Back To The 80s-Chapter 413 - 423: New Year’s Goods_1

Lu Aiguo lazed inside the house, not showing any intentions of heading out even after Lu Songyuan and Wen Xiuqing came back with the sheep and chicken they’d went to buy.

Seeing Lu Aiguo sprawled on the bed, Wen Xiuqing curiously asked, "Didn’t you go out?"

Lu Aiguo abruptly sat up, grinning as he replied, "There’s no rush, I can still go tomorrow. The fireworks are not till the 30th, we’ve got time." After saying this, he put on his shoes to go check out the sheep Lu Songyuan bought.

Lu Songyuan had purchased a full-grown male Kazakh Fat-Tailed sheep, a breed native to the Northwest. This variety of sheep was known for its tender meat, rich in flavor without being greasy, and was intensely savory without any musky odor. Some even joked that these sheep excreted herbal pills and urinated health tonic liquid.

The one Lu Songyuan had bought was as big as a calf, and probably weighed around two or three hundred catties.

Lu Aiguo looked at the sheep tied under the grapevine trellis in astonishment and exclaimed, "Oh my, is that a sheep? It’s as big as a calf. Looks like our old man has spared no expense for this year’s New Year."

Disregarding his brother, Lu Songyuan instructed, "Don’t feed the sheep anything today. Empty its stomach. We’ll slaughter it tomorrow."

Circling the sheep, Lu Aiguo commented, "I know how to slaughter chickens, but I’ve never slaughtered a sheep before."

"All you’re good at is running your mouth," Lu Songyuan retorted, turning to wash his hands in the kitchen.

Nearing noon, Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan walked into the house carrying parcels, with Bai Xiaolan lamenting, "If we’d known earlier, we would have brought some sweets from Capital City, there aren’t any places selling osmanthus sweets here."

Gu Xiaobei yawned, replying, "I forgot about that yesterday, we stock sweets at our shop. Oh, my poor memory."

Bai Xiaolan laughed, saying, "It’s fine, we only bought about a catty. I also bought some flowery hair accessories for Yueyue and Xiaopang." She then tossed out two hair ornaments from her bag, one pink and one red.

Yueyue excitedly took the pink one and asked Fang Jing, "Mom, put this on for me. I love pink."

Fang Jing laughed, saying, "Such a vain little girl," as she pinned the flower into Yueyue’s hair.

Seeing this, Xiaopang crawled over, took the remaining red flower and tried to put it on his head which caused everyone to burst into laughter.

Gu Xiaobei tied the flower onto Xiaopang’s braid attached to the top of his head. The flower was quite large, making Xiaopang look rather festive. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Bai Xiaolan, holding Mo Wang, said, "I didn’t get anything for our Wang. I’ll have to go to the mall later to buy a toy for him."

Upon hearing this, Fang Jing suggested, "How about we all go together tomorrow? Depending on whether mom and the others are busy or not, we can drop the kids off with them and spend some time shopping."

Bai Xiaolan enthusiastically agreed, saying, "That sounds great. The marketplace was packed today, so the mall will surely be crowded too. Everyone must be busy shopping for New Year’s."

During lunch, Fang Jing mentioned to Wen Xiuqing about their plans to go shopping the next day.

Before Wen Xiuqing could reply, Lu Aiguo chimed in, "I’ll come with you guys."

Fang Jing scoffed, "Three of us are women, and you’re a grown man. Why do you need to follow us?"

Huffily, Lu Aiguo lamented, "I just want to accompany you guys to the department store. We’ll obviously split up to shop."

Wen Xiuqing, cradling Xiaopang, chuckled and said, "There’s nothing much to do tomorrow, so you guys should just hurry up and buy what you need. Once we start making steam buns and fried dough twists in a few days, we won’t have time."

Lu Songyuan, glancing at the grumbling Lu Aiguo, ordered, "You stay at home tomorrow and help your brother slaughter the sheep."

Lu Aiguo gaped and said, "I don’t know how? I could maybe boil some water to scald the wool."

