Back To The 80s-Chapter 139: Stealing Vegetables (Request for Monthly Tickets)_1
Gu Xiaobei walked around the vegetable garden and discovered that many eggplants were missing, and there were also radishes as thick as eggs that had been pulled out. These were barely edible at their size, so why would anyone pull them out?
As he observed, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but laugh. Wasn’t this the real-life version of stealing crops in the QQ game?
After plucking a cabbage, Gu Xiaobei began to consider how to deal with the vegetable thief. Surely he couldn’t simply stand in the yard and curse like a shrew, could he?
Gu Xiaobei came into the family yard clutching a cabbage. From the looks of it, it seemed quite substantial. However, the core hadn’t formed a firm heart yet so it wasn’t that big really. Sun Aiqin and Wang Ping, along with two other army wives, were chatting in the yard.
On seeing Gu Xiaobei with the cabbage, Wang Ping said, "Sister-in-law, this cabbage hasn’t formed a solid heart yet. Why did you pull it out already?"
"The sight of the lush vegetables was too tempting." Gu Xiaobei casted a sidelong glance at Sun Aiqin without leaving a trace. Currently, she seemed the most suspicious.
"Cabbages taste bitter at this time of the year; they only taste good after the frost." Wang Ping replied with a smile.
"Oh, I really didn’t know that." Gu Xiaobei truly didn’t know about it.
"We fried one yesterday, and it wasn’t bitter at all," said Sun Aiqin thoughtlessly.
At this point, Gu Xiaobei didn’t need to investigate any further; it must have been Sun Aiqin who stole their vegetables.
She suddenly remembered Li Fengmei had mentioned that the radishes had been bitten by cutworms (Note: Cutworms belong to the Noctuidae family; the larvae burrow in the ground, damaging and gnawing at tuberous plants). She asked Wang Ping, "Have your radishes been bitten by cutworms?"
"No, I mixed medicine with them when I planted." Wang Ping was quite adept at vegetable planting.
Gu Xiaobei nodded, "I don’t know about these things. I saw that some cutworms had bitten the radishes a few days ago, so I asked my husband to apply some pesticide to them while I wasn’t home. I don’t know if they’re poisonous when eaten?"
"You definitely can’t eat them right after applying pesticides. Wait until the plants grow bigger, and they’ll be fine. Besides, the radishes can’t be eaten right now anyway," Wang Ping said with a smile.
Seeing the stiffness on Sun Aiqin’s face, Gu Xiaobei felt cheerful: I’ll let you steal my vegetables, but you won’t enjoy eating them. Gu Xiaobei said goodbye to Wang Ping and carried the cabbage upstairs.
The next morning, when Gu Xiaobei went downstairs to throw away the trash, she saw half a basin of small radishes in the garbage pit. Someone was indeed afraid of them being poisonous.
Seeing Gu Xiaobei returning not in a good mood after dumping the garbage, Lu Zhanguo asked, "What happened? You’re sulking so much you could hang an oil lamp on your lip."
"Sun Aiqin stole our radishes." Gu Xiaobei pouted.
"It’s just some vegetables. If she ate them, she ate them. Don’t let it bother you." Lu Zhanguo comforted her.
"It’s not about the vegetables. She didn’t even say a word and just went ahead and plucked them. What kind of person does that? If she had asked, would I not let her eat?"
"I’m going to the military region for a few days and will probably be back in two or three days. Be careful when you are alone at home," Lu Zhanguo said.
"Why are you going to the military region all of a sudden? You didn’t mention it at breakfast." Gu Xiaobei was puzzled.
"Because you mentioned about the stolen radishes, which suddenly inspired me. Okay, I’m leaving," Lu Zhanguo pinched Gu Xiaobei’s cheek, adjusted his clothes, picked up his military cap, and left.
Gu Xiaobei was stunned. What kind of inspiration could her talk of stolen radishes give to Lu Zhanguo?
Lu Zhanguo went to the office of Min Zhonghua, the squadron leader, in T City first. Min Zhonghua, in his forties, held a regimental position and was a rugged man. He was a bit surprised to see Lu Zhanguo’s sudden arrival, "Is there an emergency?"
After giving a military salute with his knees together and his back straight, Lu Zhanguo asked, "I want to know who has taken over Gu Xiaodong’s position?"
