Old friend
“Secure a woman’s vanity? Where did you even learn that phrase?”
Zhan Aiping looked at Gu Sheng with amusement, watching his handsome face with its defined features, wondering if he had played a trick on someone again.
“My vanity doesn’t need your reinforcement. Did Shishi’s husband say something?”
Gu Sheng replied, “He thinks I act all high and mighty at home, keeping you in line. Today, I was just putting on a show in front of the two of them.”
Zhan Aiping sighed helplessly, “Do you military men have nothing better to do all day? Us women don’t even talk about you, yet you lot just sit around comparing yourselves.”
Gu Sheng chuckled, “Her husband is quite interesting. He started by telling me he’s pretending, and wanted me to admit that I’m pretending too.”
Zhan Aiping laughed, “You two really are full of drama.”
“Do you want to know the details?”
“No, I don’t.” Zhan Aiping snorted, “I know you’ve got a stomach full of schemes. You probably tricked him again, right? Now even Captain Jiang has started singing lullabies…”
Zhan Aiping’s face cracked a little as she remembered Captain Jiang’s lullabies. She felt terrible just thinking about it. He sang worse than her, and louder, but with so much confidence.
Their neighbours had complained several times before he toned it down. Qin Lanfang told him to stop singing, but he got hooked on it.
Luckily, Captain Jiang’s house was big enough that when he belted out songs at home, it wasn’t too disruptive. But Shishi’s place was a small two-bedroom apartment… if someone with a booming voice lived there, the whole building would shake.
Gu Sheng reminded her, “Have you forgotten? You were the one who first told Jiang’s sister that I sang lullabies at home. You started this whole thing, Brother Zhan. Don’t you feel a bit responsible?”
“You’ve been mischievous since you were a kid.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
“You’re the one with a stomach full of tricks, yet you blame me for being up to no good.”
Zhan Aiping looked down at her two little children. She held her son’s chubby little hand and said to him, “Don’t be like your dad and be full of schemes.”
Gu Sheng coldly replied, “All crows under heaven are equally black.”
Zhan Aiping: “I’ve heard people say that two clever parents often end up with a ‘silly but sweet’ child.”
When parents are too smart, it’s easy to have a naive child.
Gu Sheng: “… What’s a ‘silly but sweet’?”
Zhan Aiping explained, “Haven’t you heard of the ‘foolish son of the landlord’? You know, someone who’s very naive and simple, while his parents are smart and make money, but the son just gives money away to people.”
“Our kids seem pretty well-behaved. They don’t have tempers like us. Could it be that they’re two ‘silly but sweet’ ones?”
Zhan Aiping looked at her pair of children, feeling a little worried. As parents, it’s easy to worry about this and that—afraid they’ll be too mischievous, or afraid their temperament won’t be good…
Their son and daughter, who they jokingly nicknamed “Sweet and Sour Pork” and “Little Dumpling,” were soft and easy to care for, with good temperaments. They didn’t cry or make a fuss, and were so well-behaved it moved her heart. They were like two little angel babies.
Their gentle personalities didn’t match the wild nature she and Gu Sheng had when they were children.
Zhan Aiping couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned.
Would these two sweet dummies get bullied?
“How are our kids not smart? I think they’re plenty clever…” Gu Sheng squatted down to look at the children. “They know how to adapt to the situation and please their ‘breadwinners.’”
“They also know that with our tempers, we wouldn’t spoil them.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
“You’re overestimating our kids’ cleverness.”
When the family of four returned to the guesthouse, the two kids that Zhan Aiping had just praised as “well-behaved” suddenly became little terrors. They were crawling all over the bed, moving so fast that their parents had to grab them, with them kicking their legs wildly.
Zhan Aiping wasn’t paying attention and got kicked by Guobaorou. She couldn’t help but gasp, “Gu Sheng, this kid’s legs are really strong.”
After kicking his mom, Guobaorou showed no remorse, laughing mischievously at her.
“Two silly but sweet ones? More like two troublemakers.” The beds in the guesthouse weren’t enough for the two of them to climb around. These beds didn’t have rails, and Zhan Aiping was worried they might fall off.
“They’re always crawling and biting on things now, grabbing whatever they can and sticking it in their mouths. Gu Sheng, you need to keep an eye on them.”
