Back To The 80s-Chapter 408 - 418: Procurement_1

Gu Xiaobei suddenly regretted going shopping with a man, two kids, and two dogs.

There were slim-fit jeans for sale in the mall. After trying one pair on and stepping out of the fitting room, Gu Xiaobei felt absolutely delighted.

Lu Zhanguo, holding their two children, immediately disapproved with a frown, "It’s not flattering. Change right away. Look how tight they are around your legs and how they clearly outline your behind."

Gu Xiaobei looked herself up and down. She felt it looked rather good. With some boots and a pair of leggings underneath, it would look just fine. However, the parallel seams down each trouser leg did seem somewhat strange.

Lu Zhanguo, noticing other shoppers glancing their way, urged her, "Go change. It really doesn’t look good."

Xiaopang clapped his hands in agreement, mimicking his father: "Che-nge, Che-nge."

Gu Xiaobei was a little reluctant to change back into her own pants. She decided to look around first, and if she didn’t find anything else she liked, she could always secretively come back and buy these later.

When buying tops, Gu Xiaobei became excited by a red, high-collar, thin sweater. As red seemed to be the trending color that year, many women’s clothes were in that color.

Delighted, Gu Xiaobei took the sweater to fitting room and tried it on.

Lu Zhanguo objected again: "This one isn’t nice either, change quickly." What was this now? This was too tight, outlining her chest so much so that it quivered with every step she took. Her curves were revealed too conspicuously. Watching this made his heartbeat race, and his throat dry.

Gu Xiaobei was a little speechless. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to buy any clothes. She then instructed Lu Zhanguo, while pouting, "You take the kids to the entrance of the mall and see if Da Huang and Da Bin are still there."

Obediently, Lu Zhanguo turned around and walked away, but not before reminding her, "This piece of clothing doesn’t look nice, don’t buy it."

Gu Xiaobei couldn’t be bothered with him. As soon as he was out of sight, she not only bought the sweater but went back and bought two pairs of slim-fit jeans, one dark blue and one black.

After a round, Lu Zhanguo returned with the two kids. Then he saw Gu Xiaobei paying for and packing the clothes. He just clicked his tongue and stayed quiet.

When it came time to buy clothes for the kids, there was a problem again. Xiaopang had wet his pants. Thankfully, they brought extra clothes, anticipating the kids might have accidents. After Xiaopang changed into the spare pants, Mo Wang insisted he needed to poop.

Gu Xiaobei held Mo Wang and hustled to the public restroom. Once Mo Wang was done and cleaned up, they came out to find Xiaopang wailing uncontrollably. Somebody had just walked past with a skewer of tanghulu (candied hawthorn), which he wanted. Lu Zhanguo had refused to buy it for him, which resulted in this crying fit. Both parents agreed on this point: if a child should not have something, then no amount of crying would persuade them to buy it.

Feeling helpless, Gu Xiaobei put down Mo Wang, picked up Xiaopang, and attempted to distract him by walking around.

As soon as Xiaopang stopped crying and they entered the children’s clothes section, Xiaopang cried out, "Mommy, I’m hungry. My tummy is empty."

Gu Xiaobei felt exasperated. This was too hard, taking kids and a man out shopping.

The family of four found a noodle shop to have a bowl of noodles and to regroup before grocery shopping to prepare for a Sunday lunch invitation.

The noodle shop owner didn’t allow Da Huang and Da Bing to sit by the entrance. Who would be brave enough to come in and eat with what looked like two fierce guards stationed there?

Lu Zhanguo bought two buns and took Da Huang and Da Bing to an open ground nearby to wait.

Gu Xiaobei sighed, figuring there was probably no one else who went shopping with kids and dogs in tow.

After eating, Lu Zhanguo asked if they would continue shopping. Gu Xiaobei firmly declined. They decided to go grocery shopping, and if she had free time in the future, she would come back on her own to shop at leisure.

