Back To The 80s-Chapter 163: Unpredictable (Additional 60 monthly tickets)_1

Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Unpredictable (Additional 60 monthly tickets)_1

With resignation, Yuan Ye handed the phone to Lu Zhanguo. "My dad wants to say a few words to you."

Lu Zhanguo casually took the document further away and took the phone, politely greeting, "Uncle Yuan." He, of course, didn’t overlook the flash of annoyance in Yuan Ye’s eyes.

"Zhanguo, how have you been doing recently? I heard from your father, you’re doing pretty well. That’s the spirit, just like the children who come out of our big courtyard," said Yuan Dahai cheerfully upon hearing Lu Zhanguo’s voice.

"Uncle Yuan is giving me too much credit." Lu Zhanguo was a bit uncomfortable with the praise.

"Zhanguo, if Yuan Ye and Yuan Tan are bothering you, you should ignore them. Also, don’t let them visit you at the military base anymore. Going to those bandit nations is no different from being a traitor," Yuan Dahai ranted when the subject of his daughters came up.

Listening to this, Yuan Ye was just about ready to pass out, but he maintained a calm facade.

"Uncle Yuan, it’s alright, your sister-in-law has been here a long time and I haven’t visited her. When I’m free, I will," Lu Zhanguo changed the subject.

"No need to visit her, she’s helping traitors, she’s a Hanjian. Humph!" retorted Yuan Dahai hotly.

Lu Zhanguo remained silent. He didn’t know how to respond to Yuan Dahai’s words.

Unable to bear it any longer, Yuan Ye took the phone back, "Dad, take care of yourself at home, I’m hanging up now." With that, he hung up.

"My father’s always had this temper." Yuan Ye took a seat, placing his crossed hands on the table and said somewhat awkwardly.

"It’s okay, Uncle Yuan is just blunt," said Lu Zhanguo. He flipped through his files, his swift movements revealing the letters SVD on the headline of a document. Yuan Ye stiffened at the sight of it, his hands visibly trembling.

The minor changes in just a few seconds didn’t escape Lu Zhanguo’s keen observation. He lowered his gaze, concealing the dark gleam in his eyes.

Yuan Ye smiled and said, "Alright, I’m leaving now. Xiaobei and Qin Li are still waiting for me at the door." He got up and headed towards the exit.

Lu Zhanguo too got up to see Yuan Ye to the entrance of the camp. He saw Gu Xiaobei and Qin Li squatting by a small channel near the cloud cypress, leaning over and scribbling on the ground with twigs, mumbling something to each other.

"What are you two doing?" Lu Zhanguo asked curiously as he and Yuan Ye approached them.

"You scared me!" Gu Xiaobei exclaimed, stood up, and patted her chest. Qin Li stood up too.

"I was telling Qin Li about the story ’a dam that collapses from a hole made by ants’," replied Gu Xiaobei seriously. She pointed at the ground where an ant, disoriented from being circled around with the stick, was running around.

Noticing Gu Xiaobei’s guilty look, Lu Zhanguo knew she was lying but didn’t expose her. He said, "You all should head back first. I won’t be home for dinner. After dinner, drop Yuan Ye at the guest house."

"Okay." Gu Xiaobei nodded with a smile, quickly pulled Qin Li up, and said to Yuan Ye, "Let’s go."

After walking a few steps, Gu Xiaobei suddenly turned back and gave Lu Zhanguo a sly smile.

Lu Zhanguo raised an eyebrow, watching Gu Xiaobei helplessly. He suspected that she must have said something about him to Qin Li.

Earlier, Gu Xiaobei was indeed discussing with Qin Li about how good Yuan Ye’s figure was, why men liked curvy women, and whether Lu Zhanguo was such a commoner. Of course, these were things she would never tell Lu Zhanguo.

With nothing to do in the afternoon, Gu Xiaobei decided to pluck some cabbages while passing by the vegetable garden. Each head of cabbage, which could be harvested in about ten more days, weighed about ten to fifteen pounds, each layer of the core tightly packed together.

Gu Xiaobei and Qin Li were in no hurry to pluck the cabbages. Instead, they squatted down, picking dry straw and removing green worms from cabbage leaves. It was normal for the crops to have insects since they didn’t use pesticides or fertilizers.

Yuan Ye watched them with incredulity. They could even be so happy while catching bugs. He looked around the vegetable garden.

To the north of the vegetable garden was a two-meter-high wall made of layers of rammed soil that looked rather old. It was unknown to which dynasty it belonged, but it was now so dilapidated that many parts of it had been filled in with bricks. Artemisia, now somewhat yellowish, grew half a meter high on the wall.

"Xiaobei, what’s beyond that wall?" Yuan Ye asked Gu Xiaobei curiously.

"A pigsty. Beyond the pigsty is a river dam," Gu Xiaobei replied, looking up at Yuan Ye.

"Is the river dam beautiful? Can we go straight to it from the pigsty?" Yuan Ye inquired further.

"We can’t. There’s a brick wall built around the pigsty, topped with a wire fence," Gu Xiaobei exclaimed, assuming that Yuan Ye was just bored and wanted to wander around.

"There’s a slope over there that seems to lead to the top of the wall. How about we go up and take a look? It’d be interesting to see whether a river dam in autumn is beautiful," proposed Yuan Ye enthusiastically.

Gu Xiaobei was perplexed - Yuan Ye didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would have such an intense curiosity. After considering it for a moment, she said, "We can’t. Lu Zhanguo said you’d get punished if you go up there casually."

After all, she had heard Lu Zhanguo mention before that buildings around the military camp shouldn’t be higher than two stories. As the wall was so high, it definitely wasn’t allowed to go up there randomly.

Looking disappointed, Yuan Ye said, "Is that so? I wanted to take a look around and kill some time."

Suddenly, Gu Xiaobei stood up, and with an amused smile, she suggested, "How about I show you the pigsty? The pigs they raise here are quite interesting. Each pig even has a name!"

"No need, no need. It’s nice to walk around the vegetable garden too," Yuan Ye waved off hastily. She didn’t think a smelly pigsty would be interesting.

Qin Li snickered as she looked down. Who would like to visit a pigsty?

"Alright then, let’s just pluck a cabbage and head back," Gu Xiaobei said with mild disappointment before squatting back down. She genuinely thought the three little pigs in the pigsty were quite adorable.

Yuan Ye caught a glimpse of the wall and fell into a trance, then gazed towards the direction of the military camp. About a hundred meters in front of the base was a well-maintained, half-human-high wintergreen shrub.

Behind the shrub was a row of bun-shaped elm trees. Each tree was dense with branches and leaves, each tree crown closely intertwined like an open umbrella - a natural barrier. The wintergreen shrub perfectly concealed the gaps between the tree trunks, making it impossible to see anything from behind the trees.

As Yuan Ye observed her surroundings, Lu Zhanguo was standing quietly at a window on the second floor of the military base.

Although at a distance, Lu Zhanguo could tell from Yuan Ye’s pointing at the wall and staring in the direction of the military camp. He knew that Yuan Ye and her companions were growing restless. After all, the military exercises were set to begin in a week’s time.

When Yuan Ye withdrew her gaze, she couldn’t help but glance towards the office of the military camp. It seemed like she saw a figure flitting past the first window on the second floor. Who was that?

She was taken aback. She had been far too careless just now, too absorbed in her own thoughts to realize that she was still within Lu Zhanguo’s line of sight.

Turing back to see Gu Xiaobei and Qin Li still occupied with searching for bugs, Yuan Ye sighed. Life should indeed be as simple as this, right?