Back To The 80s-Chapter 459 - 469: Doubt_1

While Gu Xiaobei was secretly observing Sanshu (third brother), he was also quietly observing her. This woman indeed had attention to detail. It was a shame she didn’t remember their previous encounter.

Sanshu packed the tea leaves while smiling, she said, "This is the best black tea we have in our shop, a specialty of Nanhai City."

Gu Xiaobei smiled without saying a word and handed over the money for the tea, picked up her bag of tea leaves and left. This man was completely clueless about tea. Da Hong Pao is an oolong tea, not a black tea. It’s produced in Wuyi Mountain, not Nanhai. Was this a person who didn’t understand tea, yet running a tea shop?

Gu Xiaobei thought to herself while squinting her eyes at the sign of Fuqing Ming Tea. She left with doubt in her heart.

After watching Gu Xiaobei leave, Yang Tianhua came out from the small room and asked, "Sanshu, why did you make me go inside, while you stay to interact with her? I thought you didn’t want them to know about you."

Sanshu frowned, stared at the spot where Gu Xiaobei was standing and the spot where her gaze fell. His expression changed as he said, "Why don’t you clean the shop properly? Look at the dust on the tea drum."

Yang Tianhua glanced at it, swept it randomly with a duster, and discontentedly said, "Sanshu, it’s normal to have dust since the door is open all the time, isn’t it?"

Sanshu shook his head and said, "Look at the dust on the tea container. Not a single fingerprint indicates that our business is very poor. People may question why keep this shop open despite the bad business."

Yang Tianhua nodded and echoed, "Sanshu, I’ve been puzzled. If our business is so poor, why are we still sticking with this shop? Why don’t we sell those cheap tea leaves that we’ve bought?"

Sanshu glanced at Yang Tianhua, and mysteriously commented, "That tea is for Ou Ruoshui. Isn’t she arriving soon?"

Yang Tianhua appeared worried as he mentioned Ou Ruoshui, "If she comes, we won’t have anything to do with the business."

Sanshu laughed softly, "Don’t worry. The money she makes will be ours eventually." He deliberately exposed his lack of tea knowledge in front of Gu Xiaobei, to test her. He didn’t expect her to just smile and not correct his mistake. It seemed the game was getting more interesting.

Gu Xiaobei was riding the bike slowly going home, however, she abruptly stopped near the alley entrance. She suddenly realized that the shop owner of the tea shop had purposely stated the wrong origin and variety of the tea leaves. If he was the owner, he wouldn’t be mistaken, and if he wasn’t, there was no way he could pick out the Da Hong Pao correctly from a row of tea drums without labels. What was his intention?

Was he trying to mislead her into thinking he wasn’t the real owner? Or was there another reason?

Gu Xiaobei shook her head, regardless of his intentions, as long as she stayed cautious. After having this thought, she decided to push her bike and walked home.

Arriving home, she saw Xiaopang and Mo Wang playing with her grandpa and the soldier at the door.

As soon as Xiaopang saw Gu Xiaobei returning home, he ran towards her and called joyously, "Mama, mama." Running over to Gu Xiaobei with a beaming smile, he said, "Mama, Pangpang wants a ride on the bike."

Gu Xiaobei smiled and bent down to pick up Xiaopang and put him on the rear seat of her bike. She looked at Mo Wang, who had just run over, and laughed while asking, "Does Little Mo Wang want to ride too?"

Mo Wang looked at his sister, his eyes were full of eagerness, but he shook his head, as his father had told him to always let his sister have her way.

Gu Xiaobei observed her son’s conflicted expression with amusement. She balanced the bike with one hand and bent down to pick up Mo Wang and place him on the bike seat. She then said to Xiaopang, who was behind her, "Xiaopang, hold onto brother’s clothes tightly and stretch out your legs, don’t get your tiny feet stuck in the bike wheel, okay?"

She then started pushing the bike forward slowly, holding Mo Wang with one hand and the handlebar with the other, all while making sure that Xiaopang’s feet didn’t get stuck in the wheel. Lu Songyuan was standing on the other side of the bike, helping to support Xiaopang from behind.

As soon as Xiaopang entered the yard, he voluntarily asked to get off the bike. Gu Xiaobei found it strange that he was obediently acting out of character, usually demanding her to take him for a few more rounds before getting off.

"Xiaopang, why aren’t you riding anymore? Why are you being so obedient today?" Gu Xiaobei stopped the bike and asked Xiaopang while hugging him.

Xiaopang blinked his cute big eyes and seriously recited, "Mama tired, mama leg hurt, Pangpang needs to be good, mama happy."

Gu Xiaobei kissed Xiaopang’s soft face and laughed, "How come Xiaopang is so obedient, who taught Xiaopang to say this?"

"Daddy said, daddy said if Pangpang is good, daddy will buy candy when he gets home." Xiaopang didn’t quite understand the meaning of his father’s previous remarks, but he did remember his father’s promise of buying candy if he behaved. He was now waiting for his dad to come home and buy him candy.

Gu Xiaobei didn’t know when Lu Zhanguo had taught their child this, but she was very moved. She passionately kissed Xiaopang again and said, "Xiaopang is really a treasure."

She then hugged Mo Wang, who was beside her, and kissed him, "Mo Wang is also mama’s treasure."

Mo Wang pursed his lips, his eyes turned into crescents as he smiled shyly.

Wen Xiuqing brought some old bean pods from the vegetable garden and asked, "Why did you come back so early today?"

"I went to run some errands, and came straight back once I was done." Gu Xiaobei stood up and told Mo Wang and Xiaopang to play on their own while she went to help Wen Xiuqing with the beans.

Wen Xiuqing casually said, "The vegetables in the ground are almost finished. I told your dad to sow some vegetable seeds earlier. We would have been able to eat fresh vegetables by now if he did."

After Lu Songyuan and Wen Xiuqing arrived, Gu Xiaobei hadn’t had to worry about the vegetable garden. Now after hearing this, she comforted, "We can buy from the market when it’s needed."

"With such a large family, how much would we have to spend just on food? Even if we’re earning, we need to save." Wen Xiuqing stripped the veins from the bean pods and broke them into pieces.

As Gu Xiaobei saw Zhou Siping carrying Doudou out, she hurriedly asked, "What’s for dinner tonight? Why are you picking so many beans?"

"We’re going to have stewed noodles with beans. Your dad bought some pork belly today, it’s delicious for stewed noodles. We can also make a cold radish dish."

Zhou Siping came out carrying Doudou and glanced at the bean basin, saying, "Old beans are delicious to make stewed noodles, and the beans’ seeds are delicious to steam into bean buns."

Wen Xiuqing nodded, "Indeed, the dried beans from our courtyard, if we sort out the seeds, we can make bean buns for two meals." While saying that, she carried the beans basin into the kitchen to cook.

Zhou Siping sat down beside Gu Xiaobei while holding Doudou and sighed lightly, "I’m leaving the day after tomorrow. If Xiaolan has any problems, can you help her out? Although it’s a bit selfish of me, she’s my only daughter. Even if she is a mother herself, in my eyes, she’s still a child. I clearly know what my child is like. Xiaolan is a straightforward person who has trouble with interpersonal communication and does things completely according to her own feelings. With such a character, she’s likely to get hurt in business."

"I can see that you are a born businesswoman. If there’s anything Xiaolan isn’t doing right, can you give her some tips to prevent her from getting hurt?"