Chapter 22: Sleeping Together

Su Nianmei and Gu Xichao walked side by side, the wind gently brushing against her hair. She wore Gu Xichao’s oversized coat, which hung loosely on her, resembling a child who had borrowed an adult’s clothes.

Su Nianmei’s strides were slightly shorter, and Gu Xichao adjusted his pace to match hers. Their silhouettes danced in the night light, one behind the other.

Neither of them spoke, yet the atmosphere was remarkably harmonious.

Gu Xichao’s fingers slowly inched closer to Su Nianmei, one touch, two touches, three touches.

Su Nianmei’s fingers stirred slightly, and just as Gu Xichao’s fingers were nearly touching hers, they suddenly retracted.

The tips of his ears, hidden beneath his military cap, were still flushed with color.

Gu Xichao’s gaze drifted toward the distance, his expression somewhat awkward. He touched the tip of his nose, looking at the moon far away, and awkwardly remarked, “The weather is quite nice tonight.”

Su Nianmei followed his gaze, observing the deep blue sky ahead, where clouds floated in clusters, serene and profound.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” she replied.

Suddenly, warmth filled Gu Xichao’s palm. The small, soft fingertips rested on his palm, and he gently curled his fingers, his heart feeling sweet as honey.

The corners of his mouth curled upward as he walked home alongside the person who occupied his thoughts.

Most people had gone to see the festivities, leaving the courtyard somewhat deserted. The lights were on in a few places, but their own light finally felt like home.

Su Nianmei led the way, and Gu Xichao followed closely behind, their hands clasped together as they ascended the stairs.

Gu Xiaobao stood behind the door, holding a large bouquet of fresh flowers. The pale white petals still exuded a faint, delicate fragrance.

Gu Xiaobao pouted and occasionally blew on the flower petals, feeling a bit nervous. His small hands tightly pressed together around the bouquet, and his mind spun with the words Gu Xichao had taught him—

“Mom, you’re amazing. These flowers are for you.”

The words echoed and whirled in his mind—

“Mom—”

With a creak, the door opened.

As Su Nianmei stepped inside, she was immediately met by a bouquet of flowers. Gu Xiaobao stood at the doorway, softly murmuring something, pushing the flowers toward his chest.

He stuffed the flowers into Su Nianmei’s arms, then took a few steps back and shouted, “Mom! The flowers are so fat! They’re for you!”

Su Nianmei was momentarily taken aback, and just then, Gu Xichao entered, playfully pinching his son’s slightly chubby cheeks and chuckling, “Can flowers be fat?”

At that moment, Gu Xiaobao also sensed something was amiss. His little feet bounced around, and he tugged at the soft tufts of hair on his head. “No, no. It’s—Mom?”

Su Nianmei found Gu Xiaobao’s confused expression incredibly adorable and worried that the little guy might accidentally mess up his own hair. She was just about to step forward to hug him.

Suddenly, Gu Xiaobao stopped bouncing, his eyes sparkling. He pointed at Su Nianmei with a small finger, exclaiming, “I know! It’s that you’re the one who’s really fat, Mom!”

Su Nianmei had just begun to step forward when she instinctively leaned back, yet the smile on her lips widened.

Gu Xichao looked directly at Su Nianmei, pulled out a small cylindrical object about ten centimeters long from his pocket, and gently pressed a button. A small banner unfurled from it.

Su Nianmei took a moment to read the words: “To congratulate Comrade Xiao Su on their outstanding performance at the Mid-Autumn Festival gala, I present this bouquet of Glen flowers along with my son, Gu Xiaobao, as encouragement!”

Gu Xichao nodded, briefly stating, “Congratulations!”

Su Nianmei’s eyes curved with delight as she replied: “Thank you, Major Gu!”

She held the bouquet even closer, inhaling its faint fragrance, realizing that this was what the feeling of home was like—so warm.

Gu Xiaobao insisted on sleeping with them that evening, but Gu Xichao refused. Gu Xiaobao, with a tone of authority, urged Gu Xichao to go to his own room and find himself a new outfit.

After Gu Xichao left, Gu Xiaobao quietly nestled into Su Nianmei’s embrace, wrapping his small arms around her waist, and whispered softly, “Mom, I want to tell you a little secret!”

Su Nianmei replied in a hushed tone, “What is it?”

Gu Xiaobao shifted slightly to lean closer to her ear and exclaimed, “I like you!” Then, taking advantage of Su Nianmei’s distraction, he quickly kissed her cheek.

Su Nianmei playfully rubbed Gu Xiaobao’s small nose, causing him to giggle and roll around on the bed in delight.

