Chapter 2136: Not at Home
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhai Hua blamed herself for being so stubborn when she had been pregnant with Jiajia.
If she had known that this would be the case, she would have convinced Jiajia to enroll in a high school in the capital. The capital was the capital of China and had to have a high standard of teaching. It could not possibly be worse than Ping Cheng High School.
If Jiajia was a student in the capital, she would have been able to help out with taking care of Qiao Nan. After learning about Qiao Nan’s situation, she had held off telling Jiajia about it, in case Jiajia got worried and distracted from her studies.
Every time Jiajia returned and asked about Qiao Nan and the babies, Zhai Hua would always reply that they were all doing well. It was because of that that Zhai Hua could not visit the capital. If she were to do so, she would no longer be able to hide the truth from Jiajia.
“Mom, what’s with you? You’ve been holding on to your phone the whole day. Is there something wrong?” It was finally the weekend, and Jiajia had returned home from school.. But Jiajia could sense that something was not right. Her mom had not spoken much to her the entire day and sat there blankly, glancing at her phone on the table from time to time. “Did something happen in grandma’s house?”
She was already by her mom’s side. That could only mean that the person her mom was worried about could not be her. In that case, there had to be something wrong in her grandma’s family.
“No, it’s nothing.” Zhai Hua quickly gathered her thoughts. It seemed like Jiajia’s desire to become a soldier was not just empty words. She had gotten rather observant. “Your grandma called to say that your uncle returned to follow your auntie for a checkup. I’m just wondering how the checkup went.” Zhai Hua told a half-lie.
Knowing that her daughter was grown up and had opinions of her own, she was afraid that Jiajia would catch on if she were to tell a complete lie. It would be less likely for Jiajia to call her out if she told a half-lie.
“So that’s what it is.” As expected, Jiajia immediately believed her. “Remember to let me know what grandma tells you later. I want to know how my auntie and the babies are doing. Auntie should be more than seven months pregnant, right? It’s such a pity. I wonder if I’ll be on my winter break when the babies are born.”
Jiajia could not wait for the babies to be born and wanted very much to witness their births. Unfortunately, she was a slave to high school and her studies took precedence over everything else. She could only hope that her winter classes would be shorter and would not stand in her way of seeing her younger siblings.
“Alright, you repeat this all the time. Even if you’re not tired of talking about it, I’m tired of hearing it. Your auntie is the most important person in your grandma’s family now. Everyone is very worried about her. Nothing will go wrong with her or the children. Your auntie is strong and will do just fine. There’s no need for us to worry.”
Actually, it was normal for pregnant women with multiple births to be admitted slightly earlier, much less given Qiao Nan’s age. She had better not scare herself. In less than a month’s time, she would get to meet her nephews, and Jiajia would finally have her long-awaited younger siblings.
Having been lectured by Zhai Hua, Jiajia laughed cheekily. “Mom, I’ll go back to my room and work on my homework. Our teachers have gotten a little perverted nowadays. They always give us more homework on the weekends. It’s as though they want us to spend our weekends at our desks and work for the whole day without any rest at all. My goodness. This is only my first year in high school. I can’t imagine how I’m going to get through the next two and a half years. I’m truly a slave to high school.”
No wonder people always said that high school was the darkest time of a person’s life.
“Don’t be so mischievous. Since you’ve gotten so many exam papers, you’d better finish every single one of them conscientiously. After your break, I’m sure your teachers will want to check on them. I’ll use this against you and tell your younger siblings about it if your teachers deem that you haven’t done a good job. Then, don’t blame me if the three of them don’t listen to you.”
Jiajia gritted her teeth. “How mean.” Her image in front of her younger siblings was the biggest weakness Jiajia had now. As long as Zhai Hua used that against her, Jiajia was sure to give in.
After persuading Jiajia to return to her room to work on her papers, Zhai Hua got into a frenzy again. She had certain things to worry about, especially since she was not physically present in the capital and could not keep up with Qiao Nan’s condition firsthand. It was exactly because of this that Zhai Hua was even more unsettled.
Zhai Hua did not have anyone to confide in at such a time, and at this moment, she could not help but feel lonely and want to have a chat with a friend.
Unfortunately, she had not thought of a suitable person whom she could speak to even after thinking about it for a long time.
As Qiao Nan’s father, even if Qiao Dongliang had not found out about Qiao Nan’s condition straight away, he had naturally realized that something was wrong as time went by. After all, Qiao Nan had not contacted him for a whole week.
In the first few days, Qiao Dongliang had been worried that Qiao Zijin had included some things in his parcel that had upset Qiao Nan. Not only had Qiao Nan returned everything that he had sent, but she had even thrown a tantrum by not contacting him.
Qiao Dongliang could still hold on for a short period of time, but after a week went by, Qiao Dongliang could no longer hold it in and made a call to the Zhai family without worrying about whether he would disturb Qiao Nan or the Zhai family.
Very quickly, Qiao Dongliang’s call was answered by the Zhai family’s auntie. “Hello, who are you looking for?”
“Hello, I’m Qiao Nan’s dad. Is Nan Nan around? Is it convenient for me to talk to her?”
“Oh, Mr. Qiao. I’m sorry but Nan Nan isn’t at home.” It was not just today, but Qiao Nan would not be able to remain in contact with the rest of the world for a long time, including her father who was on the other end of the phone call. “What’s the matter? I can help you pass on your message.”
Nan Nan, who was in the hospital, could not touch anything with magnetic waves. Of course, that meant that Qiao Nan was not allowed to use a mobile phone.
“Nan Nan is not around? Do you mean she went out? She is already more than seven months pregnant. Where could she have gone? Nan Nan doesn’t seem to be reckless enough to run about with her stomach like that.”