Chapter 408 Rowing
After lunch, everyone set off to explore.
Nan Zhiyi brought a camera, and Zhang Yueran volunteered to be the full-time photographer. Holding the Seagull camera, she would sometimes squat down to capture the moment when the children were playing, and sometimes stand on tiptoe to photograph the scenery of the distant mountains.
Zhou Xingzhi followed her at a distance, sometimes close, sometimes not, quietly supporting her waist when she stood on tiptoe to take a picture, or taking the camera and patiently teaching her how to adjust the aperture.
When Zhang Yueran insisted on taking a group photo, he set up his tripod, set the timer, and quickly stood next to her.
Just before the shutter clicks, he always turns his head slightly to look at her, his tenderness almost overflowing from the lens.
Nan Zhiyi saw the intimacy and tacit understanding between the two, which softened her heart and made her unable to suppress the smile on her lips.
She gently pulled Gu Zhao, who was eager to run to her aunt's side, and said, "Let your aunt and uncle play by themselves for a while."
Gu Zhao looked up at her mother, then at the two sticky figures over there, nodded as if she understood, and took her mother's hand.
A moment later, he ran over to Qin Fen, who was explaining loudly.
Qin Fen pointed to the distant Chime Hammer Peak, "Xiaoman, look, doesn't that look like an upright club? Legend has it that it was a treasure dropped here by the Dragon King and transformed into this!"
Gu Zhao pressed further, "Uncle Qin, did the Dragon King find it later?"
Qin Fen laughed loudly and vividly recounted the folk tale. Gu Zhao listened with rapt attention, even forgetting to drink the Arctic Ocean soda in her hand.
When it was time to go boating, Li Xiaoxuan and her family of three rode together with Nan Zhiyi and her son in a pedal boat.
Seeing Zhang Yueran laughing and splashing water on Zhou Xingzhi's face on the boat ahead, Li Xiaoxuan nudged Nan Zhiyi with her elbow: "What's going on? Why are you grinning like an idiot while others are all lovey-dovey?"
Nan Zhiyi sighed, "I'm truly happy. Yueyue is younger than me. We used to play with her a lot when she was little, but then she joined the army and we didn't see each other for several years. When we met again, she was already a grown woman. In my heart, she's both a younger sister and sometimes like a daughter. Seeing her so happy now, I'm truly..."
Li Xiaoxuan chuckled: "I've noticed it all, Comrade Nan Zhiyi, you just have an overabundance of maternal instincts, you want to take care of everyone."
Nan Zhiyi felt embarrassed by what she said and reached out to pinch her waist: "You're talking nonsense again!"
Li Xiaoxuan dodged while laughing.
Seeing this, Gu Zhao, who was struggling to pedal the boat, hurriedly shouted, "Mom! Aunt Xiaoxuan! Don't move around on the boat, it's dangerous!"
Nan Zhiyi quickly sat up straight. "Good son, Mom will listen to you. It's all because your Aunt Xiaoxuan is so mean!"
Li Xiaoxuan also feigned pitifulness towards Gu Zhao: "Gu Zhao, your mother is bullying me, are you going to do anything about it?"
Gu Zhao pedaled hard to propel the boat forward, and fairly declared, "No, my mother is the most reasonable person."
A burst of cheerful laughter echoed across the lake.
Nan Zhiyi then turned to Qin Fen, who was pedaling the boat with sweat beading on his forehead, his daughter Yao Yao still in his arms.
"Old Qin, I'm entrusting my son to you tonight. Let him go to the hot springs with you."
Qin Fen wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and readily agreed, "Don't worry! There's an outdoor swimming pool connected to the hot spring area over there, and the water's crystal clear. I guarantee we'll take Comrade Gu Zhao for a good swim!"
After dinner, because the trip had been arranged so hastily, almost no one had brought swimsuits, so we went together to the guesthouse's service area. It was called a service area, but it was really just a small shop-like room with a limited number of items displayed in a glass case.
The swimsuits are indeed simple in style, mostly dark-colored one-piece designs, and the children's swimsuits are like tank tops and shorts.
After everyone bought clothes that fit, they split into two groups and headed to the men's and women's hot spring areas according to the signs.
Nan Zhiyi was still a little worried and reminded Gu Zhao again: "You must listen to Uncle Qin, protect yourself, and never do anything dangerous, understand?"
Qin Fen laughed from the side: "Sister-in-law, you can rest assured, I guarantee that we will bring our Comrade Gu Zhao back safe and sound!"
Nan Zhiyi thanked him and walked towards the women's hot spring with Li Xiaoxuan, who was holding Yao Yao.
Zhou Anping also followed beside him, holding his youngest daughter, Xinxin.
Nan Zhiyi: "Anping, let me hold you for a while. I've been holding you all afternoon, your arms must be sore."
Zhou Anping didn't refuse and carefully handed his daughter to Nan Zhiyi, then breathed a sigh of relief. "That's right, this little girl won't walk a single step by herself, she's so lazy."
“Gu Zhao was a bit lazy when he was little, but he’ll be fine when he grows up.”
As they were talking, they arrived at the locker room.
When Nan Zhiyi changed into her swimsuit, she made a point of checking herself under the light to make sure there were no marks that might give rise to any thoughts before she put on the dark blue one-piece swimsuit and carefully pinned her long hair up behind her head.
She held Yao Yao's hand in one hand and Xin Xin's hand in the other, waiting for Li Xiaoxuan and Zhou Anping to change their clothes.
The two little girls were wearing tiny cotton swimsuits with simple floral prints, and they looked absolutely adorable.
When they entered the open-air hot spring area, they saw a faint white mist rising under the moonlight.
The hot spring pool is built along the natural mountain slope, with pebbles of varying sizes lining the edges. The water is clear, and with the help of the lights at the bottom of the pool, you can see tiny bubbles constantly rising from the cracks in the rocks.
The water temperatures in the pools varied, and Nan Zhiyi chose one with a moderate temperature to sit down in.
The warm spring water felt like a thick velvet cloth, enveloping her tired body, and she couldn't help but sigh softly.
She hadn't exercised in a long time, and after an afternoon of sightseeing, she was exhausted and felt terrible. But now, being enveloped in warmth, she felt much better.
Li Xiaoxuan took her daughter to play in the shallow pool.
Zhou Anping held his daughter beside Nan Zhiyi, coaxing her to splash water with her little hands.
The two, who hadn't been able to find a chance to speak alone all afternoon, finally found themselves speaking naturally in this hazy and tranquil atmosphere.
Nan Zhiyi gazed at the distant mountain silhouettes shrouded in night and said softly, "It's so cool here, much more comfortable than in the city. After walking around all afternoon and soaking in the water, I feel so relaxed."
"Yes, it's great to get some fresh air. Lele was talking about it this afternoon, saying she wanted to play with Xiaoman. Little kids always chase after other kids..."
“That’s right. When we were little, we used to chase after your brother and Gu Yan all the time.” Nan Zhiyi traced the surface of the water with her fingers. “Once, we even rolled off a haystack and scraped our skin. Your brother and Gu Yan got a good beating from their families.”
“In the blink of an eye, our children are running around all over the place.”
The two looked at each other and smiled.
“When we get back to the city,” Nan Zhiyi turned her head to look at Zhou Anping’s profile, “you can bring Lele and Xinxin and come over to visit often. Xiaoman gets bored all the time being alone.”
Zhou Anping's voice sounded gentler than usual in the misty steam: "Okay."
There was no deliberate apology, no lengthy explanation; simply in the warm spring water, through the innocent promises of the children, the wrinkles caused by the years and circumstances seemed to be gently smoothed out.
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