When Pei Jing came back, his face did not look very good. Zhi Xia could tell with one glance. But Old Master and Old Madam were still here, so she could not ask directly.
In the afternoon, the yard suddenly became very lively. Afraid of the cold air coming in, the door was only opened a crack. Zhou Nan and An JingZhi came in holding two children, while the dragon and phoenix twins also squeezed in through the crack, and as soon as they came in, their chitter-chatter could be heard.
"Mom, mom, granny didn't keep her word. Tell her that deceiving children is wrong!" Pei Wanqing rushed to the bedside. She had come in laughing happily, but suddenly burst into tears, with pearls of tears falling down.
She started with quiet sobs, sobbing a few times, unable to hold back and crying loudly.
Pei ChenYe had originally came in with a cold little face that could endure it, but upon hearing his sister cry, he also started bawling. Wen Qing looked at one then the other, and also opened his mouth to wail.
The three little ones who had been sleeping sweetly were suddenly woken up, and cried even harder.
In just a few seconds, the room was filled with crying. It felt as if the roof was being lifted.
Since Pei Jing and Old Pei were outside, hearing this sudden cry, not knowing what had happened, they hurriedly opened the door and asked, "What happened?"
"Dad... Grandma... didn't take us to find you..." Pei Wanqing still hugged Zhi Xia's arm tightly, unwilling to let go, but did not forget to tell on Zhou Nan to Pei Jing.
"I told you in the morning, didn't I promise that the two little ones would definitely see you at noon? As a result, your dad had to go to school in the afternoon, and I couldn't handle taking all of them. So they resented me for it." Zhou Nan said with a wry smile. She walked over and patted Pei Wanqing on the forehead, "You little girl, Grandma dotes on you every day, but just because she didn't keep her word once, you went crying to your mom."
Pei Wanqing sobbed, "I...want mommy..."
Zhi Xia quickly soothed her, "Mommy is back now, good baby, stop crying. You've cried yourself no longer pretty. You're a big sister now. Look, when you cry, your brothers cry too..."
Pei Jing also picked up Pei ChenYe. He was still young but could control himself better, not needing to be soothed. He lay on Pei Jing's shoulder and stopped crying by himself.
In a moment, Pei Jing looked down to see him fast asleep, his little hand still tightly clutching Pei Jing's clothes, unwilling to let go.
The triplets also stopped crying, pouting as they continued sleeping.
Wen Qing looked at one then the other. With no one to soothe him, he quickly hugged An JingZhi’s leg, “Grandpa hug.”
"Good, Grandpa hug. Our Wen Qing won't cry either, hmm?" An JingZhi helplessly picked him up. The 6-year-old little guy ate like a little dumpling. He was not light at all. After holding him for a while, An JingZhi put him back down on the ground.
Children's emotions come and go quickly. There was a small bed in the room where the triplets were. With no room here, Zhi Xia could only be placed on the small bed, while ChenYe slept at the other end. Wanqing and Wen Qing went to see their little brothers.
Zhi Xia overheard Wanqing say to Wen Qing, "Wen Qing brother, look, these are all my mom's little brothers. Your mom didn't even give you a brother."
"What's there to show off about that? I not only have a brother, but also a sister. Aren't you my sister? My uncle's family also has several brothers and sisters. I got used to it long ago!"
Wen Qing retorted arrogantly, but was shattered by Wanqing's words, "But they weren't born by your mom. My brothers were born by my mom. They're different."
"Then I'll have my mom give birth to one when I get home..."
Zhi Xia suddenly remembered that when she saw Liuling last time, she had also given her a jar of snow crystal fruit preserves. If it was due to physical reasons, it would also be enough to nourish her.
Eldest brother had been home for so long. If things went smoothly, eldest sister-in-law might already be pregnant in her belly.
As for why she never doubted that An Zhiqing had a problem, of course it was because Zhi Xia had secretly fed him plenty of supplements while he was in the army.
Hearing the children's childish words, Zhou Nan was also somewhat worried, "When Wen Qing was born, I told her to properly sit the month, but she refused to listen. She had to go to work the second day after giving birth. And in recent years, she has taken a lot of medicine and treatments while trying unsuccessfully to have another child. I guess it must have been due to catching a chill in the postpartum month."
An JingZhi glared at her, "What's the use of talking about this now? Young people have their own considerations. We should just do our best to support them from behind the scenes."
Besides, they already had Wen Qing. What they should worry about now was the second child.
"It's easy for you to say that, but why don't you stay home and support them?" Zhou Nan would not usually say this to him, because it was useless to do so.
In others' eyes, for her entire life she was extremely lucky to have married into the An family. How many could understand the bitterness in her heart?
Zhou Nan thought again of Granny Zhou's words, and her heart involuntarily felt some bitterness.
No matter when, the only person in this world who would think for her was her aged mother.
Oh well, no children was also good. It's said that many children bring fortune, but she felt that the more children, the more exhausted one would be.
At least her few sons could be considered filial. In the neighboring household, the son also had many children. Just for the sake of a house, the brothers fought until their heads bled, causing quite an embarrassing joke.
When leaving, Zhou Nan wanted to bring ChenYe and Wanqing to ease their burden a little, but the two little ones stubbornly refused. Zhi Xia also told them to stay, so she had to give up.
Although she thought in her heart that she should not neglect the older children even though there were young ones now, it was impossible to actually do so. From when she was several months pregnant, the two children were repeatedly told not to pounce on her or let their mother hold them.
Zhi Xia could also feel that the usually mischievous Wanqing had obviously become well-behaved and sensible, though still young and occasionally unable to control herself. ChenYe had also changed notably, taking care of things he could do himself instead of calling for Zhi Xia.
Knowing that Sister Zhang next door had a son and daughter, Zhi Xia gave her two pieces of cloth. As Old Madam had said, she did not refuse. Everyone knew what this meant.
Although she had taken good care of Zhi Xia and the children before, she was clearly even more diligent after this benefit, since she now had a responsibility to fulfill after obtaining this favor.
After New Year’s, for two or three consecutive days, Pei Jing suddenly started going out early and returning late.
Such continuous days clearly displeased Zhi Xia.
He only had a total of one month’s leave. Deducting transportation time, at most he had three or four days left before having to leave again. Instead of cherishing time with the children and her, he was nowhere to be seen every day.
When he came back late again one night, he was even hugging a box of cookies. But when he pushed the door, he clearly noticed it was locked from inside.
Pei Jing: "..."
In over four years of marriage, this was the first time he had received such treatment, which made him blank out for a moment.
After knocking for half a day without daring to make too loud a sound for fear Old Pei would hear and he would have to explain not just to Zhi Xia but also face trouble from his own father, he circled around to the window and gently pushed it open.
He smiled, knowing Zhi Xia had done this on purpose. Otherwise, fearing the night wind would blow the window open, it was always latched tight from inside.
