Back To The 80s-Chapter 38: Coincidentally_1

Gu Xiaobei was in a great mood when she came to work on Monday since Lu Zhanguo had returned. Ling Yun joked with a smile, "One look at you and it’s obvious something good has happened."

"Yes, indeed. We’re one week closer to payday," Gu Xiaobei replied, with no intention of sharing her personal affairs.

"That’s indeed something to celebrate," Ling Yun agreed, laughing. Then, he added, "Today, we’re having some raw materials from the food factory delivered to the warehouse because their storage is full."

"Do we need to unload the goods?" asked Gu Xiaobei, jokingly looking at her petite build.

"No, but we have to conduct an inventory check," Ling Yun laughed.

At about 10 am, an old-fashioned Jiefang truck arrived, loaded with a full truck of boxes. Li Hao and the incoming driver began to unload the goods.

"Take it slow," Ling Yun instructed, "The boxes are full of glass bottles. Handle them gently to avoid breakage."

There were about two hundred boxes, forty bottles in each. Ling Yun was in charge of randomly checking the boxes while Gu Xiaobei recorded the count. Each time Li Hao moved a box past Gu Xiaobei, he glanced at her.

Gu Xiaobei kept a poker face, yet in her mind, she cursed Li Hao countless times.

Even Ling Yun noticed that there was something off about Li Hao, and he frowned subtly.

Feeling annoyed, Gu Xiaobei approached Ling Yun and helped seal the boxes. Upon touching the boxes, she was taken aback. Having worked in international trade for years, she knew the carton was made of seven-layer type A corrugated paper, whereas in the 21st century, domestic food packaging only uses three or at most five layers of corrugated paper. Clearly, this box met international export standards.

Keeping her surprise to herself, she continued to help Ling Yun seal the boxes. She felt that revealing her observation would require her to craft a series of explanations on how she knew about it.

By midday, the unloading and stacking of boxes had finished. Ling Yun took the driver to settle the transportation fee.

As Gu Xiaobei went to the kitchen to wash her hands, she found Liu Cuicui looking pale, sitting there. She forgot about washing her hands and asked, "Cuicui, what’s wrong?"

"Sister Xiaobei, my stomach hurts. Is there something wrong with my baby?" Liu Cuicui, on seeing Gu Xiaobei, couldn’t help but tear up. She felt uncomfortable since morning and had spoken to Li Hao about it. Yet, Li Hao grew impatient at her complaint. Seeing that Gu Xiaobei, a stranger, cared more about her, she felt even more wronged.

"Is there any bleeding? Don’t worry. Let Li Hao take you to the hospital to check," advised Gu Xiaobei.

"There’s a little bit of blood. If it’s nothing serious, I don’t want to go to the hospital," Liu Cuicui didn’t dare to urge Li Hao to take her to the hospital. Moreover, they had just arrived at work and had no money on them.

Gu Xiaobei, hearing this, stayed silent, and went out in search of Li Hao. Li Hao was just about to lock the warehouse door when he heard Gu Xiaobei calling. Cheered up, he hurried over.

"Your wife isn’t feeling well. You should take her to the hospital," said Gu Xiaobei, her face cold.

Li Hao brushed it off, saying, "It’s nothing. She’s just being overly sensitive. She’ll be fine if she rests for a bit."

"She’s pregnant. You’d better take her to the hospital. If anything happens, you’ll regret it," Gu Xiaobei glared at Li Hao and said sternly.

Li Hao touched his nose, remaining silent, and entered the kitchen. After waiting for a while, Gu Xiaobei didn’t see them come out. She entered the kitchen, only to find herself increasingly annoyed.

Liu Cuicui, despite being pale, was chopping vegetables. Furious, Gu Xiaobei pulled Liu Cuicui’s hand and led her outside, "If you still want this baby, go to the hospital."

Naturally, Liu Cuicui wanted the baby and followed Gu Xiaobei out. Seeing this, Li Hao embarrassingly tagged along.

