Back To The 80s-Chapter 525 - 517: Fragrant_1
After listening, Lu Zhanguo furrowed his brows. According to what Liu Hongbing had said, it would be impossible for Luo Renliang to help Zhong Zhi. Could he have been mistaken?
Once Liu Hongbing finished speaking, he couldn’t help but ask, "Why do you suspect Luo Renliang? Do you have any evidence, or did you overhear something?"
Lu Zhanguo replied coolly, "Nothing. It’s just a guess."
Liu Hongbing felt like coughing up blood. Could his boss be a little more reliable? It was all just a guess!
"For now, based on our investigations, there’s no possibility of Luo Renliang abetting in the wrongdoing, let’s change our approach," suggested Liu Hongbing.
Lu Zhanguo nodded, "I understand."
Liu Hongbing analyzed, "Zhong Zhi, even if he wanted to retaliate against you, would hardly involve someone from the military. Wouldn’t that be a bit too obvious? Also, how could he possibly know that you guys went to Cat Mountain? Luo Renliang would have been even less likely to know."
Lu Zhanguo looked at Mo Wang sitting on the small bench. He neither confirmed nor contradicted Liu Hongbing’s analysis. At times, intuition is a peculiar thing. Once it takes root in his heart, he wanted to dig deeper and find out the truth.
After Liu Hongbing left, Lu Zhanguo went into the house looking for Xiaopang. This little girl had been inside for a long time without making a peep - it was suspiciously silent.
Pushing open the door to the master bedroom, even Lu Zhanguo was startled by what he saw, despite his experience on the battlefield.
Xiaopang had stealthily opened the Xiafei Whitening Honey that Ou Ruoshui had given to Gu Xiaobei, her face was smeared with a thick layer that was even rubbed into her hair. Her face was like it had been dunked in a pot of flour. When she saw her father enter, Xiaopang opened her large eyes that were almost pasted shut, grinning with laughter.
Lu Zhanguo coughed a few times, chuckling, "Xiaopang, what on earth are you doing? Why did you open mommy’s facial oil?"
"I’m putting on perfume. Daddy, smell it. Does it smell good?" Xiaopang replied, after smearing the cream on her head a few more times, and extending her little white hands for Lu Zhanguo to smell.
Lu Zhanguo, holding Xiaopang’s wrist, smiled and said, "It smells beautiful. Even without it, Xiaopang smells beautiful. Shall we go and wash it off now?"
Xiaopang shook her head, "No wash. No wash. If I wash, it won’t smell nice."
When Gu Xiaobei came back, she happened to see Lu Zhanguo leading Xiaopang out of the bedroom. Xiaopang’s face had a thick layer smeared on it, resembling cream, only exposing a pair of big, shiny eyes. She laughed so hard at the sight of Xiaopang’s face that she nearly had tears in her eyes, pointing at Xiaopang and saying, "No wonder they say-dads can’t look after the kids. Look at her face. Hahaha."
Lu Zhanguo stood in the room feeling wronged, with his comical princess in tow.
Gu Xiaobei first wiped Xiaopang’s face and hair with a wet towel, and then washed it with soap. She laughed and said, "Xiaopang, you can’t secretly use mommy’s cream, you know? Don’t you have your own perfume?"
Xiaopang was rather scared of her mother so while being washed, she didn’t dare to utter a sound. After washing, she touched her face and said, "Mommy, it doesn’t smell nice anymore."
"It smells nice. Very nice." Gu Xiaobei said perfunctorily, leading Xiaopang out of the bathroom.
"Chen Qiumei’s mother is coming tomorrow. I’m going to help out there, so you should bring Xiaopang and Mo Wang over at lunchtime," Gu Xiaobei handed Xiaopang over to Lu Zhanguo and said.
Lu Zhanguo nodded, "You go over there at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. I have to get something done before ten."
Gu Xiaobei casually asked, "What are you going to do?"
Lu Zhanguo paused a moment before mumbling, "I need to go to the camp."
At Gu Xiaobei’s questioning, he replied, "Would you prefer noodle soup or cold noodles for dinner?"