Zhan Aiping was thinking, “When we get back home, let’s set up a small room with wooden boards, lay down bamboo mats and grass mats, and top it with blankets, so these two little guys can crawl around as much as they want.”
Gu Sheng was holding their daughter, Tangyuan, who looked like him but had a personality more like Zhan Aiping. She was even more domineering than her brother, kicking him away during naps so she could take over most of the bed.
When her dad held her, Tangyuan liked to stand on her legs and pretend to walk, her two little legs practicing marching in place, getting more excited as she went.
“They’re your own kids. Can you really just leave them to their own devices?”
Zhan Aiping said, “We must still watch them.”
No matter how cute and well-behaved the two kids were, at such a young age, they needed constant supervision. It was still tiring and frustrating. She hoped the little ones would grow up quickly.
That day, the whole family went to bed early at the guesthouse. Tomorrow, they would be meeting Gu Sheng’s old comrades.
After Zhan Aiping’s family left, Liu Shi and her husband tidied up the house a bit. Liu Shi was in a great mood. She still thought Zhan Aiping was the ideal woman she had always admired. Curiously, she asked Zhao Zhiyong, “Comrade Zhao, what did you and Pingping’s husband talk about?”
Liu Shi was very curious about what men talk about.
“What else would we talk about?” Zhao Zhiyong replied, “We talked about how you female soldiers are really good at finding partners.”
Liu Shi suddenly understood, “So you were just patting yourselves on the back, thinking you’re great men?”
Zhao Zhiyong: “…”
Liu Shi laughed, “Pingping is beautiful, isn’t she? And she’s outstanding, right? Such an exceptional person, she must have found a very excellent partner too…”
“She is indeed excellent,” Zhao Zhiyong admitted, “Your friend is great, but it also shows your eyesight isn’t that sharp.”
Liu Shi retorted, “How is my eyesight not sharp? You’re the one with bad eyesight.”
Zhao Zhiyong: “You once mistook her for a man. How sharp can your eyesight be?”
Liu Shi was at a loss for words, but she quickly countered, “When I showed you that group photo, you didn’t recognize her either. So your eyesight isn’t any better.”
Liu Shi suddenly became worried, “If both of our eyesight is bad, won’t our child have poor eyesight too?”
Zhao Zhiyong: “… Stop talking nonsense.”
“I’m just teasing. Tomorrow, I’m going to see the director. Pingping gave me a bunch of suggestions. I think she’s really amazing. It’s her first time at our convalescent home, and she already spotted so many problems… No wonder she became a deputy director at such a young age.”
Zhao Zhiyong chuckled, “You, you… If Zhan Aiping passed gas, you’d probably think it smelled nice. She’s only been here a day, what useful suggestions could she have given?”
“You don’t believe me? Just wait until the director praises me.”
The next day, Liu Shi went to see Director Wu. When Director Wu saw the management suggestions for the convalescent home that Liu Shi brought, his eyes lit up. “Who came up with these? Was it you? I didn’t realize, Xiao Liu, that you were so capable after working here for a few years—”
“Director,” Liu Shi quickly interrupted, “Director Wu, these ideas aren’t mine. They came from an old classmate of mine, a fellow military academy student. She came to the convalescent home yesterday, and after I introduced her to some of the issues here, she came up with these ideas.”
“Really?” Director Wu was shocked. “Then she’s quite a talent!”
“Where is she working now?”
Liu Shi said, “She’s currently the deputy director of a township hospital.”
Director Wu was stunned, “A deputy director of a township hospital?”
After learning about Zhan Aiping’s situation, Director Wu called Director Xu Zhengang at the hospital where Zhan Aiping would have worked and directly said, “Old Xu, you’re wasting a talent. If you don’t want her, you could’ve sent her to me.”
Director Xu was completely baffled, “Wasting a talent? Who did I waste?”
Director Wu said, “Zhan Aiping, she’s a real talent.”
“Why don’t you want her?”
“If you didn’t want her, you could have recommended her to our side.”
Director Xu nearly spat blood. “Do you think I didn’t want her? I got tricked!”
He was furious. A year had passed, and people were still bringing up Zhan Aiping in front of him with regret.
Recently, a few fresh graduates had driven him to frustration. He thought to himself how foolish he had been back then—he had gold in his hands but somehow managed to throw it away.
He had been completely misled.
