Back To The 80s-Chapter 172: Warmth (Request for Monthly Tickets, Monthly Tickets)_1

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Warmth (Request for Monthly Tickets, Monthly Tickets)_1

Lu Zhanguo did not speak anymore, helping to put the Chinese cabbage into the wicker basket, which could only hold five cabbages. Xiaobei and Fengmei had originally planned to carry the basket with a thick stick, one person on each side.

Now that Lu Zhanguo was here, the two of them could save their strength.

Fengmei asked Lu Zhanguo to bring the cabbage to her doorstep, she would pickle this spicy cabbage, and once done, she would keep it in the corridor for both families to eat during winter.

Xiaobei walked into the house to find a stack of manuscript paper, meat, and biscuits in her bag on the table. If Jiujiu wasn’t present, she would throw herself onto this man for a passionate kiss.

Looking into Xiaobei’s gleaming eyes, which were filled with irrepressible joy, Lu Zhanguo thought this girl was too easy to please: "What shall I cook for dinner?"

"No need, no need, I’ll cook some hand-pulled noodles for you as a reward," Xiaobei responded with a perpetually beaming smile. She knew that Lu Zhanguo loved noodles and rarely made rice when he was home.

The hand-pulled noodles were a staple food in northern Shaanxi, they were as wide as belts, flat, thin and chewy. The crucial part was getting the pasta sauce right.

Usually, tomatoes were desirable for making the pasta sauce, but there were none at this time of the season. Having no other choice, Xiaobei decided to utilize some soy sauce, and she stir-fried an egg with some scallions for an egg drop soup. She took three bowls and added a bit of garlic and chilli stir-fried in oil, some vinegar, and salt in each. After that, she poured the egg drop soup into it.

After pulling the noodles, she brought them to a boil and added a few leaves of Chinese cabbage to cook together. Then, she served the noodles in a large bowl, placed it in the middle of the table.

She put a greater quantity of chilli sauce in the bowls for both Zhanguo and herself, while she put less chilli for Jiujiu.

Zhanguo was intrigued by the method of eating these noodles. By picking up the noodles from the bowl into his own, dipping it in the sauce, and then eating them. After tasting it, he found the garlicky and sour/spicy flavor very appetizing, and the noodles were very chewy. He complimented, "Nice, where did you learn to make these noodles? They’re delicious".

"I know a lot of dishes, it’s just that sometimes I can’t remember all of them. You remind me, okay?" Xiaobei replied with her mouth full of noodles. Somehow, she always felt a bit dazed recently, and the memories of the original host seemed to be fading away little by little.

"You don’t need to cook so often; it can be quite troublesome."

"No, it’s not. Cooking delicious food for my loved ones is the happiest thing for me, how can it be troublesome?" Xiaobei responded without hesitation or embarrassment.

Lu Zhanguo almost choked on his noodles. This girl certainly spoke her mind.

Xiaobei laid down her chopsticks and saw Lu Zhanguo holding his chopsticks, suppressing his laughter. She sent him a smug look: "You’re overthinking, Jiujiu is also one of my most loved ones. Right, Jiujiu?" She even turned around to ask Jiujiu.

Jiujiu’s mouth was full with noodles, she just nodded her head vigorously. She didn’t quite understand, but she knew that whatever Xiaobei said must be right.

Lu Zhanguo looked at the two interacting, feeling as though all his worries had dissipated, leaving only a sense of warmth flowing through his heart.

Xiaobei was satisfied to see Lu Zhanguo finish all the noodles and vegetables, enjoying such moments.

After dinner and cleaning up, Xiaobei took Zhanguo out for a stroll, leaving Jiujiu at home to do her homework.

It was already October, but T City was one hour behind Beijing, thus it got dark an hour later. Even though it was past eight o’clock, it was still bright outside.

T City had a large temperature difference between day and night, and the evenings becoming chillier after the National Day. Xiaobei put on a sweater, as she feared both heat and cold.

