Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten-Chapter 86 - 85 Rural Life

Gong Tao was busy as ever in the pit, checking the sprouting levels of the chives, "It’s just a bit difficult without sunlight."

The area is large, and the temperature is right, but unfortunately, there’s no sunlight, making it difficult for the seeds to sprout.

"There’s no choice, if we don’t plant here, where else can we plant? But once they sprout, there’s nothing to worry about," Zhao Gang said helplessly.

After all, no matter how capable he is, he’s not an old hand at farming. Whatever little experience he has now comes from quietly experimenting over a long time.

Zhao Gang took a pipe out of his pocket and filled it with some tobacco, "Finally, a place to smoke. Want some?"

"The smell is too strong, smoke less. If Zhan Jing smells it, it’ll be troublesome." Meanwhile, Gong Tao moves slightly away from Zhao Gang.

His wife may not mind him smoking, but his daughter does. Last time he took just a couple of puffs, and his daughter was thoroughly displeased.

Recently, some things have happened, and both his daughter and son are a bit upset with him, so now’s not the time to do anything foolish.

"You, you’re just someone who listens to your wife, and now you have another person to listen to—your daughter," Zhao Gang was discontent with Gong Tao distancing himself.

It’s just a couple of puffs of smoke, and someone would nag non-stop, is there a need to hurt a friend’s feelings like that?

"But it’s also right to listen to your children; as parents, you need to consider their feelings. Look how good Ni Zi looks now; she looked terrible when she first came."

Zhao Gang always heard Gong Tao talk about his daughter’s poor health and thought it was a congenital issue. Now he realizes it was actually due to eating too little, preventing nutrient absorption.

"I’m telling you, if we really manage to grow ginseng, don’t tell your family. Otherwise, given their character, they might rush in and grab it."

"When spring comes, if we happen to find ginseng on the mountain, you know what to do, right?" Zhao Gang wasn’t worried about Gong Tao cheating him out of his share. He trusted his friend’s character.

Zhao Gang was just worried that if Gong Tao got too excited upon finding ginseng, he might send it back home, which would be a foolish act.

Finally, the friend couldn’t hold back, "Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid. Moreover, if we really get our hands on ginseng, Ni Zi would find out immediately."

"After Ni Zi knows, will she even give me a chance?" Gong Tao said, implying that even if they don’t trust him, they should trust Gong Ruini.

Zhao Gang thought so too, "Your kids are clearer-headed than you think, but do you think sending that letter home would really calm them down?"

Such great benefits, people blinded by it might not hold back. Especially when they have the best weapon at their disposal.

"What can they do if they’re not calm? Do they have the ability to come here and harvest ginseng themselves?" Gong Tao wasn’t a fool. After coming to the Northeast, he got to know some locals and learned from them about the hard work involved in harvesting ginseng.

"If ginseng were that easy to get, everyone in the village would be rich and wouldn’t need to work so hard.") A laborer works hard all year round and earns so little.

"Taking just one piece of ginseng to the buying station can fetch a lot. Everyone’s smart enough to do that math."

"None of them are willing to endure hard work. They wouldn’t come to the Northeast. Maybe even this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner will cause a fuss." Gong Tao knew his family’s situation.

There are more people eating than working. Asking them to share their portion is impossible. It’s uncertain how the Gong Family will get through this year.

"Maybe this is the time our family will be missed the most." Every New Year, his wife is the busiest.

"Exactly like an old ox, but now, why think about all that? We’ve already left the hometown; what’s going on there has nothing to do with us."

What Gong Tao was most concerned about, "How will our food during the New Year be?" That was the most important question.

"It’ll be great. I don’t plan on selling the deer; we’ll stew the meat ourselves. A pound of meat isn’t much more than a few pounds of vegetables." Winter vegetable prices aren’t cheap, so Zhao Gang kept a deer.

Moreover, constantly selling so much game makes one stand out too much. Zhao Gang worried that it might backfire on him if word spread.

"If we could catch a wild goat, it’d be even better. We could do grilled mutton and lamb ribs." Thinking about the grilled lamb ribs from last time made Zhao Gang’s stomach growl with hunger.

Unfortunately, no wild sheep had been seen all winter, much to his disappointment.

Grilled lamb ribs, now that’s excessive. Gong Tao couldn’t even remember the last time he had mutton. Now here he was, talking about eating grilled lamb ribs.

Gong Tao stared at Zhao Gang for a long time, until Zhao Gang felt all sorts of nervous, "I’m so jealous of you. If I’d known you were living so well here, I would’ve come to join you earlier."

Join him? Only Gong Tao would say that, considering he also came to the Northeast, "Unwilling to give up urban residency, I have no shortage of food and drink here, living well. But what the future holds, I’m not sure."

"I can choose not to think too much, but I have my two kids—no, four kids. As their father, I can’t not plan for them." After finishing the tobacco, Zhao Gang stopped smoking, worried his wife would be annoyed by the smell.

"The city, no matter what, sounds better. What are we supposed to be? Nothing but earth-movers if the word gets out." Zhao Gang thought about how many of his good friends stopped associating with him after he was posted to the Northeast, each of them avoiding him.

"If it weren’t for you saying your life was tough, being mistreated, I wouldn’t have even suggested coming to the Northeast." Zhao Gang sighed, acknowledging that he had blocked someone’s promotion and, more importantly, had offended people in the past, which had left him with no room to maneuver when trouble erupted.

"So I’m actually quite fortunate. Whether I go back to the city or not in the future, I think the authorities won’t let this situation continue indefinitely. Even if I can’t return, I can still let my kids study."

"I’ll work hard to earn money for their education. I refuse to believe they’ll only stay here as farmers." Gong Tao was gambling on change, that things wouldn’t stay the same forever.

"Exactly, if we can’t make it, we still have our sons. If our sons can’t make it, we have our grandsons."

"Staying here isn’t so bad, actually. By that time, we can plant some herbs and raise some animals. If we expand our customer base, there’s no way we won’t earn more than in the factory." freeweɓnøvel~com

Zhao Gang wasn’t exaggerating. Even if they stayed in the city, their salaries alone wouldn’t allow them to feed a family of four so comfortably. Not to mention they’ve saved a lot over the years.

"If it weren’t for considering Xuran and their future, we genuinely feel staying here isn’t bad." Without backstabbing, just working sunrise to sunset—it’s a slice of pastoral life.

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