Back To The 80s-Chapter 341 - 351: Happiness_1

Gu Xiaobei silently noted to himself that his big brother didn’t look particularly thin. However, seeing Wen Xiuqing so happy made him feel happy too.

Wen Xiuqing hurriedly ate a few bites of breakfast and began to prepare the chicken for the soup. She cut out a small piece of chicken breast to mince into tiny pieces for Xiaopang and Mo Wang’s chicken dumplings.

When Ji Xiangdong arrived and stepped inside, the scent of chicken soup filled the entire house.

As Wen Xiuqing closed the door, she asked, "Have you had breakfast? The chicken soup is ready; would you like some first?"

Ji Xiangdong blinked his eyes, removing the mistiness from them, and with a smile said, "Mom, I’ve already eaten. You shouldn’t stress yourself out so much, let’s just sit and talk."

Xiaopang sat on the living room couch, eating an apple. Seeing Ji Xiangdong, he happily tossed his apple aside, clapped his hands for a hug and then suddenly pouted at Gu Xiaobei and began to cry out of disappointment as he realized this wasn’t his father.

Both Wen Xiuqing and Gu Xiaobei started laughing. Wen Xiuqing laughed and said, "Xiaopang is really clever, he can tell at a glance that it’s not his dad."

Ji Xiangdong had wanted to buy the child some clothes, but he wasn’t sure what size to get. Instead, he decided to give each kid fifty yuan as a gift for being their uncle.

When Wen Xiuqing saw Ji Xiangdong taking out money,

she stopped his hand and said, "No need for that. Keep that money for your future marriage and life." In her eyes, even if Ji Xiangdong had a significant position, life was still not easy. If it were, he wouldn’t still be single in his thirties.

Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help laughing when he heard Wen Xiuqing talking about marriage. He thought of Bai Xiaolan’s awkward demeanor and suspicious blush from the previous day. Maybe his sister-in-law would be the first one to walk through the door.

At lunchtime, Wen Xiuqing served a huge chicken leg to both Ji Xiangdong and Gu Xiaobei. She kept saying, "Xiangdong, eat more meat. If you don’t like chicken soup, I can make braised chicken for you tomorrow."

Feeling a bit moved by the chicken leg that his mother-in-law served him, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but feel a lump in his throat and quickly lowered his head to sip his soup.

Xiaopang and Mo Wang sat side by side, their little mouths opened like hungry birds waiting for Wen Xiuqing to feed them dumplings.

While feeding the kids, Wen Xiuqing said, "Xiangdong, you should settle down too. Any girl you’re interested in yet? Look, your two younger brothers are already married with children, you can’t stay single forever."

Ji Xiangdong paused with his chopsticks in mid-air. His mother’s nagging warmed his heart. He nodded and said, "I understand."

Gu Xiaobei continued sipping his soup with a tight smile. He thought to himself, he should really double check with Bai Xiaolan. She might actually be the sister-in-law, and he was wasting time looking elsewhere.

Ji Xiangdong left after dinner, given that his brother was not at home, it didn’t seem appropriate to spend the night there, even if his mother was there. Wen Xiuqing reluctantly asked, "Will you come over tomorrow?"

"I have classes during the day, but I can come over in the evening," Ji Xiangdong replied, holding Wen Xiuqing’s hand.

"Good, I’ll make lamb stew for you tomorrow," Wen Xiuqing said cheerily.

Once Ji Xiangdong left, Gu Xiaobei hinted, "Mom, my big brother doesn’t have a girlfriend, and Bai Xiaolan is also single, don’t you think they are a good match?"

On hearing this, Wen Xiuqing shook her head and said, "It won’t do. Although Xiaolan is a nice girl, what if she takes advantage of your brother’s kind nature?"

Gu Xiaobei found this funny. He really couldn’t see Ji Xiangdong as a person without a temper. In his view, Ji Xiangdong was like a fox who, when the time came, definitely would not show any mercy. His usual kind and easy-going demeanor was probably just to deceive people.

"Mom, when Xiaopang and Mo Wang are taking their nap tomorrow, I want to go to the Western City District to see a friend," Gu Xiaobei said. He had been in the city for over half a month and he still hadn’t visited Qin Li.

"Of course, you don’t need to rush, I can keep an eye on them by myself for a while," said Wen Xiuqing with a smile.

The next day at noon, once the kids were asleep, Gu Xiaobei hurried off to visit Qin Li using the address provided by Zhuang Shuxian.

Qin Li looked surprised to see Gu Xiaobei. "Sister Xiaobei, how did you know I was here? I was told you had gone back to Capital City because your husband was injured. I was so worried but didn’t have your phone number or address." Qin Li couldn’t resist babbling.

Gu Xiaobei entered the room and saw that Qin Li was alone. She laughed and said, "I was in a hurry and didn’t leave any messages for anyone. Are you home alone?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Yes, my uncle and aunt went to my sister’s house. They won’t be back till tonight." Qin Li happily ran off to get Gu Xiaobei some water.

"Why did you move to the provincial city? I thought something had happened to you."

"I thought there’d be more opportunities here, to start a business. But after more than a month, I still don’t know what to do. Whatever I suggest, my uncle tells me it’s too risky, or that I’ll definitely lose money. His discouragement has drained all my confidence." Qin Li said, looking a bit upset.

"How about clothes or food? These are basic necessities. What about selling clothes?" Gu Xiaobei suggested after some thought.

Qin Li shook her head and said, "My uncle said it would be a problem for a girl like me to handle goods. And besides, most of the good stuff comes from the south, and my uncle is reluctant to let me go, saying there are a lot of gangs and bandits on the road."

Gu Xiaobei frowned; it was unrealistic for a girl to venture north and south.

"How about I go back and think about it? Maybe I can come up with a good solution." Gu Xiaobei thought about their current situation; they were essentially destitute, so starting from scratch was indeed difficult.

Qin Li nodded in agreement and asked, "Did your family move to the provincial city, Sister Xiaobei? And where are Xiaopang and Mo Wang?"

Gu Xiaobei laughed and said, "It’s not that far from us, only about a forty-minute walk. And my mother-in-law is at home with Xiaopang and Mo Wang."

After chatting casually for a while, Gu Xiaobei worried about Wen Xiuqing parenting the two kids alone, left her address, and hurried back home.

When she arrived near the downtown area on the west side of the Northern City District, she noticed a piece of land filled with weeds. It was approximately seven or eight acres, filled with various piles of rubbish, and was avoided by many people. She found it odd that such land in the middle of the city was so neglected.

By the time Gu Xiaobei arrived home, Xiaopang and Mo Wang had just woken up and were crawling on the bed, playing with a rubber ball.

"Zhanguo should be coming home today, right? Didn’t he say he would be out for a week?" Wen Xiuqing asked.

As Gu Xiaobei threw the rubber ball onto the bed so the two children would crawl back onto it, she shook her head and replied, "I don’t know, the departure time varies with each trip. We only know an estimated time."

To Gu Xiaobei’s surprise, Ji Xiangdong came over that night with Bai Xiaolan. Gu Xiaobei smirked craftily, thinking that this year they were going to have double happiness. She wondered what Wen Xiuqing’s expression would be when she found out that Bai Xiaolan was going to be her daughter-in-law.

Wen Xiuqing was also curious, "How did you two run into each other?"

With no sign of embarrassment or panic, Bai Xiaolan lied, "I bumped into Brother Ji downstairs."

Ji Xiangdong just stood there with a smile, not contradicting Bai Xiaolan’s lie.