Back To The 80s-Chapter 224 - 234: Who is _1

Gu Xiaobei laughingly said, "Being reserved....means I am praising you for being attentive and caring."

Upon seeing Gu Xiaobei’s glinting gaze and sly grin, Lu Zhanguo knew this young lady was joking at his expense again.

Helplessly, he pinched Gu Xiaobei’s face. "Alright, get up, wash your face and let’s go downstairs. Yueyue and the rest have been here for quite some time."

Gu Xiaobei quickly washed up, casually pulled her hair back and followed Lu Zhanguo downstairs.

It turned out Qin Ximei and her daughter had not left yet and were sitting on the sofa, still chatting with Wen Xiuqing. A faint smile graced Wen Xiuqing’s face.

Lu Aiguo and his wife Fang Jing were sitting at the dining table with their daughter Yueyue. Fang Jing was teaching Yueyue how to draw with crayons.

When Fang Jing saw Gu Xiaobei coming downstairs, she said to Yueyue, "Look Yueyue, your Second Aunt has come down."

The corners of Gu Xiaobei’s eyes twitched. What kind of nickname was "Second Aunt"?

"Second Aunt～" Yueyue came rushing over like a little bird.

Before Gu Xiaobei could catch Yueyue, Lu Zhanguo had already intercepted her and scooped her up in his arms.

Yueyue’s large eyes blinked as she said, "Second Uncle, why are you hugging me? I want Second Aunt to hug me."

This nickname had left Gu Xiaobei completely disoriented.

Qin Ximei sneered, "These young people really know how to live it up, waking up just in time for meals."

Upon hearing this, the smile on Wen Xiuqing’s face disappeared and she calmly responded, "She’s pregnant."

Qin Ximei exaggerated her response, "Oh my, pregnant again? Congratulations. Just be careful this time."

Gu Xiaobei was unsure whether Wen Xiuqing had spoken up to help her earlier, but she certainly picked up on the insinuation in Qin Ximei’s current statement.

Gu Xiaobei’s eyes curved into a smile: "Aunt Yuan is right, I need to be careful. It’s always more lively at home with more children." She deliberately emphasized the words ’more lively with more children’.

The smile on Qin Ximei’s face froze and she responded with a harrumph.

Wen Xiuqing cast a meaningful glance at Gu Xiaobei before turning to Qin Ximei with a pleasant smile. "After we eat, Zhanguo will escort you back home."

"Fine, it’s quite scary with no streetlights along the stretch of road from the residential quarters to Siwangfu Village," Qin Ximei recovered her carefree attitude.

Carrying Yueyue in one hand and pulling Gu Xiaobei along with the other, Lu Zhanguo walked towards the dining table.

Fang Jing gave Gu Xiaobei a sly wink and raised her eyebrows in a smirk. Gu Xiaobei sat down next to Fang Jing and asked in a low voice, "What’s so funny?"

Leaning closer to Gu Xiaobei, Fang Jing said, "Our mother-in-law really likes this mother-daughter duo. What’s so special about them?"

Gu Xiaobei didn’t understand either. Having just recently returned home, it was hard for her to broach the topic. She simply smiled and stayed silent.

The dinner consisted of fried noodles with minced meat prepared by Aunt Li, accompanied with hand-rolled noodles, shredded green onions, shredded radish, blanched leek, and boiled saltwater yellow beans. When tossed together with the meat sauce, the dish was aromatic and mouthwaterishly delicious.

During the meal, Qin Ximei suddenly remarked, "Xiuqing, why is your upstairs bathroom so dirty?"

Wen Xiuqing casually responded and then turned to Gu Xiaobei with an expressionless face. "I haven’t gone up to clean yet."

"It must be tough for you to clean both upstairs and downstairs." Qin Ximei sighed with a satisfied look directed towards Gu Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaobei noticed Qin Ximei trying to stir up trouble again. However, she also noted an important piece of information: Qin Ximei had gone upstairs today. Could she have been the one who rummaged through her bag?

