Chapter 2463: No Loss (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After getting themselves a small plate’s worth of food, the three children stopped taking any more.
Their mom had said that they were still small and couldn’t balance well. If they took too much food, they wouldn’t be able to hold the plate well, and everything on it would fall off.
Everyone knew that every grain was the fruit of hard work.
They had to appreciate the food produced from the hard work of the farmers. They couldn’t afford to waste even just a tiny bit.
Because of that, the children had only placed a few slices of fruits on their plates before obediently returning to their seats. After finishing the fruits with clean hands, they continued to fill their plates with more.
If they accidentally bumped into others, the three children would apologize, so much so that the other party had to resist the urge to stroke their likable faces.
Of course, it wasn’t only Miao Jing and Qiao Nan who had brought their children out to eat.
Compared to Qiao Nan’s family of two adults and three children, other families seemed a lot ‘livelier’. There were children wailing, running around, and even playing ‘catch’.
Thankfully, there were other families like the triplets’, who did not cause much ruckus.
Just one such family in a public area was enough to cause indigestion.
“Alright. I’ve cut it. Can you feed yourselves?”
It was only because the children had been craving steak that Qiao Nan had brought them there.
Although she did not have a big appetite, she always felt that a piece of steak was never enough to fill her stomach. More importantly, steak came in a whole slice. The children didn’t know how to cut it up.
As such, Qiao Nan had to help the three children cut theirs up so that they could use their own forks to eat them.
“Yes, I’ll eat it myself.”
Er Bao was the first to pick up a fork and stab it into a juicy slice to bring it to his mouth, eating it delectably.
“Mom, let me help you.” Having helped her children, Qiao Nan helped her mother-in-law, Miao Jing.
It wasn’t that Miao Jing was weak like the children and couldn’t cut the steak herself or that she was afraid that Miao Jing would hurt herself. It was because Miao Jing didn’t really take a fancy to western food, and it wasn’t easy for her to cut up a piece of steak properly.
It was because of this that Qiao Nan realized that Miao Jing had a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder.
She didn’t like to eat steak, but whenever she ate it, she insisted on drawing neat lines on the steak like a grid.
If she couldn’t cut it well, she would easily throw a tantrum.
Because Qiao Nan knew of Miao Jing’s habit, Qiao Nan would do the same for her mother-in-law after doing it for her three children.
Miao Jing knew that she was being slightly unreasonable when eating steak. But she couldn’t help it.
So, Miao Jing could only wait quietly and obediently for Qiao Nan to finish helping the three children. It seemed like she could really compete with the children.
After taking care of both the elderly and her children, Qiao Nan finally had the chance to start with her own piece of steak. Brother Zhai had managed to escape this time. In the future, she had better choose days when Brother Zhai was around for such outings.
Zhai Sheng might not be able to do what Qiao Nan could do, but at the very least, he could act as her runner, carry things, or drive. Those were things that Zhai Sheng could definitely do well. That would be relieving Qiao Nan of some burden.
“Do you still want to play? Otherwise, shall we head home with Grandma?” Since they had had their fill, Qiao Nan looked at their satisfied faces and asked the children if they wanted to head home.
They had the habit of taking afternoon naps. Besides, they had been out since nine that morning. It was almost an hour past noon now. San Bao leaned against Qiao Nan and yawned, expressing her fatigue.
It wasn’t just San Bao. Even Da Bao and Er Bao were sleepy too.
How could they possibly not be tired after playing for an entire morning? Even if they weren’t tired from playing, it was normal to get sleepy after a meal.
Combining these factors together, Da Bao and Er Bao rubbed their eyes wearily.
“Mom, let’s go back.”
“Oh, okay.” Miao Jing sighed in relief. Although she wanted to spend more time with the three children, she was afraid that Qiao Nan wouldn’t be able to care for them alone. Besides, reality had hit her. Apart from taking care of the children, she still had to take care of her mother-in-law. Not only had she not been of any help, but she had even added more trouble for Qiao Nan!
“What shall we do with San Bao?”
San Bao buried her face in Qiao Nan’s embrace, and only Da Bao and Er Bao could take a few steps with much difficulty.
“It’s alright. I’ll carry San Bao. Mom, can you help me hold Da Bao’s and Er Bao’s hands? I’ll hold the other things. Let’s go home.”
Qiao Nan knew that the children would get sleepy, but she had not expected them to get sleepy so quickly today. They hadn’t even given her any time to prepare herself.
“Shall I take the things?”
Miao Jing suggested.
The three children had quite a few things. It wasn’t easy for two adults to carry them, let alone Qiao Nan alone. What Miao Jing was most worried about was that Qiao Nan still had to carry San Bao while holding onto all those things. San Bao wasn’t light anymore.
Qiao Nan knew that it wouldn’t be easy for her to do so, but she had no other choice. If she wanted to bring the three children out without Zhai Sheng, that was what she had to do.
When Zhai Sheng was around, it didn’t matter whether San Bao was sleepy, or whether all three children couldn’t walk anymore. Qiao Nan only needed to carry her things. She could simply hand the responsibility of all three rascals, weighing almost a hundred pounds, over to Zhai Sheng. It didn’t matter whether he carried them or hauled them back. It was Zhai Sheng’s problem alone.
But now, Zhai Sheng wasn’t around, and it was her mother-in-law, Miao Jing, with her. Qiao Nan had no choice but to be a superwoman, carrying San Bao in one arm and all the other things in another.
The only thing that Qiao Nan was thankful for was that the bags were much lighter now. When they had first gotten out of the house, the bags had been full of everything the children needed, from water to food.
But they had finished their fruits and snacks and had almost finished their water too.
The volume was pretty much the same, but the weight had been lessened by more than half.
As such, it wouldn’t be too much of a struggle for Qiao Nan to carry them as long as she arranged them well. “Mom, here’s the car key. Can you help me open the door? I need to put San Bao down before I can drive.”
With one arm filled with things and the other with San Bao, Qiao Nan didn’t have any spare hands to hold her car key.
“Alright.” That was the least Miao Jing could do to relieve Qiao Nan’s burden. Thankfully, she only had to hold the hands of the toddling children and only needed to let go briefly to open the car door.
San Bao was really not light.. She put on several pounds of weight every year.