Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten
Chapter 143 Suspicion

Chapter 143: Chapter 143 Suspicion

Gong Ruwen occasionally looked up at Gong Ruini.

His sister had been sitting here for quite a while, but the book in front of her hadn’t been touched since she sat down.

What’s going on? It seems like Zhao Guangran didn’t start a fight with his sister today.

"What’s wrong, is it Guangran?" Although he thought it probably wasn’t Guangran, Gong Ruwen habitually brought up Zhao Guangran when asking.

Guangran? What happened to him? Gong Ruini thought Zhao Guangran had come by to pick a fight again and immediately went into battle mode. Fighting with this guy never seemed to stop.

"Sister, he didn’t come. Did he block you?" Upon hearing Zhao Guangran’s name, his sister perked up in various ways. It seemed something had happened that he didn’t know about.

With no visit from Zhao Guangran, Gong Ruini breathed a sigh of relief, though she didn’t like the term "block." "He’s busy with homework right now; otherwise, he’d have no Sundays left."

Initially, Zhao Guangran was quite confident, always thinking he wouldn’t be at the bottom. Now, he didn’t expect to surpass Gong Ruini but merely hoped to pass the exams.

Sunday—thinking about the downcast face of the boy next door, it suddenly struck Gong Ruwen, "Is tomorrow Saturday again?"

Time really flies by, week after week. He remembered how after last week’s exam results came out, Zhao Xuran’s expression couldn’t have looked worse.

"Do you think he’ll pass the exam this week?" Gong Ruwen had seen Zhao Guangran studying seriously several times, but he always seemed distracted.

Whether he’ll pass the exam, Gong Ruini couldn’t say but was not too optimistic, "Lately, he’s been quite dedicated."

"If it’s not him, then who could it be?" Gong Ruwen wondered. If it wasn’t Zhao Guangran, what was his sister thinking about? Was she planning to go out?

Gong Ruini thought about it then softly mentioned the eavesdropping incident from earlier, "Brother, do you think what Dad suspects is true?"

Her words startled Gong Ruwen. As for her question, he really didn’t know, "I don’t know, but we haven’t managed to get our hands on ginseng."

He had heard that ginseng prices were quite high. Their family didn’t have the money, and Gong Ruwen didn’t want his parents buying ginseng.

Right, how silly of her. As long as they didn’t have ginseng or hadn’t mailed ginseng back home, those looking to target them simply wouldn’t have any way to do so.

They really were concerned, and their parents likely had developed some vigilance. Besides, being in the Northeast, they couldn’t be forced to spend money even if someone plotted against them.

As for the supposed relatives who’d pay for them to buy ginseng, Gong Ruini couldn’t see that happening. Right now, even good ginseng costs hundreds, while a worker’s salary was hardly enough.

Even if the Gong Family elders truly had money, would they be willing to spend it?

Even if they were willing to spend it, would the uncles and aunts be willing?

Each one of them was fixated on their elders’ money, unwilling to let go. Why would they willingly invest it to pave the way for Gong Qiang? In their eyes, this money should come from Gong Tao.

Or let Gong Tao go up the mountain to dig for ginseng; ideally, he’d find something valuable so they could either use connections or sell it for money.

"Don’t worry, they won’t come. Uncle Zhao doesn’t like them."

Zhao Gang certainly didn’t like the Gong Family; when they came around, they caused all sorts of trouble. At this critical moment, Zhao Gang definitely wouldn’t let anything happen, "Alright, brother, let’s get back to reading. By the way, how is Uncle’s teaching?"

In this era, classes weren’t all that educational anyway, even if there was a teacher. Many teachers worried they’d be singled out, so they did everything hastily.

Gong Ruini thought Cai Ming’s level wasn’t much, yet unexpectedly it was quite good. If she didn’t give up and studied hard for the next few years, or crammed before exams, Gong Ruini figured going to college wasn’t out of reach, certainly more hopeful than Zhao Gang going to university.

Of course, Uncle’s teaching was good. Gong Ruwen was happy, "Even Brother Xuran said Uncle teaches well, better than the school teachers."

"Of course, our uncle is a high school graduate; I heard some of the school’s teachers are just middle school graduates." Gong Ruwen felt their uncle was indeed impressive.

Their big brother even looked down on and despised those teachers’ poor levels. Actually, Gong Ruini thought a middle school degree was decent. If the teacher was a barely literate person, that would truly be miserable.

"If Uncle could come here, that would be great." Thinking about how Uncle would leave in a few days, Gong Ruwen felt all sorts of discomfort.

It’s not that Zhao Xuran’s teaching was bad, but he always felt like their uncle made a good teacher, knew a lot, and even played with them.

More importantly, having him around could suppress Zhao Guangran from bullying Ni Zi.

Could Gong Ruwen come here as a zhiqing? The idea was good, but unfortunately, Red Flag Brigade didn’t have a single zhiqing. Gong Ruini found this really strange.

Villages around them had quite a few zhiqing, yet Red Flag Brigade didn’t have any. Maybe people thought Red Flag Brigade was deep in the mountains, making it inconvenient to go out.

"Actually, I asked Dad if Uncle could come here." Gong Ruwen quietly shared a piece of news with Gong Ruini.

Their big brother actually went to ask Dad about this? From the look of it, he probably didn’t agree, or else Gong Ruwen wouldn’t have shown a regretful expression.

"Dad didn’t agree; he said Uncle’s village is good."

"But Uncle seems not very happy." Gong Ruwen said it because Cai Ming wasn’t happy, not entirely for his own reasons.

Cai Ming wasn’t happy? How could he tell? Gong Ruini really hadn’t noticed any problem there. How did her big brother see it?

Could her observation skills be less sharp than Cai Ming’s?

"I overheard Mom asking Uncle about it, but don’t tell Dad." Gong Ruwen knew Uncle didn’t mention it because he didn’t want to trouble Dad.

Uh, her brother was eavesdropping? What was happening? Previously, Gong Ruwen had never done such a thing; it hadn’t been long, yet her big brother had already taken such a turn.

"Uncle said the zhiqing there were kind of excluding him."

Excluding Cai Ming? Gong Ruini felt dizzy too. Cai Ming hadn’t been with them long, and hadn’t interacted much with the zhiqing. How would he know they were excluding him?

Was it just a desire to come here, hence the claim? Gong Ruini admitted that everything Cai Meina said about Cai Ming was positive and upbeat.

Now hearing Cai Ming say this, Gong Ruini suddenly felt a bit wary of Cai Ming.

If he really wanted to move here, why not bring it up himself, instead of discussing it privately with Cai Meina?

And coincidentally letting Gong Ruwen overhear—wasn’t that a plan to get both Cai Meina and Gong Ruwen to help him speak?

Such a man, Gong Ruini looked down on, especially when he acted all sneaky; there was clearly something wrong.

Or maybe moving here had some hidden motives.

No way, for the sake of a happy and peaceful life, Gong Ruini told herself she must always keep an eye on him.