Back To The 80s-Chapter 220 - 230

It then dawned on Gu Xiaobei that this mother and daughter-in-law pair had been scheming all along to dump the child on them. Hurriedly, Xiaobei nudged Lu Zhanguo and said, "You need to go and chase after those two. I’ll stay here and watch the child."

Lu Zhanguo agilely wove his way through the crowd. Having just disembarked, the people were overflowing from the terminal like water from a breached dam. In the dense wave of people, locating someone was indeed challenging.

Fortunately, everyone was moving at a slow pace. After a short while, Lu Zhanguo intercepted the fleeing Sun Erhui mother and daughter-in-law. With a stern face, he instructed them to return and take care of the child.

All the people had left the carriage, leaving only Gu Xiaobei, the train attendant, and the child lying on the lower bunk.

The attendant had chastised the mother and daughter-in-law upon their return. Once Sun Erhui and Jia Xiu left with the child, Lu Zhanguo, carrying his luggage, finally led Xiaobei to exit the station.

The winter in the Capital City was not as cold as in T City, but even at night, temperatures could drop below ten degrees below zero.

As they walked out of the station, they saw a young soldier wearing a military coat anxiously looking around.

"Li Bin." Lu Zhanguo called out.

"Brother Zhanguo, why are you guys only coming out now? I thought I might be at the wrong station," Li Bin said. Taking the luggage from Lu Zhanguo, he greeted Xiaobei with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you must be tired from traveling."

"It was alright, since the sleeper compartments are less crowded," Xiaobei politely replied with a smile.

"This is Li Bin from our unit. As Aiguo is not available, I asked him to pick us up," Lu Zhanguo explained to Xiaobei.

Li Bin led the couple to a jeep in the parking lot, placed the luggage properly, and, after Lu Zhanguo and Xiaobei got into the back seat, he drove away.

The car was headed toward West Mountain. At that time of day, there weren’t many high-rise buildings in Capital City, nor were there many overpasses. There were still plenty of farmlands outside the Third Ring Road.

Xiaobei was very familiar with the Capital City of the 21st Century, but she had never seen such an earthly version of the city.

"Which direction are we headed towards?" Xiaobei asked, looking out into the pitch-black window.

"West Mountain, behind Siwang Mansion," Zhanguo replied.

Xiaobei remembered that in Capital City, the east was prosperous while the west was considered more prestigious. Those who lived near West Mountain were usually high-ranking officials. And at the foot of West Mountain, there were quite a few recovery areas for high-ranking officials.

Unexpectedly, she had inadvertently stepped through these grand gates.

Many military forces were stationed around West Mountain, and Lu Zhanguo’s home was in the villa area of the military compound, located behind Siwang Mansion.

Siwang Mansion was actually a village originally known as Siwangfu and used to be the burial ground for infants of the Ming dynasty royal family. The name, which originally meant "Dead Princes’ Mansion," was changed to "Siwang Mansion" as the former was considered inauspicious.

The car drove into the military compound, passing several residential buildings before arriving at the villa area.

The so-called villa area consisted of independent small courtyards for each family, each with a simple two-story building.

Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei got out of the car. Li Bin helped fetch the luggage and handed it to Lu Zhanguo, saying, "I won’t go in."

Lu Zhanguo nodded, took the luggage, and watched Li Bin drive away before leading Xiaobei into the house.

In the living room, the lights were still on with Wen Xiuqing napping on the couch.

The sound of Lu Zhanguo opening the door startled Wen Xiuqing awake, and she hastily got off the couch to greet them, asking, "Why are you so late?"

"Mom, why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?" Lu Zhanguo asked, his tone unusually polite.

"Mom." Xiaobei obediently called out as well, but couldn’t help steal glances at her mother-in-law.

Wen Xiuqing was quite tall, about 1.7 meters high. She was thin and had a sharp look in her eyes which reminded Xiaobei of the cold and unapproachable demeanor of the administration staff at some institutions.

