Back To The 80s-Chapter 113 - 112: Ideal_1

Watching a few men push a handcart into the army gate, Xiangmin sneered, "What nonsense, they can’t even raise their own kids, and now they’re going around raising other people’s children."

Chi Xiaoyue also had a scornful look, but was talking about something else: "Sister-in-law, do you think this will work?"

"It will, why wouldn’t it? Have a little confidence in yourself. Given the way you look, there isn’t a single person in our garrison, including those in our families, who can compare to you," Xiangmin said, staring at the distant figure of Gu Xiaobei.

Chi Xiaoyue also despised Gu Xiaobei, but she did not echo Xiangmin’s words at this moment. She thought to herself that she would have to hit Gu Xiaobei hard and make her lose Lu Zhanguo forever!

They stood there for a while, seeing a swirl of dust on the country road, a jeep car whizzed past them.

As it neared the camp gate, the car slowed down, and Xiangmin pulled Chi Xiaoyue over and said, "It’s here." She then gestured for the car to stop.

Lu Zhanguo stopped the car and furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the two women. Xiangmin was surprised, "Is that you, old Lu?"

"What do you need?" Lu Zhanguo asked indifferently.

"I’m feeling a bit unwell. Our medical team can’t handle it. We thought we should intercept one of the cars from our camp and take me to the town hospital," Xiangmin said with a look of embarrassment on her face.

After hearing this, Lu Zhanguo didn’t say much. He got out of the car and told Cheng Qijia in the passenger seat, "You drive and take them there."

Xiangmin shot Chi Xiaoyue a triumphant look, then said politely, "My husband is not home either. I can only trouble you."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Qijia got out of the car and said to Xiangmin very gently, "Sister-in-law, get in the car."

Xiangmin pulled Chi Xiaoyue along and introduced her to Cheng Qijia, "This is our camp’s Doctor Chi Xiaoyue." Chi Xiaoyue gave Cheng Qijia a shy smile.

Cheng Qijia nodded politely and opened the rear car door, allowing the two to get in.

Watching the car drive away, Lu Zhanguo watched the rising dust on the road pensively.

...

Only after Chen Gang entered the army compound did he realize that Gu Xiaobei was part of the army’s family. She, Li Fengmei, and Wang Ping, their winter vegetables were stored in the cellars of their respective troops.

Gu Xiaobei, Li Fengmei, and Wang Ping were assigned to the artillery company’s vegetable cellar, which was not particularly far from the family compound. The cellar was located at the rear of the artillery company’s mess, accessible via a two-meter-wide slope that descended three or four meters. Behind a wooden door was another four to five-meter slope leading to the main area of the cellar.

The cellar was spacious and filled with wooden racks. On each rack were jars of pickles, all of the same size, each with a label. Pickles, vinegars, sugar garlic; all were neatly arranged. It reminded Gu Xiaobei of a wine cellar in the 21st century.

The three young soldiers who were pickling vegetables greeted them warmly as they entered, "Sisters, what’s in the sack?"

Li Fengmei, who was pushing the cart, wiped away a bead of sweat, "Potatoes. Where should we put them?"

One of the young soldiers came over to help with the cart, "Put them in the corner hole."

These soldiers quickly helped push the handcart into the deepest part of the cellar where there was a line of one square meter wide holes near the wall. The soldiers poured the potatoes in and then covered them with sandy soil.

Gu Xiaobei was curious. "Wouldn’t the potatoes sprout like this?" Seeing the curiosity on Gu Xiaobei’s face, Li Fengmei laughed, "This cellar is warm in winter and cool in summer, but the temperature is not high enough to make the potatoes sprout. Moreover, the layer of sandy soil on top keeps the moisture in, so the potato skin doesn’t shrink."

As they walked back to the family compound from the cellar, Chen Gang suddenly asked Gu Xiaobei, "Aunt, do soldiers get free meals and also get paid?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Aunt, I want to be a soldier," Chen Gang said earnestly.

