Back To The 80s-Chapter 215 - 225: Sour Boy (Extra - for 220 Monthly Tickets)_1
Zhuang Shuxian and Jiujiu were about to have their meal at home when they saw Gu Xiaobei and Chen Gang. Delighted, Zhuang Shuxian said, "How come you suddenly showed up without giving us a heads-up? Come inside quickly."
"Lu Zhanguo came to town for a meeting today, so we tagged along." Gu Xiaobei said as she started to take off her outerwear.
The house was very warmly heated, ideal for someone wearing a thin sweater.
Standing off to one side, Jiujiu joyfully called out, "Auntie, Uncle Six."
"Jiujiu, you are so beautiful now." Gu Xiaobei looked at Jiujiu, whom she hadn’t seen for almost a month. Jiujiu was wearing a red sweater and had a red flower made of silk tied to her braided hair. Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked a little chubbier than before. Clearly, her grandmother had been feeding her very well.
"Jiujiu, this is a birthday gift for you." Chen Gang said, taking a string of peach pit beads out of his pocket. Each bead was polished delicately and smooth. It was clear he had put in a lot of effort into making it.
"Thank you, Uncle Six." Jiujiu happily took the peach pit beads.
"You really put a lot of thought into this, Chen Gang. These peach pits are talismans that can ward off disaster." Zhuang Shuxian said with a laugh.
Gu Xiaobei was a bit confused, but didn’t ask. She remembered seeing in television shows that peach wood swords could exorcise demons and ghosts, so she guessed the peach pit beads probably had a similar function.
"I’ve got some dumplings frozen in the fridge. When we made dumplings for Winter Solstice a couple of days ago, I made some extra, just in case." Zhuang Shuxian said with a laugh as she headed to the kitchen to cook the dumplings.
Gu Xiaobei noticed Zhuang Shuxian’s lively step and cheerful demeanor. Jiujiu seemed to have revitalized their lives, giving them a renewed sense of purpose and expectation.
Jiujiu sat on the couch with Chen Gang and started grabbing peanuts and candy gleefully, excited but not knowing how to express her joy.
"Jiujiu, I also have a gift for you." Gu Xiaobei sat down next to Jiujiu and took a handmade doll out of her pocket. It was a little ugly. "Um, this is my first time making something like this. It’s not particularly well made. When I go to the provincial capital one day, I’ll buy you a fancy doll that blinks, okay?"
"Auntie, that’s okay! I really like this one. I can make clothes for it with my grandma later." Jiujiu said, playing with the fabric doll.
"Jiujiu, do you like your school here?" Gu Xiaobei asked, touching Jiujiu’s braids. She was worried that Jiujiu, having come from a rural area, might be ostracized by the city kids.
"I love it. My teacher is so nice to me. Everyday she gives me extra lessons and says if I do well in my exams, I can proceed to third grade in the fall." Jiujiu told her happily.
Gu Xiaobei also knew that her concerns might be overblown, considering on some level Jiujiu was perceived as the mayor’s granddaughter.
Zhuang Shuxian called them over to eat the dumplings. She had boiled all the dumplings left over from the Winter Solstice, over a hundred of them.
Gu Xiaobei was so hungry that she was beside herself. She didn’t stand on ceremony and consumed over thirty dumplings straight away, dipping them in vinegar. She also drank a big bowl of soup.
Zhuang Shuxian was somewhat stunned. This skinny thing really had an incredible appetite.
Gu Xiaobei shyly rubbed her belly, "Ever since I became pregnant, I can really put food away."
"You’re pregnant? That’s wonderful news, how long have you been?" Zhuang Shuxian asked excitedly.
"Just about two months, I think." Gu Xiaobei was not particularly sure about how pregnancy was calculated.
"Having a good appetite is a good thing. Some women get morning sickness and can’t keep even water down." Zhuang Shuxian thought for a moment before saying, "I’m not doing anything at the moment, so I’ll help you make some clothes for the baby. Bear in mind though, my eyesight isn’t the best so it might be slow going."
Zhuang Shuxian had been wondering how she could repay Gu Xiaobei for her kindness. After all, if Gu hadn’t adopted Jiujiu, who knows when they would have found out they had a granddaughter.
"Sounds great. I’m not very good at sewing anyway." said Gu Xiaobei, aware of Zhuang Shuxian’s feelings, so she accepted the offer graciously.
