After Zhang Guoqing picked Ping’an up from kindergarten and brought him home, without needing any reminders, Ping’an first ran to wash his little hands, greeted Mr. Zhang and the others, and then dashed to the East Wing.
Once in the study, he tiptoed lightly, opened a door between two adjoining rooms, first poked his head in to take a glance, and on tiptoes quietly first looked at the twins in the cradle.
Zhou Jiao was resting with her eyes closed, but hearing the sounds, she knew her eldest son had returned. She secretly opened her eyes and happened to see Little Ping’an happily tilting his head and touching his little brothers’ hands.
"Baby, why are you so happy?"
Hearing his mother’s voice, Ping’an quickly turned his body and ran to the bed, "Mom, you’re not asleep, huh? I was worried I’d wake you. Did you miss me?"
Zhou Jiao helped him onto the bed, "Of course I missed my baby. Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"
"I missed mom too. I’m not hungry. I want to leave more for mom to supplement nutrition."
With her son feeding her sweet words, Zhou Jiao kissed her son hard, "Mom’s considerate baby! Our family isn’t lacking anything. Come, tell mom what you’d like to eat?"
"Mom, I’ll eat later when no one is around at night. I’m not hungry now; Grandma Chen said we’ll eat when Grandpa comes back. Mom, does your stomach still hurt?" Ping’an asked his mom with a frown, touching her stomach.
"It’s much better."
"The little brothers definitely aren’t as well-behaved as me, right?"
Zhou Jiao chuckled and nodded firmly, "Definitely! After giving birth to you, my stomach stopped hurting. You’re mom’s most considerate good baby."
Receiving affirmation once a day, Ping’an showed a satisfied smile. He had always said he was the big brother, and surely more filial than the silly-eating and silly-sleeping brothers.
"Later, the brothers will also become mom’s considerate babies. If they don’t behave, I’ll hit them."
"Okay, when they get bigger, you can enlighten them and teach them to stand firm. In the future, everyone will envy you for having two good brothers."
"Already many little friends envy me..."
Zhang Guoqing entered and heard his son giving out more sweet words, going forward with a damp towel to wipe Ping’an’s face: "Are you feeling hot? Want to go to the living room to cool down a bit?"
There were hardly any ice trays in the bedroom for Zhou Jiao to recuperate properly after childbirth. Seeing his son’s face flushed, Zhang Guoqing barely restrained himself despite knowing the child would cling and refuse to leave.
"Hot? It’s not hot at all at home." Ping’an hastily shrunk inward, secretly glancing at his parents, "A kid in my class cried out of heat and was taken home by his dad."
Zhang Guoqing looked at this little drama king, understanding the child’s thoughts clearly, "Alright. Tomorrow I’ll mention it to you, and we’ll skip summer class too."
"Will it be bad?"
"How about dad begs you not to go?"
Ping’an jumped up instantly, pouncing on Zhang Guoqing, "Dad, you’re a great father."
"Come here, let me see if my son’s mouth is smeared with honey."
Zhou Jiao waited for the father-son pair to finish their playful banter and then got to the main topic.
"Do you mean your master knew early about the risk of having twins? And his absence this time was to find some herbal medicine for the kids to take medicinal baths?"
Zhou Jiao giggled with embarrassment twice, "Not necessarily, he wasn’t sure either. He just worried about the kids’ constitution being weak, so he mentioned it to me, and I made a fuss to send him on the herb-seeking quest. Since the due date wasn’t yet arrived, his return will be just in time for the kids’ bath."
"Did you know that you almost..." Zhang Guoqing finally got angry, his face tight, "Even telling me beforehand when entering the hospital about the risk would have been better."
Zhou Jiao knew he would get angry, and softly replied: "Brother, I didn’t intentionally hide it from you; I couldn’t bear you worrying. I know you can’t sleep through the night. Just hearing about the twins, you’ve already worried yourself thin; knowing the potential delivery risks, I fear you’d break down first."
Zhang Guoqing’s fury was easily snuffed out by her going arm-in-arm and speaking gently; left helpless. His wife...
"Master confided in me half a month ago, saying more preparation for Ping’an was also needed. Besides..."


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