After hanging up, Director Xu called Professor Sun. “Old Sun, I’m absolutely furious right now. You should never have deceived me back then. What was the point? Now you’ve got yourself a goddaughter, but I lost a great doctor for my hospital.”
Professor Sun replied, “Your hospital may have lost a good doctor, but another hospital gained one.”
Director Xu: “…”
“Old Xu, you can’t really blame me. You were the one who couldn’t judge for yourself. Are you saying you believed everything I said?”
“She was already there, but you didn’t even bother talking to her and learning what kind of person she was. You just shut her out…”
Hearing this, Director Xu got even more angry. “My mistake was trusting you too much.”
“Do you believe me? One day, I’ll steal your daughter and make her work for me.”
Professor Sun laughed over the phone, “Keep dreaming”.
After hanging up the phone, Director Xu paced around his office, determined not to accept this defeat. He had to find a way to bring Zhan Aiping under his command.
….
Zhan Aiping and her family, along with Gu Sheng’s old comrade, Zeng Liang, were having a meal at a state-owned restaurant. Zeng Liang, with his booming voice, large frame, and towering height, was even taller than Gu Sheng. He attracted a lot of attention from the staff just by standing at the entrance.
“Gu Sheng! I finally get to see you. You’re married now, and you even have a kid…” Before he saw them, Zeng Liang was particularly curious about Gu Sheng’s wife and child. He had heard that Gu Sheng had married his childhood sweetheart and that Gu Sheng had once shown him a picture of his wife.
Zeng Liang was puzzled—picture?
“You married such a beautiful wife… When did you show me her photo?”
“If you had told me earlier that your wife was this beautiful, I wouldn’t have come. It just stirs up jealousy for no reason!”
When Zeng Liang first saw Zhan Aiping, he genuinely regretted it. As a single man, meeting a family of four for dinner made him feel more and more miserable. “Old Zhou said he couldn’t make it because he was busy. Damn, if I’d known, I would’ve said I was busy too.”
“When I find myself a beautiful wife, you can come catch up with me.”
Gu Sheng replied lazily, “My wife isn’t just beautiful. Stop going on and on about looks—it’s shallow.”
Zeng Liang’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re calling me shallow? Weren’t you the shallow one? Who doesn’t like someone beautiful? Don’t act like you’re all virtuous after benefiting.”
Gu Sheng said, “My wife used to be a military doctor, and now she’s the deputy director of a hospital.”
At this, Zhan Aiping couldn’t help but quietly click her tongue, thinking to herself that Gu Sheng’s vanity wasn’t any less than anyone else’s.
Zeng Liang gritted his teeth, “If you keep talking, I’m really going to be jealous of you.”
Gu Sheng smiled, “You should’ve noticed earlier. Do you remember that time I showed you a picture? That was a photo of my wife.”
Zeng Liang: “… That photo?”
Zhan Aiping, confused, asked, “What photo?”
“The one of that dark-skinned kid!” Zeng Liang exclaimed in surprise.
Gu Sheng’s eyes twinkled, “Yeah, that dark-skinned kid was my wife.”
Zhan Aiping suddenly felt her hands itch. How many embarrassing photos had Gu Sheng collected of her?
She tugged on Gu Sheng’s sleeve. “What dark-skinned kid? What photo?”
Gu Sheng whispered in her ear, “It was back in the summer, in elementary school. Do you remember? You got really tanned, and you went to the yard to play, holding a pitchfork. Someone took a photo of you, and you insisted on calling yourself ‘Run Tu’ (a character from a Chinese story).”
Zhan Aiping felt dizzy. This time, she couldn’t hold back and pinched Gu Sheng’s arm several times. “Behave yourself and stop making up stories.”
How could Comrade Zhan Aiping possibly do something so embarrassing?
Gu Sheng stifled a laugh. “You don’t remember? You really don’t?”
Zhan Aiping’s expression turned cold. “If I don’t remember it, it definitely didn’t happen. Stop spreading rumours.”
Gu Sheng leisurely said, “I’ve still got the photo. Want to refresh your memory?”
At this, Zhan Aiping angrily stomped on his foot twice.
Zeng Liang: “…”
It seems marrying a beautiful, fiery wife isn’t easy either.
Zeng Liang, still curious, asked, “What’s the story behind that photo?”
Gu Sheng replied, “That’s my wife’s story. I’m not telling you.”
