Back To The 80s-Chapter 49: Aunt_1

When Gu Xiaobei woke up, Lu Zhanguo had already left; realizing there was one less person in the house suddenly giving it a sense of emptiness, she felt a tightening in her chest, her eyes also welled up red. After tossing and turning in bed for over a while, she finally got up to wash up and prepare for work.

Her mood was already sour, and when she arrived at the company to find out that Wang Chuanjiang and Liu Ying had been assigned work, her mood turned even fouler.

Given that Wang Chuanjiang had finished high school and could therefore be considered somewhat cultured, he was made the company cashier, with Liu Ying being in charge of the company’s cleaning.

The office originally had only three tables; they found another one in the warehouse and then put the four tables together.

Gu Xiaobei and Jin Cheng sat in one row, facing Ling Yun, with Wang Chuanjiang sitting across Jin Cheng. Gu Xiaobei was content with this arrangement; at least she didn’t have to face the person she disliked the most.

Wang Chuanjiang looked at Gu Xiaobei and said, "Xiaobei, we both come from the same city, and now we work in the same company, we could look out for each other in the future."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t even look at him and replied, "That’s unnecessary. You just take care of yourself."

"Xiaobei..." Before he could continue speaking, Jin Cheng from next to him said impatiently, "Are you annoying, did you come here to work or to reminisce?"

Wang Chuanjiang dared not speak anymore. Seeing how Jin Cheng was dressed, he also knew that his family either had power or money, which was more than he could handle.

Gu Xiaobei spent the entire morning in a daze until Qin Li ran in like a gust of wind toward noon.

Qin Li walked in, gave everyone a smile, then went to Gu Xiaobei, took out an aluminum lunch box from her pocket, and said, "Sister Xiaobei, these are the dumplings my mother made yesterday. I brought you some to try."

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "Thank you, you ran all the way here, you’re still soaked with sweat."

Qin Li chuckled and said, "It doesn’t matter." Then she went over and kicked Jin Cheng’s stool, "Get up, let me sit for a moment."

Seeing this girl ignored him completely from the moment she walked in, and now she even asked so confidently for a stool, Jin Cheng provoked, "What if I don’t,what are you going to do?"

Qin Li wasn’t annoyed and laughed, "The other day, your mother was asking my mother if there were any suitable girls for you. I’ll tell my mother when I get back, there are several single girls in our office."

"Brat, you’re turning bad, huh." Saying so, Jin Cheng got up and patted Qin Li’s head.

Qin Li glanced at him sideways and didn’t speak. She sat down, cuddled up to Gu Xiaobei and said, "Sister Xiaobei, are you free on Sunday?"

Jin Cheng huffed through his nose, then walked out. Gu Xiaobei said, "I have time. Do you need something?"

"Shopping, do you want to come along?"

"Sure." Gu Xiaobei thought that there was really nothing else to do anyway, and Lu Zhanguo wasn’t there, so a shopping trip could be nice.

"Then I will pick you up at your neighborhood gate at nine in the morning, and we’ll have breakfast together outside," suggested Qin Li.

Gu Xiaobei nodded in agreement. After laughing and chatting for a few moments, Qin Li suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, I’m here on the sly, if my master finds out, he’ll scold me again."

As she hurried out, Qin Li didn’t forget to say, "Sister Xiaobei, don’t forget about it."

Gu Xiaobei waved and smiled, "I know, just hurry back."

Jin Cheng came in leisurely after Qin Li left. He sat down and said to Gu Xiaobei, "You better stay away from that brat. She is quite a handful and might lead you astray." But there was a hint of indulgence in his tone.

Gu Xiaobei didn’t respond. Although Jin Cheng had not bothered her these past two days, she really didn’t like this sort of off-kilter man, and so didn’t bother with him.

After lunch, there was an hour of rest time. Gu Xiaobei would always climb onto a table and rest for a bit, but today, thinking of Wang Chuanjiang and Jin Cheng back in the office, she moved a stool outside to sit in the shade.

