Back To The 80s-Chapter 516 - 508: Dawn_1

On their way back home with their baby, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help saying to Lu Zhanguo, "Today I brought my mom to Liao Qing. For a while, she won’t come bothering me, guess she’ll be after Liao Qing for money all the time."

Then, he discussed his encounter with Zhan Hezhi and how he had led Chen Qiumei and Liao Zhe to find Liao Qing.

Lu Zhanguo frowned, "Were you too impulsive? Why did you take them directly to him?"

"I was mad. I felt stifled and wanted them to feel the same." Gu Xiaobei said indignantly.

Looking at the thoroughly childish Gu Xiaobei, Lu Zhanguo laughed, "It’s not that you shouldn’t have done it, but you shouldn’t have instigated it. In the end, it could backfire and they might resent you. You could have orchestrated a chance encounter for them. Your parents must be eager to find Liao Qing. They don’t know anyone else in the provincial city, so they can only seek Guo Huaqiang’s help. You could let someone leak the information to Guo Huaqiang so that later, Zhan Hezhi will hate him instead."

Gu Xiaobei admired Lu Zhanguo, "How do you manage to talk about framing and scapegoating so elegantly? I wasn’t thinking that deep at the time. But now that you mention it, I really missed a great opportunity."

Lu Zhanguo continued, "But I’m afraid this thing won’t stay hidden for too long and Zhan Hezhi’s official career has probably reached its peak now."

Gu Xiaobei nodded, "Yes, it would be better if they could jail him for a few years. It’s a pity that maintaining a mistress isn’t a jail-able offense." And he laughed again, "Liao Qing is like a sword on a man’s career path. Whoever she’s involved with is doomed."

Lu Zhanguo said, "We may have to go on a mission next month. It will be long. For the factory business, consult your big brother more. If it’s not feasible, drop it. Don’t make things difficult for yourself."

"Yeah, I just hate losing money. Once I get over it, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry." Gu Xiaobei assured him with a smile.

The baby Xiaopang in Lu Zhanguo’s arms, sleepy and drowsy, wasn’t amused by his parents’ ongoing chatter, "Daddy, stop talking. Let’s go home."

The couple had to end their chat and pace quickly towards home.

...

Ji Xiangdong had been consistently trying to convince some leaders that their cooperation terms with Ou Tiannan were too passive. Although Ou Tiannan had brought a large sum of money, he was leading them by the nose. Many agreed terms under such passive circumstances might not stand the test of time.

The leaders didn’t care about that, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of achievements and performance, calling other suppositions unrealistic fantasies that hadn’t happened yet.

After several fruitless negotiations, Ji Xiangdong could only try to meet Ou Tiannan again. He was waiting for Ou Ruoshui to talk first, and he would follow up whatever outcome she brought back.

However, the result Ou Ruoshui brought back was that Ou Tiannan had already returned to Nanhai City after throwing a big cake at the provincial city, she hadn’t seen him.

Ji Xiangdong knew that Ou Tiannan was even more cunning than they thought and was Boxing them in with benefits. His departure, regardless of the reason, would make some leaders fearful of sudden loss, putting pressure on Ji Xiangdong to reconcile the matter before the end of June.

Listening to this, Gu Xiaobei, on the contrary, cheerfully said to Ji Xiangdong, "Big brother, there’s more than a month left. Don’t worry. Maybe there’ll be a turnaround by the end of the month? At worst, we’ll give them everything, and I’ll register a new one."

Ji Xiangdong knew that he could only be optimistic about facing whatever happened from now on.

Gu Xiaobei had no mood to go to the store, so he asked Qin Li to take care of it.

Seeing Gu Xiaobei in a low mood these days, Lu Zhanguo suggested a family outing.

"Great, our Xiaopang and Mo Wang haven’t been on a spring outing yet." Gu Xiaobei said with interest.

Bai Xiaolan also came over, "Where are we going for the outing? I want to go too."

"Of course, we’ll take you. Let’s go to a place with mountains and water and have a picnic." Gu Xiaobei said with a smile.

Seeing that his suggestion had went down well with Gu Xiaobei, Lu Zhanguo became more enthusiastic about choosing a location. "There’s Cat Mountain less than a hundred kilometers east of the provincial city. The scenery is quite good, and the river at the foot of the mountain is clear. We can go there."

"Good, are we going to roast a whole lamb again?" Gu Xiaobei, remembering the barbeques from a few years ago, asked excitedly.

"No, this time you will taste a delicacy you’ve never tried before." Lu Zhanguo teased.

The discussion moved to the question of transportation. As a jeep would be too small, they decided to hire a truck.

Thinking of it as a family gathering, Gu Xiaobei didn’t propose to invite Li Fengmei and others.

The date for the outing was set for the last Sunday in May.

...

Having nothing better to do, Gu Xiaobei took Xiaopang for a walk around the Coal Bureau Residential Area and casually checked how Ge Chunling’s new store was doing since its opening.

Following Gu Xiaobei’s recommendation, Ge Chunling opened her store not far from the residential area, next to the coal school and close to the residential area of Coal Bureau.

As a newly launched business, the store was neither thriving nor failing. The daily income was not much, but it was steady.

When Gu Xiaobei led Xiaopang there, he didn’t expect to see Zhao Hongmei and her child Erhu.

Zhao Hongmei was surprised at the sight of Gu Xiaobei, "Xiaobei, what brings you here? Where’s Mo Wang?"

"Mo Wang is home," Gu Xiaobei said with a smile.

Seeing Xiaopang, Ge Chunling quickly fetched some candy from the counter.

Xiaopang, staring at the candy, bit his lip and looked at Gu Xiaobei, "Mama, can I eat it?"

Gu Xiaobei shook her head, "No, it’ll hurt your teeth."

Xiaopang nodded and stole another glance at the candy in Ge Chunling’s hand.

Ge Chunling laughed, "It won’t harm if he eats a piece occasionally," then she brought out two biscuits and presented them to Xiaopang, "He can eat these. Auntie gives you these. Take them."

Xiaopang looked at the biscuits and then at Gu Xiaobei, "Mama, can I eat the biscuits?"

Gu Xiaobei smiled and nodded, "You can eat biscuits, but say thank you to auntie before you take them."

Xiaopang happily ran over to Ge Chunling and said sweetly, "Thank you, auntie," then grabbed the biscuit and ran back happily to Gu Xiaobei.

Zhao Hongmei admired, "Xiaopang is so obedient. Erhu, you should learn from your sister," and then smacked Erhu on the back of his head.

Erhu grinned, about to cry. Just as he was opening his mouth without making a sound, Zhao Hongmei scolded, "What are you crying for? Shut up!" Immediately, Erhu swallowed his sob, tears lingering in his eyes, dared not make a noise.

Gu Xiaobei remembered a saying from Lu Xun, "If you don’t treat him as a human when he’s young, he wouldn’t act like one when he gets older."

Zhao Hongmei loved her child very much, but often she wasn’t aware of her own words and actions, frequently resorting to beating and scolding.

After reprimanding her child, Zhao Hongmei turned to Gu Xiaobei with a smile, "Xiaobei, I heard from Honghe that you’re planning to close down your factory, why? On top of that, their boss sold his factory in Nanhai City and came here to do business, but, according to Honghe, their factory hasn’t been profitable in the past couple of years."