Back To The 80s-Chapter 124 - 123: Protection_1

Jiujiu also opened her big watery eyes and said, "Auntie, I’ll protect you when I grow up."

Gu Xiaobei felt warm in her heart after hearing this, this was what family bonds meant. She smiled and said, "Great, then you must eat more and grow tall and strong, so you’ll be able to protect me."

Li Fengmei also laughed and said, "Look at how sensible Jiujiu is, it’s nice to have a daughter."

Gu Xiaobei grinned as she chuckled. She couldn’t help it - the laughter was so intense it made her face ache. But she wanted to have a little boy who looked like Lu Zhanguo, ah, wouldn’t that make him look like an old man from an early age? The more she daydreamed, the happier she became, and her smile spread even wider.

"Ouch~" Gu Xiaobei laughed so hard she forgot her face was hurting. Caught by her laughter, Li Fengmei and the children also started laughing.

Life for Gu Xiaobei had been quite busy in the last couple of days. The administrative staff from the camp had forwarded her a parcel from the publishing house, and she had taken some time to put together a few short English stories for kids.

She had also been tutoring Chen Gang and Jiujiu at night. Gu Xiaobei found that Chen Gang was indeed as brilliant as Dadong had claimed. Once he had been through a problem once, he not only understood it but was also able to apply it in various scenarios. He was definitely on track to become a top student.

On Sunday, Gu Xiaobei prepared to take Jiujiu to the town. She intended to visit the post office to urgently mail her English stories to the publishing house. If her stories were accepted, it would earn her a significant income.

While waiting for the bus with Jiujiu, they spotted Chi Xiaoyue. It was strange - shouldn’t she be at work? She always seemed to run into her whenever she was at the town.

Despite the swelling on her face not having fully subsided, Gu Xiaobei let her hair down, covering her face. Chi Xiaoyue was happy to see Gu Xiaobei looking so flustered, thinking that Li Hao and his wife fell for the bait too easily.

After seating herself and Jiujiu in the bus, Gu Xiaobei looked at Chi Xiaoyue sitting opposite her. She hadn’t missed the look of smugness that quickly flashed in Chi Xiaoyue’s eyes when she first saw her. It appeared that Chi Xiaoyue had also played a part in Chen Qiumei’s earlier disruption.

Gu Xiaobei squinted her eyes at Chi Xiaoyue, studying her with a look of curious scrutiny. Feeling uncomfortable under Xiaobei’s gaze, Chi Xiaoyue turned her head away. Feeling guilty, are we? Gu Xiaobei thought to herself. She had been slapped by another woman, and although she couldn’t retaliate physically, she couldn’t just let it go. She needed to find a way to deal with this green tea b***h.

Once at the town, Gu Xiaobei first took Jiujiu to the post office to send the registered letter. Then they went to a cooperative store to buy two pounds of egg cake. Seeing transparent bags of milk powder with a cow’s image on them, sold at two dollars fifty per bag, Gu Xiaobei pondered a moment and bought one. Jiujiu was too thin and needed to gain some weight. She herself was trying to conceive and should also take some supplements.

Passing by the Xinhua Bookstore, she thought about buying some drafting paper as she was starting to run out at home. But she spotted Chi Xiaoyue inside the store, standing with her back to the entrance. Curious, was she so studious? She always seemed to run into her at the Xinhua Bookstore.

With her index finger to her lips, Gu Xiaobei signaled Jiujiu to keep quiet. They then tiptoed towards the entrance of the bookstore and scanned inside to find Chi Xiaoyue missing and nobody at the counter.

Gu Xiaobei, signaling Jiujiu to walk quietly, made their way towards the high book racks.

Just as they reached the third rack, they faintly heard a man’s voice, "You’re really useless... can’t even secure a man...next time follow my advice." Gu Xiaobei was more intrigued now, and just as she was about to move forward with Jiujiu.

"Looking for any particular book?" a young man’s voice interrupted them.

Startled, Gu Xiaobei turned around sharply to find a man in his mid-twenties standing behind her, smiling at her.

Regaining her composure, she replied with a mild smile, "I need some drafting paper and primary school homework assignments," all the while feeling nervous and clutching Jiujiu’s hand tighter.

Jiujiu added from the side, "Auntie, we need pencils and erasers too."

The young man smiled and said, "They’re towards the entrance, on the left-hand side."

Jiujiu blinked and said, "Auntie, I got confused. I thought they were here."

The voices from behind the bookshelf had ceased. Gu Xiaobei felt careless for having been discovered without having heard anything valuable herself. She smiled at Jiujiu and said, "Let’s go and have a look there then. I was just rushing you because I was worried we might miss the bus."

Walking towards the stationary section, they bought a stack of drafting paper, ten pencils, and ten notebooks. After settling the bill, they left in a hurry.

Chi Xiaoyue came out from behind the bookshelf with a gloomy face. There was Gu Xiaobei everywhere she went. She said to the man behind the bookshelf, "That Gu Xiaobei is an astute one, I’m sure she’s onto something."

"Enough. You just do as I asked. Don’t mess up again. We’ll get more out of Gu Xiaobei than you," the man replied in a deep voice.

Though Chen Qiumei was furious, she dared not vent her anger and simply nodded and hurried away.

Gu Xiaobei was thrilled with Jiujiu’s performance, "Jiujiu, you are so smart, you did so well today."

Jiujiu blushed, "Auntie, I want to protect you, I couldn’t let them find out we were eavesdropping."

"Thank you, Jiujiu," Gu Xiaobei said, a little moved.

By the time they reached the bus stop, Chi Xiaoyue hadn’t arrived yet. Just as the bus was about to leave, Chi Xiaoyue arrived hurriedly, carrying in her arms two books.

Gu Xiaobei took a glance at Chi Xiaoyue, an obvious attempt to divert attention from herself. But who was the man she hadn’t secured yet? Was it Lu Zhanguo? No, perhaps not. Could it be Cheng Qijia? Remembering their previous attempt to set-up a date, she was sure it was him. Gu Xiaobei felt enlightened.

However, why was it so important to land Cheng Qijia? Gu Xiaobei was still bewildered. Lu Zhanguo was not at home, and this news would certainly be useful to him.

When Chi Xiaoyue saw Gu Xiaobei, always looking down and lost in thought, she felt somewhat uneasy. She was uncertain about what Gu Xiaobei might have overheard. If Gu Xiaoyue went around chattering to Lu Zhanguo, she would become a suspect soon.

Reaching the family compound with Jiujiu, Gu Xiaobei saw Sun Aiqin and Wang Ping with their children in the yard. She stopped to give each child two pieces of egg cake.

Feeling embarrassed, Sun Aiqin accepted the cake saying, "Sister-in-law, you always bring treats for the kids every time we meet."

Nini took it and said softly, "Thank you, auntie." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Sun Aiqin stuffed the cake into the kid’s hand, saying, "My Xiaobao just loves this egg cake. It’s just that I can’t bring myself to buy it often. Chang Yuan is the only one earning a living in our family, and we have kids and elderly people to take care of at both ends. The children suffer as a result. Just the other day, I was telling Chang Yuan about what a good person you are. It’s not just us, but even strangers benefit from your generosity, lest to mention we’re from the same compound. We’ve been fortunate."

After hearing what Sun Aiqin said, Gu Xiaobei felt a bit uncomfortable. What did she mean by being kind to strangers, let alone people from the same compound? Was it implied that she should be kind to the people from the compound first?

Immediately losing interest in the conversation, she answered perfunctorily, and took Jiujiu upstairs.