Chapter 293: To Ensure No Imbalance
When dusk swept across the land, this visual feast finally came to an end.
Qin Hengzhi lowered his gaze to Lu Qiaoge and said to her, “Sun Ziliang has already gone to the convalescence center.”
Lu Qiaoge asked, “Are all the needed medicinal materials prepared?”
Qin Hengzhi nodded: “Elder Sun has already taken them all away together.”
Lu Qiaoge’s eagerness for Old Gu to recover had another reason: that day the old turtle told her that these small animals could communicate with her and benefit from her energy, especially now with this otherworldly space, although they couldn’t enter it yet, but as the space owner, she could allow them in.
This was both an opportunity and karma, so something must be done to ensure balance.
Lu Qiaoge didn’t mind either way; anyway, she would just go along with whatever they wanted…
Actually, Lu Qiaoge wasn’t all that familiar with Director He, and plus they were both extremely busy, so in truth, they hadn’t met many times.
But every time Lu Qiaoge saw Director He, she didn’t dare to be the least bit careless.
She rarely asked about her personal life; it was all about work and study.
At the last tasting conference, Director He hadn’t come over because he was doing experiments at the base, but Lu Qiaoge had Qin Hengzhi deliver five hundred bags of instant noodles, so these big shots could have something hot to eat anytime during their immersed experiments.
Director He didn’t have too many demands for food, but it had to suit his taste.
Instant noodles, Director He didn’t really like eating them.
It was clear that Director He preferred light flavors.
When she arrived, Director He had just come out of the laboratory and his eyes lit up upon seeing Lu Qiaoge; sure enough, he asked about work and study, and upon learning her grades were very good, he smiled and nodded.
Then he spoke with Qin Hengzhi.
He didn’t avoid Lu Qiaoge at all; they talked about the Scout with infrared night vision, though it should be the upgraded version…
Lu Qiaoge thought she was well-read, but after blinking her eyes, she couldn’t understand a thing, so she simply went to the Logistics Department to find Sun Qin.
Sun Qin shared a dormitory right behind the Research Institute Family Courtyard.
The dormitory was about thirty square meters, basically all living space, because there was a shared public washroom and kitchen.
It was an old-style house, but kept very neat and tidy.
A 5-meter bed, a large wardrobe, a five-drawer chest, a desk, and a few chairs—these were the standard setups for households now, but with just mother and daughter living there, and few people, it felt spacious and bright.
Xiu Bo was doing homework and sweetly called out upon seeing Lu Qiaoge: “Sister Qiao Ge.”
She called Meng Xia grandma, but stubbornly called Lu Qiaoge sister.
However she wanted to address them was fine, and no one fussed over it.
Lu Qiaoge touched her little head and looked at her homework; the little girl studied well, with all hundreds on her homework sheets.
Lu Qiaoge praised her a bit and told Sun Qin that she had brought two bottles of sauce for Director He, left in the living room.
After chatting for a while, feeling that the conversation over there was probably wrapping up, Lu Qiaoge left Sun Qin’s home.
Looking back, Sun Qin was leading Xiu Bo, both smiling at her.
This mother and daughter were completely different from the pair she had seen back then.
This showed that environment really mattered.
Qin Hengzhi was waiting for her in the living room; Director He said he needed to supplement some data and went back to the laboratory—if Old Gu could be cured, it would be like adding wings to a tiger for Dragon Country.
Then she went to Fourth Uncle’s house; this time Qin Hengzhi waited for her right outside the hutong on his bicycle.
Lu Qiaoge hadn’t even entered the courtyard when she was blocked at the doorway by Lu Qiaoqing, who pushed open the door coming out.
Lu Qiaoge quickly stepped back a few paces; Lu Qiaoqing hadn’t noticed her at first because she was turned back shouting: “I’m not going!”
Going where?
Grandma Jiang spotted Lu Qiaoge and lit up like she’d seen a savior; the smile on her face was truly rare.
She pulled Lu Qiaoge over and said to her maternal granddaughter: “Look at Qiao Ge, she’s just one year older than you, and she’s already dating, maybe getting married next year—you’re eighteen already, if you don’t hurry and find a partner, all the good young men will be snatched up.”
Lu Qiaoge didn’t refute; first, she really was dating, and that partner was waiting for her outside right now.
Second, she couldn’t say she wouldn’t get married—as long as Qin Hengzhi remained the Qin Hengzhi he was, she had no intention of changing partners, and in this era, marriage was an unavoidable path.
Though Lu Qiaoge still didn’t know what had happened, it didn’t stop her from going along with Grandma Jiang’s words: “Grandma Jiang is right; that’s exactly the reason.”
Lu Qiaoqing stomped her foot: “But I still want to go to night school to study; I definitely can’t get married that early—didn’t Shi Xiangqin break up with Song Jianfeng precisely because marriage conflicted with night school?”
Grandma Jiang said: “Then don’t go to night school; I’ve already said I’d find a way to recommend you for vocational school.”
Lu Qiaoge quickly lowered her voice: “Since there’s a way to recommend, why not go big, like recommending university—our province’s universities aren’t bad either; isn’t a university education better than vocational school?”
Grandma Jiang was stunned for a moment, then troubled: “That’s not easy to arrange.”
Fourth Aunt Lu pushed the wheelchair over and said: “Mom, the recommendation isn’t even certain yet; besides, it’s not that easy to get recommended anywhere—right now just focus on going to work and studying well at night school; we can talk about the rest later.”
Grandma Jiang frowned: “You think I’d be willing to let Qingqing date and marry so early? That… that’s not because the young men now, especially the slightly better ones, have how many girls eyeing them—if you wait a few more years until you’re older to find one, you’ll only be able to find older men, but doesn’t that bring the problem right back—how many good men who are older and still single are there?”
Lu Qiaoqing pouted and said: “Then I don’t want to date Zhao Jinbao either.”
Grandma Jiang: “What’s wrong with his family? The Zhao Family has just that one son; dad is section chief, mom is director, and the four older sisters above treat this younger brother like a treasure—if it works out, life afterward won’t lack anything, maybe…”
Grandma Jiang probably meant that after marriage, the kids might even be raised by the elder sisters-in-law, but that clearly wasn’t appropriate, so she changed her words: “…maybe life will be really good.”
Lu Qiaoge frowned and asked: “Stop—who is this Zhao Jinbao?”
A satisfied look appeared on Grandma Jiang’s face: “It’s Section Chief Zhao from the Propaganda Section’s son Zhao Jinbao; he works as a statistician in Labor and Wages Section 2—a really excellent young man, and with four older sisters at home, they really value him.”
Lu Qiaoge: …
No way—didn’t Fourth Uncle and them know that Qiao Ling had once gone on a blind date with Zhao Jinbao?
Even if Fourth Uncle didn’t know, didn’t Zhao Jinbao know?
The conditions at Fourth Uncle’s house were good in that basically everyone in the family had a job, but not so good because of Fourth Aunt’s health.
Lu Qiaoge recalled that day the blind date failed; Meng Xia felt it was bad luck and that her family had been looked down upon, so she didn’t tell anyone.
Plus the two families didn’t live close and didn’t interact much.
She had only come twice, and Qiao Ling not even once.
As for Lu Qiaoqing, she’d only been to the Lu Family once, to deliver beef-filled buns to Old Mrs. Lu.