Zeng Liang protested, “… You won’t tell me? You shouldn’t have shown me the photo sneakily back then!”
Zhan Aiping asked, “Comrade Zeng, tell me the truth. How many people has Gu Sheng shown this photo to?”
Zeng Liang stammered, “Uh, I don’t know… but we’ve probably all seen it. At first, we thought it was his brother.”
“Gu Sheng has a lot of brothers.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
After dinner with Zeng Liang, Zhan Aiping returned to the guesthouse and told Gu Sheng, “From now on, don’t make me meet any more of your old comrades. And don’t bring up those old photos either. I don’t want to hear about your past ‘glorious achievements.’”
Gu Sheng immediately admitted his mistake. “Wife, I was wrong.”
“That photo I showed them—I tricked you. You weren’t pretending to be ‘Run Tu.’ It’s just an ordinary photo, and I made up the story behind it.”
Zhan Aiping said, “… I knew it.”
She spoke with little confidence. Her mouth opened as if to say more, but the words didn’t come out, because—
She tried hard to recall, and indeed, some old memories started surfacing in her mind.
When she was a child, she was wild and had an unusual way of thinking. She had indeed done a lot of weird and crazy things—she was like a strong, reckless tomboy.
Zhan Aiping: “…”
In any case, if Gu Sheng said it didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen.
“Let’s not talk about the past anymore. The past is the past, and people shouldn’t keep looking back at it.” Gu Sheng was two years older than her, and he and his family remembered more about her childhood and the trouble she caused in the neighbourhood.
Zhan Aiping was genuinely afraid that she might hear more embarrassing childhood stories from him.
She didn’t want to know just how many ridiculous things she had done.
What was even scarier was that this was just meeting Gu Sheng’s old comrades, who knew nothing about her except for one photo.
But Gu Sheng’s parents, and his four brothers… Zhan Aiping swallowed nervously. Could they also know about those things?
Zhan Aiping asked, “Gu Sheng, when your brothers found out you married me, did they call you a brave warrior?”
Gu Sheng replied, “More than that, they said I brought honour to our family.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
“How could it not be an honour to bring ‘Zhan Daping’ from the courtyard back home?”
Zhan Aiping sighed. “Just stop talking. I don’t want to hear any more.”
She fell silent and went to fetch some water to wash their two kids’ dirty little hands. For some reason, their little hands were always getting dirty.
Seeing this, Gu Sheng, worried that his wife might actually be angry, quickly became very attentive. He served her tea, took care of the kids’ meals and needs, and earnestly played with them.
“Wife, don’t be mad.”
Zhan Aiping lay in bed, ignoring him. She left the kids for him to handle, as she had long been craving a good, comfortable sleep.
She slept until the sun was high in the sky. When she opened her eyes, she saw Gu Sheng looking at her eagerly. He hadn’t slept well the night before, having thought about many things—about their childhood, their two years of married life. Yesterday was the first time Zhan Aiping had given him the cold shoulder, and it left him feeling anxious and uneasy.
They had shared so many sweet moments that he didn’t dare think back to the days when they had butted heads.
He sincerely apologized, “I shouldn’t have bullied you when we were kids, teased you, or laughed at you. I should’ve stood up for you. When your mom was scolding you, I should’ve rushed in to protect you.”
Zhan Aiping: “… I shouldn’t have stirred things up when your dad was about to punish you either.”
Gu Sheng pulled her into his arms. “Wife, let’s not talk about the past anymore. It was my fault.”
“You’re not really sincere. You always say it’s your fault, but you don’t mean it.”
Gu Sheng asked, “What would make it sincere?”
Zhan Aiping laughed. “Gu Sheng, I’m not mad at you. You don’t have to be so cautious around me. Really, if you keep being this careful, I’ll regret not realizing sooner that you’re just a ‘paper tiger.’”
Gu Sheng said, “You’ve got me by the lifeline now. You’ve let me taste such good times; just don’t take them away one day.”
Zhan Aiping wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Be good to me and praise me often, and I won’t be able to leave you.”
“But if you bring up my embarrassing past again, I’ll get angry and not talk to you.”
Gu Sheng said, “If you ignore me, it’ll be the end of me.”
“I’m really afraid of you getting angry.”
Zhan Aiping replied, “If you’re afraid of me getting angry, why do you keep provoking me on purpose?”
