Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten
Chapter 30 - 29: Tough

Chapter 30: Chapter 29: Tough

"Alright, you guys go back." After borrowing the cart, Zhao Gang put the wild boar meat in the cart and set off stealthily under the cover of night.

Only after the horse was out of sight did Gong Ruini slowly return to the house.

To be honest, Gong Ruini was really curious about Zhao Gang borrowing the cart. Wouldn’t the team ask about it?

Cai Meina also found it strange, but she attributed it to Zhao Gang being well-liked; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easy for him to borrow the cart.

"Gangzi can fix machinery problems. Whenever any household’s appliances or machinery have issues, Gangzi can help out. He’ll go around helping in several nearby villages," Zhan Jing explained quietly the reason why Zhao Gang could borrow the cart.

"Every time Gangzi goes out to help, he gets a small token of appreciation, and Gangzi always shares half of it." Actually, not sharing would also be reasonable; first, it doesn’t interfere with work time, and second, Zhao Gang handles it all by himself.

It’s really not easy, Gong Ruini finally understood why Zhao Gang said he would definitely get the cart, "Actually, I think we could get a bicycle ourselves; it would be so convenient for going out to work."

Although he was able to borrow the cart, if someone were observant, they’d know if he was going out to do private work.

"Don’t worry, doing private work is normal." Zhan Jing looked at Gong Ruini, who had a look of concern, and thought she was adorably worried.

Oh, it seems everyone knows Zhao Gang does private work, but it doesn’t affect their interests. Plus, they’re afraid of angering Zhao Gang and not getting help with machine repairs in the future.

Village equipment can be repaired by Zhao Gang, but personal household chores can be done or ignored by Zhao Gang, no matter how much opinion others have about it.

"Brother, you should make money too." Zhao Guangran knew he couldn’t spend money privately, so he set his sights on Zhao Xuran. As long as his brother agreed to make money, he could ask his brother for treats in the future.

"Okay." Since the younger siblings were planning to do so, as their eldest brother, he certainly had to set an example.

"Then big brother, you’ll lead us to make money." Hahaha, the big brother was so easily persuaded by him, Zhao Guangran really admired himself for resolving the matter so effortlessly.

Making money? How does this kid already know about these things? It seems someone taught him. Zhao Xuran didn’t think his own brother would understand these concepts. As for who taught him, apart from Gong Ruini, he didn’t think anyone else would.

"Making money is normal; with money, you can do what you want." Sigh, why did that guy Zhao Guangran immediately look at her when something seemed amiss? Gong Ruini really wanted to say she didn’t teach him this.

"Exactly, brother. I’ve long thought about becoming wealthy and having money to buy what I like." Zhao Guangran found the eldest brother’s reaction quite odd.

"Brother, should we wait for dad to come back today?" Zhao Guangran asked with concern.

"Why, are you feeling sleepy?" Zhao Xuran assumed Zhao Guangran was sleepy. After all, they’d been busy all day, and it was normal for Zhao Guangran to want to sleep.

Zhao Guangran yawned and nodded, "Brother, I’m going to sleep a bit first. Wake me when dad gets back."

Zhao Xuran led Zhao Guangran back to their room to sleep, while Cai Meina picked up a shoe sole to continue making shoes. Since coming here, she learned that shoes needed to be self-made; otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to cover the frequent expenses of buying shoes.

The most important part was that shoes couldn’t be bought without a ticket, so Cai Meina had to rely on Zhan Jing’s guidance to make shoes out of old clothes. She now worried what would happen when her two children grew up and needed shoes. She finally understood why Zhan Jing wrote that they should bring old clothes.

Gong Ruini yawned, getting ready to sleep. Today was her busiest day since she traveled through time, completely exhausting her small body.

Gong Ruwen yawned, "Mom, I want to sleep."

Gong Ruini climbed onto her sleeping area, pulled open the covers, and prepared to sleep, "Mom, you sleep early too."

Cai Meina wasn’t quite at ease with Gong Tao being out so late. Even with a lantern or flashlight, the paths were small.

"Then go to sleep." Cai Meina turned off the light and leaned against the box, lost in thought.

To be honest, what Gong Ruini said today sparked a lot of ideas and thoughts in Cai Meina. She never thought the in-laws or her own family would really let them go; they wouldn’t care how their family was doing in the Northeast. They’d just self-righteously believe that as sons and daughters, they should be filial to the elders.

Especially with the younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law openly stating that the Northeast’s shiitake mushrooms and black fungus are good. Implicitly, that meant expecting them to pay tribute.

For years, both families were in the habit of ruthlessly bleeding them dry. Such habits wouldn’t change easily.

And let’s not even mention that they keep harping on about the so-called Three Treasures of the Northeast, targeting the ginseng in particular. But is it so easy to gather?

If it were really that easy to obtain, Cai Meina said every village by the mountain would be wealthy by now. Yet, in all the time here, she hadn’t noticed anyone striking it rich.

Gathering some herbs, fetching mushrooms, and black fungus is normal, but don’t dream about the rest.

But even if gathering shiitake and such was easy, Cai Meina wasn’t eager to mail them back. Because once you start sending things back, they’ll only think the amount you sent isn’t enough and will each year demand more and more.

Cai Meina wasn’t foolish. Whether dried or fresh, these items could be exchanged for money. Even if they didn’t take them to the black market, they could sell them to the supply and marketing cooperative.

With money, the children could eat well and have new clothes. Cai Meina thought about how little Gong Ruini had asked Zhan Jing if gathering herbs could make money.

A child so young thinking about making money — wasn’t that a slap in the face to the adults?

If not for the children’s various anxieties and constant worries about not having money, would they have such thoughts? Whether on her husband’s side or her own family, even kids a few years older than Gong Ruini didn’t understand these things.

This is the fault of us parents for being inadequate. "Right, you shouldn’t send them anything. They have salaries and coupons to get things. Why should we, as educated people, give them things?"

Cai Meina and the others came over without a salary and had to labor in the countryside to exchange for all necessities for survival, from food to drink.

Originally, Gong Tao and Cai Meina had discussed sending back some shiitake and black fungus before the New Year as a sign of respect, but now Cai Meina completely disagreed.

As for how the Gong and Cai families might react, given the great distance, they wouldn’t spend the money to chase them to the Northeast.