Back To The 80s-Chapter 418 - 428: Preparation_1

When Lu Aiguo saw Lu Zhanguo pick up the cards, he didn’t take it seriously. He thought that apart from being a soldier, his second brother was probably incapable of anything else.

Lu Zhanguo soon surprised Lu Aiguo greatly. Although Lu Zhanguo’s card-playing skills were mediocre, he had a good memory and could count cards. He continuously pointed out:

"Lu Aiguo, you’ve already played eight cards. How come you still have ten in your hand?"

As soon as Lu Aiguo heard this, he quickly covered his cards tightly, peeking at them secretly before drawing one each time.

Lu Zhanguo reminded him again, "Lu Aiguo, you’ve played two of clubs twice."

"Lu Aiguo, you should only have three cards left: ten, Jack, Queen. How do you manage to play a continuous sequence?"

"Lu Aiguo, the card in your sleeve is showing."

"Lu Aiguo, the four of hearts should be in Fang Jing’s hand. How come you have it?"

Lu Aiguo threw his cards on the table, grumpily saying, "I’m not playing anymore. What, do you have x-ray vision? How did you know that Fang Jing had the four of hearts?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Lu Zhanguo, laughing, collected his cards and pulled out the four of hearts to show Lu Aiguo. "Did you see the mark on the back of the card because of the fold? It’s shorter than the marks on other cards."

Lu Aiguo was astonished. He picked a few cards with fold marks and started studying them.

In the end, Lu Aiguo suggested, "I’ll buy a set of mahjong tiles tomorrow. We can play mahjong during the New Year celebrations. Second Brother, do you know how to play that?" He raised an eyebrow smugly at Lu Zhanguo after saying this.

Lu Zhanguo shook his head, "I can’t. But I can still beat you."

Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but reveal an admiring look as he stared at Lu Zhanguo, thinking to himself that Lu Zhanguo could possibly become a gambling god with a bit of training.

But Lu Aiguo was ecstatic. He was a minor mahjong prince in the Capital City. Now he had another potential source of income for the new year. He could finally have something over his two brothers.

The next day, after breakfast, Ji Xiangdong accompanied Bai Xiaolan for a hospital check-up.

Wen Xiuqing started chopping the meat at home, preparing to make sour cabbage-filled dumplings for lunch. She had a constant smile on her face.

Gu Xiaobei helped by squeezing the water out of the sour cabbage and soaking it in fresh water afterward.

The pork Xiuqing was chopping was a bit fatty. She told Xiaobei, "Later, let’s make some lamb dumplings for Yueyue and Xiaopang. They probably won’t like these sour cabbage dumplings, so I added some fatty pork."

"Sure, with carrots, right? I’ll fish out a couple of carrots from the cellar later," Gu Xiaobei said with a grin.

Lu Aiguo walked in with the three youngsters. Upon seeing Xiuqing chopping meat, he said, "We’re here to help you make dumplings."

"You guys, out! Is this how you help make dumplings? More like you’re here to make a mess," Xiuqing chuckled, looking at the last two little ones as they struggled to get over the doorstep.

Fang Jing also walked in and said to Lu Aiguo, "Why are you still at home? Didn’t you mention that you’re going to buy some stuff today?"

Lu Aiguo ignored her. He took down the sugar jar from the cupboard, pinching some sugar to stuff into each child’s mouth.

Unable to keep herself from nagging, Fang Jing said, "You’re always saying, ’I’ll do it tomorrow.’ How many tomorrows has it been?"

Lu Aiguo cradled the sugar jar, feeding each kid like feeding birds, a tiny bit in one mouth, then another tiny bit in another mouth. Only when he saw the kids smacking their lips did he finally answer Fang Jing, "Isn’t something big happening today? We’re going to find out soon if we’ll have an extra mouth to feed during the New Year. This is such a critical moment, how could I not be here?"

