Chapter 191: Chapter 191

Cai Ming excitedly carried a letter and hurried into the yard, "Sis, sis." For origınal chapters go to NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Cai Ming was shocked by the contents of the letter from a friend, and then he was filled with all sorts of secret joy.

Such news must be shared with his eldest sister immediately to brighten her day too.

Cai Meina was also surprised to see Cai Ming rushing in. He had just left two days ago, why was he back so soon? Did something happen?

"Sis, look at the letter." Cai Ming shoved the letter into Cai Meina’s hands and dashed into Gong Ruini’s room to see how they were doing lately.

Cai Ming never expected that his nephew would have such a great opportunity to learn art, music, and more. If they mastered these skills, it would be exceptional.

Cai Ming was genuinely happy for Cai Meina. As for himself, he knew he wasn’t cut out for it, and with so many test papers awaiting him, he simply didn’t have the time.

Furthermore, mastering these requires regular practice back home, otherwise, it would be forgotten. But where he was, occasionally reading a book and solving a problem was okay; unnoticed. But practicing calligraphy or art might attract attention.

More importantly, for some reason, Cai Ming felt he was increasingly popular in the village, with many companions at the commune pulling him into conversations.

Had it been before, Cai Ming would have been thrilled. Having someone to chat with in an unfamiliar place was nice. However, through past experiences, he knew these people were not easy to get along with.

Once in their way, they wouldn’t hold back, so Cai Ming always kept his guard up.

Now, suddenly, those people became extremely enthusiastic; how could Cai Ming not weigh his options? He didn’t have anything that could be exploited by his companions.

Cai Ming pondered that they must be eyeing his brother-in-law, but he had no idea what his brother-in-law was up to.

Cai Ming didn’t understand and didn’t plan to find out. Sometimes, lacking any response was better; anyway, it was not him who was worried.

Cai Meina watched as Cai Ming disappeared from sight, shook her head, and went back to preparing meals. With the peak of quail egg production, there were more quails at home. Especially with Wang Dazhu helping out, the flock was growing stronger.

Going hunting in the mountains posed no problem for Zhao Gang and the others. As long as there were quails, there would be meat and eggs, providing enough nutrition for the day.

Cai Ming entered the room and saw Gong Ruini painting. He leaned in, "Ni Zi, your painting is nice."

The progress was really quick; every time Cai Ming visited, his niece would give him a big surprise.

Is the painting nice? Gong Ruini was quite happy, although Hua Miaozhu kept finding faults, saying this and that weren’t good. Nonetheless, Gong Ruini persisted.

There were times when Gong Ruini didn’t want to endure it. Sure, she knew her paintings were average, but she was only a kid. One shouldn’t use adult standards to judge her, right?

Moreover, compared to Zhao Guangran’s paintings, Gong Ruini genuinely believed hers were better by a long shot, but Hua Miaozhu insisted she couldn’t compare with Zhao Guangran.

Although this implied Zhao Guangran’s paintings weren’t that good, barely at a certain level, a bit of praise would surely motivate her to work harder on her painting journey.

But since Gong Ruini was indeed an adult, seeing Hua Miaozhu’s expression that seemed to say "I knew you’d give up," she couldn’t quit.

Even if she was learning by tagging along, what of it? As long as her paintings were good, let’s see how Hua Miaozhu would comment then.

Gong Ruini clenched her fist, determined to paint something that would earn Hua Miaozhu’s praise. Gong Ruini had spent more time on painting lately without realizing any issues.

As for Gong Ruwen, he knew Gong Ruini was simmering with anger, but as they were just kids, he hadn’t noticed any issues. Instead, seeing Gong Ruini’s progress, he showered her with praise.

Even though Gong Ruini was quite restrained now, one must admit she was slightly inflated because she realized, removing a grand tool like traversing worlds, she had strengths too.

Cai Ming looked at Gong Ruini’s painting for a long time and prepared to leave. Knowing that Gong Ruini had made great strides, he wouldn’t stay there and disrupt her.

More importantly, Cai Ming brought this letter over intending to see how his sister and brother-in-law felt about this; they should be very happy.

Cai Ming ran all the way here, hoping his sister would see this letter sooner.

Just as Cai Ming turned around, he noticed Gong Ruini’s expression was sour. What was that about?

Cai Ming recalled no matter if she was painting, studying, or practicing calligraphy, Gong Ruini always had a smile. Why was her face long now? What was going on?

Cai Ming thought for a long while, then pulled Gong Ruwen over to ask about the situation.

Initially, Gong Ruwen thought Cai Ming was unusually annoying, hadn’t he noticed Ni Zi’s rapidly improving painting skills? But why did Uncle think there was a problem? Was he implying Gong Ruini wasn’t painting well?

Gong Ruwen kept asking Gong Ruini what the matter was, while Cai Ming didn’t know what to say since he hadn’t confirmed anything. So what was to be done?

The more Cai Ming didn’t want to speak, the more Gong Ruwen noticed and felt a bit upset, suspecting Uncle was being critical.

"I just think Ni Zi is unhappy." Fine, unevidenced or not, without Gong Ruwen’s help, Cai Ming estimated he wouldn’t be able to converse with Gong Ruini for long.

Oh no, his niece is unhappy? Good grief, everyone around knew her mood wasn’t great. She wasn’t like Zhao Guangran, who, after being reprimanded, would carry on unaffected; his niece wasn’t as thick-skinned.

Luckily, Gong Ruwen remembered Cai Ming was his uncle. If it were Zhang Lan, perhaps Gong Ruwen would have snapped.

No response meant acquiescence; Cai Ming did not concern himself with Gong Ruwen’s inner squabbles. He observed Gong Ruini for a while, pondering how to talk to her, putting her at ease.

Gong Ruini knew if she wanted Hua Miaozhu’s full approval, she had to keep painting, although it sounded dull. But without painting more, how could her skills improve?

What Gong Ruini hadn’t mentioned was that recently, seeing brushes and art supplies made her nauseous. Still, she previously had quite an interest in painting.

Oh well, why bother overthinking it? Better keep painting. To become proficient, who knows how much effort it takes?

Many see your success, but none see the dedication behind it.

Thinking this, Gong Ruini felt her strength returning, and she painted faster.