"Let’s have cold noodles, with celery sauce."
"Eh, how did you know I brought celery back?" asked Gu Xiaobei, curious. She had put the celery in her cloth pocket, not even a leaf was sticking out.
Lu Zhanguo smiled and said, "When you came over to take Xiaopang to wash her hands, I smelled celery on you. You must have cut the celery and not washed your hands."
"You smelled it again. That’s pretty impressive." Gu Xiaobei was not surprised. The last time when she took Liu Cuicui to the hospital, this man had also immediately picked up on her smelling of hospital disinfectant.
Watching Gu Xiaobei pick up her cloth pocket and head into the kitchen, Lu Zhanguo had a glint in his eye. An idea began to form in his mind.
The next day before dawn, Lu Zhanguo went to the military camp. Standing on the edge of the training field, watching the team doing the morning exercises, Luo Renliang was running at the back of the team. He was an office worker and hardly participated in training, but he managed the five kilometers of morning exercises quite comfortably. Lu Zhanguo could see that if Luo Renliang were to tap into his hidden strength, his results would definitely be even better.
Lu Zhanguo quietly watched the team disperse. Then, Liu Hongbing, the third squadron captain, came over and asked, "On which day is your team doing the live-fire training?"
"Next Monday," replied Liao Haijiang, the captain of the third squadron.
"Alright, I got it." Lu Zhanguo did not say more, he turned around and went back home.
He decided to have all the members participate in the live-fire training exercise on Monday.
When Lu Zhanguo got home, Gu Xiaobei quickly tidied up and prepared to go and help out at the small yard. She first cycled to the market on Bridge Street to buy live carp before heading to the small yard.
When Gu Xiaobei arrived, Zhou Siping was already sitting under the grape trellis, hugging his grandson, Doudou, chatting with Wen Xiuqing and the others.
Seeing Gu Xiaobei enter, he laughed and said, "I was just wondering why I hadn’t seen you guys. Why didn’t you bring Xiaopang and Mo Wang?"
"They’ll be coming over with Zhanguo in a while. I came ahead to see if I could assist with anything," Gu Xiaobei laughed as she parked her bike and carried the fish into the kitchen.
Zhou Siping said awestruck to Wen Xiuqing, "Look at your daughters-in-law, Xiaobei and Fang Jing, they’re both straightforward people. It’s pleasant to get along with such people, unlike me who’s always sulking at home."
Bai Xiaolan sat next to Zhou Siping, discreetly tugged his clothes, reminding him not to air their dirty laundry.
Zhou Siping felt that he had spoken a bit too much and quickly laughed it off, "I didn’t consider you as outsiders, sometimes I talk too much without thinking."
Wen Xiuqing laughed and said, "There’s no need to be so formal. Say whatever you want. But I’ve recently realized that living harmoniously is still the best. Otherwise, both parties end up angry."
Zhou Siping chuckled, but didn’t say another word.
Ji Xiangdong had taken leave especially for that day. He had gone early to the train station to pick up Zhou Siping, and was now busy slaughtering and plucking a chicken.
After Gu Xiaobei arrived, she greeted Zhou Siping and immediately got busy in the kitchen.
With the garden now providing plenty of fresh vegetables, Gu Xiaobei made braised fish, spicy chicken chunks, stir-fried celery and meat, stir-fried eggs and leeks, green pepper and meat, stir-fried Chinese flowering cabbage, home-style tofu, as well as mixed radish and cucumber salad, plus an omelette.
Ten dishes were placed on the table, filling it up. By the time the food was ready, Lu Zhanguo had already arrived with the two children.
Once the food was prepared, Wen Xiuqing invited Zhou Siping to take a seat at the head of the table.
Zhou Siping smiled and said, "Why make a fuss over seating, we’re all family. Just sit anywhere."
"Oh, it’s so lively at home today. Is there some celebration? We really hit the jackpot," As Wen Xiuqing and Zhou Siping were still offering each other the seat of honor, they heard Chen Qiumei joking as she walked into the courtyard.