“I’m more scared of you ignoring me than of you getting mad. If you ignore me, I’m finished.”
Gu Sheng held her close, rubbing his face against the crook of her neck. “You used to have so many ‘bad friends.’ If I didn’t tease you back then, you would’ve forgotten about me long ago.”
Zhan Aiping said, “I used to love making a group of friends because I was afraid of being lonely. When I was eight or nine, my younger brother was still small and at the nursery, and I was always locked up at home by myself. I didn’t need anyone to look after me. I just…”
“Maybe it’s because when others came home, they had hot meals and their moms waiting for them. My house didn’t, so I always liked to invite people over to play.”
Gu Sheng said, “When I got home, there wasn’t a hot meal waiting for me either. Why didn’t you come find me?”
Zhan Aiping said, “I used to be so jealous that you had four brothers, but I didn’t. I was the eldest, and I had a little brother to take care of. Look at you—you didn’t know how lucky you were. Your brothers looked after you, but I had no one to look after me. I had to take care of my brother.”
“Looking at you just made me feel like you deserved a good beating.”
Gu Sheng: “I was jealous that you got to be the eldest. Who wants to be born with four brothers on top of them?”
Zhan Aiping: “… You don’t know how lucky you are.”
Gu Sheng said, “You too.”
People always seem to envy what they can’t have.
Zhan Aiping asked, “Does this count as us having a fight?”
Gu Sheng replied, “No, I could never bear to fight with you.”
Zhan Aiping said, “Looking back now, I realize how childish I used to be. Do you know why I used to hold a grudge against you? It was because, a long time ago, you pushed me, and I cried to my mom, only for her to scold me instead. She said I was too weak and easy to bully, which is why you could push me.”
Gu Sheng’s lips moved slightly, “I’m sorry.”
Zhan Aiping said, “You’ve already apologized before… The fact that I remember it for so long means that maybe what hurt me wasn’t the push, or even my mom’s scolding, but the realization that, when someone bullies me, no one has my back.”
She continued, “No one would stand up for me, but when someone treats you badly, your brothers would always come to your defence.”
Gu Sheng responded, “That’s not true. I’ve never been bullied.”
Zhan Aiping said, “You have four brothers. Who would dare bully you? Your third brother even threatened me once, telling me not to give you a hard time.”
Gu Sheng felt a headache coming on, “…He really did that?”
Zhan Aiping replied, “Talking about the past yesterday made me suddenly remember.”
Gu Sheng sighed, “With brothers like mine, it’d be better if we never saw each other again.”
Zhan Aiping laughed, “You’ll still have to see them.”
“The kids are almost a year old. They should at least meet their grandparents, their uncles… and their grandpa.”
Gu Sheng said, “I’ll be on leave around the end of the year, but I’m not sure which days exactly, so I might not run into my third brother and the others.”
Zhan Aiping replied, “We’ll see when the time comes.”
As their children’s first birthday approached, Zhan Aiping and Gu Sheng planned to take the kids on a trip to visit family and friends.
After staying at the guesthouse for two days, the couple packed up and headed to Spring City Medical School. They were given a room in an old building, a small single room with bunk beds. The school staff, knowing they had children, let the couple have a room to themselves.
The conditions there were not as good as the guesthouse. If it weren’t for convenience, they might as well have stayed at the military guesthouse, which was free of charge.
Zhan Aiping said, “Maybe we should go back to the guesthouse?”
Gu Sheng replied, “If you’re okay with commuting back and forth every day, then let’s go back.”
Zhan Aiping hesitated for a moment.
Gu Sheng said, “Staying at the guesthouse for free feels like a good deal. It’d be a waste not to take advantage of it.”
Zhan Aiping said, “But staying there means waking up half an hour earlier.”
Gu Sheng asked, “So, are we staying or not?”
“Let’s be a bit thick-skinned and keep both rooms.”
Gu Sheng chuckled, “Alright, wherever you want to stay, I’ll stay with the kids and accompany their mom.”
Zhan Aiping said, “Let’s tidy things up first, then we can go buy some things and visit Professor Tian’s house.”
The “Professor Tian” she mentioned was an old friend of Professor Sun, now teaching anatomy at Spring City Medical School.
After tidying up the room, Gu Sheng went out to buy some gifts—cakes, wine, and health supplements. Then the couple took their children to visit Professor Tian’s house.
