Back To The 80s-Chapter 123 - 122: Threat_1

Gu Xiaobei laughed coldly: "No matter where you find her, I won’t care. However, if you want Gu Xiaodong’s prison sentence to be shorter, you best stop causing trouble."

Gu Weimin glared, "Are you threatening me? What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Of course, if you don’t care about Gu Xiaodong’s life or death and wish to make a fuss, I won’t stop you," Gu Xiaobei responded with a sneer.

Chen Qiumei paused, hearing Gu Xiaobei speak so bluntly, she lunged at him from the bed, trying to hit him again.

Watching from the side, Shen Heng wouldn’t let Gu Xiaobei get hurt. He stepped forward to block Chen Qiumei’s path.

"Move aside, I’ll tear this little monster apart. It’s as if she was never born to me", Chen Qiumei shouted, pulling at Shen Heng.

Gu Xiaobei harshly said: "It would be best if you calmed down. Gu Xiaodong’s attempt to frame Lu Zhanguo by plotting to kill him is still unaccounted for. Just because we haven’t pursued it yet, doesn’t mean we won’t.

"What are you saying? Are you going to stab your brother in the back?" Chen Qiumei was taken aback.

"I don’t know who provoked you to come here but if you want to make a scene, let’s go all the way, regardless of consequences. After all, those who have nothing fear no losses. Let’s try then." Gu Xiaobei spat out, word for word.

Gu Weimin hadn’t expected his daughter could be so ruthless, but he had to consider Gu Xiaodong. Plotting against a country’s esteemed elite was no small crime.

After a moment of silence, Gu Weimin left without a word, carrying the child. Chen Qiumei glared at Gu Xiaobei furiously, "You stupid girl, wait and see. If anything happens to your brother, I will fight you to death." Then she also left, slamming the door behind her.

Gu Xiaobei stood still, wondering who could have stirred up Chen Qiumei and Gu Weimin?

Shen Heng watched the whole ordeal, seeing Gu Xiaobei’s apparent indifference confused him. He knew she wasn’t a cold-hearted person. Shouldn’t she be disappointed, saddened by her own parents’ actions? But she seemed too calm. Somewhat worried, he asked, "Sister-in-law, are you all right?"

Being brought back to her senses, Gu Xiaobei gave a bitter smile: "I’m fine. Sorry, you had to witness this mess." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Sister, don’t say that. Who doesn’t have a bit of a mess in their family? Your face is profoundly swollen. How about I get you a towel to help reduce the swelling?"

Gu Xiaobei touched her still throbbing face and politely declined: "That won’t be necessary."

Just as she finished speaking, Yuan Tan entered. She saw that Gu Weimin and his wife had left carrying the child, so she hastily went upstairs. She wanted to see Gu Xiaobei crying in despair.

But all she saw was Gu Xiaobei standing calmly, hiding any emotion behind her tranquil expression. However, the swollen side of her face added a touch of pitifulness, which left Yuan Tan somewhat disappointed.

Gu Xiaobei glanced at Yuan Tan and said, "Lu Zhanguo is out on a mission; he is not here." This woman just doesn’t give up, does she?

"I know." Yuan Tan responded nonchalantly. But when she turned her head and met Shen Heng’s investigative gaze, she was startled. Then she added, "I just heard that from the other families downstairs."

Shen Heng lowered his gaze, suspicion growing in his heart.

Yuan Tan then turned to Gu Xiaobei with a curious look, "Sister-in-law, what happened?"

"What do you think happened? You saw everything, didn’t you? Besides, you’ve been downstairs for a while, so you should know everything you wanted to learn by now." Gu Xiaobei figured that Xiangmin, standing there eating melon seeds, couldn’t possibly resist the opportunity to make fun of her.

Stifled by Gu Xiaobei’s response, Yuan Tan sulkily replied, "You really know how to cause trouble. The money that Brother Zhanguo made this month, risking his life, you just gave it to outsiders. What were you thinking?" However, she was exulted inside. She couldn’t wait to inform Mother Lu about this.

Gu Xiaobei shot her a glance and said tersely, "If my man doesn’t complain, why should outsiders like you meddle in?"

"You... have no appreciation." Yuan Tan was at loss for words. Wasn’t she just an outsider, after all?

Seeing this situation, Shen Heng told Gu Xiaobei: "Sister-in-law, we’ll leave first. There’s some meat in the bag, take it out later, don’t let it rot."

Gu Xiaobei nodded. She was in no mood to keep them for dinner. Chen Qiumei definitely wouldn’t let the matter rest. If they visited every now and then to make trouble, things would inevitably get vexing. Gu Xiaobei realized that she needed to figure out a solution.

As soon as Li Fengmei entered the courtyard, she saw Xiangmin, Wang Ping, and Sun Aiqin engaged in an animated discussion. She had gone to the fields early in the morning to catch insects and had no idea what had happened.

Seeing Li Fengmei, Xiangmin thought Li Fengmei and Gu Xiaobei were very close usually and decided against continuing the conversation. Patting off the melon seed husks from her body she said, "I need to go and make lunch." Rubbing her slightly protruding belly, she left.

Wang Ping recounted the morning’s events to Li Fengmei, then said, "I thought about going to console sister-in-law, but I was afraid she might be upset now and think I came to ridicule her."

Surprised, Li Fengmei told Wang Ping, "I’ll go check on her first. And you all shouldn’t gossip here either. If the squad leader comes back and hears..." Her trailing statement carried an implicit threat. By now everyone in the family complex knew how protective Lu Zhanguo was, except for the newcomer, Sun Aiqin.

Upon entering Gu Xiaobei’s house, Li Fengmei saw Gu Xiaobei cutting meat as if nothing had happened, except for the severe swelling on one side of her face.

"Are you all right, sister-in-law?" Li Fengmei asked with concern.

"I’m fine. You came at the right time. Take a piece of meat home for lunch." Shen Heng was thoughtless this time, buying a chunk of meat that was almost five or six pounds. In this hot weather, it couldn’t be kept for long.

"No, thanks. If you have too much, you can fry it, add some more salt, and keep it in a small pot. Whenever you need it for a meal, just scoop up a spoonful," Li Fengmei explained, unable to accept such generosity again.

"Freshly cooked meat is much tastier. Why don’t you and your family come to lunch? Go and clean the fish in that pot for me." Gu Xiaobei didn’t give Li Fengmei a chance to refuse and directed her to work.

"Okay, I won’t refuse then. My two boys will benefit from this," Li Fengmei happily took the pot and went to clean the fish.

As Gu Xiaobei started to cook red-braised pork and sweet and sour fish, the remainder of the meat was fried according to Li Fengmei’s method, and she also made two types of vegetarian dishes.

Just as the meal was served, the four children returned. Jiujiu looked in horror at Gu Xiaobei’s face, "Auntie, what happened to your face? Who hit you?" Her eyes reddened as she spoke.

Keeping his lips tight and balling his fists, Chen Gang stood to one side in silence.

Gu Xiaobei touched Jiujiu’s head, "I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It just looks scary."

Tears fell from Jiujiu’s eyes. She was used to getting beaten and knew very well how much it hurt. How could auntie say it didn’t hurt?

At mealtime, Da Dong and Xiao Dong ate hungrily. Conversely, Chen Gang and Jiujiu seemed disinterested, their heads low as they slowly sipped their soup.

After a while, Chen Gang lifted his head and said, "Auntie, when I grow up, I won’t let anyone have the chance to hurt you." His youthful face was filled with resolve.