1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

These are the direct descendants of the Qiao family, a large family that existed before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Only a few families practice monogamy. The Qiao family also has children born out of wedlock, but far fewer than the Xu family. Her grandfather was an academic, spending most of his time studying and researching, and didn't have much time to have children.

The family has two sons and two daughters born out of wedlock. One son and one daughter live abroad and are rarely mentioned in the family. The other son and one daughter have come today, along with some of their children.

These two people didn't have much contact with the Qiao family, and some of the younger generation might not even recognize them. Only Qiao Wanqing, who had been reincarnated and had memories from childhood, remembered them. Seeing them at her grandparents' house today, Qiao Wanqing thought that it was probably because the situation was gradually becoming clearer and they wouldn't pursue their past backgrounds anymore, so they could resume their interactions.

When it came to the Qiao family's generation, the situation improved. Both my uncle and father only had one wife, but my uncle was remarried. He had a first wife who died young, a long time ago, and no one mentions her anymore.

His ex-wife left behind a daughter who passed away not long after. That daughter had long since married and now rarely interacts with the Qiao family, nor does she live in the capital, so naturally she didn't come today.

My aunt came over with her other children.

The house was quite lively today. The few people in the military couldn't come, which my grandparents were a little disappointed about, but they're used to it.

The elderly couple lived in a two-story house. The living room was quite large, and even with so many people together, it didn't feel crowded. Several children ran around, which made Grandpa Qiao very happy.

Qiao Wanqing brought all her children with her this time—twins and triplets, which is quite a rare sight. The whole family came to see the children.

Whether it was twins or triplets, it was the first time they had met Grandpa Qiao and Grandma Qiao. The two elders gave them generous red envelopes. As for the two children born out of wedlock, according to their age, Qiao Wanqing should call them Third Uncle and Third Aunt. The two elders also gave the children red envelopes.

The chubby triplets were the most popular. The Qiao family had twins, which wasn't unusual, but triplets were truly rare. The grandparents each held one, and the third one was in the arms of the third aunt. They were extremely fond of them.

The child that Grandpa Qiao was holding was his youngest son, who bore the Qiao family surname. The old man was extremely excited. "This little guy is well-raised. To raise triplets so well, you can tell he's put a lot of effort into it. Your children are still young, so you'll have to work hard these next two years. Once they grow up and go to school, things will be much easier."

"Now that we've heard about the one-child policy, children will definitely be incredibly precious. Young people don't understand; only when they get older do they realize the importance of children. If a family doesn't have enough children and its descendants don't prosper, that's the beginning of decline."

Qiao Wanqing listened quietly, neither refuting nor agreeing. Every era has its own ideas, and her grandfather, being an elderly man and the head of a large family, had his own thoughts. There was nothing more to say.

If a large family doesn't have enough descendants, it is indeed easy for it to decline. After all, not every child is capable of maintaining the family business. Having children is like opening a blind box; no one knows whether the child they give birth to will repay a debt of gratitude or come to collect a debt.

"How's Yuanhe doing? Has he found a girlfriend yet?" the old man asked.

Qiao Wanqing shook her head. "When I came here, he hadn't found a partner yet, but he was very concerned about it and actively asked friends and relatives to introduce him to potential partners. It's clear that he really wants to settle down, so it should be soon."

Grandpa Qiao snorted coldly, "You should have gotten married a long time ago, but you kept putting it off. If you had gotten married a few years earlier, you'd have kids as many as he does now. You already have several children, and he doesn't even have a girlfriend. And soon we'll have to implement family planning, humph!"

Old Master Qiao was very dissatisfied with this. The second wife already had few children, and Qiao Yuanhe was still unmarried. He had urged him to get married several times before, but at that time Qiao Yuanhe felt that he was still young and busy with his career, so he did not take it to heart.

Qiao Wanqing smiled gently, "Grandpa, my brother was very busy a few years ago. You know our family's situation. It wasn't easy for me to marry Mingzhou. How many good girls could he marry back then? He simply focused on his career."

"Fortunately, he's started to take it seriously now. There are so many good girls out there. If he's willing, he can meet a few more and he'll definitely find someone he likes. Getting married will be quick."

The old man looked at his wife beside him and said, "How about we introduce him to someone from school? There are so many good girls in our school, all smart and educated. Marrying one would definitely make him a good wife and mother."

The old lady nodded. "I'm already watching. Your grandson is very eager to get married. He's already notified all the relatives to help him find a wife. He's very diligent in arranging blind dates. Don't worry about him not finding a wife."