Professor Tian lived on the second floor. Zhan Aiping knocked on the door, and his wife, Li Meifang, answered. “Is Professor Tian home?”
“Yes, he’s here. Who are you?”
Professor Tian stood inside the house, wearing a traditional Zhongshan suit. He was thin, dark-skinned, and held an enamel cup decorated with peonies.
Zhan Aiping said, “Professor Sun asked me to come visit you.”
“Oh… So you’re one of Old Sun’s students?”
Zhan Aiping nodded.
“Come in and have a seat. Your teacher asked me to look out for you.” Tian Zhijian wasn’t particularly warm towards Zhan Aiping, only casually greeting the couple. He didn’t seem to like the fact that such a pretty girl had shown up, assuming she was just a pretty face with no real substance.
Zhan Aiping explained her reason for the visit, “Professor Tian, I’m currently preparing to write a book. Once the manuscript for my textbook is ready, I hope you and the other teachers at the school can review it.”
Zhan Aiping’s book, ‘Surgical Techniques’, was almost fully outlined. She hadn’t given up and planned to complete it within the next two years. She’d need several people to review it before it could be published.
It would be even better if it could be published through Spring City Medical School.
Professor Tian was stunned, “You… you’re writing a book?”
It was simply baffling and ridiculous. A young woman in her twenties telling him she was going to write a textbook was nothing short of delusional. Even the most basic things shouldn’t be left to someone as young as her.
Zhan Aiping said, “Yes, I’ll trouble you to take a look at it when the time comes.”
Tian Zhijian replied gruffly, “Have you written it yet?”
Zhan Aiping said, “Not finished yet.”
Tian Zhijian: “…You really are a fearless young bull.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
“You’ve barely been a doctor for a few years, and you think you can write a medical textbook?”
Zhan Aiping replied, “Why not? It’s not that complicated—it’s just the basics.”
Tian Zhijian asked, “The basics? Are you even solid on your own foundations?”
Zhan Aiping calmly responded, “The younger the doctor, the more solid their grasp of foundational theories.”
Just like how a student’s knowledge peaks right before college entrance exams, a freshly graduated doctor has the most comprehensive grasp of theoretical knowledge. After practicing for a few years, most of the theory fades, but experience in all aspects grows significantly.
Tian Zhijian: “…”
Gu Sheng chimed in, “My wife has a natural talent for writing books.”
Tian Zhijian responded, “We’ll talk about that when your wife actually finishes the book.”
“Now, you two better leave. The house is small, we don’t entertain guests.”
Zhan Aiping and Gu Sheng were practically kicked out. Their two kids giggled at their parents, while Zhan Aiping said helplessly, “Why did you have to say I’m talented at writing books?”
“Now we’ve been kicked out because of it.”
Professor Tian probably thinks I’m some kind of unreasonable, delusional fool, and I’ve got a husband who blindly supports me no matter what.
Gu Sheng said, “He clearly looked down on you from the start.”
“As soon as we walked in, before he even spoke, you could see it in his eyes. And when he heard about your background, he looked down on you even more.”
“He probably thought you were just here to freeload.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
She had indeed sensed Tian Zhijian’s unfriendly attitude. The “old friend” that Professor Sun had mentioned was likely more of a superficial acquaintance.
“The moment he heard I was Professor Sun’s student, he looked down on me.”
“He kept saying he’d look after me, but it felt more like he was trying to trip me up.”
Gu Sheng couldn’t help but chuckle, “Good that you realized.”
Zhan Aiping said, “What a waste. If I had known, I wouldn’t have bought so many things to bring to him.”
“I had a bad feeling as soon as we stepped inside, and sure enough, we hit a cold wall. Honestly, I didn’t come here to ask for anything; I was just helping Dad check in on an old friend. But now that my book’s almost done, I’m definitely going to shove it in his face.”
Gu Sheng nodded, “That’s the spirit. But first, you have to finish writing it.”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
After the couple left, Tian Zhijian immediately called Professor Sun. “Did you deliberately send your student to mess with me?”
“Is she really your student?”
Professor Sun, puzzled, asked, “What? What happened? Did Pingping visit you?”
Tian Zhijian replied, “Is she really a proper student of yours?”
Professor Sun said, “What’s wrong with my students? They’re all proper.”
“That student of yours comes to me and says she wants to write a book. How is she so capable?”
