Back To The 80s-Chapter 473 - 484: Daily Life_1

Xiaopang noticed her parents having a pleasant conversation, ignoring her. With a pout, she exclaimed, "Mummy, Xiaopang is being good, where’s Xiaopang’s candy?"

Gu Xiaobei laughed, gave Xiaopang two pecks, and said, "Are you still longing for candies? Didn’t father give you one?"

Xiaopang blinked her large eyes. Was it the same thing if mother offered or father offered?

"Go check where your brother’s little boat has floated to?" Gu Xiaobei deflected.

Xiaopang pouted, unwillingly went to the bathroom, and soon ran out excitedly shouting, "Daddy, boat, Xiaopang wants a small boat too." She saw her brother moving the small paper boat around in the basin and it looked fun.

Lu Zhanguo handed the freshly folded paper boat to Xiaopang, reminding her, "Glide it gently, don’t get your clothes wet."

Gu Xiaobei leaned on Lu Zhanguo’s shoulder, lazily getting up and watched the chubby Xiaopang run into the bathroom. She said, "Watching the children grow little by little is such a blessing. Just think how heartbroken Xuerong must be. Aunt Zhuang met Xuerong today and cried so much. Although Xuerong didn’t recall anything, the blood ties are unbreakable. She cried bitterly holding Jiujiu in her arms."

Lu Zhanguo wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said, "Fortunately, it’s not too late. She’s alive and that’s all that matters. Tonight, the Zeng family has invited us for dinner, will you go?"

Gu Xiaobei blinked, curious. She asked, "Why did they suddenly think of hosting a dinner? Ever since they moved here, they’ve been eating at other people’s houses. They never hosted any guests."

Lu Zhanguo played with her chubby earlobe, explaining, "They’re celebrating Erhu’s third birthday, a gathering for everyone."

Gu Xiaobei quickly thought and asked, "Did Old Zeng say it himself, or did Zhao Hongmei say it?"

"Does it make a difference? Zhao Hongmei mentioned it."

Gu Xiaobei curled her lips, "Let’s not go. Xiaopang and Mo Wang’s cold have not recovered yet. We wouldn’t want to infect the child."

Lu Zhanguo nodded, "Alright, but it’s Erhu’s birthday after all. Should we bring something if we’re going for dinner?"

Gu Xiaobei agreed wholeheartedly in her mind. This was just Zhao Hongmei’s intention. Never inviting anyone to her house, until Erhu’s birthday - the perfect excuse. Not only to treat guests but also to pay back some favors, and possibly receive some gifts. It’s the child’s birthday after all, it would be inappropriate to go empty-handed.

After thinking for a while, she said, "There are some leftover canned fruits I got for Xiaopang and Mo Wang, you can take those over."

"Okay, I’ll cook dinner for you guys first, then I’ll head over."

Gu Xiaobei turned around, hugged Lu Zhanguo and gave him several kisses, "Hehe, so domesticated. No need for you to cook, you can go ahead. We can manage ourselves."

Seeing the two children hadn’t come out, Lu Zhanguo patted Gu Xiaobei’s head, got up, and went to the bathroom to check if the two little ones were getting their clothes wet. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Zhao Hongmei’s motives for hosting the dinner was pretty much how Gu Xiaobei guessed. Zeng Changzhi kept asking her to invite their former comrades for a meal but she always refused. She was waiting until Erhu’s birthday to host. Zeng Changzhi invited several comrades from the office while Zhao Hongmei took Erhu to personally invite them, deliberately emphasizing Erhu’s birthday.

As a result, that night, only the men turned up while the wives found various excuses not to go. Lu Zhanguo brought two cans of fruits, Wu Guanghan brought two packets of candy, Liu Hongbing brought two packets of pastries, and two others brought canned goods and tea leaves.

Zhao Hongmei looked at the items people had put on the table, smiling stiffly. How could this be? For a child’s birthday, shouldn’t they give at least three to five yuan? She had even bought a big rooster and two pounds of meat today. Now looking at it, it seemed like a loss.

As soon as Liu Hongbing entered, he said to Zeng Changzhi, "Your Erhu is celebrating his birthday, and you didn’t mention it at the office. I only heard about it from your sister-in-law in the afternoon, and didn’t have time to buy a gift. I just happened to have two packets of pastries at home, or else I wouldn’t even dare to come."

After hearing this, Zeng Changzhi was left speechless. He never expected Zhao Hongmei to have such a motive. His face turned the color of a pig’s liver and he stuttered embarrassingly, "Why celebrate a toddler’s birthday? Take your items back, or just sit and chat for a while." He finally understood why Zhao Hongmei was so happy in the morning when buying the chicken and the meat.

Zhao Hongmei was fuming with anger in the kitchen. How could these people be so stingy? For a child’s third birthday, would it make sense to bring just two packets of candy and pastries? Thinking about this, she cut off the two chicken legs and wings, put them in a plate, placed it on the balcony and set aside two-thirds of the meat.

She used the remaining chicken and made a pot of potato stew, cut the meat into small chunks, and made a cabbage and vermicelli stew, mixed a green radish salad, and fried some peanuts.

When Zeng Changzhi saw the four dishes on the table, his face turned green. When visiting others, they always had dishes full of meat. Now his own house had cabbage stew with barely any meat visible. However, he couldn’t express his anger in front of Lu Zhanguo and the rest, and managed to say while suppressing his anger, "Let’s eat. Our home is humble and the dishes are a bit plain, please don’t mind."

Certainly, if talking about good living conditions, only Lu Zhanguo’s and Liu Hongbing’s families were slightly better off. The others were more or less the same, each relying on a single salary to support the entire family. But when it came to hosting, everyone tried their best to prepare lavish meals full of meat. It looked better that way.

Everyone looked at the food on the table without showing any weird expressions. They all silently complimented their own wives’ foresight. If they had come, it would’ve been so embarrassing.

The dinner was not lively. Liu Hongbing and the others tried to buoy the atmosphere, but seeing Zeng Changzhi drinking silently, they gave up.

After half an hour of eating and some idle chat, Liu Hongbing and the rest excused themselves. Before leaving, Lu Zhanguo patted Zeng Changzhi’s shoulder and said, "It’s okay. It’s just a meal, don’t take it to heart."

After everyone left, Zeng Changzhi slammed the door shut, turned, glared at Zhao Hongmei, and said: "Are you satisfied now? Do I lack food or drink from you normally? Did you just enjoy slapping me in the face? You bought all that meat and didn’t cook it. Did you think the items they brought were too small? Are you really that stingy?"

Zhao Hongmei regretted serving the dishes in the first place. She shouldn’t have hidden the meat due to her gaming mood. She had been very careful not to make a sound all night. Now, hearing Zeng Changzhi blaming her, she argued, "I’m stingy? Why don’t you blame them for being stingy? It’s our Erhu’s third birthday. Look at what they brought. Do you see Gu Xiaobei’s family as poor? They just gave us two rotten cans of fruit, as if they were treating us like beggars."

Zeng Changzhi shook his head, "I was wondering why they didn’t bring their families. It seems you haven’t managed to make friends with anyone in the compound. How can you live without experiencing losses?"