Back To The 80s-Chapter 88 - 87: Picking a Quarrel_1

Li Juan seemed somewhat embarrassed. Gu Xiaobei glanced at the three of them and went straight home without saying a word.

Li Juan was accompanied by her father, Li Laosi, and her mother, Zheng Chunhua.

Looking at Gu Xiaobei’s retreating figure, Zheng Chunhua asked, "Is this woman also from your compound?"

"Yeah, she’s the platoon leader’s wife," Li Juan replied.

"Who’s higher ranking between her husband and Wen Dong?" Zheng Chunhua asked provocatively.

"Her husband is the platoon leader here. His position is higher than Wen Dong’s." Li Juan was straightforward, without any intention to hide the truth.

"You didn’t greet her just now. Look at how thoughtless you are. I don’t know who you’ve taken after." Zheng Chunhua scolded Li Juan, even hitting her on her arm.

Li Juan frowned but kept silent. Li Laosi did not care about this matter but instead said, "Quickly deliver a message to your brother and tell him to come back as soon as possible."

Li Laosi, at heart, was a traditional and somewhat obstinate man. He felt uncomfortable that his son, who was now married, was living at his wife’s place. It felt as if his only son had gotten married but was still dependent on his wife’s family.

The elderly couple had come this time with the idea of either taking their son and daughter-in-law back to their hometown or, in the worst-case scenario, divorcing them. Even though they were not satisfied with their daughter-in-law, it was already a done deal and there was nothing they could do about it.

If the daughter-in-law was unwilling to return to their hometown with them, they would suggest divorce. Their son would still have to go with them too. After all, the whole point of raising a son was to have someone to take care of them in their old age.

Li Juan verbally agreed. In her heart, however, she was anxious. She had arranged a job for Li Hao and managed his wedding affairs. If Li Hao disobeyed and refused to come home, her mother would probably take out all these frustrations on her.

Once Gu Xiaobei got home, she first boiled a large pot of hot water and took a bath in a basin in the room. She wished she could soak in a bathtub on such a warm day.

Feeling refreshed after her bath, she took a short rest and then went to the washing room with her dirty clothes.

Xiangmin was in the washing room doing laundry. When she saw Gu Xiaobei coming in, she glanced at her and kept quiet.

Gu Xiaobei ignored Xiangmin and went to the faucets on the other side of the room to wash her clothes. It was a tick of Gu Xiaobei’s to be overly cautious.

Seeing that Gu Xiaobei was behaving as if she hadn’t seen her at all, Xiangmin felt a bit annoyed. Was it necessary to be so extreme?

At this moment, Chi Xiaoyue appeared at the doorway. She spoke to Xiangmin with a smile, "Sister-in-law, I was wondering if you’d be in the washing room since you weren’t at home. Looks like I was right."

Xiangmin also responded warmly, "It’s so hot out, why did you come here? Anything you need?"

Without giving Gu Xiaobei a glance, Chi Xiaoyue lifted the cloth bag she was holding and said, "You said you wanted something sour this morning, right? Our clinic’s candied fruits are ripe. I picked some for you."

Xiangmin stopped washing, took the bag from Chi Xiaoyue, and loudly exclaimed, "You’re so thoughtful! With this heat, I can’t really eat anything and just want something sour."

While Gu Xiaobei was washing her clothes, she thought to herself, ’Do they really need to show off their close relationship like this?’

Ignoring Gu Xiaobei’s presence, Chi Xiaoyue continued, "Sister-in-law, you’re pregnant now, you need to be careful. The first three months are the most critical. Many people don’t realize this until it’s too late."

Xiangmin was acting surprised, "Really? If you hadn’t told me, I would have had no clue. It really makes a difference when you are educated."

Jesus! These two are picking on me, thought Gu Xiaobei, doing her best to calm herself: ’I shouldn’t stoop down to their level.’

Unaware of the danger, Chi Xiaoyue continued, "Exactly. And if you’re not careful and lose the baby, it might be hard for you to get pregnant again."

"It’s that serious? Then I should really be careful. It took my Guo a long time to have a child. I don’t want to take this lightly," Xiangmin added, playing along with Chi Xiaoyue’s narrative.

Gu Xiaobei, carrying her washed clothes and expressionless, was about to leave. When she reached Chi Xiaoyue, she paused, looked at her with a somewhat puzzling look, suddenly smiled, and softly asked, "Did it hurt when you had your surgery?"

Chi Xiaoyue’s face turned pale. She looked at Gu Xiaobei in shock: What did she mean? Did she know something?

Having said her piece, Gu Xiaobei left the washing room without looking back, feeling a deep sense of delight. She wouldn’t let herself be victimized without fighting back.

Seeing Chi Xiaoyue’s change in expression, Xiangmin asked out of curiosity, "Xiaoyue, what’s wrong? Have you had a surgery?"

Chi Xiaoyue, trying to act normal, forced a smile and said, "It’s nothing sister-in-law. I didn’t really understand what she said. I have some work left at the clinic. You can go back to your chores." With that, she left in a hurry.

Xiangmin looked at the retreating figure of Chi Xiaoyue, puzzled. What secret did Gu Xiaobei know about Chi Xiaoyue that could scare her like that?

After leaving the complex, Chi Xiaoyue couldn’t help but feel panic. Did Gu Xiaobei know or not? It seemed she did from what she said. But how could she find out when Chi Xiaoyue had been so careful?

If word got out, she might not be able to continue working at the clinic.

Lu Zhanguo and Guo Huaqiang were in a meeting in the office, looking rather solemn.

Looking at the information on the table, Guo Huaqiang contemplated, "This seems to be an improvement on the Type 79 sniper rifle, but there are a few uncertain factors. Since you were able to shoot a distance of 1,200 meters with the Type 81 rifle, the military region specifically asked you to test this."

"During the round-robin competition between the two mountains, a sniper using the Type 79 sniper rifle set the record by making a hit at 1,600 meters. It’s difficult to surpass that," said Zhang Lijun.

Lu Zhanguo frowned and said, "Actually, the success of this development and improvement is not about surpassing the 1,600 meters. The main problems are the large gap between the dovetail slot of the scope and the rifle’s lug, and the inability to adjust the box wrench on the gear nut of the scope to the right degree. All these are to improve the looseness of the scope due to the recoil and vibration of the rifle."

Guo Huaqiang agreed, "Yes, all these can affect the precision of shooting."

Lu Zhanguo speculated, "I suspect that White Fox is here this time because he also wants to know how our country’s SVDs resolve these problems."

"Moreover, it seems that in order to lure out the spy named White Fox, the troop leader will send the blueprint and precise data to our platoon for safekeeping," Guo Huaqiang thought this was the most difficult part.

"Exactly, White Fox has frequently appeared in T City, and the national security personnel have already noticed. We just need to cooperate," added Lu Zhanguo.

After a moment of silence, Lu Zhanguo asked, "Have there been any strangers visiting or staying in the guesthouse recently? We need to screen our internal personnel now, and for the outside, the national security personnel will naturally take care of it."

Zhang Lijun nodded, "Okay, I will take care of this."

Lu Zhanguo lit a cigarette and remained silent. The three of them once again fell into deep thought.