Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten
Chapter 162: Each Eats Their Own

Chapter 162: Chapter 162: Each Eats Their Own

"Gong Tao, what do you think about this?" Zhang Lan looked up to see Gong Tao and Cai Meina just focusing on eating, and she was furious inside.

What do I think? How did the situation worsening have anything to do with him? Gong Tao didn’t understand why Zhang Lan was asking him this.

"Dad has already decided, and I think it’s fine too."

"Moreover, this is between the eldest brother and youngest brother, it’s not appropriate for me to comment."

"But in my view, whoever paid for it should get it, that’s fair."

"These days, you have to consider when trying to take advantage of others, not everyone will continue to be naive."

Once he finished speaking, he continued eating. If Zhang Lan is angry, let her be angry; this was an issue decided by the old man, and any suggestion he makes wouldn’t be a good one anyway.

"And in the future, about Gong Qiang’s matters, don’t ask my opinion unless I contribute money or effort, then you’ll be happy."

"I’ve already given what I could to my eldest brother; do you really want to drive our whole family to despair?" At the end, Gong Tao couldn’t help but release his resentment.

Gong Tao understood now, no matter how he reasoned with Zhang Lan, she was biased; she believed he ought to make sacrifices for the family, so he might as well be more assertive.

Previously, Zhang Lan behaved assertively in front of Gong Dajiang, and now she’s somewhat shrinking back, probably because the old man feels like giving up on everything.

Zhang Lan was so frightened by Gong Tao’s words that she didn’t dare say anything more.

"By the way, Dad, although I’m not stingy, you can see I don’t have much food here. When do you plan to leave? Otherwise, I really can’t afford even this porridge." Gong Tao was worried they might wait indefinitely for money or ginseng.

Can’t afford, can’t afford? So are they supposed to pay, "We are your parents, how could you ask us for money?" Zhang Lan was furious, eating a few meals at their son’s house these days and he’s asking them for money, what a heartless son.

"I give pension money every month, and still have to provide food?" Gong Tao didn’t care about Zhang Lan’s angry look.

"I remember I’m the only one in the family giving pension money."

"Back when I was eating at home, I had to pay for living expenses too, Mom, didn’t you say maintaining a household wasn’t easy?"

"Your son is now so poor, eating one or two meals is okay, but you’ve been eating for so long." Gong Tao seriously calculated the food consumed these days with Zhang Lan and Gong Dajiang.

The calculation was staggering, even to Gong Tao, who felt pained, seeing so much food given away like feeding dogs, no, worse than dogs, feeding wolves, white-eyed wolves.

"Mom, what do you say?" Gong Tao threw the ball back to her.

Uh, of course, Zhang Lan couldn’t bear to say give money, after all, money is limited.

"Starting tomorrow, don’t put any rice, Ni Zi and the others, I’ll talk to Zhao Gang, let the kids scrounge a bit since they eat little. We adults will start eating sweet potatoes." See if this won’t frustrate them.

As for what Zhang Lan might say about him after going back, Gong Tao didn’t care. Being the good guy didn’t give him a good reputation anyway, being the bad guy might as well keep them from constantly scheming.

Besides, Zhang Lan would surely complain about how bad his situation was here, not just broke but also deeply in debt, which would ease the minds of those eyeing him.

"Okay." Cai Meina remained a woman who followed her husband’s lead, after all, she didn’t lack food whenever visiting Zhan Jing these days.

As for Gong Tao, he didn’t need to worry either, with his good buddy Zhao Gang there, why worry about food?

The ones who pitied were Gong Dajiang and his wife, wanting to cook secretly but not knowing where to buy food.

Even if they knew where to buy, Zhang Lan couldn’t bear to, they couldn’t just eat and drink alone, they also had to give some to Gong Tao’s two kids, which would cost more.

Not to mention that feeding these two little brats was a waste, so Zhang Lan refused to buy anything.

Though Cai Meina understood Zhang Lan’s intentions, they didn’t mind; as long as Zhang Lan could endure this life, she had no objections.

Gong Dajiang was angry too, but not too much, his son’s situation was really like this; he hadn’t missed gathering information about Gong Tao these days, and what he heard matched what he was told.

The son had no money, plus they came empty-handed and were busy helping with Gong Qiang’s matter, it’s understandable for him to be unhappy.

The question is, is giving money an answer? How much to give is also a problem, moreover, Gong Tao seemed to want money just to kick them out, "Let’s wait five more days, if in seven days, there’s still no news, then we’ll leave."

Seven days, ha ha ha, Gong Tao said he had no patience for that, "It’s not about seven days, anyway, from tomorrow on it means eating sweet potatoes."

"If Dad wants to eat rice, you can use national food coupons to buy some." They had food coupons, but were unwilling to use them, not wanting to let them take advantage.

Fine, Gong Dajiang understood, if he didn’t buy rice, no matter how long they stayed, they would be eating sweet potatoes.

The problem with eating lots of sweet potatoes is heartburn, Gong Dajiang helplessly told Zhang Lan, "Give me the food coupons and money, I’ll buy some when I go to send a telegram tomorrow."

Ah, asking them to buy rice themselves, Zhang Lan kept hesitating, "Will it be just me and your dad eating the rice we buy?"

If it’s just us, Zhang Lan could bear it, but if feeding the four white-eyed wolves too, she really couldn’t.

Ha ha ha, just them eating, it’s really something a mother and grandmother would say.

Gong Dajiang was also a bit upset now, how could she say that.

Just as Gong Dajiang was about to speak to patch things up for Zhang Lan, "It’s fine, the rice you buy, just you eat, we won’t." They weren’t hungry for a little rice anyway.

Zhang Lan was delighted, though she couldn’t guarantee other things, when Gong Tao promised something, he’d absolutely do it.

"Since Mom, you’re saying this, from tomorrow on, we’ll cook separately."

"I’ll provide the firewood for free." Gong Tao emphasized the word "free."

"But the pots and utensils, I can provide, if they break, you’ll have to compensate."

"Also starting tomorrow, the food you eat and chores around the house, you handle it." Since they were clarifying things, let’s clarify everything.

Washing clothes for them every day, did they really think of them as ancestors?

"Wife, starting tomorrow, just tell Mom where the food and condiments are, the rest they can do themselves."

"And for meals, go to the room where Ni Zi sleeps, otherwise I worry they’ll eat Mom’s food."

"Ni Zi, Rui Wen, your grandparents are eating rice, you can’t be tempted." Gong Tao didn’t forget to remind Gong Ruini and the kids.

"Got it." Gong Ruini and the kids responded excitedly, finally they wouldn’t have to see Zhang Lan’s unpleasant face during meals.

Even when they were eating their own rice, Zhang Lan always had a look like ’why can you eat so much’ when looking at Gong Ruini and the others, which made Gong Ruini very unhappy.

Eating their own rice, and that’s the reaction, if it were Zhang Lan’s food, they might feel like kicking them away.