Back To The 80s-Chapter 238 - 248: Gathering_1
Gu Xiaobei had just finished her bun and hadn’t even had her milk powder when Dadong came over to call her for dinner.
"So soon? It’s just past four." Gu Xiaobei was slightly perplexed, and quickly drank all her milk powder.
Upon arriving at Li Fengmei’s house, she found that the family of Wu Guanghan and Ge Chunling, the family of Chang Yuan and Sun Aiqin, and the family of Zhang Dacheng and Gao Qiaoyun had already arrived.
The men were sitting in the inner room with seeds and candies on the table and cigarettes.
Li Fengmei arranged for Gu Xiaobei to sit on the small bed in the outer room, smiling and saying, "This room is too small, a few more people can’t move around. Today I invited you over for dinner, and tomorrow I’ll call Wang Ping and the others."
Gu Xiaobei then realized that it was her turn to invite everyone over for dinner. She started wondering about the best day to do it.
As they chatted, the topic inevitably turned to Xiangmin. Gao Qiaoyun regretfully said, "I heard from Dacheng that Guo family’s sister-in-law had a premature birth, and the girl weighed less than four jin. Whether she can survive depends on the child’s fate." Gao Qiaoyun’s husband had been to the hospital the night before, so naturally, he knew more about it.
The local hospital did not have an incubator, so the baby had to rely on her own survival instinct.
"Dacheng also said that the baby, when born, had wrists as fine as his thumb, and a small mouth that couldn’t suckle. The doctor used a syringe to feed her drop by drop." Gao Qiaoyun talked about the baby with both pity and compassion.
Li Fengmei sighed, "Poor child."
Gu Xiaobei didn’t respond, just listening quietly. She too felt sorry for the baby, but it was entirely Xiangmin’s fault that the baby was in such condition, not anyone else’s.
The dinner prepared by Li Fengmei was half ready beforehand with meatballs, pastry meat, and stewed chicken to be steamed in a pot, mixed with vermicelli, and a plate of cold beef. A plate of fried black fungus with meat, stewed cabbage with vermicelli were to be prepared, so she only started cooking after they had chatted for a while.
Gao Qiaoyun and Ge Chunling helped, while Sun Aiqin held her baby and sat aside. Gu Xiaobei noticed that Sun Aiqin had been unusually silent since she came back for the New Year.
It was probably due to the fight with Qu Yan, which had taken the wind out of her sails.
The men ate at the table in the inner room, while the women and children ate at the table in the outer room.
Li Fengmei also brought out two bottles of mini champagne, which was very popular at the time. The alcohol content was around ten degrees. However, Gu Xiaobei, born after the ’90s, had never seen this kind of drink before. Later, due to trademark reasons, the mini champagne disappeared from the market.
"Today is the New Year, let’s sisters have a few sips and cheer up." Li Fengmei smiled as she took out a few jars and poured half a jar for each person.
Gu Xiaobei glanced at the alcohol content on the bottle and shook her head, "I’d better not drink. I’ll just have some plain water."
"That’s true, you’re pregnant now. I shouldn’t let you eat and drink carelessly." Li Fengmei poured half a jar of warm water for Gu Xiaobei before sitting down to eat.
As the women chatted while eating, the conversation inevitably turned to gossip.
Someone mentioned Qu Yan, and Ge Chunling mysteriously said, "Did you not know? Qu Yan was in the military too before she married Xiangyang and then she retired."
Not surprised, Gu Xiaobei figured out why Sun Aiqin could not defeat Qu Yan.
Hearing Qu Yan’s name, Sun Aiqin’s face turned even more unpleasant, and she silently continued to feed her child.
Gao Qiaoyun was curious, "Didn’t they arrange her a job after she retired?"
