After returning to the room, Zhi Xia asked him, "What did Dad say?"
"Dad said he doesn't care about anyone, and it all depends on one's own fortune how things turn out." Pei Jing said this rather helplessly. Old Master Pei didn't even care about Pei Shuangshuang's situation, let alone help.
Originally, he thought it would still be easy to arrange a job without sending her down to the countryside.
After all, Pei Meng's experience of being sent down to the countryside was still fresh in his memory. Girls tend to face more dangers than boys.
But Eldest Sister-in-law's requirements were too high, and he was powerless.
Zhi Xia smiled and teased the baby beside her.
Pei Jing suddenly realized, "Don't you like Shuangshuang? Did something happen when I was away?"
"It's not about liking or disliking her. We're not that close anyway, and she didn't intentionally offend me either. I just purely don't like your eldest sister-in-law and your good nephew..." Zhi Xia had no intention of hiding it from him and told him everything that had happened after she came back.
Pei Jing listened with a somewhat gloomy expression on his face.
After Zhi Xia finished, she didn't bother with him anymore, nor did she care what he thought. Anyway, she had made her attitude clear that she was unwilling to deal with Wang Yue and Pei Jianguo.
As for Eldest Brother Pei Yong, she only met him once at her wedding. He was a very imposing middle-aged man, but he was too serious and didn't seem easy to get along with.
However, speaking of this point, Pei Jing was very similar to him, except that Pei Jing was more gentle towards her.
"By the way, you should hurry up and think of a name for the child. After all, that's what I told Mom." Zhi Xia urged him.
"Let's call the eldest Da Bao, the middle Er Bao, and the youngest Xiao Bao."
Pei Jing said this with a straight face, leaving Zhi Xia stunned for a moment, unable to react for quite a while.
After a long time, she finally found her voice again, "Are you serious?"
Pei Jing chuckled and flicked her on the nose, "Teasing you. You're the child's mother. Why don't you think of it yourself?"
"You know I'm illiterate. I won't meddle in this." Thinking of names was a very brain-racking thing. In fact, Zhi Xia had thought of many possibilities every time, but when it came to choosing, she felt that none of them were good enough.
Simply put, since she was the one giving birth, the brain work should of course be left for him to do.
"Nonsense. My wife is not illiterate. She's beautiful, hardworking, loves learning, and is already very outstanding." Pei Jing knew that Zhi Xia was very serious. As long as she had time every day, she would persist in reading and learning. She even often asked her second elder brother to send her textbooks. Over the years from elementary to middle school, she would ask him whenever she didn't understand something, so she should have learned all the middle school knowledge.
What she didn't know was that Zhi Xia only put up a show for him when he came back.
Never having set foot in a school was always a regret in her heart. So in her previous life when she was bored, she would sit in classes from primary school to university, learning to go to school like everyone else.
It was just that no one else could see her. She only existed in her own world, unable to communicate with others.
Pei Jing took out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it and showed it to her. "I thought of the names long ago. The first part continues with Big Brother's, and the last words are characters decided by the grandfather and great grandfather after consulting books." He joked again, "Having said that, Dad was actually just an extra. The great grandfather thought the names he chose were too vulgar."
Old Pei came from the countryside and only learned to recognize words after joining the army. But that was limited to word recognition. Of course he couldn't compare with Old Master An's profound knowledge.
Back then when the two were together, Old Pei was often looked down upon. At first he would get angry, but after being looked down on time and again, he got used to it. Later his skin was trained to be more than just thick.
Of course Pei Jing didn't dare say that.
"Be careful when you talk about Dad like this. He might beat you if he hears it." Zhi Xia said with a laugh as she took it. Listed on it were three names in a row following the eldest brother's: Pei Chenze, Pei Chen'an, Pei Chenyi. "They do sound nice. Then let's decide on these."
Zhi Xia made the final verdict, patting her son's cheek. "Little Ze, we have names now."
Pei Shuangshuang called Pei Jing again from the door. It was probably about work matters.
Just then the old master and madam came to see Zhi Xia and the children, so Pei Jing went out.
After the old master stayed for a while and realized the old madam had something to say, he went out to find Old Pei.
"Zhi Xia, Granny has something to tell you." After asking about Zhi Xia's health, the old madam glanced at the door to make sure no one was there before speaking. "Although Little Zhang is a nanny, she was specially assigned by the higher authorities to serve your father. Her salary is also paid by them. Now you are living at home with several children, which is quite troublesome for her."
The old madam knew this reasoning clearly. Even the kindest person would mentally keep accounts.
People could help out for a day or two, but with the triplets born, it would be inappropriate for Zhi Xia to take so many children to the military compound where she lived. She alone couldn't handle so many children, so she would need to stay here long term. There were five children in the family to serve, and that couldn't be resolved simply by cooking three meals a day.
Zhi Xia held the old madam's hand. She could feel that although Granny was old in age, she had always been a delicate old lady.
So she had to admit one thing - indeed, within Jincheng, the only one who could help her was Zhou Nan.
The old madam also meant well but lacked ability. Having lived a refined life, even now she rarely got her hands dirty, at most sewing clothes for the younger generation in the family, rarely even mending shoes.
"Granny, I've also thought about this. I plan to give Sister Zhang a raise with money from me and Pei Jing. What do you think?" Zhi Xia asked her.
"Your thinking is not wrong, but you can't give money." The old madam sighed. "Times have changed. Private employment with money given could get into big trouble if exposed. In case you get labelled as engaging in capitalism, it would not bode well. This is how Granny thinks - you can privately subsidize her with some items and such. There's no need to make things explicit to leave a handle for others. Sister Zhang is smart and will understand. She won't talk about such matters herself either."
"Then I'll listen to Granny." Zhi Xia said.
After all, the old madam was experienced. By comparison, Zhou Sister received a lot of nice things from the An family in the past. The old madam was born in a wealthy family and had always been generous.
"You don't need to worry about things. Your grandfather and I discussed that it won't be easy for you to raise five children. We two old folks don't need much either and have a lot left over from the monthly provisions every month. I'll prepare them for you then to pass to Sister Zhang."
The old madam knew Pei Jing could support his wife and children, but she simply wanted to contribute.
Zhi Xia understood this intention but definitely couldn't accept the things.
The old madam didn't insist on this with her either. Anyway the person was right in front of her, so even if she wanted to subsidize the children, Zhi Xia wouldn't be able to decline.
Just as the old madam said, some things didn't need to be stated so bluntly. It all depended on how they were handled.