After a moment, Gu Xiaobao reluctantly added, “Dad, actually, I like you too.” He leaned against Su Nianmei, propping up his little legs, and tugged at the fuzzy balls on his thermal pants. His tone was oddly mature as he continued, “Actually, Dad is pretty nice. He even climbed a mountain to pick this flower for you. It was freezing, and the wind was really strong.”

Su Nianmei lightly patted Gu Xiaobao, a smile spreading across her face.

Just then, Gu Xichao entered, holding a set of little knitted clothes for Gu Xiaobao.

Gu Xiaobao wrinkled his nose, his delicate toes dancing as he protested, his entire body expressing refusal.

He buried his face into Su Nianmei’s embrace, turning his backside toward Gu Xichao and mumbling, “I don’t want to wear green!”

Gu Xichao accurately tossed the clothes onto Gu Xiaobao’s head, gripping the hem tightly.

Gu Xiaobao fell silent.

That night, the three of them embraced each other as they slept.

In the morning, Su Nianmei tidied up the house inside and out, placing last night’s flowers into a small vase.

The tender green leaves appeared even more vibrant when they met the water.

Not long ago, they had received a lot of eggs, so Su Nianmei made egg pancakes. Gu Xiaobao had one, and she had one. After breakfast, she took Gu Xiaobao to school, bringing along some pancakes to deliver to Gu Xichao.

As she approached the door, Xiao Fang spotted his sister-in-law carrying something and stealthily moved to greet her.

Xiao Fang shouted loudly, “Sister-in-law, are you here to see Major Gu?”

Su Nianmei nodded and handed the items to Xiao Fang. “I really appreciate all of your help lately, so I made some food today as a small token of my gratitude.”

Xiao Fang quickly accepted the offerings, a wide grin stretching across his face. “Sister-in-law, now that you’re here, why be polite? You don’t know how great that song you sang last night was—it was amazing!”

At that moment, a young man with a gentle demeanor walked out from the back room. He shot a sidelong glance at Xiao Fang, who had no sense of propriety despite being quite well-built.

Seeing the newcomer, Fang Zheng grabbed his meal box with one hand and playfully put the other around the young man’s neck, still smiling. “Sister-in-law, let me introduce you. This is Fu Wen, the newly assigned class leader from the second squad of the first company. This guy was so excited listening to your song last night that he couldn’t sleep!”

Su Nianmei glanced at the young man. Her gaze fell slightly, revealing long fingers with elegant knuckles, which seemed perfect for playing the piano.

Choked up by fate, Fu Wen coughed a couple of times before finally recovering. “The song was really beautiful,” he managed to say.

Su Nianmei replied softly, “Thank you.”

Xiao Fang pulled Fu Wen inside and eagerly opened the meal box.

Inside were eight rolled egg pancakes with a small dish of chilli sauce in the middle. “Just look at how appetizing this looks!”

Su Nianmei directed a hopeful glance at Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng picked up a pancake, dipped it in chilli sauce, and promptly stuffed it into Fu Wen’s mouth.

The young man’s face immediately flushed bright red.

Fang Zheng patted Fu Wen on the shoulder. “If it’s good, it’s good. No need to be so shy.” He then popped a piece into his own mouth.

In an instant, he felt something was off!

The pancake was still the same pancake, but the taste started sweet and then suddenly transformed into an intense spiciness, making it feel like his entire mouth was on fire.

Oh! This damned flavor!

Just then, Gu Xichao walked in and noticed that Fang Zheng and Fu Wen looked a bit out of sorts. “What are you two up to?”

Su Nianmei replied, “I brought you all some pancakes.”

Gu Xichao stepped forward and reached for a pancake.

Fang Zheng’s eyes widened in horror, and he shook his head vigorously, trying to signal the captain not to eat it. His mouth was stuffed with pancakes, and he struggled to speak.

Gu Xichao stuffed the pancake into his mouth, chewing slowly and savoring it with an expression of pure enjoyment.

Fang Zheng doubted whether he had misjudged the flavor; he swirled his tongue around, then swallowed hard.

With a gulp, he frantically searched for water.

After swallowing the pancake, Gu Xichao looked at Su Nianmei with affectionate eyes. “It’s delicious.”

Su Nianmei smiled, “I’ll keep making them for you.”

“Hmm,” Gu Xichao replied.

Still looking for water, Fang Zheng muttered, “…It must be that I opened the pancake wrong.”

As Su Nianmei was about to leave after delivering the pancakes, she unexpectedly collided with someone rushing in. “Gu—Major Gu! You have a call from your hometown!”