Chapter 206 Functions
Nan Zhiyi quickly wiped her son's mouth and fed him a piece of pudding, saying, "Son, try this."
Xiaoman is quite easy to fool; she stops being fussy while eating.
The waiters brought out all the dishes one after another.
Gu Xiao cut the steak with practiced ease, then exchanged the cut pieces with hers, saying, "You can have this; it's the right size."
The restaurant was filled with the strains of an accordion playing "Moscow Nights".
Nan Zhiyi took a bite of the beef soaked in tomato sauce and said softly, "It's more authentic than the one in Jian'an... I think they used tomato sauce back then."
“After all, we have a veteran Soviet chef here.” Gu Xiao pushed the bread basket towards her. “Eat it with the soup, if you like.”
After Xiaoman finished eating, she started to feel sleepy and started tearing up napkins to play with them.
Gu Xiao then pulled him into his arms and continued eating the cold side dishes with one hand.
When the bill came, after deducting the food coupons, the meal cost 23.5 yuan, which was equivalent to some of the workers' monthly wages.
Stepping out of the Western restaurant, a pang of regret washed over her. Nan Zhiyi frowned and muttered, "So expensive..."
Gu Xiao held Xiao Man in his arms, freeing his right hand to hold hers.
"Life will always get better, and money isn't something you can save up; being happy is the most important thing."
“Okay, just once in a while is fine…” She smiled gently at Gu Xiao, “I think things are getting better and better. Maybe in the future, there will be not only state-run restaurants and Western restaurants on the streets, but also all kinds of restaurants with different flavors.”
Gu Xiao helped her into the car, saying, "Then we can eat delicious food everywhere."
The jeep slowly drove into the main road of the army compound, the shadows of the plane trees swaying under the headlights.
Nan Zhiyi suddenly leaned close to the car window: "Look, it's Anping and Meng Qingshan."
Zhou Anping walked forward with her handbag in hand, head down, while Meng Qingshan followed two steps behind her, reaching out to pull her up several times but being shaken off each time.
The shadows of the two were stretched long by the streetlights, enacting a silent argument on the concrete.
Gu Xiao glanced at it and continued driving: "It's normal for young couples to have disagreements. With Meng Qingshan's personality, he can't win an argument with Anping."
Nan Zhiyi frowned in displeasure: "You'll have to talk to Qingshan about it when you run into him! He was the one chasing after Anping back then..."
"Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes." Gu Xiao stopped the car and picked up Xiaoman, who was fast asleep in Nan Zhiyi's arms.
Nan Zhiyi opened her mouth, but ultimately felt that what he said made sense, so she didn't insist anymore.
Even though she cares about Anping a lot, she doesn't interfere in her family affairs...sigh.
After Gu Xiao carried the child upstairs, she stood at the gate of the courtyard and looked around, only to see the long shadows of the sycamore trees under the streetlights.
She thought she would ask Anping when they met after Anping finished his work.
However, this plan has been delayed.
Since mid-September, Zhou Anping has been extremely busy preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala.
The National Day celebrations in October are even more intense, with the performing arts troupe participating in the cultural palace's garden party performances and also traveling to Tianjin, Hebei, and other places to extend their greetings to the troops stationed there.
Nan Zhiyi called the cultural troupe, and the girl who answered the phone said, "Captain Zhou has led a team to the troops, and the exact time of their return is still uncertain."
During the National Day holiday, the entire capital city was bustling with activity.
Red flags fluttered in Tiananmen Square, and grand park events were held in major parks.
Gu Xiao originally wanted to take his wife and children to the Working People's Cultural Palace to see a performance, but Nan Zhiyi shook her head as she looked out the window at the surging crowd: "Xiaoman is only one and a half years old. It's too dangerous to be in a crowded place."
She even turned down the military region's Mid-Autumn Festival gala, which was filled with smoke and noise. She preferred to set out mooncakes and grapes in her own courtyard and watch the moon with Xiaoman.
Gu Xiao respected her choice and specially arranged for her to take time off during the week.
Thus, a common scene in October is:
On a weekday, the lake in the Summer Palace is quiet and peaceful, and a family of three strolls slowly along the Long Corridor.
When the leaves of Fragrant Hills were just beginning to turn red, they took the cable car up the mountain, their feet glistening with morning dew.
