Chapter 204 It's September
Gu Xiao went to work, while Nan Zhiyi stayed home to take care of Xiaoman and review her lessons.
She received a letter from Zhang Yueran.
She said that if she could take the college entrance exam, she would definitely apply to a university in Beijing! She would come to the Gu family's house every day for meals and play with Xiaoman... At the end of the letter, she drew a little figure heading to Beijing, with the words "Wait for me to come find my sister!" written next to it.
Nan Zhiyi smiled and shook her head; this girl was still as lively as ever.
Although Zhang Yueran did not mention the lack of materials in her letter, Nan Zhiyi still packed up a copy of the old textbooks that Editor Lin had recently sent her and sent it to her.
Editor Lin said these were all found in the warehouse of a used bookstore, and thinking that she might find them useful, she sent them all over.
Nan Zhiyi packed the package and letters and asked Sister Zhang to mail them.
She really hoped that Zhang Yueran could get into a university in Beijing so that the sisters could reunite.
In the early afternoon of September, the cicadas chirped in waves.
Nan Zhiyi was flipping through those yellowed old textbooks when her hand suddenly paused. The copyright pages of these books all bore the inscription "Printed in 1965".
Ten years have passed, and mathematical formulas are still stuck at Cauchy's inequality, while the transistor principle in physics textbooks has become the latest content.
Knowledge from ten years ago is now being treated as new knowledge to be learned.
A decade of stagnant knowledge was also a decade of national backwardness...
"Mom...play!"
Xiaoman was sitting on the floor mat entertaining herself when, without her noticing, she crawled under the desk and, with her head covered in sweat, rushed into her arms.
Nan Zhiyi picked up her heavy son and smelled the milky scent mixed with the smell of sweat on his neck, like a wet little puppy. She wrinkled her nose and said, "Little stinky baby, are you bored again?"
She kissed her son's soft cheeks and played with him building blocks for half an hour.
Xiaoman tugged at her clothes again, pulling her towards the door: "Out...out..."
Helpless, Nan Zhiyi took his little hand, and the mother and son slowly made their way downstairs.
The evening heat had not yet dissipated, but the shadow cast by the courtyard wall had already blocked the setting sun.
Xiaoman squatted by the rose bushes, plucking petals, while Nan Zhiyi sat on the swing, mentally calculating an unfinished equation.
Suddenly the little guy stood up and ran out of the yard as if he knew the way well.
As soon as I left the hospital, I saw a little boy rolling a hoop in front of the building next door. That was Li Wenbo, the five-year-old son of Vice Minister Li, whose nickname was Huzi.
During his summer vacation, his grandmother took him back to her hometown on the outskirts of Beijing. He had only been back in the compound for two days when Nan Zhiyi and her son encountered him for the second time.
"Little brother!" Li Wenbo was also bored. When he saw Xiaoman arrive, he stopped rolling the iron hoop and started circling around the toddler. "Can you call me big brother? I'll appoint you... as the artillery commander!"
Xiaoman giggled as she reached for the iron ring, but missed and fell on her bottom.
Nan Zhiyi's heart tightened, but she saw her son nimbly get up and continue chasing the iron hoop.
Li Wenbo, with the air of an older brother, took Xiaoman's hand and said, "Come on! Let's go to my house to look at tank books!"
"Tiger," Nan Zhiyi called out, not wanting her son to bother other people's families, "would you like to bring your little brother to Auntie's house to play? There will be some snacks for you."
Li Wenbo was attracted by the snacks, but pretended to be mature and asked Xiaoman for her opinion: "Little brother, shall we go to your house?"
Xiaoman couldn't understand, and with her brother holding her little hand, she just kept smiling foolishly.
He then led Xiaoman, familiar with the place, into the Gu family courtyard.
Nan Zhiyi followed behind, watching Li Wenbo explain to Xiaoman how to play with iron rings in a very professional manner.
Back at the Gu family courtyard, Nan Zhiyi asked Li Wenbo and Xiaoman to sit at the stone table and chairs, and Sister Zhang helped bring over some snacks and plum juice.
