Back To The 80s-Chapter 20: Eavesdropping_1

Xiaobei couldn’t quite pinpoint if it was because of the red flower incident, but she felt a sense of detachment developing in her relationship with Chen Qiumei.

When Chen Qiumei asked Xiaobei to accompany her to the market, Xiaobei said she was too tired and didn’t feel like going. Chen Qiumei seemed to understand and didn’t insist.

Once Chen Qiumei had left, Xiaobei lay back down for a while before rising to wash her face and use the bathroom. Before she could get up from the toilet, she heard sounds from the living room—someone was entering. Xiaodong’s voice called out a couple of times, "Xiaobei." It seemed he had looked in both bedrooms too.

Xiaobei didn’t feel right about responding from the bathroom, and then she heard Xiaodong say, "No one’s home. I’ve just received word that Lu Zhanguo’s training team will be arriving in Chen Family Village on Daqing Mountain in three days. You can teach them a lesson there."

She heard a male voice say, "That’s a tough one. Lu Zhanguo has a tight-knit group. What can we do to get out of this unscathed? Confrontation certainly won’t work."

Xiaobei covered her mouth to keep from screaming-- her own brother was planning to harm Lu Zhanguo. If she hadn’t heard it with her own ears, she never would have believed it. She held her breath, trying not to make a sound.

Again, she heard Xiaodong’s voice. "Why are you so slow? Why do you think I’ve chosen Chen Family Village? Because the village is halfway up the mountain. There are many hunters there, who often bury land mines for hunting. All you have to do is bury a few land mines in their path. If there’s an accident, he’ll lose his command post."

"Xiaodong, your plan is incredible. Even if they investigate afterward, they won’t be able to trace it back to us."

"He’s too meddlesome, always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong," Xiaodong said coldly.

"Where are they now? There won’t be any deviation, will there?"

"Lu Zhanguo is someone who’s precise about time down to the second. They should reach the Victory Ranch north of Daqing Mountain tomorrow," Xiaodong confidently said.

The two of them talked for a while longer before Xiaodong said, "Let’s go. I’ll see you out. Don’t come looking for me in my office so carelessly in the future. Today I told people you were my mother’s nephew. Don’t forget that."

"I understand, Xiaodong." She then heard the two of them leave.

Xiaobei felt so weak that she could hardly stand. After a moment, she decided she needed to leave the house. If Xiaodong found out she had been home, he might get suspicious.

She put on her new sneakers and sweatpants and hurriedly left the house.

Once outside, she found a quiet park and sat down. She had to find Lu Zhanguo now, but had absolutely no way to reach him. Then she remembered Qin Mei. She could ask Mei to relay the message to Lu Zhanguo, but then she realized she didn’t even know Mei’s phone number.

She also had no idea where Shen Heng was, and she didn’t have any connections she could use. Could she go looking for Zhanguo herself? But if she didn’t even know the way, how could she find him? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Xiaobei felt that no matter what, she had to find Lu Zhanguo within two days. If she left to go find him, she needed to find a good reason for it, and avoid arousing Xiaodong’s suspicion.

She then went to the bus station and found out that there were buses going to Victory Ranch. A bus left every day at 6 am and another at 4 pm, and the trip took four hours.

By the time she got home, Chen Qiumei had already prepared lunch. And to her surprise, Xiaodong was also there, seemingly waiting for her. As soon as he saw her, he asked with a stern expression, "Why didn’t you go with Mom? Where were you off to?"

Xiaobei suppressed her nerves, clenched her fists, and tried to put on a playful smile. "What’s wrong? Mom left, and I was bored at home. I just wanted to go eat lamb soup at Chen’s."

Xiaodong looked at Xiaobei, who was acting carefree and clueless, and he let out a sigh of relief. When he came home and heard from Chen Qiumei that Xiaobei hadn’t gone to the market with her and had been home instead, he was frightened. If Xiaobei had overheard this morning’s conversation, she certainly would have confronted him by now.

Xiaobei saw the tension on Xiaodong’s face ease. She knew he had believed her. Then she asked Chen Qiumei, "Where’s my sister-in-law? Why isn’t she working or staying home these days?"

"Who knows what she’s busy with? She says she’s starting a company," Chen Qiumei said, rolling her eyes.

"Let’s eat. Why do you care about what she’s doing?" Xiaodong said, sounding a bit impatient.

Xiaobei wished she could take the afternoon bus and leave that very day. But doing so would undoubtedly raise Xiaodong’s suspicions. So, she suppressed her panic and tension, sat down, and joined them for lunch.

Fortunately, Xiaodong left immediately after lunch was finished. Liu Mei returned right before dinner. Xiaobei stared at Liu Mei, thinking of how she could provoke her.

"Sister-in-law, could you pour me a bowl of soup?" Xiaobei asked Liu Mei with a grin.

Liu Mei glanced at Xiaobei, got up to go to the kitchen to ladle the soup, and handed it to Xiaobei. Xiaobei deliberately didn’t steady her grip, causing the soup to spill all over Liu Mei.

"What are you doing?" Shouting in anger, Liu Mei was sure Xiaobei had done it on purpose.

Xiaobei was also not at all pleased. "It’s just a bit of soup on you, why are you fussing about it?"

"It’s clear that you did it on purpose! I’ve been avoiding you as it is, why are you still picking fights?" Liu Mei had lost her patience.

"Are you saying you think I’m bothering you? I’ll have you know that this is my brother’s house, not yours! I’ll stay here however I please. You don’t believe me? I could tell my brother to kick you out tonight! Why keep a hen that doesn’t lay eggs?" Xiaobei said the most hurtful things she could think of.

Chen Qiumei, who was sitting on the side, did not even attempt to defuse the situation. She had long disliked her daughter-in-law.

"Get out, get out of my house right now!" Liu Mei, enraged by the comment about being a "hen that doesn’t lay eggs," hysterically pointed at Xiaobei.

"If you want me to leave, then fine, I’ll leave. See if I care! You just wait for my brother to divorce you."

With that, she went to her room, quickly packed a bag, and with a dramatic slam of the door, she left. It was only then that Chen Qiumei processed what had just occurred and slapped Liu Mei across the face. "How dare you chase Xiaobei away! Do you think I’m a pushover? I’m still alive and kicking. It’s not your time to be in charge of this house yet!"

When Xiaodong came home, he found Liu Mei covering her face in tears and Chen Qiumei fuming off to the side. "What happened here? Where’s Xiaobei?"

Liu Mei, glaring at Xiaodong, said "Divorce, we’re getting a divorce tomorrow!" She immediately packed her bags and stormed out of the house.

Chen Qiumei pointed at the door and said, "Look at the mess you’ve made! She chased Xiaobei away."

Xiaodong was feeling rather overwhelmed. Although he did not like Liu Mei, he knew they absolutely could not divorce. If they did, his father-in-law, Deputy Commander Liu, would make sure he was disgraced. Liu Mei had never reached the point of asking for a divorce before, no matter how much they argued. It seemed that things had become quite serious this time. After weighing his options, he decided to placate his wife first and deal with Xiaobei later. There were few people who could bully her; it was likely she had gone back to the military residential area. He turned to Chen Qiumei and said, "Mom, get some early rest tonight. I’ll go look for Xiaobei." He then left, actually heading towards his father-in-law’s house.