Back To The 80s-Chapter 115 - 114: Affection_1

Cheng Qijia found his palms sweaty with nervousness and quickly took the driver’s seat.

Throughout the journey, he couldn’t help but steal glances at Qin Li who sat silent, staring out of the window, since getting in the car.

Xiangmin and Chi Xiaoyue, seated at the back, remained quiet too, not knowing what to say in Qin Li’s presence.

Upon reaching the entrance of the army base, Cheng Qijia gently asked Qin Li, "Who are you looking for?"

"Lu Zhanguo’s wife, Gu Xiaobei, thank you," Qin Li replied politely with a smile. Cheng Qijia nodded and parked the car in front of the family compound.

Qin Li jumped out of the car, thanked him and dashed into the family compound.

Watching Qin Li run away, Cheng Qijia felt an unusual surge of emotions.

Xiangmin and Chi Xiaoyue got out of the car. Grinning, Xiangmin said, "Xiaocheng, come over for dinner at my place tomorrow night."

"No need, sister-in-law," Cheng Qijia refused, waving his hand.

"You must come. Else, I’ll have Old Guo personally fetch you," Xiangmin retorted, faux angry.

Feeling helpless, Cheng Qijia gave a faint smile, "Alright, thank you, sister-in-law."

On seeing Cheng Qijia leave, Xiangmin turned to Chi Xiaoyue, "Don’t wear your uniform tomorrow. Put on a dress and spruce up."

Chi Xiaoyue nodded but she had a feeling that Cheng Qijia didn’t have any interest in her.

By the time Qin Li arrived at Gu Xiaobei’s home, Gu Xiaobei was giving a bath to Jiujiu while Lu Zhanguo had taken Chen Gang to the communal bathhouse.

Staring at Jiujiu in the big tub, Qin Li exclaimed, "Whose child is this? She’s very pretty."

Gu Xiaobei gave Qin Li a look and said, "She’s my niece. What are you doing here so late? Have you eaten?"

"Yes. I hitched a ride with one of Lu Zhanguo’s subordinates," Story Qin Li, sitting by the bed watching Gu Xiaobei tenderly dry Jiujiu, who seemed the very epitome of a good wife and mother.

On inspecting Jiujiu more closely, Qin Li suddenly exclaimed, "Haven’t I met Jiujiu somewhere before?"

"Have you ever been to Chen Family? Jiujiu has never been out of there," Gu Xiaobei asked.

"No, but when Jiujiu smiles, those dimples, she looks very familiar, but I can’t memorize..." Qin Li scratched her head and gave up. Perhaps someone at the department looking to register a household looked similar. All she knew was that Jiujiu looked familiar.

A while later, Lu Zhanguo returned with Chen Gang. Surprised, Qin Li asked, "My God...Sister Xiaobei, where am I supposed to sleep tonight?" She wanted to ask where all the children had come from, but seeing Gu Xiaobei’s warning look, she swiftly changed the subject.

Lu Zhanguo stepped in, "I’ll take Chen Gang to the barracks tonight; there’s a bunk bed. You three can stay here."

Gu Xiaobei nodded, thinking that’s a favorable arrangement. How wonderful it would be to have a big house! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Qin Li sighed, "I had hoped to stay for a few more days. How can I impose on you like this?"

Gu Xiaobei winked, saying, "You can certainly stay now. We’re not short of space. I promise we won’t kick you out."

"Hehe, I’ll actually stay for a few days since I’m on leave," Qin Li said unabashedly.

Only when Qin Li and Gu Xiaobei were in bed did Qin Li share, "Jin Cheng and that woman are planning to marry next month. The past few days, Jin’s mother and the woman have been busy shopping."

Gu Xiaobei was stunned, "Why are they suddenly getting married? I thought it would be in the winter?"

"Jin’s mother consulted a fortuneteller who said that if Jin Cheng married next month, he could avoid disaster," Qin Li said, choking back tears.

