Back To The 80s-Chapter 340 - 350: Mother’s Love_1

When Wen Xiuqing saw Ji Xiangdong, the black sweater he had rolled up while kneading dough had some loose threads that were hastily sewn back together with white thread. Wen Xiuqing felt so saddened that she couldn’t hold back the tears.

"Are you married?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"No, I’m not." Ji Xiangdong paused in his kneading.

Wen Xiuqing’s freshly wiped tears flowed again, "Where have you been all these years? Have you been eating well? Has anyone bullied you? Your father thought you might be in the army; are you not in the army now..."

Ji Xiangdong patiently answered Wen Xiuqing’s questions one by one.

When Wen Xiuqing heard that Ji Xiangdong was at the Shule River in X Province, she cried again. That place was remote, poverty-stricken, and rumored to be inhabited by primitive people.

Ji Xiangdong understood Wen Xiuqing’s worries, and explained, "It’s actually quite nice there. The inhabitants are simple and kind, their world is innocent, so you don’t have to worry."

The simple meal of tossed noodles with gravy was only ready around eleven at night.

Since there were two children, they ate at the kang table.

Gu Xiaobei, holding the sleeping Xiaopang, awkwardly shouted: "Brother." This suddenly having a man who looked exactly like her husband sit in front of her was quite awkward. Despite having mentally prepared, it was still quite a shock.

However, Gu Xiaobei quickly felt less awkward, as she noticed Bai Xiaolan, who was eating beside her, was even more uncomfortable and acting out of the ordinary.

Bai Xiaolan had her face nearly buried in her bowl. Normally a fast eater, she was incredibly slow today with two suspicious flushes on her cheeks.

Wen Xiuqing wasn’t in a hurry to eat either. Holding Mo Wang, she kept glancing at Ji Xiangdong eating his noodles, "Is the food too salty? Do you want some more gravy? Are the noodles enough? Eat more. Tomorrow, I’ll buy chicken and make you chicken soup, look how thin you’ve become..." Her eyes reddened as she spoke.

Ji Xiangdong felt a lump in his throat. This was the love of a mother, always concerned if you had eaten enough or warmed up enough, as though she wanted to show you all the love in her heart.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Bai Xiaolan eating as slowly as a snail, completely different from the two times he had seen her before, which puzzled him a little.

After dinner, Ji Xiangdong proposed to go back to his dormitory at the Party school. Wen Xiuqing was worried that once he left, he might not come back, so she hastily implored him with a hint of sobbing in her voice, "Stay here, you stay in that room, and Guxiaobei, Xiaolan and I will stay in this room."

Ji Xiangdong held Wen Xiuqing’s hand to comfort her, "I took time off for tomorrow morning, and I’ll come back to be with you then. Don’t worry, I’ll come first thing tomorrow morning. If I don’t return now, it would be considered as being out without permission and staying out overnight, which would be a disciplinary offense."

Wen Xiuqing clung tightly to Ji Xiangdong’s hand, "Then don’t leave when you come back tomorrow. Zhanguo has gone on a mission, and he should be back soon. I’ll also call your dad and ask him to come here quickly, including Aiguo, asking them all to come..." she rambled on and on.

"Ok, when I come back tomorrow, I’ll stay for a couple of days." Ji Xiangdong whispered to reassure her, feeling a sudden sense of security in his heart.

Wen Xiuqing put on a coat and escorted Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan out of the small neighborhood gate, standing there until she could no longer see their figures, still not wanting to leave, standing in place wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop.

It took a long time for Wen Xiuqing to return home, and as soon as she entered, she immediately grabbed Gu Xiaobei’s arm and asked, "Yuan Chao really came back, right? I wasn’t dreaming just now, was I?"

Seeing the distressed Wen Xiuqing, Gu Xiaobei felt uncomfortable too. With red eyes, she said, "Big brother really came back, mom. You should get some sleep now. Early tomorrow morning, big brother will come to see you."

Ji Xiangdong first escorted Bai Xiaolan back to the dormitory at the cultural center. Ji Xiangdong was not a talkative person, and Bai Xiaolan was all anxious and didn’t know what to say. So, the two of them walked side by side in silence.

Bai Xiaolan couldn’t help but occasionally steal glances at Ji Xiangdong from the corner of her eye. How could he just be Lu Family’s eldest son?! What was she supposed to do now?

Ji Xiangdong sensed Bai Xiaolan’s struggle, and asked softly, "Do you work at the cultural center?"

Bai Xiaolan nodded: "I’ve only been working for half a month."

Ji Xiangdong continued the conversation: "How is it? Are you settling in well?"

Mentioning her job made Bai Xiaolan irritated and irritable, she couldn’t help but say, "They all don’t like me, they make me do everything, and then they claim credit for it in front of the leaders." She didn’t know why, but she had an inexplicable trust in Ji Xiangdong.

Ji Xiangdong raised an eyebrow, wondering how someone could not like such an adorable girl, and how this fiery girl could bear it by suppressing her temperament at work.

"Why don’t they like you? If they bully you, why don’t you fight back?" Ji Xiangdong asked with concern.

Frowning, Bai Xiaolan said, "I don’t like talking to people I don’t like, nor do I like to please them. I wouldn’t insincerely praise something I think is bad. I endure because I made a promise to my mom to work well here. I can’t risk losing a job I’ve only had for half a month."

Ji Xiangdong looked at the confused Bai Xiaolan. This girl was clearly not fit for the professional world where everyone acts according to their preferences.

"Being too rigid in life makes it easy to break. No matter when or what job you do, controlling your true personality is a skill," Ji Xiangdong said softly.

Bai Xiaolan pouted: "Isn’t that just sycophancy and apple-polishing? What’s the point of living like that?"

Ji Xiangdong laughed, she was a girl who had been well protected and hadn’t suffered hardship: "It’s not sycophancy, it’s an instinct to protect oneself necessary to survive in society. You’ll understand it one day."

Bai Xiaolan scratched her head. Seeing that they’d reached the dormitory of the Cultural Center, she regretted in her heart why the way was so short today. Usually when she went to Gu Xiaobei’s house, she walked for almost an hour feels like only about ten minutes this time.

Ji Xiangdong stopped walking and warmly looked at Bai Xiaolan, "Alright, you should go back now. It’s late, your roommates might have something to complain about."

Watching Bai Xiaolan disappear into the corridor of the dormitory building, Ji Xiangdong turned around and walked toward the Party School. His steps felt unusually light, and the rock that had been weighing on his heart for many years seemed to suddenly vanish.

Wen Xiuqing spent the night tossing and turning, afraid that she might wake up to find it was all but a dream.

The moment dawn broke, Wen Xiuqing went to the market to buy fish, meat, and chicken, then sat at the entrance of the mall, waiting for it to open to buy three pounds of pure woolen yarn.

She then picked up some breakfast at the neighborhood gate before quickly rushing home. She felt that in thirty years, she had never felt as energetic as she did today. She hadn’t slept all night, but she was extremely lively.

Gu Xiaobei saw Wen Xiuqing come back carrying bags of things and sighed, "Mom, it’s getting hot now, and our house doesn’t have a fridge. You bought so much, we can’t eat it all, and there’s nowhere to put it."

Wen Xiuqing laughed and said, "It’s okay, you see, at noon we’ll eat chicken, at night we’ll eat fish, and we’ll make dumplings. We can eat it all, just look how thin your big brother is, we need to feed him well."