Back To The 80s-Chapter 565 - 557: Warning_1
Upon speaking about her daughter, Li Fenghua’s smile deepened. "She’s a year and a half now, her name is Wenwen. She’s quite the handful, like a little boy." Her words were filled with affection.
"A mischievous girl will have a good personality when she grows up."
"Both of your kids are so beautiful, which many people are envious of."
The two started to exchange compliments.
Lu Zhanguo and Zhang Lijun also started to chat.
"Now that you, old soldiers, are retired, you can finally relax for a few days." Zhang Lijun asked.
"Hmm, we’ll be getting new troops soon. How’s the recruitment going in G City this year?"
Zhang Lijun said, "We’ve recruited a lot of ’culture’ soldiers from the provincial capital, many of whom just graduated from junior high school. Education levels will likely keep rising."
Lu Zhanguo nodded in agreement.
Zhang Lijun casually mentioned, "There are quite a lot of female soldiers enlisted this year, but there are only a few slots open."
This did not surprise Lu Zhanguo. Female soldiers enlist each year and many of them use connections to get in. Most of them end up in relaxed and respectable units like the communications regiment, medical teams, and literature and art troops. Those from the city even get assigned to jobs after demobilization.
Zhang Lijun shook his head and said, "This year is even stranger. The higher-ups asked us to reserve a slot for a female soldier who hasn’t even come for a physical exam yet, and she’s well above the usual age limit. We have more people pleading for help than there are people in the marketplace, yet this one slot just sits open. I wonder who this sacred one is."
Lu Zhanguo disapproved of this and felt relieved to be at the basic level, where his job was simply to lead the troops.
Gu Xiaobei and Li Fenghua made some small talk and went to the kitchen to help Li Fengmei make dumplings.
Li Fengmei had already prepared the filling and was currently rolling out the dough.
"You’re quick. We only chatted for a bit and you’re already making the dumplings?" Gu Xiaobei washed her hands and came over to help.
"I minced the meat and made the dough. It’s not difficult to chop up some bok choy. Does it seem too quick?" Li Fengmei rolled the dough adeptly as she spoke. "I bought the meat from Li Juan. Why not support her business? Besides, all I have to do is ride my bike a bit farther. Li Juan told me that she has seen Xiangmin multiple times recently. It seems like Xiangmin has been pedaling around collecting scrap."
Gu Xiaobei was somewhat surprised that Xiangmin could put her pride aside to do this kind of work. "There’s nothing wrong with collecting scraps. As long as she takes it step by step, she can earn money"
Li Fengmei sighed, "That’s true. But it’s hard work and it’s not safe for a woman to roam around the streets. Nowadays there are so many hoodlums around." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
Gu Xiaobei said nothing. Her compassion was limited and she couldn’t spare any for Xiangmin.
"But her doing this means she’s trying to turn over a new leaf. After a few hard years, she’ll be back on her feet." Li Fengmei sighed empathetically.
After lunch at Li Fengmei’s house, Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei took their children back home as the snow had stopped.
Lu Zhanguo suggested going to the courtyard as the snow in the courtyard and on the roof hadn’t been cleared.
Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan had already returned early. Ji Xiangdong had cleared the snow in the courtyard and helped clean the snow at Lao Ji’s place.
Bai Xiaolan was cross-legged on the kang in the west room, nursing Tiantian. Seeing Gu Xiaobei coming in, she pat the kang happily, "Come sit here with Xiaopang and Mo Wang. I just warmed up the kang."
Gu Xiaobei took off the children’s shoes, carried them onto the kang. Xiaopang crawled over happily, looking at Tiantian, "Such a beautiful baby brother."
Bai Xiaolan pinched Xiaopang’s cheek, smiling. "My girl has such a sweet mouth."
"Where are Bai Aunt and Doudou?" Gu Xiaobei asked.
"They are watching TV in the east room, didn’t you go over there?"
Gu Xiaobei shook her head, "I saw that the snow in the courtyard had been cleared so I thought you guys had already come over and I came straight here."
"We came back before noon, thinking you guys would be here too. We even bought a roasted goose but you guys didn’t show up, so we saved half for you." Bai Xiaolan cradled Tiantian and patted him for burping.
"Who would have thought that in this heavy snow you guys would bring Tiantian out?"
Bai Xiaolan frowned when mentioning this. "My mom insisted on coming over to discuss her plan to go back to the Capital City for the Spring Festival."
Gu Xiaobei thought that was not a problem. "Going home for the Spring Festival is reasonable. You can’t just leave your father in Capital City for the holiday. After Bai Aunt leaves, you guys can just move back in."
"My mom wants to take Doudou with her. Xiangdong and I definitely disagree. I worry about her traveling by train alone. Now she wants to bring a child. Besides, I can’t bear to let Doudou leave me." Bai Xiaolan sighed.
"Just clear things up."
"My mom came over to persuade my parents, hoping that they would also talk to me and Xiangdong." Bai Xiaolan couldn’t understand Zhou Siping’s thinking. She and Ji Xiangdong disagreed and of course, Granny and Grandpa wouldn’t agree either.
Gu Xiaobei also felt that Doudou was too young, and Zhou Siping could barely take care of herself. Bringing a child along would only create trouble.
Zhou Siping’s idea was straightforward - she wanted her old partner to see their grandchild. But she overestimated her own ability. She always felt that she could handle a big bag of forty to fifty pounds up and down the train. So how could she not cope with a child of just over twenty pounds?
Moreover, there were Mo Wang and Tiantian at Lu Songyuan’s place, so taking one of them wouldn’t make much of a difference. It would actually lighten their burden.
Of course, Lu Songyuan and Wen Xiuqing could not agree, firstly for safety reasons and then if anything happened to the child while in her care, who would be responsible?
Wen Xiuqing tried convincingly to talk her out of it. Luckily, they had known each other for many years, so they didn’t separate on bad terms. Eventually, Zhou Siping decided to let Ji Xiangdong book her a train ticket to Capital City at the end of the month.
Once she left, Bai Xiaolan and Ji Xiangdong would move back to the small courtyard.
...
After the snowfall, the park was extraordinarily peaceful, with only a few sparrows occasionally fluttering by in search of food.
In one corner of the park, a small theater group had set up a temporary stage where they would sing some songs when the weather was good.
Xu Yanhong looked at the man standing with his back to her and frowned, "Didn’t I tell you not to contact me? Why are you still doing so?"
The man’s voice was hoarse, "I’m just reminding you in case you’re having too good a time."
"When is the old man coming to the provincial capital?" Xu Yanhong asked.
"Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. What are you doing going to that family courtyard every day? Are you planning on targeting those two children?"
Xu Yanhong sneered, "Aren’t you the one who wants to target the children? Don’t you hate Lu Zhanguo intensely? Remember, back on the Tea Horse Trail, he was the one who killed your older brother."
The man suddenly turned around, glaring fiercely at Xu Yanhong, "Don’t mention that! Are you trying to provoke me, hoping that I’ll impulsively kill Lu Zhanguo? Then you can take my place."
Xu Yanhong pursed her lips, "If you want revenge, I can provide you with information. But, you have to listen to me here in the provincial capital."
"Shut up, I don’t need you. Those two kids won’t get away! I’m warning you, you’d better stop meddling in things that are none of your business. Just do your own job, and remember, those two kids are mine. You’d better keep them untouched for me."
Xu Yanhong looked at the man with contempt, "You should know, once I have my eye on prey, there is no escape! Let alone me graciously handing them over!"
