Back To The 80s-Chapter 43: Lovers_1

The person on the other end of the phone said something, Gu Xiaodong simply replied, "Wait for me, I’m on my way."

Then he entered his bedroom to change into casual clothes, said goodbye to Chen Qiumei, and left the house. Chen Qiumei called after him, "Where are you going in the middle of the night?"

Once out of the building, Gu Xiaodong realized he couldn’t get a military vehicle at this hour, so he pulled his bike from the basement and raced into the city.

Upon reaching a quiet alley behind the department store, Gu Xiaodong looked around before wheeling his bike into the most secluded home.

It was a small courtyard with three rooms. As Xiaodong entered, a young woman with slightly anxious yet guilty eyes rushed out to meet him. "Xiao Zhe has a fever. I had no choice but to call you," she said.

"How did he get sick so suddenly? Wasn’t he fine when I checked on him yesterday?" Gu Xiaodong asked as he walked into the house.

There on the large bed in the inner bedroom lay a sleeping toddler boy. The boy’s face was flushed red, indicating an abnormal body temperature due to the fever.

Gu Xiaodong touched the child’s forehead and it was scorching hot. He quickly suggested, "You should pack up immediately and take him to the hospital."

The young woman, Liao Qing, quickly wrapped the child in a small blanket. Xiaodong took the child from her and they both hurried to the hospital.

Luckily, the hospital was not far away, only a ten-minute walk. There were not many people in the hospital at night, so there was no need to queue.

"What is the child’s name? How old is he?" The doctor asked after a glance at the child.

"Liao Zhe, fourteen months old," Liao Qing replied after a glance at Xiaodong.

The doctor swung a mercury thermometer and tucked it under Liao Zhe’s armpit, admonishing, "Hold his arm steady to stop the thermometer from falling. How do you parents look after your children? Only bringing him to the hospital when he’s this sick."

After the doctor finished listening to the child’s lung sounds with a stethoscope, he pulled out the thermometer five minutes later, "39.5 Celsius, high fever. There are murmurs in his lungs. Arrange for in-patient treatment, or he might develop pneumonia." He then wrote a prescription and handed it to Gu Xiaodong.

Gu Xiaodong accepted the prescription without saying anything to Liu Qing and walked out to make payment.

After settling in for the hospital stay and setting up the IV drip for the child, Gu Xiaodong looked at his watch and said, "You stay here and watch him. If I can’t make it tomorrow, I’ll send someone to bring you food."

Liao Qing’s eyes reddened, "The child is so sick. Can’t you stay with him for one night?"

"How did the child get sick? You don’t need me to tell you, right? Don’t play these tricks in the future." With that, Gu Xiaodong left without a second thought.

Tears welled up in Liao Qing’s eyes. She sat at the edge of the bed, facing her sleeping child, feeling great sorrow.

The day she met Gu Xiaodong, he had just been transferred back to T City. She was working at the military service office at the time. Because Xiaodong frequently shopped there, they eventually got acquainted.

Some affairs are pursued because of power, some because of loneliness. Gu Xiaodong was just like that. He did not love Liu Mei, but he loved the power behind Liu Mei. He also didn’t love Liao Qing but he felt less lonely with her.

They began an affair, and even though Liao Qing was aware that Ju Xiaodong was married, she couldn’t extricate herself from his allure.

In the beginning, Liao Qing was content being with Gu Xiaodong without any obligations. After she became pregnant, she quit her job and moved into a house that Gu Xiaodong had arranged for her.

However, as her child grew, Liao Qing grew tired of being a secret kept in the shadows. The child was born without an official residence registration, effectively an unregistered resident. She also avoided interacting with her neighbors for fear of revealing her situation.

She had enough of living in the shadows. She didn’t want her child to endure the same hardship. Therefore, she had been frequently inviting Gu Xiaodong to visit their child.

Today, disregarding the chilly May weather, she gave the child a cold bath in the yard.

Even so, instead of pulling Gu Xiaodong closer as she wished, she pushed him further away.

Tears streaming down her face, Liao Qing reflected on her miseries and looked at her sickly child with determination in her eyes.

Gu Xiaodong’s greatest love in this world was power. Power was his addiction. Once he had tasted the wonders it presented, he couldn’t quit.

Liao Qing was an outlier. He’d always thought of her as an obedient lover who knew her boundaries. Now, however, Liao Qing was beginning to show signs of discontent.

Gu Xiaodong schemed how to appease Liao Qing. Ideally, she would agree to leave the city with the child and he would provide for their living expenses. After all, Liao Zhe was his own son.

When Gu Xiaodong returned home, it was almost two in the morning. The living room was dark and Liu Mei was sitting awake in the bedroom, reading a book.

"Why haven’t you gone to bed?" Gu Xiaodong asked.

"Where have you been all night? You’re just coming home now?" Liu Mei counter-questioned.

"An old comrade had some issues, so I went to check on them." Gu Xiaodong casually replied while undressing.

Liu Mei stared at him for a while before saying, "My father invited us over for dinner tomorrow. Go straight there after work."

Gu Xiaodong paused for a moment, "Alright, I’ve got it." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Considering the recent events, Vice-Commander Liu was not pleased with Gu Xiaodong’s frequent quarrels with Liu Mei about divorce. Every time, he would publicly blame Liu Mei for being unreasonable but then criticize him in secret.

Especially, this time with the anonymous report about his embezzlement. Even though he narrowly escaped legal issues after a thorough investigation, it greatly upset the Vice-Commander.

He recalled his visit to the Vice-Commander’s office, where Liu had said, "Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Your lack of discretion has caught people’s attention. Many people would kill to be in your position for its leisure and graft. But I don’t want you to become one of them. Soldiers already work hard everyday, sweating in peace and bleeding in war. If you profit from their suffering, you don’t deserve to be a soldier."

Although he didn’t say it explicitly, Vice-Commander Liu must have had his suspicions about him. When Lu Zhanguo came back for the meeting, the anonymous report was filed, it was too much of a coincidence.

"Xiaodong, Xiaodong, what are you thinking about?" Liu Mei called Gu Xiaodong, who seemed lost in his thoughts.

"Nothing, I was wondering why your father wanted to see me?" Gu Xiaodong came back to his senses.

"He probably just wants to chat. If he wanted to discuss work, he would have asked you to visit his office," Liu Mei thought for a moment and replied.

"By the way, I decided to quit that company I started with my friend," Liu Mei added.

"Why quit? Is the business not good?" Gu Xiaodong asked with a surprised look.

"The business is good, but I think we should have a child. So, I decided to take care of my health," Liu Mei replied as she flipped through her book.