Professor Sun replied, “She *is* that capable.”
In truth, even Professor Sun was wondering what book his goddaughter was planning to write.
Tian Zhijian said, “She wants to write a textbook. She’s really something.”
Professor Sun explained, “She’s taught for a while, and she’s very capable. Principal Li has praised her several times, saying she’s an excellent teacher. If she hadn’t moved to Yunnan, Principal Li would’ve asked her to come back.”
“Your school is accepting more worker-peasant-soldier students, right? My student may not be good at everything, but she’s more than qualified to be a lecturer at your school.”
Tian Zhijian snorted, “Keep boasting.”
“Your student is just like you—always eager to teach others. How long has she been a doctor? How long has she been a teacher? After just a few days of teaching, she already wants to write a textbook? Why doesn’t she just fly to the heavens?”
“If her textbook turns out to be nonsense, you should kick her out of your mentorship right away. Keeping such a student would only be embarrassing.”
Professor Sun happily replied, “I’ve already kicked her out. She’s my goddaughter now.”
“No offense, I just wanted you to meet my goddaughter.”
Tian Zhijian, being his old friend, shared a similar experience of losing a child in their old age, and now both were without children of their own.
Tian Zhijian: “…”
“Now I have a daughter, and did you meet my godson-in-law? I also have two grandchildren.”
Tian Zhijian: “Ridiculous.”
He hung up the phone, feeling increasingly annoyed as he thought about meeting Zhan Aiping and her husband earlier. The more he thought about it, the more curious he became—could Zhan Aiping actually manage to write a textbook?
In the following days, Zhan Aiping continued visiting and learning at Spring City Medical School. After finishing her tour, she and Gu Sheng still had two days before heading back, so they decided to take their kids to the zoo.
The two children loved watching the monkeys, and the family spent most of the day in front of the monkey exhibit. Zhan Aiping even fed the monkeys peanuts and bananas, while the kids stared wide-eyed as the monkeys ate.
Zhan Aiping said to Gu Sheng, “Our kids really like monkeys.”
Gu Sheng replied, “Maybe because their mom is born in the Year of the Monkey.”
“I’m born in the Year of the Monkey? Well, you were born in the Year of the Dog.” In their family, Gu Sheng was born in the Year of the Dog, Zhan Aiping in the Year of the Rat, and the two kids in the Year of the Pig. Coincidentally, their zodiac signs were all connected.
Gu Sheng teased, “Little mouse, climbing the lampstand, stealing oil, can’t come down.”
Zhan Aiping chuckled, “A dog can never change its nature of eating dirt.”
As someone born in the Year of the Rat, she joked that she was at the bottom of the food chain, being small and insignificant.
After leaving the zoo, they bought a lot of things, including a few glass baby bottles for the kids. These glass bottles came in various shapes—bird-shaped, fish-shaped, and regular bottle-shaped ones. Because they were made of glass, they were heavy and easy to break, so they had to be used under adult supervision.
They already had two bottles at home, but baby bottles were never too many, so Zhan Aiping bought one in each shape.
In addition to the bottles, the couple bought other local specialties. Whenever they travelled, they had to buy plenty of things to bring back as gifts, so they ended up carrying lots of bags. When they returned, it would be Comrade Gu who had to bear the burden of carrying it all.
Zhan Aiping said, “Be careful with the baby bottles. Don’t break them.”
Gu Sheng sighed, “I got it, I got it.”
“Oh, and I still need to pick up my flowers.” As their trip neared its end, Zhan Aiping remembered the three plants she had won from Uncle Zhang.
Gu Sheng was puzzled, “You’re really planning to go get them?”
When they returned that day, Gu Sheng knew about it but thought Zhan Aiping was joking and didn’t think she would actually follow through.
Zhan Aiping said, “If I hadn’t remembered, I wouldn’t bother. But since I did, I have to get back what I won.”
“Look, this small upright glass baby bottle—once it’s worn out, when the kids grow older, I think it would be great for holding flowers.”
Gu Sheng: “…”
Using a baby bottle as a vase?
“Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s find Uncle Zhang and get the roses. Then we’ll head home. Don’t blame me for being greedy; the roses he grows look really nice and healthy. The ones he picked for me have excellent branching.”
Gu Sheng’s mouth twitched, “They look good enough to eat?”
Zhan Aiping replied, “Let’s bring three pots.”
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