Gu Xiaobei laughed, "You’re still too young to be a soldier. But you can study hard and aim to get into a military academy in the future. That would be more promising."

Chen Gang, mature beyond his years, nodded, "Alright, I will aim for a military academy in the future."

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "Good!"

Dadong sneered, "I don’t want to be a soldier. My dad is hardly ever home, I want to be a boss and make lots of money, so I can buy whatever I want."

Xiaodong shouted, "I want to be a pilot, I want to fly a plane, so that I don’t have to take a crowded train when I go back to my hometown."

Li Fengmei and Gu Xiaobei were amused by the children’s chatter. Gu Xiaobei looked at Jiujiu and asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up, Jiujiu?"

Jiujiu licked her lips and said, "I want to be a doctor to treat my mother’s leg. I also want to own a shop to sell lots of delicious food."

Li Fengmei sighed, "What a sensible girl. I wish I had a daughter, too. Look at the two brats I have!" Her tone was chiding but affectionate.

Gu Xiaobei smiled and touched Jiujiu’s head and said, "Good, you kids must study hard, or your dreams won’t come true."

When Gu Xiaobei and the children got home, she thought that they hadn’t had much to eat on the road at noon except some egg cake, so she boiled four eggs for Chen Gang and Jiujiu to fill their stomachs and fetched some water from the water jar.

Gu Xiaobei noticed Jiujiu being obedient as she sat quietly with Chen Gang, who peeled the eggs and handed them to his sister. Seeing Jiujiu finish an egg, he peeled another and passed it to her.

"Chen Gang, why aren’t you eating? You and Jiujiu get two each."

Chen Gang pursed his lips and said, "I’m not hungry, let Jiujiu have them."

"Big brother, two eggs will fill me up. You can have the rest. Auntie boils eggs for me every morning," Jiujiu passed the remaining two eggs to Chen Gang.

Watching this scene made Gu Xiaobei’s eyes well up with tears and the sense of warmth filled her heart.

After Chen Gang finished his eggs and cleaned up the eggshells from the table, Lu Zhanguo came back.

Chen Gang stood at the table, neither humble nor pushy, showing no signs of fear. Despite his nervousness, his face remained calm as he looked at Lu Zhanguo.

Lu Zhanguo raised an eyebrow in approval, appreciating how mature the child was for his age.

Jiujiu tugged at Chen Gang’s sleeve, "Big brother, this is my uncle."

Despite his nervousness, Chen Gang said with an unexpectedly tranquil voice for his age, "Hello, uncle. I am Chen Gang."

"You’re back. I thought you would be in a meeting for a few days," said Gu Xiaobei as she carried the washed vegetables from outside. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"This is Chen Gang, Jiujiu’s big brother," Gu Xiaobei introduced again.

Lu Zhanguo nodded, "We’ve already met. He’s a nice kid." He complimented Chen Gang without hesitation.

Gu Xiaobei’s eyes narrowed into a smile, "That’s right, Chen Gang’s dream is also to be a soldier."

Lu Zhanguo praised, "Good boy, you have ambition!"

That evening, Gu Xiaobei made scallion pancakes, along with a tiny cabbage and noodle soup, and a garlic eggplant salad.

During dinner, Gu Xiaobei looked at Chen Gang and said to Lu Zhanguo, "After we finish eating, you take Chen Gang to the bathhouse for a wash. I’ll wash Jiujiu at home. School starts tomorrow, so they need to be clean."

Lu Zhanguo agreed, and gave a sign for Gu Xiaobei to get some pancakes for Chen Gang. The young boy, being of a growing age, could eat a lot. It had been a long time since he had eaten white flour pancakes. Of the ten scallion pancakes that Gu Xiaobei made, Chen Gang ate five.

Fearing that Chen Gang might be too reserved, Gu Xiaobei said with a smile, "If you want to be a soldier, you have to eat more so you can carry a gun."