Back To The 80s-Chapter 384 - 394: Pitiful_1

Gu Xiaobei’s hand, which was busy cutting meat, paused. She could empathize with Wen Xiuqing’s feelings, but she didn’t think Lu Ruixue was pitiable. Who was to blame for her life being the way it was?

Seeing Wen Xiuqing like this, Xiaobei gave a thought and said, "Mom, the money I gave you is yours to spend as you wish. However, there’s an old saying: help in need but don’t perpetuate poverty. If Ruixue doesn’t start working to support herself, your financial aid will only make her more dependent on you, hurting her in the end."

Wen Xiuqing knew Gu Xiaobei was right, she sighed and said, "I won’t give it next time. Seeing Ruixue like this, I feel upset, angry and heartbroken. If I don’t visit her, I fear she might end up being beaten to death by that beast Chen Dajun, we would have no idea."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t respond, she continued cutting vegetables, believing that if Ruixue lived a life like this, it was purely her choice.

Lu Songyuan came in carrying Mo Wang, boasting, "My Mo Wang is brilliant, he’s going to be a general in the future."

Upon hearing Lu Songyuan praising Mo Wang, Wen Xiuqing couldn’t help showing a smile, "What has our Mo Wang done today?"

Lu Songyuan sat down on a small stool, letting Mo Wang stand by the little table, then he cheerily said, "Chengcheng, the kid of old Su family from our backyard, is half a year older than Mo Wang. He often grabs things from Mo Wang. But Mo Wang doesn’t cry. One day, when Chengcheng nabbed our little frog and was playing with it, Mo Wang suddenly pushed him to fall on the ground. Look at our Mo Wang, he can tolerate and knows how to revenge." Then he burst into laughter.

Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help saying, "Dad, we can’t let Mo Wang fight with other kids. It’s not good."

Lu Songyuan nonchalantly responded, "What’s wrong with that? Can’t we just let others bully us without fighting back?"

Gu Xiaobei sighed inwardly but didn’t say anything. Seeing his brother came back, Xiaopang also pulled his father into the kitchen. When he saw Mo Wang standing by the little table, he also ran over.

Mo Wang stood still at the table without touching its contents, but Xiaopang was different. Coming over, he began to take the teapot lid on the table, striking it hard on the table’s surface, going after the teapot as well.

Upon seeing this, Wen Xiuqing laughed and said, "Get this little troublemaker out quickly, or we can’t even cook." Afterward, she and Lu Songyuan took the two kids out to play under the grapevines.

Lu Zhanguo helped Gu Xiaobei by peeling garlic and chopping onions, then he suddenly said, "Guanghan’s wife gave birth last night."

Surprised, Gu Xiaobei asked, "I thought she still had some time until her due date. Was the baby a boy or a girl?"

"A boy. You should visit when you have time." Lu Zhanguo then handed the peeled garlic to Gu Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaobei nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I’ll go tomorrow. This is great news! Having a son, his mother-in-law won’t have anything to complain about anymore. They should be able to live peacefully from now on."

For dinner, Gu Xiaobei prepared small meatballs for the two kids, mashed them, and mixed them with rice, letting the two kids eat by themselves on small stools. Xiaopang and Mo Wang were each holding their little iron spoons, excitedly shoveling food into their mouths. However, due to their still immature hand-eye coordination, by the end of the meal, their faces and even their bodies were covered in rice grains.

Lu Songyuan shook his head, "This is not acceptable. We should feed them instead. They’re still so young and you’re already letting them eat on their own. Plus, look at them, is this eating? This is wasting food."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t speak, she just smiled and picked up the stray rice grains off the kids’ bodies to feed the chickens later. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Wen Xiuqing agreed with Lu Songyuan, "He’s right. We have plenty of time, it’s unnecessary to force them to eat on their own. They’ll learn how to eat by themselves when they grow up. Pushing them to do it now is just a waste."

Gu Xiaobei chose to keep silence, deciding she would continue training the children to eat on their own. With time, they would become proficient. In her previous life, although she’d never raised kids, she’d seen from TV how grandparents had to feed their grandchildren as they ran around. It would be much better to cultivate the habit of eating independently from an early age.

The next morning, Gu Xiaobei first went to her shop to tell Qin Li that she was going to visit the mother at the hospital, then she rode her bicycle to Li Fengmei’s shop.

Li Fengmei’s shop wasn’t large, just over twenty square meters. The front had two wooden counters, behind which was a tall shelf stacked with goods. There was also a makeshift kitchen behind the shelf, where she ate lunch with her children.

When Li Fengmei heard from Gu Xiaobei that Ge Chunling had given birth to a son, she happily said, "I knew she’d have a son this time. She must be relieved now, right?"

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "Yes, her mother-in-law won’t have anything to complain about now. How’s your business recently?"

"It’s not bad. I manage to earn about ten to twenty yuan every day. I am earning more than Zhang Lijun now, so he takes care of the housework every day." Li Fengmei chuckled as she spoke.

Gu Xiaobei stood at the store door for a moment, then smiled and said, "Yeah, as the saying goes ’running a small business brings in large wealth’. Bit by bit, it accumulates, right? By the way, the store next to yours is vacant. Why don’t you rent it and expand your business?"

Li Fengmei shook her head, "No, I can’t handle it. I’m already swamped every time the students are let out of school. I didn’t study for many years and it takes me a while to do the math. If I open another store, I won’t be able to handle it."

Gu Xiaobei figured that made sense. Although Li Fengmei was still a novice, she guessed that in another year or two, Li Fengmei would think about expanding her venture herself.

"What should we bring for Chunling?" Gu Xiaobei asked Li Fengmei, hoping that the gifts from both families would be similar, which would also look better.

Li Fengmei thought for a moment, "Now that conditions are better, let’s bring some fabric and buy some eggs. What do you think?"

Gu Xiaobei nodded her agreement, and Li Fengmei decided to close her shop so they could return at noon.

The two headed to the department store first. Each bought two pieces of fabric, Li Fengmei also bought five pounds of eggs, and Gu Xiaobei bought two bags of milk powder. They then headed towards the hospital.

When they arrived at the city hospital, they bumped straight into Xiangmin.

Both Li Fengmei and Gu Xiaobei were surprised at how much Xiangmin had changed. She used to have a round face, but now it was thin, sharp, and pale.

Li Fengmei couldn’t help but ask, "Xiangmin? What are you doing here?"

Xiangmin had initially intended to pretend she hadn’t seen them and leave quickly. However, hearing Li Fengmei, she felt embittered and reluctantly said, "I’m here to visit a patient." With that, she hurried away, head bowed.

Watching Xiangmin’s retreating figure, Fengmei muttered, "That startled me. I almost didn’t recognize her."

Gu Xiaobei was also surprised. So Xiangmin was in the provincial capital too. She didn’t seem to be doing well.

"If she hadn’t run away, her family would be living a comfortable life. But that woman was like a woman possessed, causing trouble every day," Li Fengmei muttered as she and Gu Xiaobei walked into the hospital.

In the maternity ward, Ge Chunling lay in bed, watching the scene of Mrs. Wu cradling sin her arms and pacing the floor, her face glowing with happiness.

Smiles leaked from Mrs. Wu’s face as she couldn’t resist saying while holding her grandson, "My grandson is so handsome."