Back To The 80s-Chapter 205: Pendulum (Extra with 180 Monthly Tickets) _1
Jiujiu shook her head, sniffing, "Grandmother, I’m okay, I just feel sad and cry when my mom cries."
After a quick meal, Chen Gang drove them back in the mule cart. Gu Xiaobei figured that since Zhuang Shuxian was interested in adopting Jiujiu, there was no rush to get her household registration sorted.
By the time they got home, it was mid-afternoon, and they happened to run into Cheng Qijia at the entrance of the army compound.
After learning about Qin Li and Jin Cheng’s story, Cheng Qijia felt both heartache and unwillingness to let go. Now, seeing Qin Li again, his feelings were complex.
Even though he knew that anything between him and Qin Li was impossible, he still hoped that he would hold a special place in Qin Li’s heart. After learning about Jin Cheng’s story, Cheng Qiji gave up completely, burying all his affection for her deep within.
Yet, things of the heart don’t always obey you. Even if you try to bury those feelings, they still occasionally burst forth, stabbing your heart with pain.
When Cheng Qiji saw Qin Li today, all the buried emotions sprang up once more. He couldn’t help looking at her a little longer, even if it was just for one more glance.
Gu Xiaobei could see a flash of pain in Cheng Qijia’s eyes when he looked at Qin Li. She sighed inwardly, thinking that out of the many forms of love in this world, the most painful might be meeting that special someone too late, even after giving your most beautiful years.
"Sister-in-law, you went out?" After a moment, Cheng Qijia regained his usually affable smile, warm as the winter sun.
"Yeah, we went to Jiujiu’s house. Where are you off to with all those things?" Gu Xiaobei noticed Cheng Qijia was carrying a large bag.
"I’ve been transferred to the provincial city; I’m actually on the way to get my transfer order," Cheng Qiji replied, stealing glances at Qin Li. But Qin Li remained calm, standing quietly beside Zhuang Shuxian without a trace of emotion on her face. She never once looked his way. Qijia felt a pang of disappointment.
"That’s fantastic news! Now we’ll have a friend in the provincial city when we go there," Gu Xiaobei remarked cheerfully.
"Yes, if sister-in-law comes to the city, just find me at the research institute. The squadron leader knows all the details," Cheng Qiji nodded.
"Okay, we need to head home now." After some brief conversation, Gu Xiaobei said goodbye to Cheng Qijia, and the four of them headed home.
Zhuang Shuxian tried to ask Jiujiu, "Jiujiu, would you like to live in the city with your grandmother?"
Jiujiu shook her head, "Then I won’t be able to see my aunt, right?"
"Your aunt can visit you in the city often," Zhuang Shuxian suggested.
But again, Jiujiu shook her head, "If my aunt doesn’t go, I won’t go."
Zhuang Shuxian let out a sigh—it seemed unlikely that they would be able to convince Jiujiu anytime soon.
That evening, Zhuang Shuxian and Qin Li returned to the guest house. Gu Xiaobei began heating up some water to give Jiujiu a bath.
When she saw Jiujiu undress, she noticed a dark red thread around her neck with a bullet pendant hanging from it. The bullet was hollowed out, with the gunpowder drained out.
Gu Xiaobei found it odd and took a closer look at the hollow bullet. It was engraved with an ancient character that, after some effort, Gu Xiaobei could not identify.
"Jiujiu, who gave you this?" Gu Xiaobei couldn’t figure out how Jiujiu came to have such a pendant; she had never noticed it before.
"My mother gave it to me today. She said it might come in handy in the future." Jiujiu didn’t understand what she meant either.
Driven by curiosity, Gu Xiaobei scrutinized the seal script on the bullet, wondering what use a bullet pendant could have.
The script was small and due to its age, some of the strokes were unclear. As Gu Xiaobei continued to decipher it, she began to think it might be two characters instead of one.
Jiujiu, assuming that Xiaobei was fond of the pendant, offered to take it off and give it to her: "Auntie, if you like it, you can have it."
"No need, no need. I was just trying to figure out what character is engraved on this," Gu Xiaobei returned the bullet and changed the topic, giving Jiujiu a bath with a smile.
Being a bit obsessive-compulsive, Gu Xiaobei felt uneasy not being able to recognize the character. After returning to her room, she saw Zhanguo reading by the bed and showed him the character she had drawn, asking, "Do you recognize these two characters?"
"Did you write it backward?" Zhanguo asked after looking it over.
"No, it’s exactly what I saw." Gu Xiaobei, fresh from studying the script, replied confidently.
"The top one is ’rong.’ As for the bottom one, if you didn’t write it backwards, it’s not a valid character. But, if it is reversed, it says ’dong’," Zhanguo once again reversed the characters and wrote them down.
When Gu Xiaobei took a closer look, she realized it indeed looked like the character ’dong’ from the term ’dongliang’.
"’Rong,’ ’Dong,’ what do they mean? These words were engraved on the bullet pendant that Jiujiu’s mother gave her. She said it would be useful in the future." Suddenly, Gu Xiaobei recalled a trope often found in TV shows where such a pendant would serve as a clue to a character’s mysterious past. But since Jiujiu was delivered by Wang Auntie, the odds of her having a mysterious background seemed slim.
Zhanguo ruffled her hair: "Perhaps it’s a clue for Jiujiu to find her siblings in the future. After all, Jiujiu has many brothers and sisters out there."
Although Gu Xiaobei felt this reason didn’t hold up, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
At the end of November, the first real snowfall of the season arrived. Within a night, the entire world was muffled in a blanket of white.
The snowfall was about ten centimeters thick, reaching up to the ankles when stepped on. The temperature dropped by more than ten degrees
Gu Xiaobei snuggled under the covers, pondering that her period hadn’t arrived five or six days late. Could she be pregnant? Without a pregnancy test or any other means of confirmation, all she could do was wait and see.
If she were indeed pregnant, she could follow her plan of raising a child first. Once the child was older and the policy more favorable, she could then start thinking about making a fortune.
The more Gu Xiaobei calculated, the brighter her future seemed. She imagined a chubby baby waving at her and further into the distance, hundreds of banknotes fluttering in the wind...
It was Sunday, and since it was snowing, Zhanguo and the soldiers had been out shoveling snow. When he got back, he found Gu Xiaobei burrowed under the covers, poking only her head out, grinning like a fool.
"What are you so happy about this morning?" Zhanguo asked, approaching the bed.
"I dreamed about making a fortune and raising a son." Gu Xiaobei replied with a laugh.
"What do you feel like eating this morning?"
"Is Jiujiu up yet? We still have some of yesterday’s buns, just heat them up. Make some porridge as well." Gu Xiaobei liked that winter was essentially a massive natural freezer, where you could store bread, buns, or meat outside without worrying about them spoiling.
Fearing mice, the buns and bread were put in a basket and hung from the hallway’s beam.
Gu Xiaobei lingered in bed for a while longer. By the time she got up, Jiujiu had already started her homework, counting on her fingers to solve math problems.
Breakfast was only served past ten o’clock: buns, rice porridge, and a little salted vegetable.
"Jiujiu, how about we go play in the snow and build a snowman after we eat?" Gu Xiaobei suggested. It would be a waste to not take advantage of such a heavy snowfall.
"Okay!" Jiujiu nodded in agreement.
"Come and join us," Gu Xiaobei extended the invitation to Zhanguo.
"No need. I have to stand guard at the office," Zhanguo lied with a straight face. He couldn’t bring himself to participate in building a snowman.
