Back To The 80s-Chapter 370 - 380: Double Joy-1

"Anything works really, just something for a lucky start, like a pen, a book, an abacus..."

Before Wen Xiuqing could finish, Lu Songyuan interjected from the side, "A gun, we need to put a gun too. I bet our Mo Wang will go for the gun. Let me quickly whittle one out of wood."

Wen Xiuqing gave him a look and said, "Why must our Mo Wang be a soldier? To me, Mo Wang is destined to be a scholar."

On the day of the birthday, Liu Hongbing and Tian Yuanyuan also came, carrying Liu Jiajia with them.

As soon as Liu Jiajia saw Xiaopang, she wanted to approach him. Dahuang, seeing an unidentified object approaching, promptly stood up, guarding Xiaopang. Liu Jiajia, shocked by the sight of such a big dog, burst into tears.

Gu Xiaobei quickly moved Dahuang aside and helped Tian Yuanyuan to comfort Liu Jiajia.

Liu Hongbing curiously asked, "When did you get two military dogs? I’ll have to apply for one too, for Jiajia to play with."

"With Jiajia being so timid, you can give that idea up." Tian Yuanyuan remarked while comforting her son.

Frightened by Dahuang, Liu Jiajia completely abandoned the idea of playing with Xiaopang and was unwilling to leave her mother’s lap.

Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan arrived a bit later, bringing two sets of clothes for each of the children. As soon as Bai Xiaolan entered the kitchen, she shamelessly said to Gu Xiaobei, "Save your children’s outgrown clothes for my kid."

Gu Xiaobei chuckled, and Bai Xiaolan told her triumphantly that they had obtained their marriage certificate that day.

"Let me have a look at it," Gu Xiaobei curiously said, realizing only then that she had never seen her own marriage certificate with Lu Zhanguo.

Satisfyingly, Bai Xiaolan took out a certificate-like paper from her bag and showed it to Gu Xiaobei.

The three big words in the middle shined in golden: Marriage Certificate. Below were their names and ages, followed by a phrase about voluntarily getting married, conforming to the marriage law regulations, and at the very bottom, a large red character symbolizing happiness that was surrounded by colorful flowers.

Looking closely at the marriage certificate and its vivid flowers, Gu Xiaobei suddenly realized that she didn’t have a printed advertisement; she always felt something was missing, and this was that crucial part.

Wen Xiuqing, who had been kneading dough, approached with dough on her hands. Seeing the golden words, her eyes turned red again. She quickly hid it with a smile and said, "On this double-happiness day, let’s ask your dad to slaughter another chicken."

Gu Xiaobei mischievously nudged Bai Xiaolan and badgered her, "Shout out! Now that you got the marriage certificate, start shouting."

Bai Xiaolan gave Gu Xiaobei a secret glance, unembarrassed, she loudly called out "Mom." Afterward, she lifted her chin triumphantly at Gu Xiaobei.

Wen Xiuqing happily responded, leaving the dough aside, she washed her hands and brought two red envelopes from inside, handing one to Bai Xiaolan and the other one to Gu Xiaobei,"Xiaolan, this 200 is a token for you, Xiaobei, here’s 100 for your hard work with the kid’s birthday. No matter the amount, it’s the sentiment that counts."

Gu Xiaobei took the red envelope in surprise, "I get one too?"

Wen Xiuqing laughed and didn’t say anything, washed her hands and continued kneading the dough.

Gu Xiaobei and Bai Xiaolan happily pocketed their red envelopes and helped tidy up the dishes.

Before lunch, they conducted the "grab test". They didn’t follow tradition, just laid out a pen, a book, some money, an abacus that Gu Xiaobei used for accounting, and the wooden gun made by Lu Songyuan on the big table, inviting both children to pick something.

Xiaopang sat on the table, touched everything on it, and finally clung to the wooden gun, refusing to let go.

Mo Wang was sitting on the other side. Seeing that her sister made her choice, she crawled over and pulled the abacus towards her, turning it over and over fondly.

Lu Songyuan, not satisfied, commented, "This doesn’t count. If Mo Wang would have chosen first, she would have certainly gone for the gun." Saying so, he tried to coax the wooden gun out of Xiaopang’s hand.

