Back To The 80s-Chapter 171: Making a Set_1

When the meeting ended and they came out, the stars filled the sky. A faint crescent hung in the eastern sky, surrounded by a slightly yellow halo.

"Looks like the weather is changing, there is a halo around the moon," Zhang Lijun said, looking at the moon.

"I hope it’s not like two years ago when the heavy snow started in November," Guo Huaqiang echoed.

The three men walked in the dark night. The streetlights had been extinguished when the lights were out. The faint starlight could hardly light up the dense darkness.

Lu Zhanguo looked at the city wall on the north side, a dark expanse, and said to Zhang Lijun next to him, "Start setting an extra watch on the wall from tomorrow."

"Alright, and everything else goes as we agreed tonight?"

"Hmm, I will go to the city tomorrow and report to the leader. We must catch the White Fox this time," Lu Zhanguo responded in a deep voice.

When Lu Zhanguo arrived home, the door was slightly ajar. He tiptoed in. The door inside was open with the light still on.

As he gently walked into the room, he saw Gu Xiaobei sleeping soundly, turned to one side with her arms hugging the quilt and her legs wrapped around it.

Lu Zhanguo came closer and sat gently at the bedside. Gu Xiaobei seemed to be having a good dream, her porcelain-white face wore a smile, the corners of her mouth slightly curled up, and a hint of drool spilling out. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Lu Zhanguo’s gaze softened, watching Gu Xiaobei’s sleeping face. He couldn’t help but reach out and gently wipe the drool from the corner of Gu Xiaobei’s mouth with his fingers.

Gu Xiaobei woke up after a good dream until dawn, with no one by her side. She wasn’t even sure if Lu Zhanguo had returned last night.

She ruffled her hair and made a bun at the back of her head and got out of bed. Jiujiu had already cooked the porridge.

"Isn’t it Sunday today? Why are you up so early?"

Jiujiu laughed, "I didn’t make it. Uncle made it. I just poured it into a bowl."

"We’ll go to town after breakfast," Gu Xiaobei casually suggested, completely forgetting Lu Zhanguo’s instructions.

"No, Uncle said before he left not to go to town. He has gone to the city and will bring back some meat tonight," Jiujiu earnestly replied.

"Well ... okay then." Gu Xiaobei scratched her head. Lu Zhanguo was indeed good at foreseeing things. Holding a bucket, she headed towards the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Ge Chunling and Li Fengmei were washing dishes. Gu Xiaobei walked in smiling, "You guys are up early for breakfast."

"We’re used to it, got up on time," Ge Chunling replied briskly.

Li Fengmei glanced at the door and whispered, "Did you know, sister-in-law? The doctors said Xiangmin didn’t need to be hospitalized, she could recuperate at home. But she insisted on staying in the hospital and asked Chi Xiaoyue to go with her. Do you think she intends to take advantage of us?"

Gu Xiaobei was not aware of this situation. On hearing this, her eyes sparkled. Was she right about these two? What were they up to this time?

Li Fengmei continued, "How could I never have noticed before, how mean she is?"

"What does your husband, Zhang Lijun, say about this?" Gu Xiaobei asked.

"He said that Xiangmin has not mentioned anything about me pushing her since she went to the hospital. Zhang Lijun suggested paying her, but she said not for now. Do you think she’s planning to demand money from us later? I don’t have that much money to give her."

Listening to Li Fengmei’s indignation, Gu Xiaobei also became suspicious. What if Xiangmin’s fall wasn’t an accident but a plan she and Chi Xiaoyue had agreed upon? And with Wang Chuanjiang’s recent arrival, everything seemed premeditated as if a big conspiracy was brewing.

Upon hearing Lu Zhanguo’s report, Min Zhonghua hesitated for a long time, "Are you sure this will work?"

"Confident!"

"Now with First Squad on a mission in Longnan, it’s up to you and Third Squad to run the exercise. You must make a good arrangement, we can’t afford a mistake. The Field Army have been looking down on us for a long time," Min Zhonghua reminded without confidence.

"Don’t worry, leader. I have made all the arrangements. Not only will we win the exercise over the Field Army, but we will also successfully catch the White Fox," Lu Zhanguo confidently responded.

"Alright, I trust you with this. In a couple of days, I’ll have you and a few others and Old Li from Third Squad come back for a meeting."

"Sure!" Lu Zhanguo stood upright, giving a military salute.

After coming out of the military district, Lu Zhanguo went to see Shen Heng. There were cigarette butts all over Shen Heng’s room, and the smell of smoke hadn’t dissipated yet.

"Working all night?" Lu Zhanguo pointed to the cigarette butts on the floor and asked.

"Hmm, Gao Dailin’s movements have become increasingly obvious, and more flaws are showing up. If it weren’t for White Fox behind him, I could capture him right now."

"What’s he been up to lately?"

Shen Heng lit another cigarette. His eyes were full of red lines, and he looked a bit exhausted, "Recently he and Wuye have been hitting it off frequently. We’re thinking, should we capture him and Wuye together now, or should we wait?"

"So you’re trying to make a threatening display to intimidate White Fox? But have you considered that, what if Gao Dailin has never met the real White Fox, will your trick work?" Lu Zhanguo analyzed calmly.

"By controlling Gao Dailin and Ling Yun now, White Fox will also be helpless," Shen Heng explained.

"What about Shark? Here’s what we’re thinking ..." Lu Zhanguo went through his plan once.

Shen Heng was silent for a moment before slapping his thigh, "That’s a good plan!"

"Now we need you guys to keep an eye on Yuan Ye and Yuan Tan, you handle the periphery."

"No problem," Shen Heng agreed, feeling that his thought process had suddenly become clear as well.

"Has Jin Cheng come back?"

Shen Heng paused, "No, he hasn’t contacted me since he left. Going by the days, he should be back."

"Once he returns, have him withdraw. We won’t need him to do anything more."

"Alright, I’ll feel safer with him by my side," Shen Heng nodded. He felt a bit guilty towards Jin Cheng, who, although he had hoped would back out due to the difficulties, had become one of the best team members.

Lu Zhanguo bought some meat and cookies in the city. He found out that Gu Xiaobei particularly liked six-petal flower-shaped cookies sprinkled with sesame seeds and sugar. Every time she wrote something, she liked to eat a piece from time to time.

By the time he hurried home, it was already mid-afternoon. Gu Xiaobei and Jiujiu were not at home, which Lu Zhanguo found strange. He looked at Li Fengmei’s house next door, but the door was also locked. He went downstairs, planning to check the vegetable field.

Leaving the gates of the residential compound, he saw from afar that Gu Xiaobei, Li Fengmei and Jiujiu were bent over, cutting cabbages in the field.

Curious why they were cutting the cabbages now, he quickened his steps and walked over.

"Why are you harvesting cabbage now?"

Hearing Lu Zhanguo’s voice, Gu Xiaobei straightened up and said with a smile," We’re planning to salt some spicy cabbage."

"It’s too early to brine now," Lu Zhanguo said as he rolled up his sleeves to help.

"Fengmei says the weather is unpredictable. We’re afraid we won’t be in time if the weather changes. So we’re salting the spicy cabbage first, and when the weather changes, we’ll come back and harvest the rest," Gu Xiaobei initially thought the ’spicy cabbage’ Li Fengmei was mentioning was like the Korean kimchi in the 21st century.

After listening to Li Fengmei’s explanation, she realized that this ’spicy cabbage’ was actually quite similar to the way they make pickled vegetables here, only without the use of fermentation through vinegary juice.