Ji Xiangdong chuckeld, "I can do it by myself. There’s no need to scald the wool when slaughtering a sheep."

When Lu Zhanguo came home in the evening, he gave Ji Xiangdong a knowing look and they went outside.

In a low voice, Lu Zhanguo informed him, "Shen Heng did some discreet investigations. After Bai Pingtian returned, he has not left the province. However, whether he sought external assistance is still unknown. And there’s something else we overlooked - how did Bai Pingtian find out the date you were returning from Capital City?"

Ji Xiangdong furrowed his brows, "That’s not out of the question. Perhaps Song Dajiang and his daughter were stationed at the station daily. However, I have a feeling that Bai Pingtian wouldn’t simply rely on Song Dajiang."

Lu Zhanguo added, "Also, considering you two are political rivals, won’t his actions seem too deliberate? Could there be someone else pulling the strings from behind the scenes?"

Ji Xiangdong stretched his neck, gazed at the shadowy trees in the fading twilight and chuckled, "He’s growing impatient as March is almost here. The current Deputy Division Commander is due to be transferred soon. If Bai Pingtian doesn’t try something underhanded, he won’t get the promotion."

"But wouldn’t using Song Dajiang as a pawn make him seem weak? It’s not going to be a deadly blow to you, it would only alert you and give you an opportunity to strike back," Lu Zhanguo analyzed.

Slapping his shoulder, Ji Xiangdong said, "I’ll arrange a meeting with Bai Pingtian soon, then we’ll know the answer."

Early next morning, after breakfast, Gu Xiaobei went out shopping with Fang Jing and Bai Xiaolan, leaving Lu Aiguo at home to assist Ji Xiangdong in slaughtering the sheep.

Wen Xiuqing and Lu Songyuan were left to watch the three children, making sure they didn’t interrupt.

Ji Xiangdong had become quite proficient at slaughtering and skinning sheep during his stint in the Shule River region. Lu Aiguo watched in admiration as Ji Xiangdong expertly separated the skin from the meat using his knuckles. Impressed, he proposed, "Big brother, we should go to the Shule River someday for some barbecued whole lamb."

"Good idea," Ji Xiangdong replied without raising his head.

The sheep was skinned, and Ji Xiangdong hung it upside down under the grapevine trellis and began gutting it.

Lu Aiguo assisted by removing the sheep bladder, cleaning it, and inflating it like a balloon for the children to play with.

The three kids scrambled in the yard to get their hands on the inflated sheep bladder. Xiaopang even chewed on it every time he caught it. Wen Xiuqing yelled from the sidelines, "My dear Xiaopang, it’s very dirty! Lu Aiguo, just look at the stuff you’re giving the kids to play with!"

Indifferent to her protest, Lu Aiguo laughed, "These are much sturdier than regular balloons. You can slap them, and they go ’bang’, so good! Yueyue, you’ve got to play nicely with your brother and sister, don’t fight over it."

Being older, Yueyue knew how to play. She tossed the sheep bladder and directed her two younger siblings to go fetch it. Wen Xiuqing just shook her head without saying a word, and returned to the kitchen to cook.

When Gu Xiaobei, Fang Jing, and Bai Xiaolan returned from shopping, they found the kids with oil all over their hands and clothes. Xiaopang even ran to his mom with the sheep bladder to show off.

Gu Xiaobei crouched down, not sure whether to laugh or cry, "These clothes will never come clean now."

Fang Jing looked at the kids and then at Lu Aiguo, accusingly, "This has your handiwork written all over it."

Still crouched on the ground cleaning out the sheep intestines, Lu Aiguo responded without looking up, "Didn’t you play with them when you were a kid? Back in elementary school, I remember giving you a pig’s bladder to play with."

Fang Jing was left speechless and walked into the house with the bags.

Seeing the children so happy, Gu Xiaobei decided to let it go. Their clothes were already stained and wouldn’t come clean anyway. As long as they were happy, it was worth it.