Grandpa Qiao snorted coldly, said nothing more, looked at the little guy in his arms, and smiled again.

The second wife's son was disappointing, but fortunately, her daughter was successful, having both a son and a daughter who took the Qiao family surname.

Qiao Wanqing left the children to play with the elders while she went to the kitchen to help with cooking. Her grandparents didn't have a nanny; if they wanted one, they had to hire one from outside. Her grandmother was in good health, so she always cooked for herself.

Now that the elders are all away, the kitchen work is left to the younger generation.

After talking outside for a while, Auntie San handed the child over to Auntie Da and went to the kitchen to cook. Qiao Wanqing came over to help. Qiao Wanlin was already dawdling, but when she saw Qiao Wanqing come in, she smiled and said, "Wanwan, I don't dare to kill this fish. You do it. I've hardly ever been in a kitchen since I was little, so I don't know how to handle this."

Her voice carried a hint of superiority.

This is my aunt's second daughter. She is now married and lives in the capital. Her husband's family is very well-off, so she is considered to have married into a better family.

Qiao Wanqing knew that her cousin looked down on her in-laws and felt superior to her.

She showed no unusual emotion, and as she took the fish, she asked with a smile, "Second Sister, don't you cook at your in-laws' house? Do you have a housekeeper?"

Qiao Wanlin's face stiffened. How could her family possibly have a nanny?

She married into a military family, and her husband is also an officer, but he's only at the deputy regimental level now. What's impressive is her husband's family, not her husband. Her husband's family does have nannies, and more than one, but she doesn't live there all the time.

"How dare you talk like that? So what if you have a nanny? With my in-laws' status, your brother-in-law will definitely get promoted in the future, so hiring a nanny is just a matter of time."

Qiao Wanqing blinked. "Hmm? What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

She looked at Qiao Wanlin with an innocent expression, as if it were really an unconscious remark. Qiao Wanlin couldn't tell whether she did it on purpose or unintentionally, but she was even angrier inside.

"Hurry up and cook, Grandpa and Grandma are waiting to eat!"

Qiao Wanqing pouted, "Fine, I'll do it. I'm in the kitchen to cook. Why are you acting so fierce? Like you've swallowed a bomb."

Qiao Wanlin: "..."

She felt like the other person was a pushover; it was like she punched cotton – the other person wasn't hurt, but she was furious.

Qiao Wanqing deftly cleaned and prepared the fish. Her third aunt watched from the side and laughed, "You look very skilled. Do you often do this at home? You used to grow up never lifting a finger."

Qiao Wanqing laughed and said, "Now I'm pretty much someone who doesn't lift a finger. Before, when I was abroad, I had a nanny to take care of me, but after I came back to China, it wasn't possible. My parents were both very busy with work, and it was just my grandparents at home. I couldn't let the two elderly people serve me, so I cooked most of the meals at home back then."

"After joining the performing arts troupe, I didn't have much time to cook. After getting married, I cooked for a while, but after having children, I couldn't take care of it anymore, and the nanny did it all."

Qiao Wanlin, listening from the side, felt very unwilling.

Despite marrying a peasant, Qiao Wanqing's life wasn't as miserable as one might imagine; on the contrary, it seemed to be getting more and more glamorous, which was truly unacceptable.

Auntie nodded, though it was unclear whether she believed her. "When people grow up, they have to take on some responsibilities. When they were young, they relied on their parents, but when they grow up, they have to rely on themselves."

Qiao Wanqing didn't want to dwell on these things, so she casually chatted, "How have you been these past few years, Aunt? It seems like it's been a very long time since I've seen you. If Grandpa hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten that I should have seen you when I was little."

Auntie smiled and said, "We're doing quite well. In the past few years, because of the tense situation, we didn't dare to contact each other too much. Your grandfather also told us to live our lives honestly, not to contact each other randomly, and not to write letters, so as not to give anyone a handle to use against us."

"Things have improved a lot in the last two years. Spending money has become more popular, and that's why we've been able to get around again."

"When I was with the Qiao family, you must have been very young."

The two weren't familiar with each other, so they chatted for a bit while cooking. The younger members of her third uncle's family also came to help, and the meal was quickly finished. The atmosphere in the living room was fairly harmonious, but Qiao Wanqing knew that the younger members of the family were obviously curious about her, and even harbored malice. Just like Qiao Wanlin, they all looked down on her for marrying a country boy.

