qiao Nan and her children.
Unfortunately, no one had known that Qiao Nan was already pregnant when she had signed up for the examination. If they were to stop her now, it would only show that the Zhai family cared more about the children than Qiao Nan herself.
Sigh. Zhai Yaohui was thrown into a dilemma.
Thankfully, there were many candidates on the day of the English examination, but they were all of a certain standard. Upon seeing that Qiao Nan was a pregnant lady, not only did they not squeeze beside Qiao Nan, but they even stood aside to give her s.p.a.ce to walk and breathe.
With these students’ consideration toward Qiao Nan, Zhai Yaohui could do nothing but sit in the car and wait for more than an hour until the exam ended.
Once Qiao Nan got into the car, Zhai Yaohui nodded and said, “I thought that children nowadays were spoiled. It seems like our country’s educational system is doing rather well. These young people haven’t let the country down.”
“That’s right.” Miao Jing handed Qiao Nan some water. “But Nan Nan, you know that your stomach has gotten bigger. It’s alright since this exam was only two hours long, but what about going to school?” The students here were good, but that did not mean that all students had such a good temper.
Nan Nan was a treasure. No one could touch, or much less injure her. She would never use such precious Nan Nan to test out the overall quality of character in the country.
There would be too many people in the cla.s.sroom breathing the same air. The air quality was sure to be poor.
“Nan Nan, I don’t mean to discourage you from learning. It’s just that…” Shouldn’t Nan Nan give birth to her children before continuing with her studies? Nan Nan had three precious babies in her stomach. She and the auntie alone would definitely not be able to handle them. Besides, she was already advanced in age. It would be good enough for her not to add on to her children’s troubles.
Miao Jing had already thought it through. At the very most, they would hire two more helpers. Then, each helper would take care of one child. Three helpers would definitely be sufficient to take care of her three grandchildren. She might be old, but if she and Old Zhai were at home, they would definitely supervise the helpers from the side and chip in when needed.
After quenching her thirst, Qiao Nan wiped away her sweat and smiled. “Mom, don’t worry. I understand. Before Brother Zhai returned to the military, I already discussed this with him. At the very most, I’ll graduate a year later. Besides, I can still study at home. I’ve already applied for leave from my teacher and I don’t intend to return until I finish my confinement period.”
Qiao Nan was studying at a school for mature students, and it did not have strict requirements. As an adult school, it was natural for there to be situations that prevented their students from completing the course or continuing with their studies.
Besides, it was not as though Qiao Nan gave up completely. She was simply asking for leave to give birth to her children and would continue her studies at a later time. Of course, her teachers quickly approved it. Zhai Sheng had already made a trip down to help Qiao Nan settle the paperwork as well.
Before this, Qiao Nan’s stomach had not been so big that going to school posed a danger to her. As such, Qiao Nan had delayed it for a while. Now that she was past five months pregnant, Qiao Nan was clear just how big and heavy her stomach had gotten. Since she had already applied for leave, Qiao Nan decided that it was time to rest and use her special privilege instead of torturing herself by holding on.
Miao Jing was elated by the news. “You discussed this with Zhai Sheng? Yes, that’s how Zhai Sheng should be acting now that he’s a husband and going to be a father.” If he had to rely on his parents to consider all these possibilities, he would be a failure. “Let’s go. The auntie prepared a whole feast tonight. Remember to eat up.”