Back To The 80s-Chapter 358 - 368: Collection_1

Gu Xiaobei’s inclination to collect wasn’t impulsive. The previous time when Lu Zhanguo gave her a piece of Jade Mutton Fat, that’s when she considered starting a collection. Now that Lu Aiguo is in the Capital City, staying near Panjiayuan’s antique market, it would be a pity if she didn’t take this opportunity to start collecting. She added: "Antiques, calligraphy, and paintings would work too."

After pondering for a while, Lu Aiguo replied, "Second sister-in-law, your idea isn’t bad, plenty of old objects have disappeared, and now they are appearing on the market again. Many people are short on cash nowadays, so this is a viable path."

Gu Xiaobei wished that she could take a trip to Shule River in the next year or two to collect more Jade Mutton Fat. Bai Xiaolan was accompanying Ji Xiangdong to Shule River. She could ask Bai Xiaolan to buy a few more for her collection too.

Lu Aiguo started discussing the ready-to-eat food products in the local market with Gu Xiaobei, "Second sister-in-law, what do you think if I start a factory for such products?"

Gu Xiaobei carefully considered the situation. The economy was just transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy. Many state-owned factories would be facing bankruptcy and transformation. With Lu Aiguo’s connections, he could directly take over a struggling factory to save money. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

So, she suggested, "If you want to start a factory, it might be better to wait another year or two until the policies become more favorable. In the meantime, you can prepare all the groundwork, such as technology, machinery, and materials. Once the policies are in place and you are familiar with everything, you won’t be a novice and can manage your business efficiently."

Lu Aiguo nodded and sighed, "Second sister-in-law, leave the responsibility of making a fortune to me in future. My eldest brother can focus on politics, while my second brother can establish a foothold in the military. Once I excel in the business arena, our three families will definitely thrive."

Upon hearing Lu Aiguo’s words, Gu Xiaobei chuckled. Each of the three brothers’ personalities was well suited to prosper in their respective fields.

Fang Jing, who was on the side, started teasing, "Lu Aiguo, you sure love daydreaming. The other day, you were bragging about taking me to Hong Kong. Do you think it’s that easy to just go there?"

Laughing, Gu Xiaobei replied, "Didn’t the broadcast last winter mention that Hong Kong will be returned to us in 1997? By then, we can go whenever we want."

When the children had all gone to sleep, Lu Zhanguo finally returned. Curious, Gu Xiaobei asked, "Where have you been? You got back so late. Have you eaten dinner?"

Lu Zhanguo first checked up on the two children before softly answering, "I suspect Chen Dajun is up to something. I have asked Shen Heng to keep an eye on him."

Surprised, Gu Xiaobei asked, "No way, why can’t people behave properly?"

Lu Zhanguo knitted his brows slightly, "He was spoiled by his family. He is a lazy good-for-nothing who aspires for something for nothing day after day."

Gu Xiaobei lamented following the ancient saying that a too kind mother brings up a spoiled child. Hearing Chen Dajun’s mother’s story from Fang Jing reaffirmed this. Chen Dajun’s mother became a widow in her youth and had been indulgent towards her son. She never let him work in the field during the community gatherings and always assumed the responsibility of working for two people. This had led to Chen Dajun growing up as a carefree and useless person.

Since Zhou Siping was here, they were all having meals in the small courtyard every day. Wen Xiuqing asked Zhou Siping to discuss the matter of marrying their children. They needed to discuss the bride price from the bride’s side.

Zhou Siping chuckled, "We can’t refuse the bride price. It is a matter of face for us. But, we will match whatever you give as the bride price and give it back to the newlyweds in gifts. All these money and items will belong to the two children."

Wen Xiuqing nodded, "Right, in the end, we all hope for the two of them to live a good life. Let’s all sit together for a meal and consider it as finalising this marriage."

Zhou Siping felt reluctant considering his daughter would be getting married soon.

In the end, both families did not stick to the traditional form of engagement and arranged the engagement date on a Sunday, where they would all sit together for a meal.

Every time Lu Aiguo saw Bai Xiaolan, he couldn’t help but lament, "What have I done to deserve this? You bullied me when we were kids, now you are my sister-in-law." He then turned to Ji Xiangdong saying, "Big brother, you don’t know the heroic deeds my future sister-in-law performed during her school days. Neighborhood bullies who tried to extort money at the steel mill were beaten up by her to the point that they wet their pants at the mention of her name."

Bai Xiaolan glared at him, "Watch your mouth, did I start those encounters?"

Ji Xiangdong chuckled and said casually, "It’s good, we can stop worrying about being bullied now, can’t we?"

Lu Aiguo cunningly added, "No, big brother, she stripped their pants off and made a few of them stand on the roadside, airing out their privates. She even stood there supervising."

For once, Ji Xiangdong’s calm demeanor was shattered, his face betraying an astounded look.

Bai Xiaolan stood up, walked over to Lu Aiguo, and slapped him on the head, "Use your words wisely, how old was I back then?"

That’s when Lu Aiguo properly replied: "Six years old."

From the sidelines, Gu Xiaobei and Fang Jing could not hold back their laughter. Both were amused by Lu Aiguo using his life to report previous incidents.

Ji Xiangdong shook his head with a light laugh, looking at the flushed face of Bai Xiaolan, he said, "It’s fine; time will tell." while casting a glance at Lu Aiguo.

Lu Aiguo clicked his tongue and commented, "That’s not appropriate, big brother, seems like you are intending to offend your own brother. I am going to leave home." He pretended to be very upset, wanted to walk out the gate while mumbling, "Fang Jing, why don’t you try and stop me a little?"

Everyone was laughing heartily at Lu Aiguo’s antics.

Lu Ruixue, who was lying in her room, was extremely irritated by the jovial sounds coming from the courtyard outside. She began to feel like everyone was pushing her away, which made her so angry that she yanked the blanket over her head.

Wen Xiuqing and Zhou Siping were picking chives in the kitchen for making dumplings, they could hear the laughter coming from the yard. Zhou Siping mentioned, "Youth is amazing."

Wen Xiuqing agreed, "Isn’t that right? We’ve all grown old in a flash."

Zhou Siping also lamented, "With the improving times, the younger generation is blessed. It’s not like back in our days, where being alive was considered a blessing."

While plucking a few chives, Zhou Siping then mentioned, "I heard Qin Ximei went mad, rummaging through garbage every day looking for food. Yuan Dahai doesn’t even care about her."

Wen Xiuqing’s hand paused while she was plucking, she replied, "I deeply regret what happened back then; it was like I was under a spell."

"Don’t worry about these things, I was merely pointing out that every bad person receives their retribution, and that the good people will be rewarded."

Wen Xiuqing lowered her head, she didn’t consider herself a virtuous person. If she was, she wouldn’t have neglected her family for so long. The punishment for her past actions was Lu Ruixue’s current state.

...

While everyone was enjoying dumplings for dinner, Lu Zhanguo was still working overtime. Commissar Zeng Changzhi lit a cigarette and said, "We have completed the investigation now, everyone can testify that they have not been out recently, or they have been able to prove that they didn’t go out alone, or even had a chance to interact with females?"

Lu Zhanguo tapped on the table lightly with his fingers while furrowing his eyebrows, he asked, "Zhong Zhi, what do you think?"

Zhong Zhi was dissatisfied in his heart, thinking, ’What is there to think about? After several rounds of investigation, if there is nothing, then there is nothing. Even if someone comes from the upper floors to investigate, they can’t find out the reason.’ He responded, "I don’t think it is our people who leaked the information. The existence of our troops is unknown to outsiders, but our brother troops do know. Could it be them impersonating us?"