The two dogs accompanied them for the purpose of pulling the sled loaded with groceries, while they carried the kids. This would save them a lot of effort.

After shopping for meat, ribs, fish, and tofu, Gu Xiaobei also brought a few pounds of eggs. The open-air market was larger than the one near their house and had more variety. Gu Xiaobei took the opportunity to buy various kinds of braising ingredients.

Lu Zhanguo, trailing behind with the kids, had a large basket slung over his shoulder to hold the purchases. The market was busy, and they didn’t want to scare people by bringing the dogs inside, so they kept them waiting outside the market entrance.

On the lunch invitation day, Tian Yuanyuan and Liu Hongbing brought Liu Jiajia over early.

Tian Yuanyuan laughed and said, "We came a bit early, worrying that you might be busy preparing the meal while looking after the two kids."

Fearing the dogs would scare the children, Lu Zhanguo placed Da Huang and Da Bing in the doorman’s guard room.

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "It’s just perfect then. You can give me a hand."

As soon as Liu Jiajia hit the ground, she dashed toward Xiaopang and Mo Wang, babbling non-stop, "Mo Mo brother, Pang Pang sister."

Tian Yuanyuan reminded Liu Jiajia, "Don’t grab toys away from your brother and sister. You have to share." She then turned around and told Liu Hongbing, "Watch out for the three of them, you don’t want them to start fighting," before following Gu Xiaobei into the kitchen.

While Gu Xiaobei was cleaning fish scales, Tian Yuanyuan rolled up her sleeves and said, "I’ll wash the vegetables. Let me know what dishes you plan to make and I’ll assist."

"You can boil some fen tiao (glass noodles) for a cold glass noodle dish. That can be served as an appetizer. After drinking, the stomach may feel heated up, and a cold dish may help to alleviate it. Also, peel a few century eggs. My mother-in-law made them herself," Gu Xiaobei unreservedly instructed.

Tian Yuanyuan surprised, exclaimed, "Your mother-in-law knows how to make century eggs? I love these, but the ones you buy at the market, when you cut them open, the yolk falls apart. They don’t taste good."

Gu Xiaobei laughed, "Alright. Seems quite straightforward. Just add lye and other ingredients to lime and roll the eggs in the mixture."

"Easily said than done," Tian Yuanyuan laughed. Then asked, "Is your neighbor coming over today as well?"

Gu Xiaobei nodded, "Of course, we have to invite the Zeng family. They are our direct neighbors after all."

Unable to resist, Tian Yuanyuan remarked, "We’ll need to keep a sharp eye on our kids then, to prevent them from hurting her precious child. Because of her child, she’s had several disagreements with people in the complex."

Knowing Zhao Hongmei was protective over her child, a resigned Gu Xiaobei responded, "When children are together, sometimes it’s hard to prevent accidents from happening. A moment of inattention, and they might fight."

"Exactly, but her family never admits this. Every time her child first takes someone else’s toy and gets hit, she blames the other parents for not supervising their children," Tian Yuanyuan said, having seen her share of incidents recently while supervising the children playing downstairs.

"Have you seen Wu Aihua’s husband?" Tian Yuanyuan asked again.

Shaking her head, Gu Xiaobei remarked that she had not only never met Wu Aihua’s husband, but she also didn’t recognize Wu Aihua.

"They live in my building. Wu Aihua’s husband Miao Cuixian works at a seed company. He’s a good person, but he doesn’t talk much. Their son, Niuniu, just turned five and is really mischievous. He was horseplaying with Erhu one time and accidentally knocked him down. Zhao Hongmei actually retaliated by knocking Niuniu down. Miao Cuixian was so mad that she dragged Niuniu home, spanked him, and threatened to break his legs if he dared to play with Erhu again," Tian Yuanyuan explained.

Gu Xiaobei was stunned. She had invited the two adversarial families over today. This could make for an awkward situation during the meal.