Xiaopang hugged it tightly, showing a ’cry if you keep trying’ expression, which made everyone burst into laughter.

Liu Hongbing laughed and said, "From now on, our Xiaopang will be the Mulan of the army, a remarkable female hero." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Lu Zhanguo picked up his daughter satisfactorily and said, "This is not bad."

The lunch was mainly to celebrate Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan getting their marriage certificate.

Liu Hongbing began to coax Ji Xiangdong into drinking alcohol. He was not convinced and despite not drinking much would end up too drunk to consummate his marriage today.

But the more Liu Hongbing drank, the dizzier he got, while Ji Xiangdong calmly sipped his drinks as if he were savoring tea. His drinking ability was honed at Shule River, where the local ethnic minorities were hospitable. Every time he visited a herder’s house, he would first knock back three cups of 56-degree liquor. Then they would butcher a sheep and have a feast, drinking generously and eating heartily.

In the frigid winter of the Northwest, alcohol could help ward off the cold and provide warmth. The herdsmen considered serving alcohol to guests a supreme form of hospitality. So, Ji Xiangdong had, little by little, trained himself from initially being knocked out by three cups to now being able to drink up to two jin with no issues.

After eating a few bites, Wen Xiuqing was ready to go to the coal house outside the door to collect a few pieces of coal to put in the stove. Later, it would be used to boil water for those who had been drinking to help sober them up.

When Wen Xiuqing opened the courtyard door, she saw Lu Ruixue hurriedly turn to leave. With some pity in her heart, she chased after her, "Ruirui, why are you here?"

Lu Ruixue stopped in her tracks and turned back to look pitifully at her mother, not uttering a sound.

Wen Xiuqing sighed, took out more than ten yuan from her pocket, and said, "This is all I have. Take it, find something to do for yourself, and stop wandering around aimlessly all day."

As Lu Ruixue accepted the money, tears dripped down her face.

With a heavy heart, Wen Xiuqing felt remorse towards her daughter. She couldn’t help but ask, "Where are you living? Let me visit you when I have time. You shouldn’t come around anymore."

Lu Ruixue gave her an address, then quickly turned and left.

Wen Xiuqing watched her daughter’s retreating figure with an indescribable heartache. Wiping away her tears, she turned and went to the coal room to pick up coal.

......

Once Gu Xiaobei learned the address of the printing factory, she quickly cycled there. She ran into Jiang Jiahua, who was there handling matters, at the entrance. She stopped her bike to greet him.

Jiang Jiahua asked in surprise, "Comrade Xiaobei, what brings you to the printing factory?"

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "I’m here to print some flyers." She then briefly explained what she was planning to do.

Jiang Jiahua was surprised that Gu Xiaobei had changed careers in the short time since he last saw her, and asked, "How many flyers do you need to print?"

"Let’s start with two thousand."

Jiang Jiahua kindly pitched in, "I can help you negotiate with the printing factory for a discount. The plate fees can get quite expensive when you’re printing so few."

Gu Xiaobei was tempted for a moment by the prospect of saving money, but ultimately declined the offer. She didn’t want to owe Jiang Jiahua any favors. After all, money debts are easier to repay than personal ones. She smiled and said, "No need, I’ll handle the negotiation myself. After all, I’ll be printing a large number of flyers in the future."

Jiang Jiahua was a bit disappointed by Gu Xiaobei’s decisive rejection. He responded with some frustration, "I thought we were friends. I didn’t expect you to be so formal."

Gu Xiaobei laughed and said, "Editor Jiang, you’re overthinking it. If you excuse me, I must go in now."

Jiang Jiahua nodded, watching as Gu Xiaobei pushed her bike into the printing factory. He sighed deeply before he turned and left.

As Jiang Jiahua had said, because the number of prints was low, the plate fee was high. In total, it cost a few cents per piece, which made Gu Xiaobei flinch. If these expensive flyers didn’t work, wasn’t she just throwing away money? After some thought, she decided to go ahead with it. If no one knew about her if she didn’t print, she could always advertise on TV later if it still didn’t work.