The pair strolled slowly alongside the stone road leading to the fields and the barracks.

Young poplars stood tall on both sides of the road, their leaves beginning to turn yellow. Occasionally, when the autumn wind blew by, a few leaves fell down gently.

Unlike white poplars, green poplars have larger leaves, about the size of a palm, and the stalks are thicker. Consequently, there is a folk saying: "No mulberry tree before the house, no willow after the house and no ghost poplar by the house". This ghost poplar refers to the green poplar, considered an ominous tree. Very few people would plant this tree in front of or behind the house.

But Xiaobei loved green poplar trees. She remembered a game she used to play called "den jiang". In the game, two kids each held a green poplar leaf stalk, crossing them and pulling them in opposite directions. Whoever’s leaf stalk broke first lost, and they would have to give the winner a certain amount of leaf stalks.

As she bent over to pick up leaves, she asked Zhanguo, "Do you know how to play ’den jiang’?"

Zhanguo raised his eyebrows slightly, appearing somewhat puzzled, Xiaobei sighed, "You don’t know this? Your childhood must have been not fun. When we get back, Jiujiu and I will play, and you can watch."

Actually, Zhanguo wanted to say that soldiers used to play this game during their training breaks. But seeing Xiaobei’s proud posture, he agreed, "Okay, now should I take you to watch from the city wall? Do you want to go?"

"Can we? Of course, I’ve wanted to go for a long time!" Xiaobei responded excitedly.

The top of the city wall was more than a meter wide, full of weeds, the most abundant being Artemisia, all the way up to Xiaobei’s waist.

Xiaobei looked at Zhanguo walking in front and thought, damn it, it must be because I’m short! The weeds were still a distance away from Zhanguo’s waist.

Lu Zhanguo walked ahead to create a small path, Xiaobei followed behind, looking at the dam far away outside the walls.

The dam was wide and about ten meters lower than the ground level, with only a small stream flowing in the middle. The banks were covered in clusters of red willow trees, and a few sheep were seen drinking water by the river, guided by their shepherd.

"Why is there no water in this river?" Xiaobei asked curiously.

"When the snow on the mountain melts in spring, this river is used for flood discharge.", Zhanguo explained, his eyes alertly scanning the surroundings.

Suddenly, Xiaobei realized how she had never thought of exploring this place despite living so close to it. When winter came and the river froze, it would make a good place for ice skating.

Xiaobei was contemplating on how to enjoy herself, while Zhanguo was wondering how to lure the actual body of the white fox into the place. Even the most daring person would not dare to do so.

Lu Zhanguo scanned the surroundings, thinking to himself: The original plan needs to be slightly adjusted to ensure a foolproof operation.

Meanwhile, in T city, Yuan Ye was sitting in front of the window with a lit cigarette. His slender fingers clutching the cigarette, paired with the curls of smoke, gave a different kind of depressing beauty.

Yuan Ye sat with his cigarette, his face a mix of confusion and sadness. His heart was in pain and restless as if it was being grilled by the lit cigarette.

"Sis, what’s wrong?" Yuan Tan walked into the room and asked worriedly upon seeing Yuan Ye’s state.

"Nothing, has mom slept?" Yuan Ye extinguished the cigarette and answered lightly.

"Yes, she has. Sis, do you think we should back off? I can’t stand this life anymore." Yuan Tan whimpered.

"Do you think we have a way out? Besides, they don’t trust us at all, otherwise they would have told us who the white fox is."

"Sis, as long as we return to our house in Beijing City and never come out again, won’t we be safe? Lu Zhanguo and Shen Heng must have grown suspicious of us by now, if we keep this up, there will only be destruction." Yuan Tan said fearfully.

"Either way, we are on a path to destruction. If we give up now, our parents will be implicated. Because we have no idea how many spies this demon has planted here." Yuan Ye’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness.