Chapter 479 The Past
The mother and son went downstairs and passed through the living room, where their sisters-in-law were sitting at the dining table drinking tea and resting.
Nan Zhiyi greeted them and led Gu Zhao out the door.
On a winter afternoon, the sunlight was weak and the air was crisp.
They walked toward the staff and family quarters at the other end of the compound.
Soon, they arrived at the apartment building where Feng Xuemei and Zhang Jianguo lived. The corridor was narrow and dark, with half of the walls painted green, and some miscellaneous items piled up in front of each apartment.
Nan Zhiyi said to her son, "Mom used to live here a lot when she was little."
Gu Zhao was surprised, "Isn't this Grandma Feng's house?"
"Yes, but when you were little, your maternal grandmother wasn't in good health, and your maternal grandfather was busy with work, so your mother often came to stay here. She would play, eat, and sleep with your aunt..."
Gu Zhao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Once upstairs, Gu Zhao knocked on the door, "Grandma Feng, I'm here! Auntie, Uncle!"
"Coming!" Feng Xuemei quickly opened the door.
Zhang Jianguo took the gifts he brought and put them aside.
Feng Xuemei pulled the mother and son to sit on the sofa to drink tea and eat candy.
Zhang Jianguo asked with a smile, "Xiaoman, are you hungry?"
Feng Xuemei also said, "That banquet, it looked so fancy, but we couldn't really eat anything; we were too busy socializing and talking. Let your grandfather make you a bowl of wontons; the filling was freshly made this morning. Your mother loved them when she was little..."
Gu Zhao's eyes lit up. "Great! I want to eat it! My mom just said that she used to live here a lot when she was little."
Zhang Jianguo stood up: "Okay, then Grandpa will go make you some wontons. You two chat."
With that, he turned and went to the small kitchen outside.
Just then, the door to the inner room opened, and Zhang Yueran pulled Zhou Xingzhi out. The room wasn't big, and the soundproofing was poor, so the conversation outside could be heard clearly.
Hearing what Gu Zhao said, Zhang Yueran became interested, rummaged through a drawer and pulled out an old photo album, carrying it to the square table in the living room: "Xiaoman, come and see! There are photos of your mother and me when we were little here!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhao immediately moved closer.
Zhou Xingzhi also sat down next to Zhang Yueran, his calm gaze fixed on the photo.
Zhang Yueran pointed at the photo and explained it in a low voice. The three of them huddled together, looking at it with great interest.
Nan Zhiyi and Feng Xuemei were talking to each other.
Before long, Zhang Jianguo brought over four small bowls of wontons on a tray. The clear broth was topped with scallions and a few drops of sesame oil, and each wonton was plump and white, with a fragrant aroma.
"Come on, you guys have something to eat first. Your Aunt Feng and I will start preparing dinner later, you can eat here tonight!"
Nan Zhiyi shook her head and declined: "Uncle Zhang, Aunt Feng, Gu Yan and his new wife are going back to the Gu family home tonight for their first official family reunion dinner. We have to go back."
Feng Xuemei said with some regret, "That's important business, we can't delay. You should eat the wontons first to warm yourselves up."
She got up, called to the three adults and one child, and sat down at the small square table to eat wontons.
Gu Zhao ate until his nose was sweating, repeatedly saying "Delicious."
While eating, Zhang Yueran was flipping through the old photo album, pointing things out to Gu Zhao and Zhou Xingzhi.
Nan Zhiyi ate slowly, the familiar taste evoking many old memories.
When she was a child, she was often sent to the Feng family to keep Zhang Yueran company.
Two girls, one big and one small, ran and played in the courtyard, climbing over the old locust tree, building sandcastles in the sandpit, and following behind Gu Yan and Zhou Zhengping, curiously watching them tinker with slingshots and chase each other. When impatiently chased away, they would giggle and run off. Before long, Gu Yan would agree to let them follow him around like little shadows.
Those carefree days, mixed with the chirping of cicadas in summer, the falling leaves in autumn, and the aroma of food wafting from Aunt Feng's kitchen, formed the warm and bright background of her childhood.
Who could have imagined that, years later, she and Gu Yan, who always impatiently told her "little one, don't follow me," would become a real family?
The world is truly wondrous.
After finishing their wontons, they sat and chatted for a while. As the sky outside the window gradually darkened, Nan Zhiyi and Gu Zhao took their leave.
Feng Xuemei and Zhang Jianguo saw them to the door, repeatedly reminding them to "call often."
Zhang Yueran also took Nan Zhiyi's hand and made an appointment to meet again in Beijing.
On the way home, Gu Zhao clutched the photo he had just gotten tightly in his hand. It was of Nan Zhiyi when she was about seven or eight years old, with two pigtails and wearing a floral dress.
"Mom, I want to take this photo back to show Dad! I want him to see how cute you were when you were little!"
Nan Zhiyi teased him, "Your dad has seen your mom when she was very, very young, so he doesn't care to look at these old photos."
Gu Zhao looked unconvinced: "No way! Dad definitely thinks you were super cute when you were little! Even cuter than me! His eyes light up every time he looks at you."
The child's observations were simple and direct, yet they hit the nail on the head.
Nan Zhiyi's heart softened, and she did not refute.
Gu Zhao carefully protected the photo as she entered the Gu family's small building.
The living room was brightly lit; the Gu family had already returned from the hotel.
Gu Yan and Chen Anna were also there, surrounded by their brothers and sisters-in-law talking to them.
Seeing the room full of people, Gu Zhao's initial enthusiasm to show the photos waned slightly. He quietly stuffed the photos back into his pocket, deciding to take them out when he returned to his bedroom upstairs and only his parents were there.
He put on a well-behaved expression and politely greeted everyone in turn: "Grandpa, eldest uncle, eldest aunt, fourth uncle, fourth aunt, youngest uncle, youngest aunt..."
Commander Gu was sitting on the main sofa drinking tea when he saw his grandson return. He waved with a smile and said, "Xiaoman's back? Did you go to your maternal grandmother Feng's house to play?"
“Yes, Grandpa.” Gu Zhao walked over and leaned against his grandfather’s knee. “We also ate the small wontons made by Grandma Feng. They were so delicious.”
Gu Xiao saw Nan Zhiyi just enter the room, walked a few steps to her, and reached out to help her untie her scarf.
Nan Zhiyi gently pushed the back of his hand and whispered, "There are so many people watching, I can do it myself."
Gu Xiao stopped, but his gaze still followed her.
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