Back To The 80s-Chapter 539 - 532: Shocked_1
Bai Xiaolan also realized recently Xiaobei didn’t visit as often. The weather was hot, and she felt slow and heavy in her body, not keen on wandering around. She had considered going to ask Xiaobei, but upon further reflection, she realized the issue was with her mother, and she was unsure of how to address it.
Bai Xiaolan originally wanted to talk to Zhou Siping about it, but after consideration, she felt that if she blurted out to Zhou Siping that Xiaobei hardly visited the courtyard due to her, it would only put Xiaobei in an awkward position.
Laying in bed at night, Bai Xiaolan couldn’t help but grumble to Ji Xiangdong: "With my mom around, Xiaobei doesn’t bring her kids over any more. This is not good if it’s going to be an ongoing thing."
"What happened?" Ji Xiangdong, who had been busy with work and coming home late, wouldn’t know whether Xiaobei was visiting during the daytime or not.
Bai Xiaolan sighed and said: "The other day, right before dinner, my parents went for a walk and haven’t come back, Doudou was hungry. We had about five or six leftover dumplings from lunch, my mother heated them up and served them to Doudou. Xiaopang and Mo Wang were just standing there watching. I was in the room and heard Xiaobei coming into the yard. I went to take a look and ended up at that scene. Xiaopang ran up to Xiaobei and told her she was hungry, Xiaobei didn’t have a choice but to go inside and break dry buns for Xiaopang and Mo Wang each."
"I talked to my mother about it later. Xiaopang and Mo Wang are children after all. When there was food, it should be shared among them. Then there was another time when I was picking tomatoes while my parents were gone, there was only one tomato left. My mom mixed sugar with it and ate it secretly with Doudou in the kitchen. When Xiaobei came back, Xiaopang mentioned how her brother had a sweet tomato and she wanted to have one too. I was embarrassed when I heard that. Oh, my mom really spoils Doudou, but I can’t say anything."
After listening, Ji Xiangdong patted Bai Xiaolan’s pregnant belly and said: "Don’t worry about it, there is no right or wrong here. In your mother’s heart, Doudou is her own, and she naturally wants to give the best food to her grandson. Xiaobei is a mother too, she must feel the same way about her children. We’ll go see Xiaobei tomorrow and talk openly about this. As for your mother, don’t bring it up. She’s old and her intentions are good, even if a bit misguided. If you suddenly bring it up, she might feel like Xiaobei said something. We were trying to help, but end up making their meetings awkward."
Bai Xiaolan fidgeted anxiously with her hair: "Oh, this is all so embarrassing."
.........
The next morning, before Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan went to see Xiaobei...
Xiaobei and Lu Zhanguo arrived along with their two children and even made a detour to the market and bought two carp on the way.
As soon as Xiaopang entered the yard, she rushed over to Doudou saying, "Doudou, Doudou, look at the fish."
Doudou, who was almost a year old, was very curious. He wriggled his tiny bottom and waddled over to see the fish.
Xiaobei went to the kitchen, brought out a big bucket, poured some water into it, and dropped the fish in. She set it down in the middle of the yard for the children to watch.
Doudou, being young, couldn’t resist trying to touch the fish with his hands. Each time he went to touch it, Xiaopang grabbed his hand and seriously said: "Mummy said fish can bite, don’t touch it."
Zhou Siping laughingly commented: "Xiaopang is indeed two years older, starting to act like a big sister."
Xiaobei merely smiled without uttering a word and headed to the vegetable garden to pick cowpeas.
Nowadays, they have so many vegetables in the garden they couldn’t finish eating. They pick the excess, dry those that needed drying, and made sauce out of others.
It was sunny these few days, so she picked the cowpeas, hung them under the grapevine, where they would half-dry in two days.
Lu Zhanguo and Ji Xiangdong sat under the grapevine playing chess, while Wen Xiuqing and Lu Songyuan would leisurely stroll along the Yellow River every morning before slowly walking back.