Li Wenbo ate a piece of cake one after another, vaguely boasting about the interesting things in the countryside.
Xiaoman ate her snacks, shaking her head and swaying her hips.
After the two little ones finished their snacks, Li Wenbo spent some time with Xiaoman playing on the slide and climbing frame in the yard.
Like a dutiful older brother, he played with Xiaoman on the slide, even carefully catching her from below, saying, "Little brother, slide down slowly!"
Li Wenbo preferred the climbing frame. "Auntie, your house is so much fun!"
Nan Zhiyi smiled and said, "Then you are welcome to come and play anytime you want."
Not long after, Sister Wan's loud shout came from outside the courtyard: "Li Wenbo! Come home for dinner!"
Nan Zhiyi walked outside the courtyard and waved to Sister Wan, who was not far away, "Sister Wan, Hu Zi is at our house."
Sister Wan quickly entered the Gu family's courtyard.
Her gaze swept over the rose-covered fence and the grape trellis laden with fruit, finally settling on the vegetable patch: "Oh my, your little yard is so beautifully arranged! The roses are blooming so well... and the vegetables are all neatly arranged too."
She was wearing a polyester shirt and arm warmers, so she looked like she had just gotten off work.
"Comrade Xiao Nan, this little rascal has come to cause you trouble."
"Not at all," Nan Zhiyi said politely. "Hu Zi is very sensible and always takes Xiao Man to play with him."
Li Wenbo protested when his mother called him a naughty monkey, shouting, "Mom, I'm a very good boy, can you make me a wooden frame too?"
Sister Wan poked her son's forehead: "You want everything that others have!" Turning to Nan Zhiyi, she asked, "Where was this frame made? It's quite sturdy."
"I found a carpentry team from a service agency, and Master Zhao is very skilled."
While the two were talking, Li Wenbo had already pulled Xiaoman down the slide several more times.
Nan Zhiyi praised again, "Hu Zi is so sensible, he even takes care of his younger brother."
Li Wenbo proudly puffed out his chest, and Xiaoman followed suit, sticking out her round, bulging belly.
Sister Wan smiled and pulled her son along, saying, "Let's go, you have school tomorrow!"
"I'll come back after school tomorrow!" he shouted, struggling to turn around.
Xiaoman seemed to understand that they had to part ways. She pouted and grabbed Li Wenbo's clothes, her eyes reddening instantly.
"Oh, my poor little thing," Sister Wan teased Xiaoman with a smile, "Hurry up and let Mommy have a little brother to play with you!"
Nan Zhiyi smiled as she watched the two leave, but her heart skipped a beat.
I did stop having menstrual cramps after giving birth to Xiaoman, but I only had my period twice, the most recent one being three months ago.
Her periods have always been irregular, and with the added factor of breastfeeding... she just assumed it was normal...
Nan Zhiyi sighed, unable to even eat dinner.
As night deepened, the cicadas chirped sparsely outside the window.
After putting Xiaoman to sleep, she held a book in her hand, but couldn't concentrate on reading; her mind was in complete turmoil.
A soft sound came from outside the courtyard gate; Gu Xiao had returned.
He went into the bedroom and saw that Nan Zhiyi was reading a book, so he didn't disturb her. He went to the bathroom to wash off the dust and smell of smoke before coming over to hug her.
He leaned down and brought his breath close to her neck, his breath hot.
Nan Zhiyi grumbled and pushed him away, refusing to let him kiss her.
"What's wrong, honey?" He carefully observed her expression. "Are you in a bad mood? Did someone upset you?"
She turned her head away from his gaze, feeling wronged and aggrieved. "Could it be... that I'm pregnant again?"
Gu Xiao was stunned for a moment before he realized that as long as she wasn't angry with him, it was fine.
He pinched the tip of her nose. "Don't worry, you can't get pregnant. I told you I wouldn't let you suffer the pain of childbirth again."
"Why can't you get pregnant?" she angrily punched his chest. "Every time you...you're always like that..." Before she could finish speaking, her ears were burning.
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