Zhou Zhennan knew he had to stay calm. "Wenbin, you stay here with Xiaoxiao. I'll get your aunt settled and come right back. No matter what happens, you must keep Xiaoxiao and the babies safe."

Lin Wenbin felt his head spinning. Why did everything have to happen at once?

As Zhou Zhennan called for a doctor and left with Li Yunlan, the delivery room door opened. A nurse stepped out holding a tiny bundle swaddled in a quilt. She looked around, confused—just moments ago, the corridor had been full of family, but now only one man remained. "Are you the father?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'm her brother," Lin Wenbin said, peering at the baby in her arms. It was wrinkled, tiny, and frankly, not very cute. He couldn't help wondering how his beautiful sister had produced such an odd-looking little thing.

The nurse moved to hand him the baby. "You can hold him for now. The mother is still in labor."

Lin Wenbin shook his head. "Take him back inside—I'm not good with babies. Their father was just called away to the front lines. Please, make sure my sister and the children are safe."

The nurse paused, taken aback, then turned to carry the baby back. Lin Wenbin stopped her. "Wait."

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket, unscrewed the cap, and squeezed a drop of ink onto his finger. Gently, he marked a small "1" on the baby's forehead. "There. Now you won't mix up the first and second. When the next one comes, mark its forehead too."

He pressed the pen into the nurse's hand and nudged her back toward the delivery room. She looked utterly bewildered but didn't argue.

The second baby came quickly—another boy. Remembering Lin Wenbin's unusual request, the nurse cleaned the newborn and carefully wrote a "2" on his forehead. She'd been deeply moved hearing the father had been called to duty.

The doctor spoke calmly to Lin Xiaoxiao. "Get ready—there's one more. You're one of the strongest mothers I've ever seen. You can do this."

After delivering two babies, Lin Xiaoxiao felt like she'd already given everything she had. Drained and disoriented, she struggled to find the strength to keep going.

Then the doctor's voice cut through her haze: "Push! If we wait too long, the baby could be in danger."

The words sparked something in her. With a surge of determination, she clenched her fists and pushed with all her might. A flash of white light filled her vision, and for a moment, she thought she saw her parents smiling at her.

The third baby—a tiny, delicate girl—was born without further complications.

When Lin Wenbin heard his sister had given birth to two boys and a girl, his legs nearly gave out. He steadied himself against the wall, muttering under his breath, "She really is something else."

The two boys were slightly larger, each just over four pounds, while the girl was smaller, barely three pounds. They lay side by side on the hospital bed like three little kittens, eyes still closed.

Lin Wenbin stared at them, worried. They were no bigger than his shoes—how would they ever survive?

Soon, Lin Xiaoxiao was wheeled into the room. Exhausted from the triple birth, she was fast asleep.

Lin Wenbin didn't dare leave. He worried over the three fragile newborns and ached for his sister, who had gone through so much alone.

A part of him was angry that Zhou Huai'an wasn't there, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. How could he blame him?

The doctor came by with a long list of instructions, but Lin Wenbin barely heard any of it. He only registered that the babies were healthy and would be fine with careful feeding.

His eyes kept drifting back to the three babies with numbers on their foreheads. The longer he looked, the less ugly they seemed.

After the doctor left, Lin Wenbin kept glancing between his sleeping sister and the three peacefully dozing infants. They were so still it made him nervous. He found himself checking their breathing again and again, pressing a gentle finger to their tiny chests to feel their rapid heartbeats. Only then could he relax slightly.

He was in the middle of checking the babies' vital signs for what felt like the tenth time when he heard shouting from the hall: "Fire! There's a fire!"

Lin Wenbin rushed to the door. The corridor was filling with smoke, and people were running in panic.

Because it was New Year's, many patients had gone home, and the hospital was understaffed.

Even the doctor who had delivered Lin Xiaoxiao's babies had been called in as a special favor to the Zhou family. The chaos caused by the fire felt overwhelming.

Lin Wenbin's mind raced. He needed to get his sister and all three babies out—he couldn't leave any of them behind. He hurried back to the bed, trying to figure out how to bundle all three infants together so he could carry them while supporting Lin Xiaoxiao.

Just as he was attempting to wrap them in a large blanket, a woman in a nurse's uniform burst into the room. "Hurry! Why are you still here? There's a fire in the second-floor lab—it's dangerous!"

She moved toward the babies as if to grab one. Instinctively, Lin Wenbin shoved her away.

"Don't touch them!"

He studied her more closely—something wasn't right. She was unusually tall for a nurse, and though she wore a cloth mask, her eyes glared with a cold ferocity. "You're not a nurse. Who are you?"

Seeing she'd been caught, the woman dropped all pretense and lunged at him, clearly intent on snatching a child.

Lin Wenbin was no pushover—he'd trained in boxing and martial arts since childhood. Now, seeing someone threaten the babies, he fought back with everything he had.

The imposter was skilled too, and Lin Wenbin struggled to subdue her without endangering the children or Lin Xiaoxiao. He managed to pin her to the floor just as the door burst open again.

Two more men rushed in, making straight for the babies.

Lin Wenbin knocked out the woman with a hard punch, then grabbed one man by the leg and yanked him backward.

What he didn't expect was the third intruder pulling a knife. Before he could react, a sharp pain pierced his back. Gritting his teeth against the agony, he threw himself at the man reaching for the babies.

Lin Xiaoxiao felt like she was swimming up from a very long, deep dream. She heard grunting, scuffling—the sound of a struggle. Forcing her eyes open, she blinked until the room came into focus.

What she saw froze her blood: Her brother, covered in blood, wrestling a man to the ground.

Another lay motionless nearby. And a third figure was leaning over the bassinet, syringe in hand, poised above her children.

My babies!

With a surge of adrenaline she didn't know she possessed, Lin Xiaoxiao launched herself from the bed, wrapping her arm around the man's neck from behind. She wrenched the syringe from his grasp and plunged it deep into his throat.