In the afternoon, Gu Xiaobei felt her nose start to itch and felt the urge to sneeze. She secretly worried about catching a cold.
When Qin Li got off work, as usual, she first went to the Jin family’s house. Seeing Gu Xiaobei there, she was pleasantly surprised, "When did you get here? If I’d known you were here, I would have taken the day off to keep you company."
Gu Xiaobei had to laugh. Qin Li really hated her job.
Zhuang Shuxian saw Qin Li rush over and quickly said, "Slow down, your Sister Xiaobei is pregnant."
Stopping abruptly, Qin Li exclaimed excitedly, "You’re pregnant? Can I feel it?" and reached out to touch Gu Xiaobei’s stomach.
"Don’t touch!" Zhuang Shuxian quickly stopped her. "You can’t touch it. This is the early stage of her pregnancy. It’s like a tiny bud just sprouting. If you touch it, it won’t grow." Zhuang Shuxian said very earnestly.
Gu Xiaobei wanted to laugh. She didn’t believe in those superstitions, but Zhuang Shuxian was genuinely trying to be helpful.
Qin Li withdrew her hand and stared curiously at Gu Xiaobei’s stomach. "I’m so curious about what your baby will look like. It’s settled then, I will be the baby’s godmother."
"Okay." This time, Gu Xiaobei did not say anything else, concerned that it might upset Qin Li.
For dinner that evening, Zhuang Shuxian had prepared lots of dishes. Even though it was winter, and there weren’t many vegetables available, Shuxian made braised chicken, sour cabbage with boiled pork, clear stewed fish, fried peanuts, fried shrimp crisps, and stir-fried sour cabbage with rice noodles.
Zhuang Shuxian pointed to the stir-fried sour cabbage with rice noodles and said, "I made this dish especially for you."
"It’s so sour. I don’t understand it, ever since I got pregnant, I don’t like sour food. When I eat it, it feels like my teeth are turning." Gu Xiaobei said after trying a bite, her mouth puckering up from the sour taste.
"Sister Xiaobei, I heard that if a pregnant woman craves sour food, she might be having a boy, and if she craves spicy food, it might be a girl. Do you like spicy food?" Qin Li asked.
"Spicy food is okay, but I don’t crave it as much as I used to." Gu Xiaobei felt that her taste preferences had changed considerably.
"Eat whatever you like. There’s no set rule for these things." Zhuang Shuxian, not wanting Gu Xiaobei to overthink, quickly changed the subject. "Oh, speaking of which, we got Jiujiu’s official residence registration. Her legal name is now Jin Ming. We hope she will always remember the trials and tribulations her mother went through to bring her into this world."
Gu Xiaobei nodded. Coincidentally, that name was also the name of a future child star.
Gu Xiaobei and Qin Li stayed at her place that night, while Chen Gang stayed at Zhuang Shuxian’s place. There was plenty of room.
This was the first time Chen Gang watched television, and he was intrigued. He watched the main evening news broadcast with great interest.
Gu Xiaobei was curious and took a brief look at the evening news, which was discussing the positive prospects brought about by the reform and opening-up policy. Gu Xiaobei felt compelled to take advantage of the situation, given that all economic industries were just taking shape and some hadn’t even been developed yet. If she could use her foreknowledge to grab market share ahead of time, it could be very beneficial.
Gu Xiaobei decided to use the time before giving birth to develop a strategy. After all, she only had the advantage of knowing the future. She didn’t have specific knowledge about the shape of future industries and the direction of policy.
Gu Xiaobei and Qin Li squeezed into one small bed and chatted for a bit, but Gu Xiaobei couldn’t keep her eyes open and fell into a deep sleep in no time.
Probably because she had drunk too much water at dinner, Gu Xiaobei woke up in the middle of the night needing to relieve herself. She noticed that Qin Li was still awake, with her eyes wide open and lost in thoughts.
"Why aren’t you sleeping yet?" Gu Xiaobei asked with concern.
"I can’t sleep. You go back to sleep." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Gu Xiaobei didn’t dare ask any further. She climbed back into bed, feeling a bit sore all over. In a daze, she fell asleep again.
In the latter half of the night, Qin Li noticed that Gu Xiaobei’s body was unusually hot. "Sister Xiaobei, do you have a fever? Sister Xiaobei?" She nudged Gu Xiaobei.
Too groggy to respond properly, Gu Xiaobei made a vague sound and felt her whole body burning up, her eyelids too heavy to open.