Wen Xiuqing barely acknowledged Xiaobei with a nearly imperceptible nod.

The living room was warm as the heater was on. Xiaobei took off her cotton jacket while taking a cursory look around the space. The floor was made of reddish-brown wood, the carved yellow pear-wood sofas had pure white cushions on top, and a similarly styled yellow pear-wood television cabinet stood nearby, topped with a 14-inch television.

The room was furnished simply enough. Xiaobei mused to herself that this yellow pear-wood furniture set would be worth quite a bit in the future. She was about to put her jacket on the sofa when...

"Wait! Your clothes are so dirty, how can you put them on the sofa?" Wen Xiuqing’s slightly raised voice stopped Xiaobei from placing her clothes on the sofa.

Xiaobei awkwardly stood there, holding her jacket.

"Change your clothes and put them in the bathroom. You’ve been on the train for several days; think of all the bacteria you must’ve picked up!" Wen Xiuqing said disapprovingly.

Xiaobei was left speechless. It seemed her mother-in-law had a cleanliness obsession, and also appeared quite indifferent towards her own son. Having been home for quite a while now, she had yet to ask her son if he was tired from the several days-long trip, or if he was hungry.

Lu Zhanguo took the jacket from Xiaobei, draped it over a chair, and said, "The bathroom is beside the stairs; go and freshen up first. I’ll go make some noodles."

Wen Xiuqing seemingly ignored him, looking at Zhanguo with raised eyebrows, she asked in an emotionless tone, "How many days are you back this time?"

"I will stay home for four to five days, perhaps. But tell me now, what happened at home? Why did you insist on me coming back?" Zhanguo stopped and asked back.

"Ruirui got hit by your brother-in-law and ended up in the hospital. Aiguo interfered but ended up injured by their relatives," Wen Xiuqing calmly explained.

"Mom, they’re not children anymore; they should be able to handle things themselves. You made it sound so serious on the phone, why did you have me come back?" Zhanguo was unhappy about how grave his mother had made the situation seem during their phone call.

"What do you mean? They’re your brother and sister! Isn’t it your responsibility to step in?" Wen Xiuqing suddenly raised her voice.

"Mom, you should go to bed. Xiaobei is pregnant; I need to make something for her to eat. Whatever it is, we’ll talk about it tomorrow," Zhanguo said in a somewhat helpless tone.

Wen Xiuqing seemed to have only heard the part about cooking for Xiaobei, exhibiting some discontent, "Is she more important than your brother and sister? Zhanguo, you can’t be so heartless!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhanguo felt like a rock was wedged in his heart.

Listening to the conversation between the mother and son from the bathroom, Xiaobei could confirm that her mother-in-law did not like Zhanguo. In fact, she even harbored some resentment towards him. Naturally, she didn’t like Xiaobei either.

Xiaobei dawdled in the bathroom before coming out, just as Zhanguo was serving two bowls of hot noodle soup. Wen Xiuqing was no longer in the living room, presumably having gone to sleep.

"Come over and eat. After eating, get some rest. We’ll shower tomorrow," Zhanguo said as he set the bowls on the dining table.

Xiaobei noticed that Zhanguo’s mood seemed somewhat low, even repressed. She figured it must have been due to Wen Xiuqing’s attitude, making him feel upset. Quietly, she pulled out a chair and started eating.

After having dinner and washing the dishes, Zhanguo led Xiaobei upstairs into his room. In it was a 1.5-meter wooden bed, a desk with a chair, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe aligned against the wall. The room was without any additional decorations.

Zhanguo went to the second-floor bathroom and brought back a basin of hot water, "Soak your feet first. I’ll go take a shower."

"My husband, you’re so kind, thank you," Xiaobei flattered with a squinty-eyed smile. She noticed that Zhanguo was not in a good mood tonight and thought about cheering him up.

"Alright, get on with it quickly. Leave the water here when you’re done; I’ll dump it later." Zhanguo said, affectionately rubbing Xiaobei’s head before leaving.