Back To The 80s-Chapter 40: Touchstone_1

Gu Xiaobei bit into an apple and thought for a while, then spoke again, "Time is the touchstone for testing one’s heart. All feelings can be tested with this touchstone."

Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help remembering her best friend from her previous life, who stole her plans and poached her clients, and then made fun of her as an orphan in front of her colleagues.

Lu Zhanguo was looking at Gu Xiaobei, who just held the apple to her mouth still, but didn’t take a bite, and there was a deserted look about her. Although Gu Xiaobei was standing right in front of him, he felt a distance between them.

Lu Zhanguo didn’t like to see Gu Xiaobei like this, he preferred to see her carefree smile and teasing words.

He couldn’t help but walk over and hug Gu Xiaobei, quietly saying, "No matter when, you always have me."

Gu Xiaobei came to her senses and couldn’t help but chuckle, "Are you confessing to me? I like that, say more of these words in the future."

Lu Zhanguo was embarrassed, this girl changed her emotions too quickly.

At night, lying in bed, Gu Xiaobei snuggled in Lu Zhanguo’s arms. They had no choice but to chat under the quilt.

"Chi Xiaoyue is pregnant." Gu Xiaobei pondered and still told Lu Zhanguo. In case anything serious happened to Chi Xiaoyue, she didn’t want Lu Zhanguo to get involved, as they were both from the same battalion.

"How did you know that?" Lu Zhanguo was genuinely surprised, Chi Xiaoyue was really daring.

"I accompanied Liu Cuicui, who cooks for our company, to the hospital for her prenatal checkup and ran into her. She told the doctor she didn’t want the child." Gu Xiaobei recounted the truth.

Lu Zhanguo frowned without saying a word, then patted Gu Xiaobei’s back, "Go to sleep, we have to work tomorrow."

He let Gu Xiaobei sleep, but he couldn’t, after all, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to get involved with Xiaoyue’s problem. He thought for a while and decided to let it go. The path was her own choice, and however difficult it was, she would have to walk it.

On the way to work, they were inevitably teased by Ling Yun, "Xiaobei, your man is back, right? Look at your happy face, like blooming flowers."

Gu Xiaobei chuckled without saying a word, and lowered her head to flip through the files. Regardless, she didn’t have much work to do every day. Gu Xiaobei thought it was redundant to hire several people for their positions.

Suddenly, Old Zhang anxiously burst in, saying, "Accountant Ling, I just went to the warehouse and the boxes that arrived yesterday were gone? I slept in front of the main gate last night and didn’t hear any noise."

Gu Xiaobei was shocked, but Ling Yun calmly said, "Ask Li Hao if he knows anything about last night."

Old Zhang then went to the next room and called Li Hao, who still looked groggy.

Ling Yun asked, "Li Hao, did you hear anyone entering the courtyard last night?"

"No." Li Hao stated firmly.

But why would someone steal some glass bottles? Gu Xiaobei was curious.

"What happened?" Li Hao saw that everyone’s faces were very tense.

"The boxes that arrived in the warehouse yesterday are gone." Old Zhang said.

"Let’s call the police right away." Li Hao suggested fearing he may be suspected. Gu Xiaobei kept quiet next to him, she felt there was more to it.

Ling Yun thought for a moment and said, "Let’s not call the police yet, I will call Mr. Gao first."

Ling Yun immediately dialed Gao Dailin’s number. After explaining the situation and nodding a few times in agreement, he hung up.

Turning around to face Old Zhang and Li Hao, he sternly said, "Mr. Gao said that the boxes were urgently needed last night and were picked up at four in the morning. There was knocking at the door for a long time, but none of you responded. What were you guys doing last night?"

Old Zhang rubbed his hands nervously and said, "I had half a catty of white liquor before going to bed last night. But I should have been able to hear the knocking."

"I didn’t drink any alcohol, and I didn’t hear anything." Li Hao stubbornly said.

"Alright, Mr. Gao said he won’t pursue your neglect of duty this time. Be more alert next time, if this happens again, you’ll be fired." Ling Yun sternly warned,

Gu Xiaobei kept feeling something was not right, the matter couldn’t be this simple.

Ling Yun glanced at everyone and said, "That’s it for now. Be more vigilant at night."

After Li Hao and Old Zhang left, Ling Yun asked Gu Xiaobei, "Do you think it’s possible that all three of them didn’t hear anything?"

Gu Xiaobei frowned and said, "I’m not sure, but people are usually the most tired in the middle of the night. Since Old Zhang drank alcohol and Cuicui, being pregnant, probably slept heavily, and as for Li Hao, judging by his carefree manner, he seems like the kind who falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow, right?"

Ling Yun responded, "You have a point. We’re fortunate that the items were actually taken by our own factory. If they were truly missing, we’d have to work for years to cover the loss."

Gu Xiaobei nodded, after all, the best way to avoid mistakes in the workplace is to listen more, do more, and speak less.

Near closing time, Gu Xiaodong came over. Gu Xiaobei wondered what Gu Xiaodong wanted from her.

Seeing his sister’s disdainful expression, Gu Xiaodong became angry, "Mom’s sick. Come back home with me."

This was definitely a situation where she couldn’t refuse, so she replied, "I have to go home first and leave a note for Lu Zhanguo." said Gu Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaodong nodded, "Okay, I’ll take you home first." He didn’t ask why Lu Zhanguo was at home. It seemed that he already knew about Lu Zhanguo’s whereabouts.

When they reached the hospital, they found out that Chen Qiumei was seriously ill. Gu Xiaobei had only thought it was a fever or cold. When she entered the ward, she saw Chen Qiumei lying there, her face pale and moaning intermittently.

Gu Xiaobei asked Gu Xiaodong at her side, "What’s wrong with Mom?"

"Heart disease." Gu Xiaodong uttered these two words.

"What kind of heart disease?" Gu Xiaobei was a little confused.

"The ’wanting to see her grandson’ kind of heart disease." Gu Xiaodong said bluntly in front of Chen Qiumei.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiumei stopped moaning and said in annoyance, "What’s wrong with me wanting to see my grandson? It seems I won’t be able to see my eldest grandson while I’m still alive."

Gu Xiaobei was speechless, her mother really knew how to throw tantrums. She didn’t dare to provoke Liu Mei, so she started causing trouble herself. But calling her here wouldn’t solve the problem anyway.

"Mom, I’m really busy right now. If you keep fussing like this, Xiaobei is here too, let’s just clear the air. I’ll send you back to our hometown and give you and dad twenty yuan a month as pension." Gu Xiaodong angrily remarked.

"Every time you get angry, you want to send me back to our hometown. Look what kind of son I’ve raised." Chen Qiumei began to cry.

Gu Xiaobei kept quiet. Anyway, there was nothing to do and Chen Qiumei would find a way to stay in the end.

As expected, after crying for a while, Chen Qiumei came down a peg saying, "I can stop fussing, but you need to give me assurance about when I’m going to hold my grandson."

"Next year, you will surely get to hold your grandson by next year." Gu Xiaodong confidently affirmed.

Gu Xiaobei looked at Gu Xiaodong’s serious expression and felt as though Liu Mei was already pregnant.

"Okay, let’s check out of the hospital now." Suddenly, Chen Qiumei’s spirit was back. She didn’t look like she was sick at all.

Gu Xiaobei stepped out of the ward first, and surprisingly saw Liu Mei standing outside the door, her face icy as if nothing had anything to do with her.