Back To The 80s-Chapter 162: Hidden Motives_1

The three of them worked together, quickly preparing the filling and dough for the dumplings. Although Qin Li didn’t know how to make dumplings, she was quite skilled at rolling out the dough.

While Qin Li was rolling out the dough, Gu Xiaobei and Yuan Ye were wrapping the dumplings. By the time Jiujiu and Chen Gang returned from school, they had already made more than 200 dumplings.

Yuan Ye didn’t show any surprise when she saw the two children, nor did she ask any extra questions.

Gu Xiaobei suddenly remembered something. With a clap of her hands dusting off the flour, she stood up and said, "You two continue making the dumplings." She then took Jiujiu’s hand and said: "Let’s go wash our hands."

Chen Gang and Jiujiu didn’t understand why Gu Xiaobei had to accompany them to wash their hands.

Once Gu Xiaobei got Jiujiu to the hallway, she crouched down and whispered to the two, "There’s an auntie at home. After dinner, go back to school and don’t mention that you can speak English."

For some reason, a sudden realization came to her; she didn’t want Yuan Ye to know about this.

When the dumplings were almost ready, Lu Zhanguo also arrived back home. Gu Xiaobei knew that the guard must have called, otherwise Yuan Ye wouldn’t have been able to enter.

Upon seeing Lu Zhanguo’s arrival, Yuan Ye immediately stood up and said: "Zhanguo, I came to visit you and Xiaobei because I had nothing to do."

Lu Zhanguo gave a faint glance at Yuan Ye and spoke in a calm and slightly distant tone: "We should be the ones visiting Auntie Yuan. When I’m not so busy, I’ll take Xiaobei to visit her."

Jiujiu brought in a basin of water, placed it on the washstand, and called out in a soft, mellow voice: "Uncle, it’s time to wash your hands for dinner."

Yuan Ye raised an eyebrow at Jiujiu, laughing as she said: "This girl is really considerate."

Standing outside, Qin Li was waiting for Gu Xiaobei to serve the dumplings. Seeing how sensible Jiujiu was, she said: "That’s it. I have to have a daughter in the future."

Gu Xiaobei cast her a sidelong glance: "Aren’t you ashamed? First, get married, then have kids."

"Don’t worry, my daughter will definitely carry the surname Jin. We’ll call her Jin Buhuan, what a precious name, she wouldn’t even trade it for a mountain of gold!" Qin Li was very satisfied with the name she had come up with. It was grand!

Listening to Qin Li’s nonsensical chatter, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but twitch. Jin Buhuan, wasn’t that the name of a fat character from a martial arts drama?

The dumplings were served. The six people, big and small, gathered around the table without feeling crowded. After tasting a dumpling, Yuan Ye couldn’t help but praise: "The filling that Xiaobei prepared is really delicious!"

Since Lu Zhanguo returned home, Gu Xiaobei had been carefully watching him. Thankfully, Zhanguo’s gaze never drifted onto Yuan Ye.

Now hearing Yuan Ye compliment her, she quickly responded modestly: "It’s mainly because I put a lot of meat in it today, that’s why it’s delicious."

Gu Xiaobei noticed that Yuan Ye was very delicate when she ate, nibbling each dumpling in four or five bites. This was unlike her and Qin Li, who could finish a dumpling in two bites and still eat quickly. She thought to herself that birds of a feather really do flock together; she and Qin Li were undoubtedly cut from the same cloth.

Yuan Ye ate lightly, having finished around a dozen dumplings before putting down her chopsticks. She turned to Lu Zhanguo and said, "I was thinking of calling my dad later. Would that be convenient for you?"

Lu Zhanguo remained silent for a while before nodding, "Hmm, come by at two o’clock."

Qin Li continued to eat, regularly adding a dumpling to Jiujiu’s plate.

Gu Xiaobei served everyone a bowl of dumpling soup, thinking strangely to herself why didn’t Yuan Ye just go to the post office to make the call.

Before leaving, Lu Zhanguo asked Gu Xiaobei to bring Yuan Ye over later.

After lunch, Yuan Ye took a great interest in exploring the sweater that Gu Xiaobei was knitting and even helped knit a couple of rounds. Gu Xiaobei watched and thought, this really is a woman who could both take care of noble halls as well as kitchens.