The most pleasant moment was one afternoon in Beihai Park, when Xiaoman, tired from chasing fallen leaves, fell asleep on his shoulder, while Nan Zhiyi leaned against Gu Xiao on a bench, watching the White Pagoda reflected in Taiye Pond.
"That's even better, just the three of us."
Gu Xiao deeply agreed. In his heart, there was nothing more important in this world than being with his wife and children.
Nan Zhiyi never found an opportunity to ask Zhou Anping in detail.
I only encountered Meng Qingshan walking alone a few times in the compound after get off work hours. He was dressed in his military uniform meticulously and walked in a hurry.
Once, when Nan Zhiyi was carrying Xiaoman, they ran into each other, and he was stunned for a moment before remembering to greet her.
"Sister-in-law, are you taking Xiaoman for a walk?"
Nan Zhiyi smiled and greeted her, "Long time no see, Xiaoman, call me uncle?"
Xiaoman, in her speech development, said, "Uncle~"
His sweet, childlike voice is becoming increasingly clear.
Meng Qingshan exclaimed, "Time flies! Xiaoman is almost a year and a half old already!"
Nan Zhiyi nodded, "Yes, next month then." She then asked Meng Qingshan, "What about Anping? Has he returned from his business trip?"
His tone was somewhat somber. "No, I'll probably be back in a few days."
Clearly, he didn't know exactly when Anping would return.
Nan Zhiyi wanted to offer some words of comfort, but she didn't know where to begin.
Meng Qingshan shook Xiaoman's hand and said, "Sister-in-law, you should head back now."
Nan Zhiyi lifted Xiaoman's paw and shook it, "Say goodbye to Uncle."
Xiaoman said in her childish voice, "Goodbye~"
Meng Qingshan smiled and quickly walked away.
The autumn wind swirled up fallen leaves, and Nan Zhiyi straightened her woolen hat for Xiaoman.
"Son, time to go home. Dad's off work too."
The two had only walked a few steps when they encountered Gu Xiao, who had come looking for them. He would always go out to look for his wife and children when he got home from get off work and couldn't find them.
Sure enough, as soon as they turned the corner of Wutong Road, they saw Gu Xiao walking this way.
"dad!"
Xiaoman's eyes lit up, and she rushed over like a small cannonball.
Gu Xiao bent down, opened his arms, caught his son who was lunging at him, and then lifted him up and spun him around several times.
"More! Airplane!" Xiaoman clung to her father's neck, refusing to let go.
Gu Xiao spun around several more times until Nan Zhiyi stepped forward and gently patted his arm: "You're dizzy."
He then hoisted the giggling child onto his shoulders.
The three walked back side by side, the setting sun casting long shadows. Xiaoman rode on her father's shoulders, her little hands tugging at Gu Xiao's short hair.
After dinner, Nan Zhiyi reviewed her studies as usual.
Under the desk lamp lay densely packed math notes. She bit her pen cap, frowning, unable to make sense of them.
After Gu Xiao coaxed Xiaoman to sleep, she eagerly pulled him to sit down and gently rubbed his shoulder, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Gu..."
Gu Xiao closed his eyes in enjoyment, a smile playing on his lips: "This technique, is it to ask you a few questions?"
She quickly shoved the pen into his hand, pointing to the trigonometry problem: "No matter how I draw the auxiliary lines, it looks weird..."
She quickly pushed the workbook over, her fingertip pointing to the pages covered in red circles. His pen scratched across the draft paper, and he habitually furrowed his brow as he explained the problems, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly with each word.
"Do you understand?" The pen tip lightly tapped the back of her hand.
She glanced at him, nodded hastily, and pointed to the next question.
After all the questions were explained, she hesitantly asked, "Have I made much progress?"
Gu Xiao pulled out a blank sheet of paper and smoothly drew a rectangular coordinate system. The function curve climbed gracefully and finally stopped at the highest point.
He added a small heart shape at the end of the curve, "As for your progress... the derivative is always positive, and the second derivative is greater than zero, which means that you are not only making progress, but also accelerating your progress."
Nan Zhiyi stared at him blankly.
Love overflowed from his eyes, turning into a warm current that flowed into her heart.
She reached out and hugged him tightly: "Gu Xiao..."
"Um?"
"My function curve... coincides with yours."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com