Back To The 80s-Chapter 42: Being Defeated_1

Gu Xiaobei returned to the office and sat at her desk. Jin Cheng glanced at her, picked up a newspaper, and began to read.

At lunchtime, Jin Cheng, perhaps intentionally, chose a seat next to Gu Xiaobei. Gu, wordlessly, shifted her chair away slightly.

Liu Cuicui prepared a meal of rice and stir-fried bok choy. Jin Cheng, looking at the dishes, chuckled, "Can this even be considered edible?"

Cuicui blushed in embarrassment. Jin Cheng then turned his head towards Xiaobei and said, "I invite you to dine at a fancy restaurant tonight."

Gu Xiaobei initially was not interested in responding to Jin Cheng, but seeing his cocky expression made her want to give him a reality check. She laughed and said, "Sure. It would be rude to decline."

Li Hao, seeing how Gu Xiaobei was behaving, was greatly annoyed. He felt that Gu Xiaobei was degrading herself; showing too much enthusiasm just because she was invited to a meal.

Gu Xiaobei then asked, "Would you mind if I brought a few friends along?"

"Of course not," Jin Cheng nonchalantly replied.

"Great. Let’s all go after work. We can pack something for Zhang, who is on duty. We should show our gratitude since Director Jin is paying. " Gu Xiaobei said, laughing.

Jin Cheng’s eye twitched. This girl was pushing her luck. But he still acted nonchalant about it.

When they finished work in the afternoon, Jin Cheng called everyone to follow him. Ling Yun looked at Gu Xiaobei, who smiled and said, "Sister Ling, let’s go. It’s always merrier when there are more people."

"You guys go ahead. I’ll drop my child off at a friend’s house first and then head straight to the restaurant," Ling Yun replied.

Jin Cheng announced the meeting point, and then headed to the restaurant with Gu Xiaobei, Li Hao, and Liu Cuicui.

They went to a restaurant called Xianke Residence. It had seven or eight large round tables in the middle of the dining hall, three or four small rectangular tables near the windows, and a couple of private rooms. This was considered a pretty high-end restaurant in T City.

Jin Cheng stepped in, booked a private room, and invited everyone to sit down. He pulled up a chair and sat close to Gu Xiaobei, handed her the menu and said, "Order whatever you’d like."

Gu Xiaobei silently took the menu, glanced through it, then turned to the waiter and said, "I’ll have six jin of mutton, braised fish, shredded pork with vegetables, Dongpo pork, Dongxiang chicken, four bowls of four-joy meatballs, and two jin of kaoliang liquor. That’ll do for now." With each dish she named, Jin Cheng slightly winced.

Li Hao wordlessly sipped his tea, fatigued. But Liu Cuicui seemed very happy. All the dishes Xiaobei had ordered were her favourites.

Gu Xiaobei turned to Jin Cheng and, with a smile, said, "You should pay the bill now. I don’t want you to forget after you get drunk." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Jin Cheng, agitated after hearing this, retorted, "Do I seem like the kind of person who would dodge a bill?"

"I didn’t say you would try to dodge the bill. I’m just afraid you might forget to pay after drinking," Xiaobei replied with a smile.

"Fine, how much is it? I will pay now, just so none of you can accuse me of being cheap after we’ve had a few drinks," Jin Cheng retorted, now fully showing his true colors.

"The total is 32 yuan," the waiter replied.

"How much?" Though he was prepared for a high amount, he still felt a jolt shoot through his temples when he heard the total. Thirty-two yuan! That was equivalent to two months’ living expenses for an average household.

Jin Cheng, gazing at Gu Xiaobei’s smiling face, quickly paid, not wanting to lose face.

When Liu Cuicui heard that the cost of one meal was almost her two months’ salary, she was so shocked that she found herself holding a spoonful of food in mid-air, totally speechless.

Li Hao sipped his tea, a bitter taste in his mouth. It seemed that money was what made the world go around after all. Without it, people tended to lose their temper.