Everyone was at the dinner table. Grandpa and Grandma Qiao were clearly very affectionate towards Qiao Wanqing, which made Qiao Wanlin very unhappy. "Wanwan, why didn't your brother-in-law come? He's been married to you for so many years and hasn't even come to wish Grandpa and Grandma a Happy New Year. Now that you've finally moved to the capital, why doesn't he come over? Doesn't he have any respect for his elders?"

"He couldn't leave the mission assigned by the military," Qiao Wanqing said casually.

"What about before? Were these missions before too?"

"I've been here before, but Grandpa was always at work and not home. At first, the children were too young to take the train, and I couldn't leave either."

Grandma Qiao glared at Qiao Wanlin. "Eat your food. If you're worried about your grandfather and me being lonely, come visit us more often. Don't worry about others all the time. She used to live in Beichuan City with so many children. How did she manage to come over?"

Auntie immediately came to her daughter's rescue, laughing and patting Qiao Wanlin on the shoulder, "That's right, you should come and visit your grandparents more often. Wanwan was in Beichuan before, and she had to take the train back and forth. You're used to taking care of your younger siblings at home, aren't you? Why do you always want to lecture them wherever you go?"

Qiao Wanyan didn't detect the trickery in this conversation. Besides, she had just received Qiao Wanqing's dress and scarf two days ago and was in a good mood. She smiled and said, "Yes, yes, before, my sister was always in Beichuan, and it was so difficult to see each other. We sisters were almost estranged. Now it's all good, we're all together, and it will be much easier to get along in the future."

Qiao Yuanbo looked at Qiao Wanqing and suddenly asked, "Is my brother-in-law already this busy? What does he do?"

Qiao Yuanbo was also his aunt's son, one year older than Qiao Wanqing, and also in the army, but his performance was not as good as that of the eldest brother, Qiao Yuanzhong.

"I don't really understand things in the military! Anyway, he went to the military base the day after he arrived and hasn't come back yet. He said before that he would be very busy and might not be able to come home for two or three months."

Qiao Yuanbo frowned, a little unhappy that he hadn't received a definite answer.

"Your uncle should know, right? Ask him when he comes back," Qiao Wanqing added.

Qiao Yuanbo was still a little unhappy. His father was very busy, and although he was the son, he didn't see him often. He really didn't know what position Lu Mingzhou held in the capital.

But he heard that Qiao Wanqing lived in a large compound with their family, and the house was very big, a privilege enjoyed only by those at the rank of major general.

How old is Lu Mingzhou? In his early thirties, I guess!

At this age, no matter how much he advances, he can't possibly reach the master level. So Qiao Yuanbo was very curious, and at the same time, a sense of jealousy arose in his heart. He wasn't much younger than Lu Mingzhou. If he reached Lu Mingzhou's age, could he achieve the same results?

Although he didn't want to admit it, Qiao Yuanbo knew that even with his father's help, he couldn't succeed.

Only the eldest brother still has a sliver of hope.

Qiao Wanlin comforted her younger brother for a few words, "He just came to Beijing, what important work could he possibly have? You just focus on your work, and after a couple of years when you've gained more experience, I'll talk to your brother-in-law and see if we can help you get promoted."

Her husband's family held a high position, which had always been a source of pride for her.

Qiao Yuanbo was immediately delighted. "Thank you, Second Sister. I happen to be on vacation, so I'll go visit you and your husband in the next couple of days."

Auntie smiled and said, "You really should go and see her. Your second sister has taken good care of you all these years. Your second brother-in-law comes from a good family and is also capable. You should go and learn from him. You will definitely achieve great things in the future."

"Me too! Me too!" Qiao Wanyan said hurriedly.

Qiao Wanlin thoroughly enjoyed being flattered and smiled lovingly at her younger siblings, saying, "Since you have time, why don't you go sit down? I don't usually have much to do, so you can keep me company and chat with me."

Qiao Wanyan looked at Qiao Wanqing, "Sister, are you going? Let's go together! Second sister's in-laws are really powerful. They have a large family, many descendants, and talented people in various industries. I heard they also have overseas Chinese relatives. They are incredibly wealthy."

While feeding her daughter, Qiao Wanqing smiled and replied, "I won't go. There are so many children at home, I can't leave."

Qiao Wanyan had only asked casually, "Alright then, I'll go with my second brother."

"Is your second brother-in-law's family that powerful?" The one who spoke was the third uncle's son.