Back To The 80s-Chapter 103 - 102: Home Cooking_1

Lu Zhanguo did not know how he and Gu Xiaobei managed to get through their adaptation period. After Gu Xiaobei tripped and fell, it seemed that the dynamics between them underwent a drastic transformation.

By the time Gu Xiaobei returned from Wang Ping’s house, Guo Huaqiang and Zhang Lijun were both gone. Lu Zhanguo had tidied up the table and finished washing the dishes.

Seeing Lu Zhanguo casually sprawled on a single bed; it was rare to witness his lazy side, which was irksomely alluring. She walked over and leaned down: "Husband, you drank too much."

Lu Zhanguo stretched out his hand and pulled Gu Xiaobei into his arms: "You, girl, always have such odd words."

"Do you like them, my love?" Gu Xiaobei wrapped her arms around Lu Zhanguo’s neck and whispered in his ear.

"Girl, you’re a seductress!" Lu Zhanguo rolled over and pinned Gu Xiaobei underneath him, gazing deeply into her eyes, before leaning down to kiss her... ...

As soon as their kiss ended, Lu Zhanguo tried to get up, but Gu Xiaobei, her eyes filled with desire, grabbed onto him and wouldn’t let him go.

Lu Zhanguo was both amused and helpless: "Honey, I’ve been drinking today, didn’t you say we can’t drink if we want to have healthy kids?"

Gu Xiaobei groaned with regret; she felt like she had shot herself in the foot.

The saying goes that once autumn begins, the chill comes swiftly; but during late autumn, the heat can be unbearable. Gu Xiaobei believed this year was definitely a late autumn–it was almost late August, yet it was still scorching hot.

Before she could go to the village to buy potatoes on Sunday, Li Fengmei returned home with her two kids. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

She brought a stack of Shandong pancakes for Gu Xiaobei, along with half a bag of this year’s fresh, not yet fully dried peanuts.

Li Fengmei said modestly, "There’s nothing valuable back home, I hope you don’t mind."

"You’ve come all this way, carrying all these things, and with the two children too, that must be heavy." Gu Xiaobei felt a little embarrassed. She knew traveling by train during this era, especially with a crowd, could be challenging.

Li Fengmei waved her off: "It’s no big deal, I used to do farm work all the time. Carrying these items is nothing."

"Where are Dadong and Xiaodong?" Gu Xiaobei asked.

"They’re doing their homework. They’ve been out playing all summer and haven’t done any of their summer assignments yet." Li Fengmei said with a smile.

After a while, Li Fengmei mentioned Li Juan. "She seemed so strong and healthy, how could she just be gone?" she mourned. She had been upset for a while after hearing the news of Wen Dong’s death when she returned home.

When this was brought up, Gu Xiaobei also felt upset: "Yes, it’s been a severe blow to Li Juan."

"Although Li Juan talks a lot, she’s not bad at heart. She is taking care of Wen Dong’s parents, which is something most people wouldn’t do." Li Fengmei sighed.

Gu Xiaobei nodded. This act also made her respect Li Juan a little more.

"When Wen Dong returned home for a visit, he saved Li Juan who had fallen into the river. Li Juan’s parents, upon seeing that Wen Dong was a soldier and also a cadre, insisted that he married Li Juan. They claimed that by touching her body when rescuing her from the river, he had tarnished her reputation. Li Juan also happened to find Wen Dong, who was handsome and gallant, attractive. When Wen Dong told Li Juan outright that he couldn’t have children, she said she didn’t mind and agreed to marry him." Li Dongmei explained to Gu Xiaobei about Li Juan and Wen Dong’s marriage.

Gu Xiaobei was surprised that in this era, a marriage could be decided immediately by a single sentence or event.

"Their relationship seemed fine after they got married, but Li Juan’s family kept troubling them for money now and then. Since Wen Dong passed away, it’s better for Li Juan to leave; otherwise, her parents would definitely find her another husband and ask for a huge bride price." Li Fengmei knew very well what kind of people Li Juan’s parents were, they were extremely greedy.

"By the way, my sister Fenghua is engaged. I went home right in time for the engagement. Her fiancé is from the village next door; he works at the supply and marketing cooperative in the county, and he’s also a grain distributor." Li Fengmei changed the topic and spoke about her younger sister. She was very satisfied with Li Fenghua’s prospective union.

Gu Xiaobei did not like Li Fenghua because she had shown interest in her husband, Lu Zhanguo, but she did not hate her either as Li Fenghua hadn’t done anything out of line. When she heard Li Fengmei’s words, she felt happy: "That’s wonderful, when will the wedding be?"

"After the fall harvest, I will knit a couple of sweaters for Fenghua, as well as embroidering a couple of pillowcase sets" Li Fengmei truly adored her youngest sister.

"Make sweaters? Can you teach me how to do it? I want to knit sweaters for Zhanguo and myself" A thought flickered across Gu Xiaobei’s mind, leading her to make this keen request.

"Sure, once Dadong and Xiaodong start school, we can go to the city to buy the yarn since there aren’t a lot of color options in the town." Li Fengmei quickly agreed.

The two then discussed going to buy potatoes on Sunday, making Gu Xiaobei feel at ease. Since she hadn’t made any pickles, she was glad that Li Fengmei returned.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Li Fengmei led Dadong, Xiaodong, and Gu Xiaobei to walk towards Chen Family Terrace, located in the mountain hollow.

Many mountains in the Northwest are barren due to years of drought and water scarcity resulting in minimal vegetation. Chen Family Terrace was located between two mountains,

After walking for more than an hour, Dadong finally pointed to the few scattered houses in the distance and said, "Auntie, that’s Chen Family Terrace."

Gu Xiaobei’s corner of the mouth twitched, the phrase ’the mountains look close but are pretty far upon setting out on foot’ quickly came to mind. It was another half-hour of walking, plus the narrow dirt road was only wide enough for a donkey cart. How could they bring the potatoes back after buying them?

"Auntie, my classmate Chen Gang lives there. He has to walk two hours to school every day." Dadong enthusiastically explained to Gu Xiaobei.

"Yeah, this boy insisted that we buy potatoes from his classmate’s house because he’s worried his friend can’t afford to go to school." Li Fengmei said, laughing without quite knowing what to do.

"Mom, Auntie, you guys don’t understand. My classmate is a good student, but his family is poor."

"If your classmate’s potatoes are good, we will buy them, alright?" Li Fengmei teased.

When they finally arrived at Chen Family Terrace, Gu Xiaobei was shocked by the poverty of the village. The low, mud-brick houses were obviously quite old. A few ragged children were playing with stones under a large locust tree. Their faces and hands were so dirty that their original color couldn’t be discerned.

Among them Gu Xiaobei noticed a little girl, about five or six years old, carrying a baby who was probably about a year old. She stood silently by the side, watching the other children playing. Her dry, dull hair was tied into two messy pigtails, and her face was thin and yellow, a clear sign of long-term malnutrition. In her large eyes, there was an evident longing and timidity."

Instantly, Gu Xiaobei felt as if she was looking at her former self. Although she was never this impoverished, she had to always look to her aunt’s approval as a child and had learned to wash dishes and sweep the floor at an early age. Just like this girl, she would watch with longing as other kids jumped rope or played catch, yet she always felt too scared to approach.

Li Fengmei squatted down and asked, "Does anyone here know where Chen Gang’s house is?"

Seeing Gu Xiaobei and others well-dressed and looking good, the children were a bit shy. One of the braver ones pointed to the girl carrying the baby and said: "She’s Jiujiu, Chen Gang’s younger sister. She can take you there."