Back To The 80s-Chapter 100 - 99: Embarrassment_1

Lu Zhanguo agreed quite readily, but when it came to the actual photo shoot, Gu Xiaobei was left speechless. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

There was only one photography studio in town. The photographer asked the two to sit side by side. Watching Lu Zhanguo sitting upright beside her with a serious expression, Gu Xiaobei went to whisper something to the photographer. The photographer looked surprised but nodded in agreement.

Gu Xiaobei came back and draped herself over Lu Zhanguo’s back, her arms encircling his neck. With her face pressing against his side face, she smiled radiantly at the photographer. Feeling her soft body pressed against his back, Lu Zhanguo’s lips curved upward involuntarily.

The photographer took a few shots and told them to return three days later to collect the prints.

Breaking away from the conventional stiff poses, Gu Xiaobei was extremely satisfied. The rest was up to the photographer’s skills.

When they left the studio, they found that the rain had stopped. They hurried towards the market. Laughing at Lu Zhanguo’s stiff pose during the photoshoot, Gu Xiaobei teased him: "You’re actually afraid of getting photographed."

Lu Zhanguo darkened his face and just pursed his lips without uttering a word.

Ignoring his silence, Gu Xiaobei continued cheerfully, "We’ll take a photo each year and when we turn old, we can put on our reading glasses and look through them. Then, you will wonder how attractive I was when I was young."

The first half of her words warmed Lu Zhanguo’s heart, but the latter half caused him to look at her confusedly; this girl’s thick skin was nothing to be sneezed at.

"Let’s buy a fish and make sweet and sour fish." Gu Xiaobei suggested upon seeing a fish stall.

Lu Zhanguo frowned at her suggestion: "Let’s make something simple, it’s too hot." Despite the onset of autumn, noon was still hot.

"No worries, besides, I want to eat it," Gu Xiaobei said, pulling Lu Zhanguo towards the fish stall. There were three to four large metal basins on the ground, filled with barely alive fishes.

"Aha! Look at this large Yellow River carp!" Gu Xiaobei exclaimed when she saw a 10-pound carp in one of the long basins.

The fishmonger nodded with a simple smile. "This one isn’t large. I sold an 18-pound one early this morning."

"That large?" Gu Xiaobei’s eyes widened with excitement. The Yellow River carp had golden scales and a meat texture finer and more delicious than ordinary carp.

Most importantly, the Yellow River carp grew slowly. A fish weighing two to three pounds would have to grow for at least a year or two. Having loved watching various gourmet shows in her previous life, Gu Xiaobei knew all too well about such things.

Gu Xiaobei loved to eat but was thrifty. Being eager to save money for a small house, she couldn’t bear to dine out. Each time she watched mouthwatering food on screen, she would buy ingredients and cook them herself. When she inquired about the price of wild Yellow River carp, it was about 30 to 40 yuan per pound. Being tight-fisted, she bought an ordinary carp for 10 yuan per pound instead.

Now the cost of wild Yellow River carp was similar to that of ordinary carp.

"Let’s buy this one!" Gu Xiaobei looked at Lu Zhanguo with a mix of joy and expectation.

"Alright." Actually, Lu Zhanguo wanted to say that they wouldn’t be able to finish such a large fish, but couldn’t bring himself to refuse, seeing her puppy-like eyes shining with excitement.

Then they bought a pound of meat, two pounds of noodles, some peaches, and a large watermelon.

Watching Lu Zhanguo holding a large carp tied with straw rope in one hand and a net bag and cloth bag in the other, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but chuckle. Such a picture was refreshingly down-to-earth.

By the time they reached the pick-up spot, Shen Heng, and Yuan Tan had already arrived. Seeing Lu Zhanguo holding such a large fish, Shen Heng was curious: "Are all of us going to eat? Why did you buy such a large fish?"

Ignoring Gu Xiaobei as if she were air, Yuan Tan laughed and told Lu Zhanguo, "Brother Zhanguo, I’ve brought something for you from auntie during this visit." She lifted the tote bag she was carrying.

Lu Zhanguo frowned slightly, uttered a "Hmm," and said no more. Yuan Tan’s extravagance caused Gu Xiaobei to smile. Yuan Tan’s hair, styled into large waves, hung loosely on her shoulders, adorned with two large circular earrings that looked like bracelets. She was wearing a knee-length khaki dress, flesh-colored pantyhose, and black pointy heels. Gu Xiaobei estimated that they were probably bought abroad since such pantyhose were not sold in T City department stores. Her outfit could be described as trendy.

Gu Xiaobei thought to herself mischievously, wondering how she was going to get on the truck. They always rode in an old military truck and getting in required one to step on a pedal and hoist themselves over the rear guard. So, everyone wore pants for convenience.

When the supplies truck arrived, the color drained from Yuan Tan’s face. How was she supposed to get on the truck gracefully?

Once everyone else had climbed onto the truck, Lu Zhanguo put their things away and helped Gu Xiaobei get on. Shen Heng also climbed onto the truck, and shouted to Yuan Tan below, "Come, I’ll pull you up."

Yuan Tan stood there irate, refusing to move. Lu Zhanguo took a glance at her, jumped off the truck, and spoke to the deputy driver. The deputy driver got off the truck and let Yuan Tan sit in his place.

However, the co-pilot seat of this type of military truck was also high. Yuan Tan climbed up and settled down in a rather awkward manner.

There was no canvas covering the back of the truck due to the heat, so Gu Xiaobei turned her head and saw Yuan Tan in her clumsy state. She couldn’t help but chuckle at Yuan Tan’s vanity.

By the time the four reached the gate of the family compound, a young soldier in green military uniform was already standing there. Upon seeing him, the first thing that came to Gu Xiaobei’s mind was the phrase "A handsome man exuding charm."

"Commander Lu." The young soldier saluted Lu Zhanguo.

Lu Zhanguo, not being able to salute back due to his full hands, nodded his head and said, "There’s no need to be so formal when you come to someone’s house." He then introduced him to Gu Xiaobei: "This is Cheng Qijia, the administrative officer who was recently transferred in."

"Greetings, sister-in-law." Cheng Qijia greeted Gu Xiaobei with a warm smile. He was fair-skinned with sword-like eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes that gave off a very warm feeling when he smiled.

"Hello," Gu Xiaobei greeted back in a socially polite manner.

Yuan Tan seemed impatient and exclaimed, "If you want to chat, let’s do it inside the house, it’s so hot standing out here!"

Lu Zhango took a quick glance at her before gesturing Cheng Qijia inside: "Let’s go in. You can join us for lunch today; we haven’t had the chance to give you a welcome meal even though you’ve been here for some time now."

Due to the limited space in the house, Lu Zhanguo extended the Eight Immortal Table and they all gathered around it to eat. With a curl of her lips, Yuan Tan nonchalantly remarked, "Brother Zhanguo, your living conditions are quite shabby, aren’t they?"

Gu Xiaobei chopped the watermelon and served it on a large plate. She placed it on the table and said, "You all can have some watermelon first. I’m going to cook."

"I’ll go scale the fish." Lu Zhanguo was about to get up when Gu Xiaobei stopped him: "No need, I can gut the fish."

Once Gu Xiaobei was out of sight, Shen Heng said to Cheng Qijia: "Cheng Qijia? I think I’ve seen your column in the army newspaper. You are quite impressive."

Cheng Qijia humbly replied, "The report was a bit exaggerated. I’m not as great as it suggests."

Yuan Tan curiously asked, "Why did they interview you?"

Shen Heng helped Cheng Qijia to answer: "Because he has done a lot of research in firearms."