"After retirement, seems like she had arranged for a job, but Qu Yan did not want to live separately from her husband. She just met the conditions for joining the army. She gave up her job and came here." Ge Chunling had gotten this news from some gossip and shared it with everyone. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Sun Aiqin curled her lips and sneered, "What? Qu Yan had an affair, and the other man’s wife went to her door. That’s why she quit her job and came to join the army."
Li Fengmei quickly chastised her, "Don’t spread rumors about this. Isn’t that tarnishing someone’s reputation?"
Sun Aiqin, who had been holding back for a long time, could no longer restrain herself, "I’m not making up rumors. They had a quarrel behind the guest house that day. I happened to be sunbathing with Xiaobao by the fort wall and heard everything."
Everyone was somewhat surprised to hear this. Qu Yan did not seem like that sort of person.
Sun Aiqin continued, "Ever since Chang Yuan took over Xiangyang’s position, Qu Yan has been glaring at me with resentment every time she sees me. That day I couldn’t help but curse her for being a promiscuous woman, and we started brawling."
Gu Xiaobei felt that there must be more to Sun Aiqin’s story than she was letting on, it couldn’t just be that. Otherwise, she couldn’t have been so unusually quiet recently.
However, it seemed that Qu Yan wasn’t as simple as she appeared. Fortunately, Gu Xiaobei hadn’t had much contact with her.
The men in the room were also in the middle of their drinking. As they drank and chatted, they eventually started talking about work.
Zhang Lijun mumbled after taking a sip, "After the New Year, new recruits will join our unit. I guess there will be some adjustments in our team, right?"
Wu Guanghan couldn’t resist and asked Lu Zhanguo, "Squad leader, can I remain in my position this time? I’ve been here for quite some years now."
Lu Zhanguo glanced at him lightly, "All of you should focus on your work. This time I guess there will be a big shake-up in our team."
Given Lu Zhanguo’s evasive answer, the people present were wise enough to infer what he meant. Surely many will be promoted. They felt like they had taken a calming pill and became at ease.
"And what about your study plan?" Zhang Lijun was curious.
"Let’s see. There are too many variables. Nothing’s certain," Lu Zhanguo thought that if he did go to school in autumn, Gu Xiaobei would be just about to have their baby then. How could he bear to leave her alone at home?
The conversation then turned to Yuan Ye’s case. Zhang Dacheng sighed, "I estimate that the case will be closed and the sentence will be finalized in March."
"How come Xiangyang wasn’t affected this time?" This question had been on Chang Yuan’s mind. Everyone related to the case had been examined, only Xiangyang had not been strictly scrutinized.
Lu Zhanguo knew they were competing and said, "Xiangyang was supposed to be transferred. What Du Chengwen did was just a favor. Because the order of his transfer had already been signed by the military region leaders, and all the procedures were regularly completed. Also, Xiangyang didn’t have any substantial contact outside of work, so you can’t hold one person responsible for ruining everyone."
Chang Yuan chuckled awkwardly, "Squad leader, after asking this, I feel much better. Otherwise, it has always been a thorn in my heart."
Zhang Lijun raised his glass, "Today is the first day of the New Year. Let’s not talk about work or anything unpleasant. Let’s just eat and drink happily. Come, raise your glasses, let’s do a toast."
Dinner went on until seven or eight in the evening before people started leaving. Gu Xiaobei worried that Lu Zhanguo had drunk too much and returned home midway to brew some strong tea for Lu Zhanguo to drink when he came home.
Lu Zhanguo had indeed drunk quite a lot, and his eyes, missing the usual clarity, had a hint of dimness. He lay on the small bed in the outer room, watching Gu Xiaobei busy pouring tea, his eyes growing even dimmer.
"Get up and drink your tea." Gu Xiaobei poured the tea back and forth between two jars to cool it down and handed it to Lu Zhanguo.
Lu Zhanguo got up and took the jar while grabbing Gu Xiaobei’s hand. The other hand took the jar and placed it on a stool next to it. Holding Gu Xiaobei’s hand, he pulled her into his arms.