"I think his name is Du Chengwen. Is there a problem?" Min Zhonghua asked curiously.
"No, what if I can’t go to the military academy for training; who will replace me?"
"Guo Huaqiang from your squadron or Wang Daqing from the fourth squadron. However, Wang Daqing’s educational background is a bit low." Min Zhonghua pondered for a while before answering.
"Why are you asking? Your enrolment in the military academy is a done deal. However, you have to wait until autumn to go. We receive a large number of new recruits in spring, and there’s a lot to do. You’d have to set things right before you can leave," Min Zhonghua asked curiously.
"Alright, I’ve an idea..." Lu Zhanguo discussed the idea he had been considering on his way with Min Zhonghua.
Min Zhonghua slapped his thigh, "What a great idea of ’pulling out the radish and bringing out the soil’. Go ahead and do as you say. If there’s no progress after the National Day, put it aside and concentrate on the military drill."
"Yes!" Lu Zhanguo stood straight and saluted in a standard military posture.
As he left the military district, Lu Zhanguo drove to find Shen Heng and unexpectedly found Yuan Tan there as well.
"Brother Zhanguo, why are you here?" Yuan Tan asked with surprise. She had been trying to persuade Shen Heng to go to the army with her.
"He’s on a long vacation. He can go anywhere he wants, can’t he? You wanted to find Lu Zhanguo, right? Well, he’s here. Speak up if you have something to say." Shen Heng pointed to Lu Zhanguo and addressed Yuan Tan.
Lu Zhanguo remained silent, pulled over a chair and sat down. Yuan Tan was a little annoyed and said impatiently, "Brother Zhanguo, I just wanted to tell you that my mom and Auntie Lu will be coming to T City in a few days."
Lu Zhanguo was shocked at first, but then he understood. This Yuan Tan must have been gossiping with Wen Xiuqing again. Now that they are coming to T City, aren’t they just trying to stir up trouble?
Thinking of this, his gaze towards Yuan Tan became profound.
Shen Heng, on the other hand, said, "That’s strange. Auntie Lu is coming to T City, and Lu Zhanguo, her son, doesn’t even know about it. How do you know?"
Yuan Tan got anxious, "Shen Heng, what do you mean? My mom told Auntie Lu that she wanted to come and see me, and Auntie Lu wanted to come and see Brother Zhanguo. You make it sound like I’ve done something wrong."
"Why are you worried? I didn’t say you did anything wrong," Shen Heng said, raising his eyebrows.
"You... forget it, I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Brother Zhanguo, my mom said that they are going to stay for a while this time." Yuan Tan turned to Lu Zhanguo and continued.
Without lifting his eyelids, Lu Zhanguo responded indifferently, "I got it."
Ignoring Lu Zhanguo’s indifference, Yuan Tan went on, "I think your place is not spacious enough. I plan to rent a house in the city. When the time comes, Auntie Lu can live with us, and you can visit us whenever you have time."
Shen Heng was speechless. Was this like setting up a concubine’s residence for Lu Zhanguo?
Lu Zhanguo said in a deep voice, "There’s no need for that. Just arrange for Aunt Yuan. As for my mother, Wen Xiuqing, I won’t let her come at this time." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"I was just being kind. Auntie Lu must not be used to living in your residential area," Yuan Tan insisted.
Lu Zhanguo suddenly looked up and stared at Yuan Tan with a cold gaze, "After the National Day, we will have half a month of closed training and then participate in a military exercise. I don’t have time to come to T City. Since my mom is coming to see me, won’t it be more convenient for her to see me if she stays in the residential area?"
"Aren’t you on leave? Why are you still participating in closed training?" Yuan Tan blurted out.
"You seem to know my affairs very well, don’t you?" Lu Zhanguo said with a hint of amusement.
Yuan Tan was choked, she realized her mistake. She had inadvertently mentioned this matter to Wen Xiuqing. Lu Zhanguo was known for his astuteness, he must have gotten suspicious.
Seeing that Yuan Tan didn’t respond, Lu Zhanguo ignored her and said to Shen Heng, "My wife was complaining to me this morning. She said that someone had stolen our radishes and left a hole. She also asked if the hole left could be replanted with a radish."
Shen Heng was stunned. What did radishes and holes have to do with him? Why was Lu Zhanguo fussing about it so much?