As two o’clock approached, Gu Xiaobei led Yuan Ye to Lu Zhanguo’s office. Qin Li, having nothing to do, also tagged along, treating it as a walk.

Upon reaching the entrance of the camp, the guard let Yuan Ye in while Gu Xiaobei and Qin Li waited outside.

Cheng Qijia, looking out from his office window, saw Qin Li and the other two approaching the camp direction. After battling with himself for a while, he finally couldn’t resist his inner desire and went downstairs, hoping to catch a closer look at her. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Gu Xiaobei spotted Cheng Qijia walking out of the camp entrance. She sighed inwardly, thinking that his was the most regrettable kind of relationship in the world.

Like a naive fool, Qin Li saw Cheng Qijia and laughed, saying, "Cheng Qijia, how about you teach me your secret to roasting lamb intestines next time?" Qin Li had a simple plan – ever since she had decided to learn how to cook, she had wanted to learn to make everything Jin Cheng liked.

"Alright." Cheng Qijia looked at Qin Li with a warm gaze.

"Thank you, then. If you ever come to T City in the future, I will treat you to a meal." Qin Li said quite generously.

"Alright." Cheng Qijia felt like he was losing his ability to communicate. Other than saying ’alright’, he couldn’t say anything else.

Qin Li grinned satisfactorily and didn’t make another sound, but she was already plotting in her heart how she could master her cooking skills in the shortest possible time.

Seeing that Qin Li had fallen silent, Cheng Qijia finally withdrew his tender gaze, "Sister-in-law, if you came to look for the squad leader, why didn’t you go in?"

"Yuan Ye came to make a call home, we’re just waiting here." Gu Xiaobei replied with a smile, glancing at Qin Li who was still grinning like a fool.

"Okay, I have to run over to the communication company. I’ll go ahead." Cheng Qijia found an excuse, and left.

Meanwhile, Yuan Ye entered the headquarters building following the guard, looking at the long hallway with a dozen rooms on each side. Each room had a small wooden sign hanging on the door indicating ’Squad leader’s office’, ’Confidential Office’, ’Archive Room’, ’Instructor’s Office’, etc.

Yuan Ye quickly scanned the hallway and stopped at the entrance of Lu Zhanguo’s office. After the guard announced their arrival, a deep voice came from inside, "Come in."

Yuan Ye took a moment to steady herself before pushing the door open, where she saw Lu Zhanguo sitting at his desk, glancing at her indifferently while some documents sprawled on his desk.

"Zhanguo, I may be a bit presumptuous coming here. I apologize. It’s a bit of a hassle to make calls to the military line from outside." Yuan Ye took the initiative to speak first.

"No problem, go ahead and make your call." Lu Zhanguo pointed to the seat across his desk and continued reading his documents.

Yuan Ye lightly stepped towards the desk, taking a seat along the edge. Her gaze inadvertently scanned the document under Lu Zhanguo’s hands. A file bag laid casually to one side bore a large red stamp marked ’Top secret’. Yuan Ye slightly tapped her finger on the edge of the desk.

Although Lu Zhanguo was engrossed in his documents, the corner of his eye didn’t miss this small detail of Yuan Ye’s, causing his gaze to darken.

Yuan Ye made herself comfortable and dialed the home number in the Capital City.

"Hello, who is this?" A voice, strong as a temple bell, came from the other end.

"Dad, it’s me, Yuan Ye."

"I told you not to call me. If you three want to stay in T City, then just stay there the rest of your lives." Yuan Dahai barked angrily.

"Dad, we’re fine here. Take care of yourself. In a few days, Mom will go back." Yuan Ye tightened her left hand, which was under the table.

"If only you had listened to my advice in the first place, it wouldn’t have come to this..."

"Dad, I’m making this call from Zhanguo’s office..." Yuan Ye quickly interrupted Yuan Dahai, aware that the phone was leaking sound. Considering Yuan Dahai’s loud voice, Lu Zhanguo on the other end could probably hear every word.

"Oh, why did you run over to Zhanguo’s place? Don’t bother him. Pass the phone to Zhanguo." Yuan Dahai’s tone immediately shifted, making it clear he greatly admired Lu Zhanguo.