Fang Jing was too lazy to bother with him. There were multiple excuses every day. She washed her hands and got ready to knead the dough.

Lu Aiguo was about to put the sugar jar away when Xiaopang, who was enjoying the sugar, saw his uncle was about to take the jar away. He quickly hugged Lu Aiguo’s leg and said, "Pangpang eat, Pangpang byebye." Then he put his hands together and kept bowing to Lu Aiguo.

Gu Xiaobei looked astonished as he watched Xiaopang doing this. He called to Lu Aiguo with a laugh, "What did you teach our Xiaopang this time? He’s even putting his hands together and bowing?"

A squatting Lu Aiguo hugged Xiaopang and said proudly, "I was teaching Xiaopang and Mo Wang how to ask for red envelopes during the New Year. But your Mo Wang isn’t cooperative. However I teach him, he just won’t respond."

Fang Jing, between laughter and tears, said to Gu Xiaobei, "Lu Aiguo is just messing around. When Yueyue was little, he taught Yueyue to bow to people during the New Year, telling her that she would receive a red envelope for each bow. As a result, the people who gave her red envelopes were scared. Whenever they saw Yueyue, they avoided her."

Wen Xiuqing put down the knife in her hand and scolded Lu Aiguo, "Don’t teach the children those things. They’re young and will think that everything comes easily. Moreover, for a girl, it’s not proper to learn these things. It’s inauspicious."

Fang Jing teased, "There, I told you, but you didn’t listen to me. He said that all his childhood friends did the same."

Lu Aiguo touched his nose, put the sugar jar away, held Xiaopang and said to Yueyue, "Hold your little brother’s hand. I’ll take you out to see the sights."

Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan didn’t return until nearly lunchtime.

Gu Xiaobei saw Bai Xiaolan didn’t dash into the room yammering, but entered slowly with a smile on her face. He knew that she was indeed pregnant.

Xiuqing, who was in the middle of making dumplings, looked up and asked, "Are you pregnant?"

Bai Xiaolan shyly nodded, "Yes. I’m just over a month in."

Fang Jing stopped rolling the dough and curiously asked, "Are they twins?"

Bai Xiaolan shook her head, "No, the doctor said they saw only one." She had also asked the doctor curiously whether it could be twins, given that there is a twin gene in Ji Xiangdong’s family.

Wen Xiuqing bobbed her head approvingly, "One is also good, one is good too. Go back to your room and rest. Where is Xiangdong?"

Bai Xiaolan washed her hands and sat down, "I’m not tired. I’ll make dumplings with you. Xiangdong is outside chatting with Aiguo."

Fang Jing curiously remarked, "You’re so fond of sour food. This baby must be a boy."

Gu Xiaobei agreed, "Yeah, yeah, sour for a boy and spicy for a girl." Although she liked sweets during her pregnancy.

Bai Xiaolan chuckled, "A girl would be nice too."

Xiuqing laughed and said, "A girl would be nice too. Look how well-behaved Xiaopang and Yueyue are."

While rolling dumpling wrappers, Fang Jing said, "I still hope that you give birth to a boy. Look, we only have Mo Wang in our family. If you have a boy, the two boys can have each other’s backs, and Yueyue and Xiaopang can also benefit."

In her heart, Xiuqing also wished that Bai Xiaolan would have a boy. But she was afraid that if she said it out loud, they would think that she prioritized males over females. Now, hearing what Fang Jing said, she also nodded and said, "Yes, in the future, each family will just have one child. If the cousins get along well, it’s like having siblings."

Bai Xiaolan nodded with a smile, "If it’s a girl, you can’t blame me."

Xiuqing, Gu Xiaobei, and Fang Jing all laughed upon hearing this.

At lunch, when Lu Songyuan heard that Bai Xiaolan was pregnant, he was so happy that he insisted on having a few drinks. "This is a good thing, so we must celebrate. The Lu family is flourishing. Our days will only get better."