Chapter 219: Chapter 219

"Mom." Gong Ruini rubbed her eyes as she came out of Cai Ming’s room.

Cai Meina saw that Gong Ruini had woken up, "Ni Zi, do you want to sleep a bit more?"

Gong Ruini shook her head, "I’m much better now."

Oh, how could she have fallen asleep? Gong Ruini was quite frustrated, but luckily, she didn’t sleep until it was time to go home. Otherwise, this trip would have been really pointless, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.

"You’re Ni Zi." Tong Juan had previously heard from Cai Ming about his sister having two kids, and the girl seemed to be Ni Zi.

Tong Juan unobtrusively glanced over; the little girl was quite thin and her clothes were average.

Why did they all size her up as if there was some valuation going on? Gong Ruini was on the verge of exasperation. She’d seen three educated youths today; not to say they were all women, but each one was some kind of drama queen.

"Hello, Auntie." Gong Ruini really wanted to squat down but reconsidered, thinking what if she lost her balance and fell on her backside. Better stand and get some exercise, she thought.

Tong Juan noticed Gong Ruini lingered there, feeling quite pleased. Adults kept tight-lipped, some things they would say, and some they wouldn’t. But children were different; their lips were certainly not sealed.

Hmph, no matter how cautious they are of her, isn’t there still an easy-to-bully one? "Ni Zi, why did you come to see your uncle today?"

Tong Juan felt that at this time, Cai Meina coming to see Cai Ming definitely meant something was up. If she brought something, it could be because she wants to see Cai Ming. But coming empty-handed seemed a bit off.

"I missed Uncle." No way, she just appeared, and this woman started probing her right away, wanting to get some information out of her?

Does she give off the impression of being an idiot? "Why can’t I come to see Uncle?"

Ugh, is it really just the child wanting to see her uncle? Well, alright, it’s understandable Cai Ming often goes to see the kids, missing this uncle is quite normal. But Tong Juan was still uneasy.

"Why didn’t your brother come?"

Tsk, lucky she came today, her brother didn’t. Otherwise, in a moment of unmindfulness, he might have been bamboozled, "Brother stayed home to look after the house."

"Ni Zi, do you want to see your uncle every day?" Tong Juan changed her approach to ask Gong Ruini.

Oh dear, what is this child thinking? How could she ask something ? Though Tong Juan used various roundabout ways to ask questions, Cai Meina suspected she might want to become a primary school teacher.

No way Cai Meina would want such a troublemaker to appear, so she avoided this topic in all sorts of ways. Unexpectedly, she targeted Ni Zi; her daughter was smart, but did she know how to answer?

See Uncle every day? Gong Ruini thought for a bit and shook her head, indicating she didn’t want to.

"Isn’t your uncle good to you? Why wouldn’t you want to?" Tong Juan was thinking if Cai Meina’s family planned to let Cai Ming become a teacher, they should have hinted a bit. So why is Gong Ruini unwilling, or hasn’t heard her parents talk?

"If Uncle went, Mom would then be good to him."

"Dad said Uncle has to work here to have food to eat."

"We don’t have much rice left, or meat, we can’t give food to Uncle."

"Uncle is so silly, can’t even hunt."

"Hmph, Uncle has to work to earn his own food."

Ah, Cai Meina’s family doesn’t have much food left either? Tong Juan was startled by Gong Ruini’s words. Actually, they educated youth don’t have much food either. They planned to look for Cai Ming if there’s no food and ask him to find a way.

But if Cai Meina’s sister’s family doesn’t have food, how can they bring it up?

"Then Ni Zi, you’re suffering, aren’t you?" Tong Juan found it a bit unbelievable. Zhao Gang was said to be a capable person and had a good relationship with Cai Ming’s brother-in-law. How could he let his friend suffer?

Suffering? That’s impossible. Having eggs and sheep milk every day, how is that suffering? But seeing Tong Juan’s calculating eyes.

Gong Ruini shyly shook her head, "Not suffering. Dad says you have to work to eat well. Ni Zi is just a child, corn porridge is delicious."

"Auntie, do you like corn porridge?" She can’t be eyeing their stuff, hoping that later Uncle would ask their family to borrow food, right? ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fıre·net

Gong Ruini doesn’t believe they would eat up all their food so early. Now they probably see Cai Ming here and think there’s a soft target to press, so they want to take advantage.

Not to mention they haven’t properly taken care of Cai Ming, even if they did, it’s impossible to give them their food.

These folks aren’t tight-lipped; they can turn around and sell them out, spreading the news about their food everywhere.

Ah, corn porridge, no matter how many years she’s eaten it, Tong Juan still can’t bring herself to like the stuff in any way, "It’s okay, just a bit monotonous, not as tasty as rice."

Rice, huh. Gong Ruini kept smacking her lips, "Mom, I want to eat white rice, I really want to."

"Ni Zi has forgotten the taste of rice."

"Ni Zi doesn’t want to eat corn porridge, doesn’t want to eat sweet potatoes." Gong Ruini looked at the damp ground. Alright, she couldn’t bring herself to roll around here, it was just too dirty.

This wasn’t home; Gong Ruini didn’t want to go home with such a dirty coat, she’d lose face.

If she couldn’t roll around, then she’d have to cry instead.

Gong Ruini kept wiping her tears, "Mom, I want to eat rice."

"I want to eat meat, Ni Zi hasn’t had meat in ages."

Thinking about it made Gong Ruini feel wronged. She was trying her best not to let her family get caught up by these bloodsuckers and traitors, becoming quite the little actress in the process.

You have to know she went through hardship just to get here, hadn’t even found Cai Ming, almost had a soaking wet welcome, took a brief rest, only to find herself dealing with someone switching places, trying to gather information.

Gong Ruini really didn’t understand why they spent their time fighting each other instead of figuring out how to improve their lives, always wanting to take advantage. Was her family just easy to bully?

To foolishly get pushed around by others? Gong Ruini thought she better play poor, act pitiful, "Auntie, do you have any food?"

Gong Ruini looked at Tong Juan pitifully, "Actually, we came to see if Uncle has any food here."

No way, were they mother and daughter really here to mooch? Tong Juan couldn’t believe it, looking at Cai Meina in astonishment.

Cai Meina didn’t react quickly, her expression was one of surprise, making it seem to Tong Juan that the mother was getting duped by her straightforward daughter.

"Auntie, do you still have food?" Gong Ruini pulled on Tong Juan’s clothes and asked softly, while continually rubbing her own belly.

Seeing Gong Ruini , how could Tong Juan dare to interact more with her? She didn’t have enough food herself; how could she have anything to give them?

Even if she had eaten some of their food before, so what? It was Cai Ming who offered willingly.

Dong Juan awkwardly pushed Gong Ruini’s hand away, then hurriedly moved toward the house, "Auntie doesn’t have any more food either."

"Auntie has been eating sweet potatoes for every meal lately." Just a bit away from Gong Ruini, she took off, running toward the house.

The speed was astounding, leaving Cai Meina and her daughter stunned.