Back To The 80s-Chapter 467 - 478: Habit_1

Gu Xiaobei merely acknowledged with a hum. She was now more curious as to why Xiangmin was doing this. As she thought, she couldn’t help but ask out loud, "Where do you and old Guo live now? We could come over someday to visit you and Xinxin."

Upon hearing this, Xiangmin’s face immediately changed. She waved her hands in denial, saying, "No need, no need. Our place is small. It’s enough that I come to visit you."

Gu Xiaobei felt there was something amiss. Could it be that Xiangmin was not actually living with Guo Huaqiang?

Xiangmin sat for a while. Seeing that Gu Xiaobei didn’t invite her to stay for lunch, she got up to say goodbye and left.

Gu Xiaobei, using her child’s cold as an excuse, didn’t walk Xiangmin out. Instead, she stood on the balcony after Xiangmin had left, watching her exit the building and run into Zhao Honghe who was just coming back. The two conversed as if they knew each other.

While Xiangmin was talking to Zhao Honghe, she uncontrollably turned her head to look back at Gu Xiaobei’s balcony.

It dawned on Gu Xiaobei. Xiangmin actually knew Zhao Honghe. Her home address was probably provided by Zhao Honghe. If they knew each other, their intention definitely involved her business, she didn’t believe Xiangmin sincerely wanted to reconcile with her.

Seeing her mom daydreaming, Xiaopang gently tugged at Gu Xiaobei’s sleeve, "Mom, mom, Pangpang didn’t eat the candy. Mom, Pangpang didn’t take."

Gu Xiaobei looked at Xiaopang who wanted credit for his restraint, unable to help but chuckle. She squatted down and said, "Xiaopang did well. You should never take things from strangers. Be a good obedient child."

Xiaopang nodded vigorously, "Pangpang didn’t take, mama give candy."

"Little rascal, already learning bargaining." Gu Xiaobei pinched Xiaopang’s little nose. "However, you have a cold, you shouldn’t eat too much candy. How about mom makes you some pear juice?"

Xiaopang thought about it. If he didn’t drink the pear juice, it seemed mom wouldn’t give him any candy, so he might as well drink the pear juice. He nodded, "Pangpang drink pear juice, big brother drink pear juice."

Gu Xiaobei served each child a bowl of pear juice and proceeded to prepare lunch.

She delayed lunch a bit to make some porridge and egg pancakes. Just as the meal was being served, someone knocked at the door.

Gu Xiaobei asked Mo Wang to watch Xiaopang and ensure he didn’t knock over his porridge bowl before dashing to open the door.

Li Fengmei arrived, carrying a bag full of things, laughed, "I just went to your small yard side. They said you are at home, have Xiaopang and Little Mo Wang’s colds improved?"

"Much better, why are you so busy that you still came today?" Gu Xiaobei quickly invited Li Fengmei inside.

"The fruit trees in our yard bore a lot of apples this year. They’re stored in the cellar now, so I brought some for the children since there is nothing much to eat now." Li Fengmei put down the bag beside the shoe rack and changed her shoes before coming in.

Seeing Xiaopang and Little Mo Wang obediently sitting near the tea table, with Little Mo Wang preventing Xiaopang from reaching for the bowls, she laughed, "Little Mo Wang has become a big brother, even knowing how to watch over his little sister."

"I’ll go get the bowls. Would you like to join us?" Gu Xiaobei asked and proceeded to the kitchen.

Li Fengmei quickly waved her hand, "No need, no need. I had a late snack this morning. Not much time has passed since I ate. Since winter came, my daughter-in-law insists we eat just two meals a day."

Gu Xiaobei did not hold back and voiced her concern, "Every day Teacher Zhang and his son are at school and eating only two meals. Can they handle it?"

"She insists on making Dadong and Xiaodong have a diet of rice soaked in lard soup. Both of them eat lunch at the school canteen, and when they get home at night, they have to eat our late dinner." Li Fengmei helplessly said.

"Lard with rice can be so greasy, the children might get an upset stomach." Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help feeling nauseous at the thought of rice soaked in water with a glob of lard.

Li Fengmei shook her head with a sigh, "Exactly. We dare not voice out our opinions against this. The minute we try to argue, she accuses us of being ungrateful despite her good intentions to look after our children. We have no choice but to tolerate her constant grumbling and ranting all day, with my son and his mother often at odds."

Gu Xiaobei wondered if this was a sign of menopause. She laughed, "Maybe it’ll get better after some time. By the way, Xiangmin came this morning and said that she got our address from you."

Li Fengmei was startled. She was annoyed and said, "That’s utter nonsense! I haven’t seen her recently. Besides, she’s been acting weird lately. Why would she suddenly want to make amends with us?"

Gu Xiaobei shook her head. Although she suspected Xiangmin and Zhao Honghe knew each other and probably wanted to harm her business, there was no evidence, so it was better not to spread rumors.

The two chatted while Xiaopang and Little Mo Wang finished their meal. Mo Wang even brought his empty bowl to the kitchen, tiptoeing to throw it into the sink. Xiaopang followed suit, carefully throwing his bowl into the sink.

Li Fengmei laughed and said, "Xiaopang and Little Mo Wang are really thoughtful, even cleaning up their bowls and helping with house chores."

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "They are just curious. Every time they see me do this, they also learn to do it. They don’t know how many bowls they’ve broken, but I didn’t stop them. I just told them to be gentle, and they got used to it."

"Exactly, if it was any other family, they wouldn’t have let the child do it after seeing broken bowls. So wasteful, but when they are older and are asked to do it, these very children would be too lazy." Li Fengmei stated in agreement.

After Xiaopang and Mo Wang had thrown their bowls into the sink, they went to the washroom to wash their hands. Gu Xiaobei had a small basin filled with water at their level for them to wash their hands.

For most children, washing hands was predominantly just fun. Mo Wang fetched a little water with his tiny hands and rubbed it on his face, thinking that he’d washed his face. Xiaopang did the same. Having splashed their hands in the water twice, they considered their hands clean and immediately ran excitedly to Gu Xiaobei, saying, "Mom. Washed hands, rub perfume."

Li Fengmei laughed at Xiaopang and said, "This vain little girl even knows about applying perfume. Come let Auntie see if your hands are clean."

Xiaopang willingly stretched out his clean, chubby palm for Li Fengmei to see.

Gu Xiaobei lightly tapped Xiaopang’s little head, dried her hands with a towel, then applied some lotion on her face. Xiaopang was excited about it and rubbed her face with her hands. She then asked Xiaobei, "Mom, do I smell good?"

"Yes, our Xiaopang smells the best," Gu Xiaobei complimented Xiaopang while hugging her.

Li Fengmei laughed and said, "It is true that boys and girls are just naturally different. Look at Mo Wang only rubbing his face with his sleeve and then running off to play. But Xiaopang is aware of smelling good."

After a bit of idle chat, Li Fengmei suddenly said, "I have been thinking of arranging a match for Li Juan, what do you think?"

"Why do you suddenly want to be a matchmaker? Do you have a suitable candidate in mind?" Gu Xiaobei asked curiously.

Li Fengmei spoke in a mysterious manner, "There is a teacher at Xiaodong’s school. He lost his wife to an illness. He has a little girl, aged three or four. He is quite good looking and is also a decent person."