Gu Xiaobei briefly informed Ling Yun, ignored Li Hao, and headed directly to the hospital.

At the hospital, Gu Xiaobei registered Liu Cuicui for consultation, and they proceeded to the gynecology department on the second floor.

Gu Xiaobei asked Liu Cuicui to go for the check-up while she waited outside. Suddenly, she overheard a familiar voice from a doctor’s partially closed office across.

"Doctor, I don’t want this fetus anymore." Upon hearing Chi Xiaoyue’s voice, Gu Xiaobei’s curiosity piqued, and she moved a little closer to ensure she heard correctly.

She heard the doctor say, "You can choose not to keep it, but your lover needs to be here to sign the papers. We can’t proceed without his signature."

"My lover is out of town and can’t come back anytime soon," Chi Xiaoyue replied.

"That won’t work, it’s the regulation. You should go back and discuss it thoroughly. Now, off you go. Next," the doctor said indifferently and called in the next patient.

Gu Xiaobei hurried into the room where Liu Cuicui was being examined, her mood lifted after overhearing that juicy tidbit.

Liu Cuicui had just finished her check-up. The doctor said, "You have signs of a threatened miscarriage. You’ll get a shot to prevent it, and I’ll prescribe some medicine. Also, for the first three months, no sex." The doctor was blunt and direct.

Liu Cuicui blushed deeply at this, even Gu Xiaobei felt a tad embarrassed despite coming from the 21st century.

Gu Xiaobei took the bill and told Liu Cuicui to wait while she went to pay. However, Li Hao hadn’t shown up on the second floor as he didn’t have any money.

The total came up to 1.6 yuan. After paying, Gu Xiaobei saw Li Hao approaching and handed him the bill, "It’s 1.6 yuan. Pay me back."

In front of everyone, Li Hao felt awkward. Angry and annoyed, but without money, he could only blush and say, "Once I get my paycheck, I’ll pay you back."

Gu Xiaobei gave him a cold look and a dismissive snort, pocketed the bill, and without acknowledging Li Hao, went back upstairs.

Li Hao reddened and felt surrounded by mocking gazes and whispers. He resented Gu Xiaobei for her lack of tact and silently vowed, "I will earn lots and lots of money until Gu Xiaobei submits." Unable to stand the mocking gazes any longer, Li Hao turned around and left.

In reality, Li Hao was overthinking it. The already noisy hall had only a few people who even noticed their conversation. Even so, a lot of people were strapped for cash in that season.

When Gu Xiaobei came downstairs with Liu Cuicui, she found that Li Hao had left. Gu Xiaobei sighed sympathetically, thinking to herself, ’What kind of man are you with, Cuicui?’

Liu Cuicui gratefully said, "Sister Xiaobei, thank you. Once I get my paycheck, I’ll pay you back."

"Don’t worry about the money. Just take care of your health," Gu Xiaobei didn’t mind the money. But thinking about Li Hao’s behavior, she reminded Liu Cuicui, "Cuicui, you should listen to the doctor. If you continue to be careless, you may really lose the baby."

"Yes, I understand," Liu Cuicui replied, feeling embarrassed.

As the two of them stepped out of the clinic building, Gu Xiaobei saw Chi Xiaoyue sitting on a bench in a small garden. Her face was pale and she was in a daze, completely unaware of Gu Xiaobei’s presence.

Gu Xiaobei pondered, ’I wonder if it’s Gao Dailin’s child. Xiaoyue looks weak and fragile, but she’s dealing with a big issue.’

Well, Gu Xiaobei knew she wasn’t a saint. A juicy gossip like this was irresistible.

Feeling elated, she said to Liu Cuicui, "Cuicui, since we can’t go back for lunch anyway, let’s go. I’ll treat you to beef noodles."

Liu Cuicui felt embarrassed to accept, but Gu Xiaobei gave her no chance to refuse and led her straight to a beef noodle shop.