Back To The 80s-Chapter 404 - 414: Ending_1
Lu Zhanguo looked at Gu Xiaobei and asked, "Why did you come home so early today?"
"A big spender came to the store today and ordered five thousand large gift boxes at once. Hehe, so I came home early to cook something delicious for you three. You are my strong backup team." Gu Xiaobei said smilingly, her face full of unhidden joy. Even when she makes money outside, she pretends to take it all lightly. But at home, she does not hide her joy and pride at all.
Lu Zhanguo had been often surprised by Gu Xiaobei, so this time he could accept it with equanimity: "Five thousand boxes, that’s a good amount of money. You can go with Chen Zhao later, get the money, and deposit it directly into the account."
Gu Xiaobei nodded, "Yes, we’ll deposit the money as soon as we get out, what do you want for dinner tonight?"
Lu Zhanguo cut the apple into small pieces, clasped them with chopsticks to feed the children, and replied without raising his head, "I bought some lamb chops this morning, they’re being stewed right now. Let’s have lamb soup and Mantou for dinner." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaobei rushed over, hugged Lu Zhanguo around the neck and said with a smile, "How can you be so domestic? You truly are a good husband." She then leaned over and kissed him.
Lu Zhanguo held the bowl of apples high, and hastily said, "The children are right in front of us."
Xiaopang also rushed over, clinging to daddy’s leg and saying, "Mommy, mommy, kiss Xiaopang, kiss Xiaopang."
Mo Wang also ran over to join the fun, clinging to Lu Zhanguo’s other leg, calling out, "Mommy...mommy."
Lu Zhanguo sat on the sofa, with his wife hanging on his neck, two precious babies clinging to his legs, and his hands held high so as not to poke the children with the chopsticks. He couldn’t help but laugh and say, "You are as naughty as a child."
Gu Xiaobei didn’t let go of Lu Zhanguo, and said to Xiaopang, "Good girl, climb up, and mommy will give you a kiss."
Upon hearing this, Xiaopang became even more like a little monkey, climbing onto Lu Zhanguo’s leg and happily shouting, "Mommy, climb."
Lu Zhanguo helplessly looked at the three "decorations" on his body. Only after they had their fun did Gu Xiaobei sit down on the sofa with Xiaopang, and laughingly said, "Later I will make the dough, and we can have lamb soup with noodles for dinner."
This was to Lu Zhanguo’s taste, and he nodded, "Okay, it’s been a long time since we had that noodle dish you make."
Guilt started to dawn upon Gu Xiaobei, it seemed like it had been a while since she had cooked a proper meal for the family. She earnestly said, "Wait until we are done with this busy period, I will cook for you every day."
Lu Zhanguo put the bowl and chopsticks on the coffee table, reached out and stroked her hair, saying, "You just do what you like, don’t think too much."
Gu Xiaobei sighed and said, "What I want most is for our family to do nothing and just be together every day."
For dinner, Gu Xiaobei made lamb soup with noodles, and also made a sour and spicy radish salad.
Just as dinner was served, someone knocked on the door.
Gu Xiaobei wondered who would come at this time of dinner.
She went to open the door while taking off her apron, and there stood Li Fengmei holding a large red rooster.
"Why did you bring a chicken as well?" asked Gu Xiaobei with a smile.
Li Fengmei pulled down her large scarf and said briskly, "My mother-in-law came and brought a few roosters raised at home, so I thought I’d give you one. I just went to deliver it to the market, but they were closed, so I brought it here."
Gu Xiaobei was surprised. Traveling for several days on a train with a few live chickens was indeed remarkable. She promptly invited her in, "Come inside quickly, we just finished making dinner, have a bite here."
"I won’t go in, I still have to cook back home." said Li Fengmei as she handed the chicken to Gu Xiaobei, wrapped her scarf, waved, and went downstairs.
Gu Xiaobei, holding the big rooster, looked amused. The chickens in the courtyard had been slaughtered and the milking goat had been sold, now with this rooster, where was she going to keep it?
Lu Zhanguo, seeing the live rooster, said, "Put it on the balcony for now, I’ll slaughter it tonight and hang it outside.
Hearing this, Gu Xiaobei felt that they needed to buy a refrigerator for their house. She discussed with Lu Zhanguo, "Let’s buy a refrigerator and put it in the courtyard. We can buy one for our house later." That way, they would avoid buying too many appliances and attracting gossip.
"Okay, let’s buy it when mom comes back." Lu Zhanguo looked at the two children striving to take a bite of dinner in front of the coffee table.
Gu Xiaobei thought that since they had agreed to buy a fridge, there was no need to wait for Wen Xiuqing to come back. If she had time in the next few days, she would buy it. Nowadays, it seemed that you didn’t need a voucher to buy a fridge. You could buy one by paying a little more money.
In mid-January, nearly all the New Year’s goods for Gu Xiaobei’s store were sold. Gu Xiaobei planned to take the remaining five hundred cans to the army as gifts for the soldiers during the New Year’s celebration, thus gaining a good reputation.
After finalizing all the accounts, Gu Xiaobei felt that this year’s New Year’s goods business could be successfully concluded.
She closed the account book with a smile, took out a stack of red envelopes from her bag, looked at Chen Zhao, Wang Wei and the others, and said with a smile, "Thanks to you all, we have won a great victory in our New Year’s goods business this year. Starting from tomorrow, we are going on a holiday, and we will resume work on the 16th of the first lunar month. But we need someone to look after the warehouse, who is willing to stay?"
Zhou Tiezhu honestly said, "Sister-in-law, I can stay and watch the warehouse. My home is too far away, and it takes more than ten days to travel back and forth. There is also the heavy snowfall, and I don’t know if the roads are blocked, so I’m thinking about going back in summer."
Gu Xiaobei nodded, "Alright, if you stay, I will give you an extra one hundred yuan this month."
Zhou Tiezhu stammered, "Sister-in-law, you... you don’t have to give that much."
Gu Xiaobei smiled and continued, "Everyone gets a red envelope for the New Year, no matter how much, it’s a token of appreciation." She then handed a red envelope to each person.
Xiao Hong opened it immediately, counted it, and exclaimed, "Sister Xiaobei, why did you give so much, two hundred yuan!"
The others also stopped being shy upon hearing this, they all opened their red envelopes, and their faces lit up with surprise after counting- it was two hundred yuan for each person.
Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "This is what you all deserve. After the New Year, have a good time, and strive to add a zero to this amount by the end of the coming year."
Chen Zhao and the others were all grinning from ear to ear. It’s only been a few months, and with wages, commissions, and year-end bonuses, they each have five hundred yuan. A rural family, working in agriculture for a year, wouldn’t necessarily earn this much money.
When everyone left, Gu Xiaobei gave Qin Li two thousand yuan and said with a smile, "Buy whatever you like."
Qin Li didn’t refuse and took the money, "I won’t refuse then, I wanted to buy a fridge for Aunty Jin’s house anyway, the old one there doesn’t work anymore."
Gu Xiaobei said with a smile, "Buy yourself a few nice clothes too. Once you are finished, I’ll go shopping with you. We’ve been busy for several months now, finally, we can have a good rest."
Qin Li thought for a moment and said, "I am going back to T City in the next few days, I need to spend New Year’s with my parents."
"Let’s go shopping after you come back then," Gu Xiaobei proposed.
A hint of pain flashed across Qin Li’s face, she hadn’t gone back even on Jin Cheng’s memorial day. Now with the heavy snow in Canger Cliff, it would be difficult to get there. She held back her sorrow and said, "Alright, I will come to find you directly when I am back."
