Back To The 80s-Chapter 19: Chance Encounter_1

The next morning, after a simple breakfast, Gu Xiaobei headed out with Liu Mei. As they were situated not far from the city, they took a half-hour bus ride from the housing complex to the city center. T City was small, with some shops scattered around its main roads. Their destination was the department store.

Gu Xiaobei wandered around and bought a pair of sport pants and two tops. She also bought a pair of sneakers, finding that sneakers with laces were most comfortable. Liu Mei watched from the side without a word, never intervening or offering any suggestions with her purchases.

Feeling that shopping like this was intolerable, Gu Xiaobei suggested: "Sister-in-law, why don’t you go home first? I’ll wander around on my own and catch the bus back later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Mei grunted and walked away. Apparently, Liu Mei also found it hard shopping with her.

After Liu Mei left, Gu Xiaobei felt much more at ease. The city was small, and she had a strong sense of direction, so she wasn’t afraid of getting lost. She wandered around to get a feel for the city’s atmosphere in this era. After her child was born, it would be convenient for her to find something to do.

On a street lined with French plane trees, she surprisingly found a restaurant from E Country. The two-story building was rendered in the style of E Country’s red architecture. Gu Xiaobei walked in, the interior decorations were all also in the style of E Country.

The restaurant’s sofas were high-backed, creating a private small space that concealed diners from those behind. After Gu Xiaobei sat down, a Chinese girl dressed in E Country attire brought the menu. Gu Xiaobei wasn’t very hungry, so she ordered a savoury "Oladji" pancakes with beef liver and some Russian-style borscht.

The restaurant was empty except for a few servers and Gu Xiaobei. She tasted the pancake and was rather disappointed. The pancake was hard and the beef liver was tough. It was not up to her expectations.

While she was deep in thought, the restaurant doors opened and two people came in, a man and a woman. Gu Xiaobei looked up and was taken aback. The man was clearly Shen Heng. The woman in her mid-twenties had big eyes and voluptuous waves of hair. She wore bright red lipstick, exuding a flirtatious aura. Shen Heng glanced at Gu Xiaobei and walked past her. Gu Xiaobei wanted to greet them but didn’t when she saw Shen Heng ignoring her. She thought to herself, was he acting so petty just because she had stared at him a few times before?

After settling the bill and leaving the restaurant, Gu Xiaobei looked through the display window and saw Shen Heng smiling wickedly at the big-haired beauty. It was nothing like the way he acted at her house when having drinks with Lu Zhanguo.

Gu Xiaobei snorted, men were all the same. When they see a beauty, they become frivolous. She walked away in annoyance.

Shen Heng obviously had seen Gu Xiaobei, but he was in the middle of a mission and had changed his identity, so naturally, he couldn’t greet her. He felt relieved when Gu Xiaobei left without any interaction.

Gu Xiaobei wandered around the streets a bit more, finding nothing of interest, she headed to the bus stop to go home.

When she got home, Liu Mei hadn’t returned yet, and only Chen Qiumei was knitting on the couch. Upon seeing Gu Xiaobei, she put down her work, "Where’s your Sister-in-law? Didn’t she go out with you? Did she dump you halfway and go on her own?"

"No, Sister-in-law had something to do, I came back first." Gu Xiaobei replied.

"Hmph, I don’t see what’s so good about Liu Mei. Married for so many years and can’t even have a child." Chen Qiumei expressed her great displeasure toward their inability to have children.

"Well, infertility isn’t necessarily the woman’s fault. Maybe Brother should get checked too."

"You’ve always been at odds with Liu Mei. Why are you defending her today?" Chen Qiumei stared at Gu Xiaobei in astonishment.

"I’m just standing up for justice, no personal bias." Gu Xiaobei picked up the half-knitted sweater Chen Qiumei was working on, "Mom, could you teach me knitting? Later, I’d like to make one for Zhanguo."

"All right, I bought extra yarn as well. I will find you a pair of knitting needles to start practicing with."

Liu Mei didn’t return until dinner time, ate her meal and went into the room. As for Gu Xiaodong, he hadn’t returned even by ten o’clock.

"Why is Brother coming home so late?" Gu Xiaobei asked Chen Qiumei.

"Who knows, he works in an office as a logistics officer, yet he always only arrives home in the middle of the night." Chen Qiumei had become accustomed to such occurrences.

Noting the time, Chen Qiumei got up and went into the kitchen. She brought in a bowl of white fungus and red dates soup, saying, "Come, drink this up. It’s good to have more of it when you’re pregnant."

Gu Xiaobei happily received the bowl, thinking to herself how wonderful it was to have a mother’s care. After taking a sip she complimented, "Mom, you make really good soup."

"Quit flattering. You’re the most ungrateful. After getting married, you couldn’t even bother to send a letter to your family, leaving us in the dark about whether you could even feed yourself properly out there." Chen Qiumei started nagging about the past again.

Gu Xiaobei coaxed Chen Qiumei with laughter and heard the front door of the living room open, followed by the sound of arguing coming from the neighboring bedroom.

After a while, the front door slammed again. "Mom, aren’t you going to check it out?" Gu Xiaobei looked at the uncaring Chen Qiumei.

"Check what? They’re always like this every few days. Your sister-in-law storms out, and your brother, who’s afraid of his wife, will pacify her tomorrow. Then they’ll be fine again." Chen Qiumei said all this with an air of exasperation.

Gu Xiaobei thought to herself: he’s not afraid of his wife but rather losing his wife’s family backing. She wouldn’t believe it if you said they were truly in love.

Just as expected, Gu Xiaodong and Liu Mei returned together before dinner the next day. An unprecedented blush also appeared on Liu Mei’s face. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

For several nights in a row, Chen Qiumei would prepare a bowl of white fungus and red dates soup for Gu Xiaobei. Gu Xiaobei was getting a bit nauseated from drinking so much of it. As she saw Chen Qiumei bringing her another bowl one evening, Gu Xiaobei followed her into the kitchen.

The light bulb was dim, but Gu Xiaobei still saw a few strands of saffron on the silvery-white stovetop?

"Mom, did you put saffron in the soup?" Gu Xiaobei was wide-eyed.

Chen Qiumei glanced at the saffron on the stove, a flash of panic crossed her face, quickly replaced with calm. "What nonsense are you talking about? That’s for your sister-in-law to drink. She has a cold uterus." Gu Xiaobei must have missed Chen Qiumei’s panic, she felt she was making a fuss. Her own mother could not possibly harm her unborn child. Moreover, she had been drinking it for several days without noticing any discomfort.

Gu Xiaobei said bashfully, "Mom, saffron is for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. I was afraid you didn’t know, but I can’t have that while I’m pregnant."

"Do you think I wouldn’t know that? I don’t need you to tell me." Chen Qiumei scolded. "Alright, drink it and go to bed." She said, then turned around and walked out of the kitchen.