"Don’t trouble yourself, Bai Jiu. We’ve already eaten." Deng Meina’s husband hadn’t been busy lately and had been coming home early. Plus, with a mischievous child at home making a ruckus, their family ate dinner on the early side.
In the past, if her husband was busy, they would eat late too, so she completely understood why Bai Jiu’s family hadn’t had dinner yet.
As she sat down, Deng Meina placed the things she had brought on the table. Among them was something quite unique.
Lan Jing stepped forward, picked it up, and handed it to Zhengyang. "My uncle gave this to me. Hitting you today was my fault. Take this as my apology." The little guy was quite well-mannered.
Zhengyang was a boy, and his eyes lit up when he saw what Lan Jing was offering. He clearly liked it a lot, but since it was a gift from Lan Jing, he was reluctant to accept it.
"Take it." Seeing Zhengyang hesitate for a long time, Lan Jing shoved it directly into his arms. "You have to take good care of it. These are bullet casings that my uncle saved up with great difficulty."
The gift Lan Jing gave Zhengyang was a model airplane pieced together from bullet casings. However, it was different from the planes Bai Jiu usually saw; it looked more like a fighter jet.
"I don’t want it." Zhengyang proudly turned his head away, though his gaze remained glued to the plane.
Hearing that he didn’t want it, Lan Jing’s eyes brightened. He looked back at his mother, his eyes conveying a clear message: "He’s the one refusing it. It’s not that I’m unwilling to give it." He had been extremely reluctant to give this to Zhengyang in the first place. Had he not been pressured into it, he never would have taken it out.
But before he could get a response from his mother, Zhengyang snatched it right out of his hands. Because Zhengyang’s gaze had never left Lan Jing, he had perfectly understood that look in his eyes.
"Since you are so sincere about giving it to me, I’ll reluctantly accept it," Zhengyang said.
For a moment, Lan Jing was dumbfounded. Deng Meina, showing no sympathy for her son, burst into loud laughter. Lan Jing’s father also had amusement in his eyes. Bai Jiu, on the other hand, felt a bit awkward. Who could blame her son for putting on such an act?
Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, Deng Meina said to Zhengyang, "Zhengyang, you have to keep this safe. With this, you can blackmail him in the future. This boy treasures this plane with his life. As long as you use it as leverage, you’ll never have to worry about him disobeying you."
Was it really okay to sell out her own son like this? Bai Jiu was speechless.
"Alright, Zhengyang, take Lan Jing and your sister to go play for a while. Mom and Dad are going to chat here," Bai Jiu said, not wanting Zhengyang to agree to those terms.
Of course, little did she know that her son had actually taken those words to heart. Because of this, Lan Ba Wang—the little tyrant of the compound—would find himself constantly blackmailed by Zhengyang for many years to come. Naturally, the relationship between the two boys gradually grew closer and friendlier. It would reach the point where, even after they started working, they would be assigned to the same place, remaining as inseparable as a scale and its weight. If they hadn’t eventually started their own families, Bai Jiu might have even found herself wondering which of the two would be the top and which would be the bottom.
But that was getting ahead of things.
Once the children left, the four adults began to chat. Seeing that Gao Zhijun and Lan Qinghai were getting more and more engrossed in their conversation, and noticing that the food was getting cold, Bai Jiu invited the couple to have a little more to eat at their place so they could chat while they ate.
Deng Meina was a straightforward person who didn’t sweat the small stuff. Seeing that her husband had finally found someone he could talk to so easily, she readily agreed. She even went to the kitchen with Bai Jiu to help reheat the dishes.
After the food was heated up again, the aroma became even richer. It made even Deng Meina, who had already eaten, water at the mouth.
"Bai Jiu, this food smells absolutely amazing." Just from the scent, one could tell it would be delicious.
"It’s mostly because of the good ingredients. My cooking skills aren’t that great." She had a very clear understanding of herself; the food she made was mainly just edible. The reason it smelled so appetizing was mostly because everyone was hungry. Furthermore, her family’s meals were primarily meat-based, which made them naturally smell delicious. If someone else had cooked it, it probably would have tasted even better.
"Sister Mei Na, go call them over to eat," Bai Jiu said, their relationship having grown closer.
At the dinner table, Gao Zhijun and Lan Qinghai conversed in technical jargon that no one else could understand, while Deng Meina devoured the mouthwatering food until she was absolutely stuffed.
