Gu Xiaobei calmly sat across from Chi Xiaoyue, not uttering a word. Even Lu Zhanguo was momentarily taken aback upon seeing Chi Xiaoyue, then sat beside Gu Xiaobei.
Chi Xiaoyue felt uneasy as well. Especially since the two men appeared in front of her at the same time. However, in a flash, Chi Xiaoyue composed herself and softly asked with a smile, "Brother Zhanguo, are you also accompanying your sister-in-law into the city?"
Lu Zhanguo bobbed his head in slight embarrassment, having harboured certain intentions towards Chi Xiaoyue in the past.
Gu Xiaobei sitting beside them could naturally sense Lu Zhanguo's awkwardness and discomfort, he was not calm either: It seems the two of them did have an affair. But in this era, dating was mostly hand-holding. He then began to imagine various scenarios of them together.
When everyone was seated and the car was about to depart, Lu Zhanguo glanced at Gu Xiaobei and noticed him sitting straight-backed with folded hands in front of him, his face expressionless, and his eyes flickering. Seemingly immersed in his own world, Lu Zhanguo strangely felt as if Gu Xiaobei was far away from him. As if he would lose him forever with a momentary loosening of his grip.
With this thought, an unintentional pang struck his heart. Regardless of the occasion, he stretched out his hand to hold Gu Xiaobei's hand which was resting on his lap, "Are you feeling unwell, lean on me. The road is bumpy beyond the courtyard."
Pulled back into reality, Gu Xiaobei looked at the large hand clasping his and beamed at Lu Zhanguo before saying "Alright" and deliberately leaning against him, giggling with her eyes closed.
Chi Xiaoyue, watching this unfold from across them, felt as if her heart was bleeding. However, she had to pretend to be indifferent and carry on her small talk with her companion. Meanwhile, her gaze inadvertently kept sweeping towards the two men across her.
Due to recently melted snow, the road was exceptionally muddy and hard to navigate, what normally took a little over twenty minutes stretched to nearly forty which left Gu Xiaobei feeling unwell.
Lu Zhanguo, seeing Gu Xiaobei looking terribly ill, could no longer ignore it and pulled him into his arms, "Hold on just a bit longer, we're nearly there."
Chi Xiaoyue, seeing this, quickly squatted down next to Gu Xiaobei "Is it due to pregnancy? Brother Zhanguo let's switch places. I'll give her a massage." Lu Zhanguo, unable to see Gu Xiaobei in discomfort and having no other solution, reluctantly agreed, and stood up to take a seat across them.
Chi Xiaoyue quickly sat beside Gu Xiaobei. She allowed Gu Xiaobei to lean on her, while she gently massaged his head.
Gu Xiaobei, at that moment, was too unwell to care. However, he silently cursed Lu Zhanguo a thousand times in his heart. Did Lu Zhanguo trust his wife in the hands of a rival so easily?
Fortunately, they arrived at their destination soon. Gu Xiaobei, stepping out of the car, felt revived but remained cold towards Lu Zhanguo and walked off. He was furious with him, why should he be thanking him? When the man wanted his "body".
Lu Zhanguo saw Gu Xiaobei briskly walking ahead, so he quickly said goodbye to Chi Xiaoyue and rushed after him.
Chi Xiaoyue watched as Lu Zhanguo's figure disappeared, her calm face finally showing signs of frustration and resentment.
As soon as Lu Zhanguo caught up with Gu Xiaobei, he was about to question him, but stopped when he saw Gu Xiaobei happily saying, "Let's hurry up and eat wontons, I'm starving!" Gu Xiaobei knew when to quit, and didn't want to clash with Lu Zhanguo given how their relationship was just starting to improve.
Seeing Gu Xiaobei's smiling face, all of Lu Zhanguo's anger dissipated, and he felt a sense of contentment instead.
After finishing a big bowl of wonton topped with a generous amount of chili, a satisfied Gu Xiaobei asked, "Lu Zhanguo, will you buy me wontons for the rest of my life?"
Lu Zhanguo's expression softened, and he whispered "Yes".
Next, Lu Zhanguo took Gu Xiaobei to the post office. He asked Gu Xiaobei to wait outside while he went inside to make a phone call. After more than ten minutes, he came out looking very grave and thoughtful. He glanced at Gu Xiaobei and said, "Let's go buy groceries."
Gu Xiaobei was somewhat puzzled by Lu Zhanguo's scrutinizing look.
Walking ahead, Lu Zhanguo could not help but ponder over the admonition he received during the phone call from Zhao Heng of the Security Bureau, "The White Fox has infiltrated your area, their personal information is completely unknown. The only certainty, is that they are fluent in four foreign languages." He originally wanted to ask Zhao Heng to investigate a matter about military supplies, but it was risky to do so through the military phone, which was monitored and screened. Unexpectedly, he ended up discovering a more troublesome issue.
Deep down, Lu Zhanguo firmly believed that Gu Xiaobei wasn't the infiltrator. However, he found it hard to explain how someone who hadn't finished high school could be so fluent in foreign languages. Lost in thought, he turned his head abruptly and saw Gu Xiaobei walking against the light, bathed in the glow of the sun, looking warm and pure.
Upon Gu Xiaobei walking closer, he casually asked, "You're really good at English. Did you learn it by yourself?"
"That's nothing, I can speak four languages." Gu Xiaobei boasted. Lu Zhanguo felt a chill run down his spine, four languages - that was too much of a coincidence.
But when he saw Gu Xiaobei's proud little face, he couldn't connect him with any covert operations.
Gu Xiaobei did not perceive Lu Zhanguo's true feelings, he pointed to a bookstore ahead and said, "Let's check out that bookstore, I'm bored to death at home. I want to buy some storybooks."
The bookstore was a state-owned Xinhua bookstore, the bookshelves exuding an old aroma. At that time and particularly in such a remote town, not many people read books as they were more focused on filling their stomachs. Strangely enough, there was a big bookstore there only housing four or five people browsing through books.
Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei started selecting books separately. Gu Xiaobei preferred to read fashion magazines but they were not accessible at that time. After circling around, Gu Xiaobei could not find a single book he was interested in, but he overheard a man and a woman speaking in Italian behind a bookshelf.
This struck Gu Xiaobei with surprise. A talent in a small town! It sounded like a couple on a date. He then went to find Lu Zhanguo.
Lu Zhanguo had picked a military-themed book. After paying, the two left the store. After walking a few steps, Gu Xiaobei turned back to look at the Xinhua bookstore signboard and stated, "How can such a big bookstore exist in this small place? Moreover, this place hid formidable talents. People are dating in Italian."
Lu Zhanguo, initially preoccupied with his thoughts, hearing these words sent him on high alert. He pulled Gu Xiaobei to a secluded area and asked, "What was that about Italian?"
Gu Xiaobei didn't think much of it "Just two young people on a date. The guy said he'd come again the day after tomorrow, the girl said she can't make it because her family's strict, something like that. I guess they were afraid people would eavesdrop and spread rumors"
Lu Zhanguo knew that the situation was not as simple as Gu Xiaobei described, he hid his agitation and said, "Let's go, let's hurry up and buy groceries, Zhijun and his family are coming for dinner tonight."