Back To The 80s-Chapter 417 - 427: Chess Piece_1

Bai Xiaolan stuck out her tongue. It was then that Gu Xiaobei remembered that pickled vegetables contained nitrite. He said, "Next time you crave sour foods, I’ll stir-fry some hot and sour potato strips for you."

"Great! Is sour dock edible?" Bai Xiaolan had thought the sour dock was inedible in the summer, but suddenly, she found it perfectly edible.

Wen Xiuqing gave Bai Xiaolan a suspicious look and couldn’t help but ask, "Xiaolan, are you pregnant?"

Bai Xiaolan was taken aback, biting her chopsticks. She had wanted to keep it a secret; how could it be discovered so soon?

Ji Xiangdong looked at Bai Xiaolan’s dumbfounded face and laughed. "We can’t be sure yet."

Wen Xiuqing happily looked at Bai Xiaolan, "That’s great news! You two should go to the hospital for a check-up to confirm this. But I am almost certain you are pregnant. Otherwise, why would you enjoy eating such sour pickles? Xiaolan, is there anything you’d like to eat tonight? Just tell me what you want, and I’ll cook it for you."

Bai Xiaolan chuckled and said, "No, I don’t crave anything in particular. You don’t have to go to any trouble." She thought nervously what a joke it would be if she wasn’t pregnant at all.

Fang Jing felt uncomfortable hearing Wen Xiuqing’s words. From her pregnancy to childbirth, Wen Xiuqing had always seemed indifferent.

Lu Aiguo noticed his wife’s displeasure and whispered to her, "Don’t worry, sweetheart. If you want anything, I’ll secretly buy it for you."

Fang Jing burst into laughter, and that was the end of it.

Wen Xiuqing, despite being troubled by obsessions for many years, still had a clear mind. She looked at Gu Xiaobei and Fang Jing and said, "I know I wasn’t there for you during your pregnancies. But in the future, I won’t be able to ignore any issues."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t see anything wrong with it. Even though Wen Xiuqing had been cold to her when she was pregnant, she had advised her on what she could and couldn’t eat. Plus, she was now taking care of the baby wholeheartedly. Gu Xiaobei was quite content and said, "Mom, we’ve moved on from that, so let’s not bring it up again."

Fang Jing had also let it go. She wasn’t the kind of person to bear grudges. She followed up on Gu Xiaobei’s comment, saying, "Yes, Mom, old problems don’t usually come up, right? We should focus on the future. You just need to be good to us."

The two of them put Wen Xiuqing’s mind at ease, and she said with a smile, "Don’t worry, I won’t repeat my past mistakes."

After lunch, Wen Xiuqing urged Bai Xiaolan to take a nap to look after her health. She instructed Lu Aiguo and Lu Songyuan to clean up the yard, particularly the old sheep pen and chicken coops.

Ji Xiangdong watched as Bai Xiaolan took a nap, and then he excused himself to Wen Xiuqing and left.

He was going to visit his former teacher from the Party School, named Su Moqing, affectionately referred to as "Old Su". He had many successful students in the provincial government, and he greatly admired Ji Xiangdong’s talent, considering Ji Xiangdong a close friend despite their age difference.

Su Moqing lived behind the Party School in a small courtyard. He loved gardening and even had a room dedicated to his plants.

Su Moqing was surprised by Ji Xiangdong’s sudden visit. "How come you have time to visit? Come on in and sit down."

Ji Xiangdong laughed and said, "I came back to visit my family and had some free time to visit you. How have you been lately?"

"Good, good. I was just in need of a chess partner." Su Moqing let Ji Xiangdong into the house with a smile.

Ji Xiangdong looked around the room. Half of it was full of wooden plant racks, loaded with all kinds of flowers he couldn’t identify. Some of them were even blooming in the cold of winter.

Like a mischievous old man, Su Moqing hurriedly brought out the board for a game of Go, setting it up on the kang bed-stove in the room. He laughed, "Let’s play a few rounds before I serve you some tea."

With a smile, Ji Xiangdong agreed: "Sure." He took off his shoes and sat cross-legged on the kang bed-stove. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Grabbing the black pieces, Su Moqing said, "I’ll go first since I have the black pieces."

After a challenging game, Ji Xiangdong’s white pieces had almost surrounded the black pieces. Su Moqing seemed indecisive as he studied the board.

"I lose," Ji Xiangdong admitted with self-derision as he placed his final piece.

"But you’ve trapped me. How could you have lost?" Su Moqing criticized, looking at the board.

Ji Xiangdong picked up a white piece with his slender fingers and said, "As I trapped the black piece, I also trapped myself outside. We’re stalemated. Who could be considered the winner?"

Su Moqing looked at Ji Xiangdong. "Are you facing difficulties at work? Is there anything I can do to help?"

At this moment, Ji Xiangdong felt a little ashamed. He did indeed need Su Moqing’s help to get transferred back as soon as possible. Originally, he had planned to work in Shule River for another year before he would have the clout to request a transfer. But that seemed unrealistic now. Bai Xiaolan was pregnant, and there were people shadowing Bai Pingtian. Therefore, he needed to get back to the provincial capital as soon as possible to establish a foothold and launch a counterattack.

Su Moqing observed Ji Xiangdong, his brow furrowed in thought. Not wanting to disturb him, Su Moqing silently began collecting the Go pieces into a box.

It was only after Su Moqing had picked up all the pieces from the board that Ji Xiangdong broke his silence. "I want to transfer to the provincial capital, but I need your help."

Su Moqing picked up a pawn from the jar and rubbed it between his fingers. After a while, he said, "Xiangdong, it doesn’t sound like you. Are you afraid of hardship?"

Ji Xiangdong smiled faintly. He picked up the black jar and gently placed a black piece on the board, murmuring, "If life is a game of chess, I’d rather be a black piece, to always make the first move."

Su Moqing laughed. No more was said as they resumed their game.

By the time he left, Ji Xiangdong hadn’t mentioned his work again, and Su Moqing seemed to have forgotten the matter entirely.

It was only when Su Moqing accompanied Ji Xiangdong out of the gate of the Party School that he asked, "Which department would you like to be transferred to?"

Ji Xiangdong stopped walking. He had already thought this out and now replied without hesitation, "The Department of Agriculture."

"You are certainly ambitious," Su Moqing commented with a smile.

......

That night, Lu Zhanguo came back quite late and went directly to his family’s quarters.

To his surprise, Lu Aiguo, Fang Jing, and Gu Xiaobei were still up, playing poker in the living room.

When Lu Aiguo saw Lu Zhanguo enter, he waved his hand and said, "Come over here and bail out your wife."

Gu Xiaobei chuckled, "My poker skills aren’t great to begin with, and you’re still cheating."

Lu Aiguo, holding a cigarette in his mouth and shuffling cards in his hands, retorted, "When did I cheat? You and Fang Jing just can’t handle losing and refuse to pay up."

Fang Jing glared at him and said, "Who ever heard of a poker game producing two jokers? Do you really think we’re stupid?"

As he continued dealing cards, Lu Aiguo laughed and argued back. "You lost fair and square. And besides, did you see me cheat?"

Lu Zhanguo took off his coat, washed his hands, and pulled up a stool next to Gu Xiaobei. With a laugh, he said, "Here, let me teach him a lesson."

Gu Xiaobei quickly handed over her cards to Lu Zhanguo. Lu Aiguo was too sly, always cheating during their games. She and Fang Jing only ever figured it out afterward.