Bai Xiaolan asked Zhou Siping to watch the three children, and she went to help Xiaobei pick the cowpeas.
Seeing Bai Xiaolan waddling over with her large belly, Xiaobei hurriedly asked, "What are you doing? The inside of the cowpeas trellis is unbearably hot. You should go back."
"It’s all right. I’ll help you with the cowpeas. This bit of work won’t kill me, otherwise, I might completely become a good-for-nothing." Bai Xiaolan said with a laugh.
"Fine then, just be careful when you’re crossing the ridges. Watch where you’re going." Xiaobei warned her.
Once Bai Xiaolan got to the cowpeas trellis, she couldn’t help but speak up in a hushed voice: "Xiaobei, tell the truth, are you avoiding this place because of my mom?"
Xiaobei was stunned for a moment, then she smiled and said: "No, don’t worry about it too much. It’s hot, I just want to stay home with the kids, lazing around."
Bai Xiaolan hesitated for a moment, then said: "My mother..."
Xiaobei quickly interjected: "Don’t you dare say anymore, I’ll be really angry if you continue. Don’t overthink, I just genuinely didn’t feel like moving. Plus, I’m not busy at this time. Bringing the two kids back to our family compound lets our parents rest more. Didn’t you see how much better Dad is faring lately? Let’s not make careless remarks in the future." She even pretended to be slightly annoyed.
Seeing Xiaobei didn’t want to discuss it further, Bai Xiaolan readily replied: "Okay, I won’t mention it anymore. If anything is bothering you in future, come to speak with me directly."
The two of them picked cowpeas while laughing and chatting when suddenly Zhou Siping exclaimed in a loud and surprised voice: "Qi Family, I’ve finally met you."
"Why do you look so tanned, and skinny? Does your research have you working under the sun? We’re both in the same city, and I haven’t seen you once in a whole year." Zhou Siping was both concerned and grumbled at the same time.
Xiaobei and Bai Xiaolan stopped picking cowpeas and went over to see Cheng Qijia, carrying the cowpeas they picked.
After a year apart, the change in Cheng Qijia was genuinely a shock. His skin was both dark and rough, with cracks appearing around his mouth.
Cheng Qijia greeted everyone with a smile, then softly said to Zhou Siping: "Auntie, I’m doing well, it’s just that this year really kept me busy."
Lu Zhanguo and Ji Xiangdong stood up, letting Cheng Qijia sit and talk.
Cheng Qijia could tell from Zhou Siping’s reaction that Lu Zhanguo didn’t inform the family about his injuries, so he kept mum about it to spare Zhou Siping the fright.
Zhou Siping looked at Cheng Qijia, continuously murmuring: "Look at you, you have become so tanned. Have you called your mother? You better call her ASAP. Your mother is worried sick."
"I already called her before I came over."
Zhou Siping looked Cheng Qijia up and down again, murmuring: "A good young man like you getting tanned like this, even if you go out for a blind date now, which girl would be interested."
"Mom, my brother just arrived, he hasn’t even had a sip of water yet, why are you nagging him so much?" Bai Xiaolan grumbled unhappily from one side.
Zhou Siping gave her daughter a glance: "You just keep defending him. Let’s see what you’ll do when your aunt arrives next month!"
Cheng Qijia laughed and said: "Auntie, don’t worry, I have a girlfriend now. You don’t need to worry about me anymore."
"What? You have a girlfriend? Whose daughter is she? What does she look like?" Zhou Siping asked in disbelief.
Xiaobei, who was listening from one side, was also quite surprised but happy for him.
Lu Zhanguo was momentarily taken aback, then he began pouring tea for Cheng Qijia.
Seeing the curious looks on Bai Xiaolan and others’ faces, Cheng Qijia smiled faintly and said: "When I have some free time, I will bring her along for you all to see, but it seems like I will need to get approval from her parents first."