In the mid-May weather, the midday sun could be rather harsh, with its rays prickling sharply upon the skin. At this time, Liao Qing arrived, cradling her child in her arms.

When Gu Xiaobei saw Liao Qing and her son, Little Liao Zhe, entering the courtyard, with the baby’s little face flushed from the sun, she couldn’t help but feel affectionate, "Sister, why didn’t you bring an umbrella while carrying the child out under such a blazing sun?"

Liao Qing replied with a smile, "I got along well with sister Cuicui at the hospital that day, and today, having nothing better to do, I thought I’d come over for a visit. We’ve been walking in the shade all the way here." Then she said to Little Liao Zhe, "Look, we’re seeing auntie again. Little Zhe, be nice, call auntie."

"How can he call you ’auntie’? He should call me ’sister’." wondered Gu Xiaobei. Is it so casual to call someone ’aunt’?

Liao Qing confessed a little embarrassingly, "As a single mother, we have no relatives. If it weren’t for you yesterday, Little Zhe might have been lost. So we thought that by calling you ’aunt,’ it would make us feel more like a family."

In her previous life, Gu Xiaobei was an orphan herself and knew only too well the hardships of being alone. She felt pity for Little Liao Zhe, a child of a single parent, and quickly said, "It doesn’t matter what he calls me. You came to see Cuicui, didn’t you? She’s in the next room."

Liao Qing was in no hurry to go inside, she held Little Liao Zhe in her arms and said, "Little Zhe, say thank you to auntie."

"Tank you, auntie," Little Liao Zhe said obediently.

"You’re welcome, the next time we see each other, auntie will buy you some candy," said Gu Xiaobei, touching the boy’s little face.

Jin Cheng was standing in the doorway of the office, watching the two with an inscrutable look. When Liao Qing took the child into Cuicui’s room, Jin Cheng stared at Gu Xiaobei for a while and said, "You two look alike." Then he turned around and went into the office.

Gu Xiaobei was bewildered, she touched her face, where exactly did she resemble Liao Qing?

Before Liao Qing could quite foster a relationship with Gu Xiaobei, Gu Xiaodong came looking for her that night.

When Liao Qing saw Gu Xiaodong, she was quite happy and eagerly asked, "Why are you here at this hour? Have you eaten yet?"

Gu Xiaodong sat on the sofa in the middle room, cradling Little Liao Zhe, and said with a grunt, "You and Little Zhe should go to L City next door, I’ll buy you a house there, and I’ll give you a hundred yuan a month for living expenses. You can hire a housemaid then."

Liao Qing felt a chill in her heart after hearing this; he was planning to completely abandon them. She asked shakily, "Are you planning to cut all ties with us? Little Zhe doesn’t even have a hukou, do you want him to be a non-resident for the rest of his life?"

Gu Xiaodong frowned, "I will find a way to get Little Zhe a food ration hukou in L City. I can visit you in L City when I have time, but it’s too easy for people to find out about you two here. If that happens, I will lose my career, my job, and then you two will have to starve with me?"

With grief in her voice, Liao Qing said, "If Little Zhe can be with his father, what’s the hardship in that?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Such is a woman’s view, start packing your things. I’ve asked someone to buy the house, I will send you over there in a few days," said Gu Xiaodong, devoid of any emotion.

Liao Qing glanced at Little Liao Zhe, who was sitting quietly in Gu Xiaodong’s arms, then clenched her teeth and said, "I will not leave T City. If it comes to that, we will never have anything to do with each other again."

Gu Xiaodong sneered coldly, "If that’s really the case, then why are you approaching Gu Xiaobei?"

Liao Qing stared wide-eyed at Gu Xiaodong. She was shocked that this man actually had full knowledge of her every move, and she couldn’t help but break out into a cold sweat.

After playing with the child for a while, Gu Xiaodong got up to leave. Without looking back, he walked out of the gate. He did not notice a figure lurking in the shadows of the alleyway.