While twirling her noodles and eating in small bites, Gu Xiaobei was calculating how to discipline the person who invaded her privacy. The sinister side within her began to rear its head.

Wen Xiuqing responded with a noncommittal hum and didn’t say anything else.

As Gu Xiaobei was reaching for a second bowl of noodles, Qin Ximei couldn’t resist having another jab at her. "I didn’t realize that Xiaobei could eat so much. When we were in T City, you never ate this much. What’s this, you are worried about eating less now you are at your parents-in-law’s house?" She finished her sentence with a strange cackle.

Gu Xiaobei wished she could dump a bowl of noodles over this gossipy woman’s face. How could someone be so annoying!

Lu Zhanguo’s face darkened and he slammed his chopsticks on the table. "Aunt Yuan, Xiaobei is currently pregnant. It’s a good thing that she can eat. Plus, it’s better to eat our homegrown rice than depending on the state’s provisions." (In some places, prison meal is colloquially referred to as the state’s provisions.)

Qin Ximei’s face fell. She sarcastically replied, "Xiuqing, see how different Zhanguo is after getting married. He even knows how to indirectly insult people now."

Wen Xiuqing’s face turned serious and she reproached Lu Zhanguo, "What kind of way is that to speak to your Aunt Yuan? Where are your manners?"

The atmosphere immediately became tense. Seeing this, Lu Aiguo quickly tried to defuse the situation by saying, "Everyone just eat your noodles or they’ll get clumpy."

Lu Zhanguo kept a stern face, gave Qin Ximei a cold look and resumed eating.

Gu Xiaobei immediately lost her appetite. These people were going too far. Her mother-in-law couldn’t differentiate between insiders and outsiders and went so far as to support this stranger. She would secretly punish this Qin Ximei for crossing the line.

After dinner, Lu Aiguo and his wife took Yueyue and left. Lu Zhanguo then promptly led Gu Xiaobei upstairs.

Qin Ximei sneered, "They really forget their mother after marriage."

Wen Xiuqing seemed to agree with Qin Ximei’s words and nodded, "Yes, it’s getting more and more lonely here."

"Mom, let’s go home." Yuan Qing, who was standing nearby, tugged at Qin Ximei’s sleeve.

"Okay, we’ll go first. We’ll come back tomorrow. Since you’re all alone here, I’m afraid you’ll be bullied." Qin Ximei said with concern.

Upstairs, Gu Xiaobei didn’t return to her room. Instead, she insisted on standing at the top of the stairs, eavesdropping on the conversation in the living room. She could tell that Qin Ximei wouldn’t let up so easily. She was coming again tomorrow? Then, a plan for revenge started to hatch in Xiaobei’s mind.

Only when she heard the sounds of people preparing to leave downstairs did Gu Xiaobei finally retreat with satisfaction to her room.

Lu Zhanguo sat at the table, calmly reading a newspaper as Gu Xiaobei approached. She sat down on the edge of the bed, propped her chin on her hand, and asked, "Why are mom and Qin Ximei so close?"

Lu Zhanguo set down his newspaper and sighed, "In our younger days, Aunt Yuan helped mom a lot. Plus, my mother’s personality wasn’t like this."

"Mom was a military doctor with excellent skills. However, due to family reasons, she gave up her career. Furthermore, when my mom was pregnant with my brother and me, my dad went to the frontlines and didn’t return for four or five years. During that time, mom was alone in the countryside raising us. Over time, she developed some mental stress. Aunt Yuan frequently stayed with her and helped her a lot during that period."

Gu Xiaobei tried to interpret this in her own understanding. It seemed her mother-in-law gave up the career she loved which left a gap in her heart, coupled with what could be postpartum depression.

Seeing Gu Xiaobei’s lost expression, Lu Zhanguo reached out to pinch her cheek and said, "Alright, go wash up quickly. We have to head to the city tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaobei looked up with a mysterious smile, "Let’s go to the city the day after tomorrow. There’s something else we have to handle first tomorrow?"

"What is it?"

"That’s a secret. You’ll find out tomorrow." Gu Xiaobei’s face showed her cunning plan.