"Dad." Gu Yu ran to his father, called out to him, and then took his backpack off to climb into the car.
"Hello uncle!" Tang Yuran followed suit, running up to Gu Yu's father and looking up at him with a clear voice.
Gu Yu's father was startled for a moment and then looked down at the rosy little girl standing in front of him. Her fair cheeks framed a pair of bright eyes, sparkling as they watched him, "Is this…?"
"I'm Gu Yu's classmate." Tang Yuran smiled and said to Gu Yu's father, "Uncle, can I come over to your house to play?"
"Gu Yu's classmate?" Gu Yu's father snapped out of his surprise, and suddenly looked at Tang Yuran with an excited expression, "Are you Xiaoyu's friend?"
"Friend?" Tang Yuran tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then shook her head, "No."
"Not?" Disappointment quickly clouded the face of Gu Yu's father.
For some reason, his son had never liked playing with other children. Even after starting kindergarten, he often preferred being alone.
As time went on, Gu Yu's father even wondered if his son was autistic, but after taking him to the hospital, the doctors said there was nothing wrong.
Now, finally, a pretty little girl appeared, willing to come home with him to play, but she wasn't Gu Yu's friend…
Ah... the heartache...
"No." Tang Yuran shook her head with a confident expression, "I'm the one who's going to be his wife, I don't want to be just his friend."
"Wife!?" Upon hearing these two words, the once dimmed eyes of Gu Yu's father instantly shone with dazzling light.
Having climbed into the car, Gu Yu poked his head out after hearing these words and said to his father, "Dad, don't listen to her nonsense."
"I'm not talking nonsense." Tang Yuran retorted clearly to Gu Yu.
"Right, right, not nonsense at all, not at all!" Gu Yu's father quickly squatted down, beaming with joy, and asked Tang Yuran with a friendly face, "Little friend, what's your name?"
"My name is Tang Yuran." Tang Yuran answered articulately, "I also have a younger brother named Tang Nan. Our names come from Tao Yuanming's phrase 'Youran sees South Mountain'."
"Is that the same 'Plucking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence, leaving the mountain scene leisurely'?" Gu Yu's father blinked, impressed that the little girl knew poetry.
"Yep." Tang Yuran nodded and said, "My mom's name is Zhong Caiju, and my dad's name is Tang Dongli. My dad said that his name together with my mom's creates 'Plucking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence,' so my brother's and my names come from 'Youran sees South Mountain'."
"Great names, great names!" Gu Yu's father nodded in agreement, "When Gu Yu was born, I wanted to give him a nice-sounding name. I thought about it and decided on a name inspired by the phrase 'In the north there's a lady, at one glance she conquers a city, another glance conquers the country.' I thought Gu Beicheng would sound pretty good, but his mother disagreed. She said what does a little boy need a name that conquers cities and nations for, ah..."
"Uncle, I think the name Gu Yu is also very nice." Tang Yuran smiled at Gu Yu's father.
"Is that so? The young lady has good taste!!"