Back To The 80s-Chapter 401 - 411: Protecting Sister_1

After eating, Gu Xiaobei saw that it was still early, and decided to take the two children home for a bath, as he had been too busy recently and the kids hadn’t been bathed at home for nearly a week.

He bundled the two children up securely and headed home.

On the way, Lu Zhanguo said, "From now on, go to the shop every day with Da Huang. Let Da Huang stay in the storeroom when there is nothing to do. In the evening, have Chen Zhao and Wang Wei bring you back."

Gu Xiaobei thought about it and said in agreement, "Alright, if mom and dad go to Capital City, we can move back home. This way, you can easily look after the children."

As they reached their front gate, they didn’t see Zhao Hongmei greeting them as usual. It seemed that she probably didn’t want her Erhu to play with Xiaopang and Mo Wang anymore.

Just as they entered the house, Zhao Hongmei arrived with her child.

Gu Xiaobei wasn’t quite sure how to greet her at that moment, so he greeted her with a fake smile and said, "Erhu is still awake?"

Upon entering, Zhao Hongmei exclaimed, "Xiaobei, I had no idea that Zhanguo had a twin brother. What a mess."

Gu Xiaobei responded indifferently, "Luckily, word hasn’t spread to the military district. If the situation were to be investigated, even if it turns out to be nothing, it would still be a stain on our reputation."

Changing the subject, Zhao Hongmei mentioned, "Every day at home, my Erhu keeps nagging about wanting to play with his ’brother and sister’. He shows remarkable loyalty to old friends. Look at him, he’s here to play again."

Gu Xiaobei was speechless. That was one strange way of praising a child.

Seeing Zhao Hongmei enter, Lu Zhanguo went into the bedroom.

Xiaopang and Little Mo Wang were folding their arms on the coffee table, playing with their toy metal frog and a soldier who could beat a drum. They didn’t even lift their heads.

Still holding Erhu, Zhao Hongmei asked while laughing, "Has Mo Wang started speaking yet? He’s already one and a half years old, isn’t he?"

"Yes, he just doesn’t like speaking. He can clearly call for mom and doesn’t have a hearing problem. We’re not worried. So he starts a bit late, well, he starts late," Gu Xiaobei responded perfunctorily.

Grinning, Zhao Hongmei added, "I totally agree. My Erhu is so smart. He started talking just after his first birthday. Now he won’t stop, like a little chatterbox. He learned an ancient poem today and he’s been reciting it all night. He just won’t stop. It’s driving me crazy!" Zhao Hongmei’s face was filled with a smug smile.

Gu Xiaobei finally understood, Zhao Hongmei wasn’t here to apologize. She was here to show off her child. Luckily, WeChat hasn’t been invented yet. Otherwise, she would probably be flooding his news feed with Erhu’s updates.

"Erhu is indeed remarkable. He can recite ancient poems now!" Gu Xiaobei managed to comment politely.

Unable to hide her pride, Zhao Hongmei said laughing, "Erhu, come and recite ’Goose, Goose, Goose’ for your aunt."

Erhu, however, was completely captivated by the toys in Xiaopang and Mo Wang’s hands and was in no mood to recite poems. Instead, he was struggling to get down to where Xiaopang and Mo Wang were.

Zhao Hongmei, noticing him squirming, admonished, "Aren’t you scared they will scratch your face if you go down?"

Gu Xiaobei clenched his teeth at these words, but decided to remain silent.

Struggling and crying, Erhu said, "Let go! I want to go down!"

As Zhao Hongmei let him go, she said, "Don’t be so timid! Get scratched again, it’s not like you don’t have hands to scratch back."

Gu Xiaobei was trying hard to control his anger, silently looking at Zhao Hongmei with an enigmatic smile. He watched Erhu closely, ready to step in if Erhu decided to hit Xiaopang and Mo Wang.

As soon as Erhu hit the floor, he waddled towards Xiaopang, aiming to grab the metallic frog from his hands. Xiaopang quickly moved to shield his toy in his arms, glowering at Erhu with fierce eyes.

Erhu persisted, reaching out his hands to grab the frog from Xiaopang’s arms, causing Xiaopang to cry loudly. Zhao Hongmei, still sitting aside, hypocritically said, "Erhu, let go, don’t grab others’ stuff."

Before Gu Xiaobei could step in to help Xiaopang.

Upon hearing his sister cry, Little Mo Wang hastily flung his toy soldier towards Erhu’s forehead. The action was so sudden and fast that even though Zhao Hongmei was nearby, she was still too late to pull Erhu aside. Erhu was hit twice right on his forehead which quickly turned red.

Before Zhao Hongmei could say anything, Gu Xiaobei hurriedly picked up Mo Wang, praising him, "Good boy Mo Wang, you knew your sister was being bullied and you came to protect her. It’s right to protect your sister. If anyone dares to hit her, you should protect her bravely, just like today."

Gu Xiaobei’s words caught Zhao Hongmei off guard, and she couldn’t find a way to counter him. After all, it was Erhu at fault today, and she had deliberately not stopped him. The boy was not reacting as she had taught him at home — to fight back when picked on. All he knew was to cry. Angrily, Zhao Hongmei lectured her son, "What are you crying about? What the hell are you doing grabbing others’ stuff? Who taught you to fight? Do you know how to behave? If you keep this up, nobody will like you."

Ignoring her pretext, Gu Xiaobei merely stroked his son’s face with a beaming smile, finding that Mo Wang was truly taking after his brother.

After giving vent to her anger, Zhao Hongmei could no longer endure and left quickly with Erhu.

Only after Zhao Hongmei had left the scene, did Lu Zhanguo come out from his bedroom. He asked, "Did they fight again?"

Gu Xiaobei nodded in agreement, and said with a grin, "Mo Wang is really something. He doesn’t make a fuss, but he doesn’t hesitate to fight back when needed."

Lu Zhanguo, holding the crying Xiaopang in his arms, added, "Good job, Mo Wang. You have to protect your sister in the future, but remember, don’t bully others."

Mo Wang blinked, indicating that he didn’t understand, and then lowered his head again to play with his toy soldier.

The Spring Festival of 1986 was in early February. So after the New Year’s Day, people began to shop for holiday goods.

Wholesalers from the lower city didn’t buy much, they were mostly waiting and observing. However, the purchasers from the city and private buyers were coming continuously.

When the New Year arrives, giving leaders a gift in such a large box is pretty impressive. However, private individuals seldom bought this expensive item to give as gifts.

Gu Xiaobei labelled their products with clear prices - buyers will know how much one item costs, and how much a hundred items cost. The label also clearly indicated no haggling.

Many regulars are used to buying things in the marketplace, haggling for cents and dimes. It is not necessarily about the money, but the sense of achievement.

Gu Xiaobei insisted his shop assistant hold firm on the no-haggling rule. They are targeting big order customers. The pricing won’t be allowed to ruin by those who purchase one or two items.

The first purchaser was from the steel factory, who wanted to buy 400 small gift boxes and 200 big ones. Regardless of size, Gu Xiaobei made a two yuan concession per box and gave an additional one yuan commission per box. For 600 boxes, that’s 600 yuan in commission. Naturally, the purchaser was delighted, as this was equivalent to half a year’s salary for him.

Following the first buyer, the second and third customers arrived one after another. Xiao Hong and the others were responsible for selling individual goods, while Gu Xiaobei was in charge of large group customers. He was busy introducing and recommending products all day. After just two days, he lost his voice.