Back To The 80s-Chapter 368 - 378: Trouble Caused by a Watermelon_1
Gu Xiaobei was calculating the money needed to open a store in her mind. She was also short on money now, it seemed like she couldn’t squeeze out any money to lend to Li Fengmei. She decided to sort it out later when she had the time.
Soon, Zhang Lijun rushed back with a bunch of vegetable seeds. Upon seeing Lu Zhanguo and his wife, he said with a smile, "I should have known you were coming earlier, I would have come back with some meat."
Gu Xiaobei laughed, "It’s okay, we happened to buy a piece of meat on the way."
At noon, Li Fengmei made dumplings from the meat Gu Xiaobei brought over.
There weren’t many vegetables in the yard, and the chives had all bolted. Li Fengmei cut a large bundle, choosing the tender parts to cook.
Gu Xiaobei went into the kitchen to help pick chives. As she worked, Li Fengmei brought her up to speed on the inner dealings of the courtyard: "Xiangyang has been demobilized at last, he could have had a nice job after the demobilization, but all of that was ruined by Qu Yan."
"Chang Yuan also demobilized, many people have left our large courtyard, but many new families have also joined recently."
After hearing Li Fengmei’s words, Gu Xiaobei also felt a sense of loss. Such is life, running into different people and events at different times, leaving marks of varying depths on the trajectory of your life. Many years later, when you look back, you might find everything that happened back then rather naive.
Li Fengmei meticulously removed the yellow tips from the chives as she chatted non-stop, "Gu Huaqiang didn’t choose to be demobilized, I’ve heard he’s also come to the provincial capital, but he doesn’t seem to be in contact with anyone. Zhang Lijun even went out to find out where they live, but they wouldn’t say."
Gu Xiaobei was curious, "Why didn’t he return to his hometown? Life must be hard in the provincial capital with his mom and daughter."
"If he went back, it would be humiliating. He was a soldier for so many years, and in the end, his wife ran away. He’d be the laughingstock of the town," Li Fengmei lamented.
Gu Xiaobei also informed Li Fengmei of her recent plans to start a business and then continued, "If the house lacks anything, you can grab it at my place. When you find a suitable location, open up a storefront. Get goods from me, pay me back after you’ve sold them."
Li Fengmei laughed and said, "You’re really resourceful, hearing you explain it, it seems like a great idea. Let me discuss it with Zhang Lijun. If we can’t send money home these couple of months and save up, and borrow some more, we should be able to rent a storefront."
Gu Xiaobei offered another suggestion, "Try to find a place near a school and residential area, so you can sell both school supplies and living goods."
Li Fengmei nodded in agreement, "That’s a great idea. A lot of money is spent on kids’ notebooks and pencils each year. Plus, kids in the city now buy pencils in packs of ten due to improving conditions."
"Exactly, in the future, money from students will be easier to make. We’re just starting out, we shouldn’t expect to earn a lot of money yet, instead, we should focus on gaining experience." Gu Xiaobei said, aiming to pacify Li Fengmei in case she didn’t earn much money straight away.
Li Fengmei laughed and said, "Honestly, I’m not greedy, if I can make two or three yuan a day, just enough to cover the kid’s expenses, I’d be content. It’s nerve-wracking to sit at home everyday without money."
"Absolutely. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but now everyone in the house is healthy, but if someone gets sick, without any money on hand, it could be panic-inducing," agreed Gu Xiaobei.
"Exactly, so this plan you propose is feasible, I’ll clean up the house these few days and then start looking for a place," Li Fengmei said, full of enthusiasm.
After having lunch at Li Fengmei’s house, the two were ready to return home.
Gu Xiaobei noted that the path Lu Zhanguo was taking was not the same way they had come. She curiously asked, "Are you taking a shortcut?"
Lu Zhanguo gravely responded, "I’m taking you to the shores of the Yellow River for a stroll." He had realized that he had never taken her out to explore since they had moved to the provincial city, and when Ji Xiangdong had taken Bai Xiaolan to the Yellow River for a photoshoot, he had seen envy flicker in Xiaobei’s eyes. As they had some free time today, he decided to also take her to see the river.
Gu Xiaobei delighted at his words, giggling like a naughty mouse who’d just stolen some oil. She thought, is this a date?
Their city was the only one in the country that the Yellow River flowed through. During that time, neither bank of the river had been developed or converted into scenic spots; they retained their original look. From afar, one could hear the Yellow River’s roaring currents.
Having reached the Yellow River, Lu Zhanguo locked up his bicycle and accompanied Gu Xiaobei on a leisurely stroll along the river bank.
Suddenly, Gu Xiaobei remembered a phrase: When you go sightseeing, the scenery you observe differs depending on who you go with; your mood also varies. It doesn’t matter what you see, but rather, who you’re seeing it with.
After a stroll by the Yellow River, they rode their bike home. As they reached the entrance to their complex, they saw Bai Xiaolan sweating profusely and holding a large watermelon, her hair stuck to her face because of the perspiration.
"Where have you been? You’re all sweaty." Gu Xiaobei asked curiously as she got off the bike.
Bai Xiaolan wiped away her sweat and glanced at Lu Zhanguo before whispering in Gu Xiaobei’s ear, "I just ran into Chen Dajun and gave him a good beating. It felt so good. Then I saw a watermelon vendor and bought a watermelon to bring home."
Gu Xiaobei was taken aback, "You just went and started hitting him? Without reason?"
Bai Xiaolan gave her a disbelieving look and said incredulously, "Do I need a reason to punch someone?" She then walked towards the courtyard with her watermelon.
From a distance, Gu Xiaobei called after her mischievously, "Does my brother know about this?"
Bai Xiaolan quickly turned back with the watermelon and walked up to Gu Xiaobei, softly threatening, "You better behave! No tattle-telling."
Gu Xiaobei laughed; Bai Xiaolan did this for her, how could she not be appreciative? She grabbed Bai Xiaolan’s arm and laughed as they entered the courtyard.
Lu Songyuan fed a small piece of watermelon to each child. When Wen Xiuqing saw this, she quickly stopped him. Watermelon has a cooling effect and can be bad for the children’s digestion if they eat too much.
Mo Wang licked his lips in satisfaction while Xiaopang was furious and began crying loudly. Lu Zhanguo felt sorry for his daughter, "Should we feed her a little more? It’s so hot, eating a little bit shouldn’t matter."
But Gu Xiaobei stopped him, "No, we can’t raise them to cry when they don’t get what they want. If Xiaopang gets what she wants when she cries this time, she’ll cry until she gets whatever she wants next time. We can’t indulge them like this."
Lu Zhanguo, who felt sorry for his crying daughter and was afraid of upsetting his wife, could only hold Xiaopang and take a stroll outside the courtyard to distract her.
Watching the commotion, Lu Songyuan said with some dissatisfaction, "In this hot weather, it’s okay to give the kids some watermelon. You guys are making too much fuss over it."
Wen Xiuqing glared at Lu Songyuan, "Gu Xiaobei is right. We can’t spoil the kids like this, and this isn’t something good anyway. What if the children get diarrhea from eating too much?"
Unconvinced, Lu Songyuan retorted, "Our Xiaopang and Mo Wang are perfectly healthy, they’re hardly so delicate. Do you remember when kids used to drink unfiltered water from the river and hardly anyone got diarrhea? You guys are being overly cautious!"
Seeing that her innocent comment had sparked a war, Gu Xiaobei quickly pulled Bai Xiaolan into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Bai Xiaolan couldn’t help saying, "Is it because I brought the wrong watermelon? Why are we now arguing?"
