Back To The 80s-Chapter 39: A Guest_1

They stepped into a beef noodle restaurant, and Xiaobei decided to order two large bowls of beef noodles. This was the first time Liu Cuicui had ever eaten out, and she gulped down the heaping bowl of beef noodles in just a few mouthfuls.

Xiaobei pretended not to have noticed Cuicui’s speedy eating and asked, "Did you and Li Hao have an arranged marriage?"

"No, we fell in love ourselves," Cuicui replied shyly.

Xiaobei was surprised. In fact, when she saw Cuicui eating, she felt a little sorry for her. Poverty sometimes made them overly self-conscious. But it was unexpected that this shy girl at such a young age had found love and married herself off.

After their meal, the two slowly strolled back to the office. In the office, Ling Yun asked Xiaobei, "What happened to Li Hao? Why does his face look as black as the bottom of a pot?"

"I asked him for the 1.6 yuan Cuicui used for her medical treatment, maybe it hurt his ego," Xiaobei said.

"This Li Hao, he doesn’t seem to be a steady character, don’t make your relationship with him worse, in case he does something reckless," said Ling Yun providing advice out of good intentions.

"Mmm, I get it. I was just too angry today. Cuicui was so ill, and he didn’t even go to check on her." Xiaobei also felt that she might have been a bit too impulsive. It’s better to offend a gentleman than a villain, as the saying goes.

When it was time to get off work, Xiaobei promptly packed her things and left the office. Lu Zhanguo was going to come over for dinner that night.

She headed to the market and had a key duplicated for Zhanguo, bought some pickles, half a kilogram of meat, and a cabbage. It wasn’t that she was stingy, but she had been spending a lot lately. She had to budget her spending; she couldn’t touch the money in her savings account. The twenty yuan Zhanguo gave her last time was now around fourteen yuan, and she still had a full twenty days until she received her salary.

Xiaobei was annoyed at having to worry about money again. Why was it that every character in the novels who ended up in this time-period always seemed to have the Midas touch when it came to making money, and why was it that she was unable to craft such luck?

When she got home, Xiaobei washed her face and changed her clothes. When she had her clothes made, she had specifically requested a light blue cotton dress that stopped at her knees. She used it as a nightgown at home.

At the time, she had wanted to get a beautiful nightgown made with princess puff sleeves, and a cute wavy lapel. But since she didn’t know how to draw, the tailor didn’t understand her sketch and the descriptions that followed, and the finished outfit had ended up as an overly simplified slip dress.

However, the dress was comfortable. For dinner, she planned to prepare two dishes since it was just the two of them. She would make a sour cabbage and boiled white meat stew, stir fry some shredded cabbage, and steam some rice.

As there was no rice cooker at home, she had to steam rice in a bamboo steamer. She used half a bowl of rice and added water up to just below the bowl’s rim. Once cooked, it would make a bowl of rice. Xiaobei placed four bowls of rice in the steamer.

She had just finished washing vegetables and hadn’t even started cooking when she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it, there stood Zhanguo, with Shen Heng following behind him.

At the sight of Xiaobei’s attire, with her smooth white arms exposed and her beautiful white neck visible with her hair piled up high, and her low neckline revealing her curves, Zhanguo’s eyes darkened. Blocking the door, he said unhappily, "What are you wearing? Go back and change now."

Xiaobei looked down at her clothes, didn’t see anything inappropriate, and muttered "old fashioned," before turning and entering the bedroom to change.

Shen Heng stifled a laugh behind them. Even with just a glance from the corner of his eyes, he didn’t think there was anything inappropriate about Xiaobei’s attire. It seemed that Zhanguo not only cherished his little wife, but was also extremely possessive.

By the time Xiaobei came out after changing, the two men were already conversing in the living room. Seeing Xiaobei appear, Zhanguo said, "I bought a roast chicken. It’s in the kitchen."

Despite their not so long acquaintance, he had noticed that Xiaobei always cooked just enough food. There was never leftover food. Today, since he brought Shen Heng back with him, he feared the food might not be enough, so he brought a roast chicken.

"Okay, you guys continue, the vegetables are already cut, dinner will be ready soon," Xiaobei said, stepping into the kitchen.

Shen Heng and Zhanguo started discussing the main issue. Shen Heng said quietly, "From what I see in the accounts and from the stock checks, there seems to be no problem with Gao Dailin. And he only met with Xiaodong last winter."

After pondering for a while, Zhanguo said, "Even if the two are not together, there must be really important interests at stake."

"Here’s another interesting thing. The accountant for Gao Dailin’s company, Ling Yun, once studied abroad in Y Country. She was originally named Lin Shan. After returning from studying abroad, she changed her name to Ling Yun, then got married to an alcoholic, divorced three years later, and then came to T City," said Shen Heng, pointing in the direction of the kitchen, "Your little wife is quite close with Ling Yun right now."

"Don’t get any ideas. Don’t think about asking Xiaobei to gather information for you," Zhanguo snubbed Shen Heng before he could finish his sentence.

Seeing him act protective, Shen Heng laughed and said, "Perhaps this is all just a coincidence, and there’s nothing behind it?"

"Nothing’s going to work, find another way," Zhanguo glanced at him dismissively.

In the meantime, Xiaobei brought out the dishes, "Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner." Then she served the remaining food and rice on the table.

As soon as the three of them sat down, Shen Heng asked Xiaobei, "Are you getting used to work, sister-in-law?"

"Yes, the pay is good and the job isn’t too demanding," Xiaobei replied truthfully.

Zhanguo handed Xiaobei a chicken leg and then said to Shen Heng, "Eat. Don’t talk so much."

Xiaobei was thrilled and gave Zhanguo a sweet smile. Having lived two lives, she was reminded of the previous life when her uncle’s family had chicken for dinner, it was always her cousin who got the chicken leg. In this life, when she was in confinement after giving birth, her mother-in-law gave both the chicken legs to her brother-in-law.

In her heart, she said to the original owner: Do not blame me for not being good to your family in the future, there are reasons.

Shen Heng felt goosebumps seeing the couple being so loving during dinner.

Just as Zhanguo had predicted, with the addition of the roast chicken he brought, there were just enough food, and there was no leftover.

After dinner, Shen Heng stayed for a while before getting up to leave, still teasing Zhanguo, "You should consider that thing, you know?"

"Impossible." Zhanguo, with a stern face, pushed Shen Heng out the door and promptly shut it. Standing outside, Shen Heng shook his head. So much for friendship over love.

"What did Shen Heng want you to consider?" Xiaobei asked curiously.

"It’s nothing. Leave the dishes there, I’ll wash them," said Zhanguo, heading into the kitchen.

Xiaobei followed him, rinsed an apple, took a bite, and offered it to Zhanguo. Zhanguo refused, but she insisted. With no choice, Zhanguo took a bite. He pondered for a moment and asked, "How is your relationship with your colleagues?"

"It’s fine. They’re just coworkers, not friends," Xiaobei replied after some thought.

"Can’t coworkers become friends too?" Zhanguo didn’t understand this logic.

Xiaobei offered Zhanguo another bite of the apple before responding, "Maybe they will become friends, but definitely not in such a short span of time."