Chapter 388 Fresh

Nan Zhiyi and her son waited on the street for less than ten minutes before they flagged down a light yellow taxi.

As she sat in the car, she felt a pang of emotion. She remembered when she first came to Beijing, there were mostly bicycles and buses on the streets, but now there are clearly many more cars.

The changes along the streets are even more significant.

The newly opened shops are lined up one after another, and their service is more enthusiastic than that of government-run stores.

The queue at the newly opened "Meiweizhai" pastry shop on the street corner stretched all the way to the sidewalk.

There are even small stalls set up by individual vendors along the roadside, selling trendy sunglasses and printed shirts.

As the taxi drove past the grocery store, people were carrying shopping baskets in and out, no longer clutching their ration coupons as they had a few years ago.

Since cloth and meat coupons were abolished last year, grain and oil coupons have also been abolished this year.

As they passed Chang'an Avenue, Gu Zhao pointed to a construction site by the roadside and asked, "Mom, what are they building over there?"

"I heard they're going to build a very tall hotel." Nan Zhiyi followed his gaze and saw that the scaffolding had already been erected more than ten stories high.

She recalled that when she first came to the capital, most of the buildings on the streets were three or four stories high, but now twenty-story buildings are not uncommon.

The taxi arrived at the entrance of the Qin family compound very quickly.

Li Xiaoxuan greeted them warmly, saying, "You've finally arrived!"

Nan Zhiyi and her son got out of the car carrying their things, and Gu Zhao respectfully greeted her as "Aunt Xiaoxuan".

"Xiaoman, hello, hello."

"Old Qin is upstairs changing his daughter's clothes."

As Li Xiaoxuan spoke, her gaze fell on the gift bags in their hands, and she chided them reproachfully, "We're really getting distant now, you even brought gifts..."

Nan Zhiyi deliberately hid the food behind her back: "I won't give it to you, give it all to Lao Qin."

Li Xiaoxuan chuckled and snorted, then turned to take Gu Zhao's hand: "Little Manbao, are you hot? Come on, let's wash our faces."

Gu Zhao frowned and pursed her lips into a line, but she didn't want to directly correct her elder.

Nan Zhiyi quickly came to her son's rescue, winking at Li Xiaoxuan: "Xiaoxuan, he's a big boy now, you have to call him by his full name."

"Alright, alright, Comrade Gu Zhao!" Li Xiaoxuan readily changed her address. "Let's go, Auntie will take you to wash your hands."

Gu Zhao then showed her white teeth with satisfaction: "Auntie, I can go by myself." With that, she put the paper bag on the coffee table, took out her small handkerchief, and walked towards the bathroom with practiced ease.

Nan Zhiyi pulled Li Xiaoxuan to sit down on the sofa: "He's got his own ideas now, we can't make decisions for him."

Li Xiaoxuan leaned close to her ear and whispered with a smile, "He's so young, yet he looks just like his father, with that serious air about him."

"Maybe. If he really looks like his father, that would be pretty good."

As they were talking, Qin Fen carried Yao Yao downstairs. The little girl, who was a little over a year old, had two pigtails and was very cute.

"Sister-in-law," Qin Fen asked as his first question, "has the new book been published? Have you prepared one for me?"

"It's not out yet. The editor-in-chief said it's being typeset." She gently reminded him, "This time I wrote a family story against the backdrop of reform and opening up, which may not be as appealing to you as science fiction."

Qin Fen didn't care at all: "I don't care, I want it." He knew that Nan Zhiyi's pen name "Huaiwei" was already a well-known name in the literary world.

The book was reprinted three times the year before last, selling more than 600,000 copies in total. Early signed copies circulated among book lovers and were even sold for ten times the original price.

He then asked, "Will Lao Gu come to pick you up tonight?"

Nan Zhiyi nodded: "Yes, I should come over after get off work."

Upon hearing this, Qin Fen clapped his hands and said, "That's perfect, let's have dinner together tonight."

The little girl in his arms reached out restlessly toward Li Xiaoxuan, babbling and wanting her mother to hold her.

Qin Fen handed his daughter to his wife and went to the kitchen, saying he wanted to see what delicious food Liu Ma was preparing for dinner.

When Li Xiaoxuan brought her daughter over, Nan Zhiyi looked at the little girl's chubby baby face and liked her very much.

"Yaoyao, can Auntie give you a hug?"

Yao Yao was very obliging, snuggling into Nan Zhiyi's arms and calling out in her childish voice, "Auntie."