After Jin Cheng paid the bill, Xiaobei glanced at him and told him, "Sister Ling hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll go check." Jin Cheng nodded.

As soon as she left the restaurant, Xiaobei made straight for home. There was no way she could stomach a dinner with Jin Cheng. Despite his behavior, Jin Cheng was still quite genuine and naive, otherwise her little trick would never have succeeded.

When Ling Yun arrived at the private room and Jin Cheng saw Xiaobei wasn’t following her, he knew he’d been duped. He was livid, though he hid it well, and cordially invited everyone to start eating. However, he vowed to get back at Gu Xiaobei somehow.

After leaving the restaurant, Gu Xiaobei went straight home. As soon as she walked in, she saw Lu Zhanguo already there, busily studying a pile of papers on the coffee table while a pot of freshly cooked dinner sat steaming under a gauze cover on the dining table. As she took off her shoes, she asked, "Why did you get home so early today?"

Lu Zhanguo sat up straight, looked at Xiaobei, and said, "I went back to the camp earlier today and came straight home in the afternoon."

Xiaobei replied with an "Oh," then changed clothes, washed her hands, and came to dinner. Lu Zhanguo had made rice, stir-fried greens, and deep-fried egg-stuffed cucumbers.

During dinner, Lu Zhanguo discussed with Gu Xiaobei: "I’m returning to the camp on Sunday. Why don’t you quit your job and come with me?"

Xiaobei looked puzzled. "Why all of a sudden do you want me to quit? I was thinking about enrolling in a night college or a correspondence college."

"Attending night school alone won’t be safe for you, and we can arrange correspondence courses back at the camp," Lu Zhanguo said, worried about leaving her alone in T City.

However, Xiaobei was reluctant, "No way, I’ve been doing well at this job. Plus, I’m thinking about studying accounting, Sister Ling knows about it and she can help me."

Lu Zhanguo had always been a man of very few words, mainly because he wasn’t good with words. He knew he wouldn’t be able to persuade Xiaobei so he just warned, "In that case, be careful and make sure you don’t act impulsively."

"Sure, I know. If anything goes wrong, I will ask Shen Heng," Gu Xiaobei chimed in, leaving Lu Zhanguo speechless.

After they both finished eating, Xiaobei cleared the table and washed the dishes. Resuming his seat on the sofa, Lu Zhanguo was once again engrossed in his papers.

Xiaobei chuckled at the sight of Lu Zhanguo’s deeply focused expression, his eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth was set in a tight, serious line. "Indeed, a man is most handsome when he is engrossed in his work," she thought dreamily.

Gu Xiaodong felt that Liu Mei had been acting more mysterious recently. She would come home later than him every day, and only gave him a quick glance when she saw him.

Gu Xiaodong, sitting on the sofa, puzzled over Liu Mei’s unusual behavior and her all-knowing gaze.

Chen Qiumei sat beside him and rambled on, "This Liu Mei is too mysterious, always coming and going and not doing any housework. Also, she’s neglecting her duty as a wife. How do you guys plan to have a baby under these circumstances?"

Xiaodong ignored his mother, but that didn’t deter her from her tirade, "I’m telling you, you need to control Liu Mei. What kind of woman opens a company? I’m skeptical if she’s actually making any money. Beware, she might dump you once she gets money."

"Mom, can you give Liu Mei a break for once? She’s not around, so you don’t have to bother with her," Xiaodong said, looking at Chen Qiumei, completely at a loss.

Chen Qiumei glared at him, "Why would she bother me? If she could give me a chubby grandson, I would treat her like a Goddess of Mercy."

Seeing his mother so desperate for a grandchild, Xiaodong didn’t know what else to say.

Just then, the phone in the living room rang. Xiaodong, who was sitting right next to it, picked it up.

When he heard the voice on the other end, Xiaodong became slightly annoyed, "Haven’t I told you not to call me at home?"