The three children got along fairly well—assuming, of course, that one ignored Lan Jing’s scowling face. Zhengyang, on the other hand, was acting as proud as a peacock. It was obvious he had taken Deng Meina’s words to heart.
Through this meal, the two families grew significantly closer. Deng Meina was generous, and Bai Jiu was the type to repay anyone’s kindness tenfold. In a way, the two women were kindred spirits. From then on, the two families visited each other frequently and maintained a close relationship.
Because he had work the next day, Gao Zhijun did not drink any alcohol during dinner.
After washing up that evening, the couple lay in bed, taking turns recounting the day’s events. When Bai Jiu brought up her son, the jealousy in her tone practically overflowed. Highly amused, Gao Zhijun pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Don’t be mad. My heart is entirely yours." When an honest man whispered sweet nothings, even the most worldly women would find themselves weak in the knees—let alone Bai Jiu, who had always had the desire but never the courage when it came to romance.
"Behave yourself." Feeling the man’s hands wandering over her body, she swatted him hard. "We’re talking about serious matters."
"Go ahead, I’m listening."
"I called and wrote a letter home. I also bought some books and mailed them back. They should receive them soon. But what about my job? How did it go when you went to talk to them?"
In her mind, jobs in this era held tremendous value. No one else would be foolish enough to turn down a guaranteed job position like she was doing.
"I spoke to them and declined the job, but the logistics department provided a subsidy instead." Gao Zhijun chuckled as he mentioned it. Naturally, he didn’t hide the rumors going around from her either.
Bai Jiu wore an "I knew it" expression. "It seems those two have caused quite a bit of trouble for the family members here in the past."
"Yeah. But don’t worry. If they ever mess with you in the future, just fight back." She was his woman, and he was going to spoil her.
Bai Jiu rolled her eyes. "Do I look like the type to just sit back and swallow a grievance?"
"I know." He knew perfectly well that if it hadn’t been for him, she never would have... When all was said and done, he was the one who had wronged her. From now on, he was determined to treat her a hundred, a thousand times better. "I invited my teacher over for dinner today. When do you think you’ll have time?" He hadn’t forgotten about hosting his mentor.
"I’m not working, so I have time whenever. But we don’t have enough groceries at home. I’ll go to the research institute’s supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow morning to buy some more. When you get off work tomorrow evening, just bring your teacher over with you.
"Oh, right, don’t forget Chi. And since we’re hosting guests, we might as well invite Minister Hong and the others too. We troubled them with that matter today." Bai Jiu didn’t want to go through the hassle of hosting a second time, so she figured it was best to invite them all at once.
Gao Zhijun frowned, not wanting her to tire herself out. "Let’s just invite my teacher. If there are too many people, it’ll be too much work for you." He wouldn’t be free tomorrow and wouldn’t be able to help her.
"It’s no big deal." Bai Jiu didn’t think it would be tiring at all; she simply saw it as a housewarming party. "It’s fine. Aunt Xu has helped me a lot too, so let’s have her whole family over tomorrow as well. She can even help me cook." She could manage the cooking on her own, but with so many people, she would need to borrow some tables and chairs. The only person she was familiar with in the neighborhood was Aunt Xu. Plus, Aunt Xu had helped look after her children. As neighbors, it was only right to invite them.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, he didn’t argue any further. "I’ll come back a little earlier tomorrow, then." That was the best he could do.
"That works."
With that, the dinner plans were finalized. Knowing they were hosting guests the next day, Gao Zhijun was perfectly behaved that night, simply holding his wife as they slept. For a moment, Bai Jiu actually felt a bit unaccustomed to it. However, since she had to wake up early the next morning, she went to sleep early as well.
When Gao Zhijun got up the next day, Bai Jiu woke up with him.
"Aren’t you going to sleep a little longer?" Seeing her groggy expression, Gao Zhijun stepped forward, kissed her on the forehead, and asked softly.
Bai Jiu gave him a gentle push. "I’m not sleeping. If I go early, I can grab some of the things we need." Since they were hosting people, they would certainly need a lot of supplies. It was best if she went to buy them now. It would save her from having to constantly take things out of her spatial dimension, which would be hard to explain later.
"If you’re tired, we can just invite my teacher," he said, his heart aching at the sight of her pushing herself.