That cry melted Nan Zhiyi's heart.

The little girl smelled faintly of milk and talcum powder, and leaned softly against her chest, reminding her of freshly baked cotton candy.

"Your daughter is so cute, she seems even cuter than..." She pressed her cheek against Yao Yao's forehead, secretly glancing towards the bathroom before lowering her voice, "She seems even cuter than Xiao Man was when she was little. Little girls and little boys are just different, so sweet and soft."

Seeing her playfully teasing Yao Yao, Li Xiaoxuan teased, "If you like her so much, why don't you have one yourself?"

Nan Zhiyi lifted her eyelids to look at her, and smiled helplessly: "Fine, you still don't understand me, saying such things."

Li Xiaoxuan knew perfectly well that Nan Zhiyi was terrified of the pain of childbirth, and even more afraid that another child would take away her love for Gu Zhao.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this." Li Xiaoxuan smiled and changed the subject, gesturing towards the kitchen, "Look at Lao Qin, he's almost forty years old and got this treasure, he doesn't even go fishing anymore, he just spends all his time around his daughter."

Nan Zhiyi looked down at Yao Yao in her arms and softly echoed, "It's obvious, she's definitely the apple of your eye."

At this moment, Gu Zhao came out of the restroom.

When Yao Yao saw the older brother, she immediately wriggled in Nan Zhiyi's arms and stretched out her chubby little hands: "Brother, brother!"

Gu Zhao walked over, took out the prepared gifts from the paper bag, and lined them up on the coffee table. Apart from the gifts from Uncle Gu Yan, there were also some seashells and coral stones.

"Little Yao Yao, these are all things I brought back for you from Beidaihe." He introduced them earnestly, and when Yao Yao reached for the packaged toys, he asked softly, "Would you like me to open them for you?"

The two children played together, heads close together, while Gu Zhao patiently talked to Yao Yao.

Nan Zhiyi looked at her son's focused profile, noticing the damp sweat at his temples.

She thought that her son had indeed grown up a lot. He was no longer the little baby who needed constant care, but could now play with even younger children like a little adult.

"Can you tell me now?" She turned to Li Xiaoxuan. "What's all the mystery about? What's going on?"

Li Xiaoxuan smiled slyly: "I don't know anything yet. Let's wait for Sister Sun to come and hear what she has to say. She's the real know-it-all."

Nan Zhiyi gently patted her hand: "I knew you'd trick me into coming here first."

"It's because I missed you." Li Xiaoxuan leaned on Nan Zhiyi's shoulder. "You're usually so busy, so I thought since you're on vacation, I'd spend more time with you."

She had many friends, but Nan Zhiyi was the one who truly suited her taste. Unlike others who were either too overly enthusiastic and made people uncomfortable, or too distant and seemed overly polite, Nan Zhiyi was always just the right amount of considerate, sincere yet never overstepping boundaries.

In addition, Nan Zhiyi is beautiful and speaks and acts with an elegant, scholarly air, which makes her want to get closer to her.

Nan Zhiyi leaned against her, gently running her fingertips through Li Xiaoxuan's hair that fell over her shoulders: "Okay, I want to rest too. I've been using my brain a lot these past few years, I really need a break. When are we going to rest? Shall we take the kids out for a trip?"

Li Xiaoxuan straightened up and remembered, "Lao Qin can take a day off next weekend, so how about I take a day off too, and we can make it a two-day weekend? How about we go to Chengde?"

"Whatever, you decide," Nan Zhiyi agreed with a smile. "I'll ask Gu Xiao if he has time. If he's not available, I'll bring Xiaoman with you, but not him."

She and Gu Zhao are on summer vacation now, so they have plenty of time.

Li Xiaoxuan and Qin Fen, on the other hand, both had to work, so they could only go out on weekends.

As the two were discussing their weekend plans, their housekeeper, Aunt Liu, poked her head out from the kitchen: "The meal is all ready. Shall we eat now?"

Li Xiaoxuan responded and reached out to pull Nan Zhiyi: "Let's eat first, and we can talk in detail when we play cards later. We can also ask Sister Sun for suggestions; she knows a lot of good places."

Nan Zhiyi nodded, "Gu Zhao, take your sister to wash her hands."

Gu Zhao stood up and gently tugged at Yao Yao's little hand: "Little sister, shall we go wash our hands and eat?"

Yao Yao nodded obediently, letting the older boy lead her to the restroom.