Back To The 80s

Lu Songyuan saw that Gu Xiaobei wasn’t moving, so he repeated, "Quickly put the children on the couch." He had wanted to carry them, but was afraid that they might be stranger-shy.

Gu Xiaobei saw that Wen Xiuqing didn’t object, so she went ahead and put Mo Wang on the couch, unfolding the small blanket around him.

Lu Zhanguo also followed suit and placed Xiaopang head to head with Mo Wang on the couch.

The two children had been tired from the journey. They stirred and woke, blinking curiously at the circle of people around them. Xiaopang was surprisingly good-natured today and didn’t cry upon waking.

Lu Songyuan squatted down and looked affectionately at the two children. He laughed and said, "I thought they would look identical and get us confused. But now, the fat one must be the girl and the slightly darker one must be the cheeky lad."

Wen Xiuqing stood off to one side, gazing at Mo Wang. When Mo Wang turned his head, a birthmark near his left ear was exposed. Wen Xiuqing froze, her emotions welling up. She wanted to step closer, but hesitated. Finally, she turned with evident sorrow and went back to her room.

Gu Xiaobei was simultaneously taking off her coat and observing her mother-in-law’s reactions. Wen Xiuqing looked pained when she saw Mo Wang, which piqued Gu Xiaobei’s curiosity.

Lu Aiguo joined them and also began looking at his nephew and niece. He took out two red packets from his pocket and placed them next to Mo Wang and Xiaopang. He laughed and said, "These are gifts from your third uncle and aunt, don’t think they are too modest."

Gu Xiaobei laughed and replied, "They are just children, what do they need money for."

Lu Songyuan eventually couldn’t resist and picked up Mo Wang, beaming so broadly it was as if he hadn’t seen Wen Xiuqing leave.

Xiaopang felt neglected when he saw his brother being held. He started to wail.

Mo Wang wet his diaper during the car ride. Gu Xiaobei had removed the soiled diaper but hadn’t put a new one on, intending to do it when they got home. Lu Songyuan was now holding Mo Wang, who was wearing only open-crotch pants, exposing his privates. Having just woken up, Mo Wang was jostled by Lu Songyuan and peed on his grandpa.

Gu Xiaobei was stunned: she had forgotten to put a diaper on the child. Lu Songyuan, however, was unfazed. He remarked, "Good lad, with aim like that, he’s bound to become a general one day."

Seeing the pee stains on the couch, Gu Xiaobei worried that she had made a bad first impression.

Lu Songyuan held the child for a while. It was getting late, so he reluctantly prompted Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei to take the children upstairs to sleep. He told Lu Aiguo to hurry home and remember to bring Fang Jing and Yueyue back the next day.

Once Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei were upstairs with the kids, Lu Songyuan got up and went back to his room. He found Wen Xiuqing sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping away tears, and sighed.

"Isn’t it a good thing that the kids are back? Why are you crying?" Lu Songyuan asked, sitting on the small bed opposite her.

With reddened eyes, Wen Xiuqing slowly said, "I was reminded of Yuanchao. Zhanguo’s son and Yuanchao looked identical as children, even down to the birthmark near the ear."

Lu Songyuan shook his head helplessly. Wen Xiuqing was still lost in her guilt from the past, drowning out any words of comfort from others.

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Gu Xiaobei followed Lu Zhanguo up to their room. They noticed a new bed about one and a half meters long was placed next to the existing bed. The two beds, pushed together, formed a super bed. Xiaobei was surprised and curious whether it was mother-in-law’s or someone else’s idea.

Gu Xiaobei laid Mo Wang on the bed and took off the kids’ thin cotton clothes due to the heating in the room. She dressed them in clean short cotton sleepwear. Then, she turned to Lu Zhanguo, "I will go downstairs to wash the covers from the living room sofa – Mo Wang peed on it."

"I’ll go. You sleep with the kids first. You’ve been tired for several days," said Lu Zhanguo. He then went downstairs. A few minutes later, he came back.

Gu Xiaobei was curious, "Why are you back?"

"Mom is already washing it, so I came back," Lu Zhanguo replied calmly.

Gu Xiaobei was about to ask if Wen Xiuqing was angry, but thinking it was too confrontational, she laughed and said instead, "You watch them. I will go take a bath before sleeping. The two of them are not sleepy yet."

Because they were freed from their cotton clothes, Xiaopang was more energetic as he kicked his little legs. Mo Wang was also grunting as he turned over, his little face red from the effort.

Weighing the energy level of the two kids, it seemed unlikely they’d be going back to sleep soon.

After both Gu Xiaobei and Lu Zhanguo had taken turns bathing, changed the kids’ diapers, and turned off the lights, everything in the room was pitch black. Only then did the kids settled down.

Gu Xiaobei woke up to find that Lu Zhanguo and the kids were not in the room, guessing that he must have taken them downstairs.

She rushed to get up, wash, and go downstairs. She saw that Lu Ruixue had arrived. Lu Ruixue was holding Xiaopang, and Lu Zhanguo, holding Mo Wang, were sitting on the couch. Wen Xiuqing was sitting silently on a single-person couch, quietly staring at Mo Wang. It seemed as if there was still a trace of tears in her eyes.

Gu Xiaobei came forward and greeted Wen Xiuqing, then sat down next to Lu Ruixue. Looking at Xiaopang in Lu Ruixue’s arms, she smiled and asked, "When did you get here?"

"I came early this morning, Sis-in-law. Xiaopang is really cute, but his name isn’t nice." Lu Ruixue said in her fast-talking manner.

Gu Xiaobei giggled awkwardly. While Xiaopang wasn’t suitable as a girl’s name, they were used to calling her that now and were too lazy to change it.

Lu Ruixue continued, "And my eldest nephew, called Mo Wang. That’s such a bad name. DongDong or BinBin, anything would be better."

Unexpectedly, Wen Xiuqing from the side chimed in, "Calling him Mo Wang is really good. Mo Wang, Mo Wang, it’s really good." After speaking, Wen Xiuqing even murmured the name a few more times to herself.

Lu Ruixue, hearing this, pursed her lips dissatisfiedly.

Gu Xiaobei called for Lu Zhanguo to take the kids back to their room first. They each fed their child before coming down for breakfast.

During breakfast, Lu Ruixue couldn’t help but dip the tip of her chopsticks into some soup and tried to feed it to Xiaopang, who was in Gu Xiaobei’s arms. Gu Xiaobei wasn’t fond of this but before she could decline, she heard Wen Xiuqing comment, "Don’t use your chopsticks to feed the child. There are germs."

Lu Ruixue rolled her eyes and retracted her chopsticks. For once, Gu Xiaobei felt that Wen Xiuqing’s obsession with cleanliness was quite comforting.

Disregarding Lu Ruixue’s dissatisfaction, Wen Xiuqing continued, "With such young children, you must pay attention to hygiene and not feed them just anything. They are young and have weak resistance."

Gu Xiaobei nodded her agreement, while Lu Ruixue casually retorted, "Attention to what extent? Despite all your care, didn’t you still lose my elder brother?"

With that comment, it was as if Lu Ruixue had struck a raw nerve in Wen Xiuqing. Wen Xiuqing turned pale, her lips trembling, and she had to gather all her strength before she could say, "Get out!"