Seeing Qin Li so upset, Gu Xiaobei asked her sympathetically while lying on her side, "Can’t you let go of Jin Cheng?"

Struggling to hold back her tears, Qin Li said, "You don’t understand, Sister Xiaobei. Jin Cheng is like a thorn buried deep in my heart; every time it’s brought up, the pain is unbearable."

With tears glistening in her eyes in the moonlight streaming through the window, Qin Li blinked hard to stop them from falling.

The two women chatted about various topics until they were too tired to keep their eyes open and finally went to sleep.

In the morning, Gu Xiaobei woke up to the sound of movement in the outer room. Chen Gang and Jiujiu were sitting at the table where a spread of a bowl of steamed buns made from mixed flour (white and corn flour), a small bowl of cold side dishes, and a bowl of porridge were laid out — likely sent over by Lu Zhanguo.

Knowing that the two children wouldn’t eat without them, and remembering that she had to go to the school to register for the children, Gu Xiaobei hurriedly woke up Qin Li to wash up and have breakfast.

After breakfast, after dressing the children in new clothes, she recalled that she had forgotten about Jiujiu’s school bag again.

With nothing else to do, Qin Li decided to accompany them to school.

As they were leaving, they bumped into Li Fengmei also heading out with her kids. The seven of them walked to the school amidst laughter and chatter. On the way to the school’s main gate, they ran into Cheng Qijia stepping out of the duty room with a stack of folders.

Cheng Qijia noticed a radiant Qin Li guiding Jiujiu and speaking softly to her. Under the warm autumn sun, her entire being exuded a gentle and warm aura, leaving him in a daze.

Gu Xiaobei also noticed Cheng Qijia, an elegant gentleman who carried an air of grace and tranquility that she admired.

Noticing Gu Xiaobei watching him, Cheng Qijia snapped out of his reverie, "Hello, sister-in-law. Up and about so early?"

"Yes, we’re enrolling the children in school," Gu Xiaobei replied and left with the rest of the group.

Cheng Qijia felt a pang of disappointment on noticing that Qin Li hadn’t spared him a glance.

Once they were past the army base’s main gate, Qin Li confided in Gu Xiaobei, "I rode in that man’s car yesterday. The two women we ran into at the vegetable field were also in the car."

"Xiangmin and Chi Xiaoyue?" Gu Xiaobei asked curiously.

"Right, and it looked like they were on a blind date," Qin Li remembered their conversation involving the name Xiaoyue.

Gu Xiaobei was stunned. God, how young Xiangmin and Cheng Qijia must be to introduce Chi Xiaoyue to him.

They reached the village primary school after walking for about half an hour. The village was relatively large, and children from nearby villages also studied here.

The school was quite rundown with just five mud huts, one for each grade. The first and second grades had slightly more students, with each class containing over twenty children. By the time it was the third, fourth, and fifth grade, each class had only about ten children or so.

Because the region was remote and the ideas were still conservative, the importance of education was not emphasized. If a child could attend the first or second grade, it was considered good enough.

There were even fewer girls which shocked Gu Xiaobei again. She hoped for compulsory nine-year schooling to arrive soon.

The school had a total of five teachers, including the principal. Each teacher taught a grade. The first-grade teacher, a man in his forties, was quite friendly.

Gu Xiaobei registered Jiujiu under the name Chen Jiujiu. The teacher kindly told her, "The textbooks for a semester cost five yuan. If you don’t want the textbooks, the semester fee is three and a half yuan."

Gu Xiaobei was confused, "How will she study without textbooks?"

"The teacher will write the course content on the blackboard, and the students can copy it into their notebooks," the teacher explained.

"We want textbooks." Gu Xiaobei felt that having textbooks gave a sense of actually being in school. Hearing this, Jiujiu tugged at her clothes and said, "Aunt, we don’t need textbooks."

"Yes, you and your brother both need textbooks. But, you need to score 100% in every test," Gu Xiaobei said, semi-threateningly.

"Ok, I’ll definitely score 100%," Jiujiu nodded earnestly.