Chapter 277: Chapter 277

The matter of Erya going out to buy books with Gong Ruini, although well-hidden, still got out.

Even though some people in the village gossiped, saying Erya had become a bit of a spendthrift following Gong Ruini around, it made Gong Ruini quite nervous.

Although Erya initially said it was with her family’s consent, what if her parents heard these rumors and also thought Erya was wasting money and believed it was Gong Ruini leading her astray?

"What, Uncle, did you say someone asked you if we could take them to buy books?" Cait Ming mentioned at the table that some parents had contacted him recently to discuss buying old books from the scrap yard, and this was quite surprising.

Previously, weren’t people disdainful, saying it was a waste of money? How come there’s suddenly someone willing to brave the trend and go against it? What’s going on here?

Gong Ruini didn’t know what to do about this and honestly, she didn’t want to get involved in these troublesome matters.

Initially, she took Erya along because Erya’s family wasn’t a troublesome one, and Erya suited her taste, revealing some village gossip.

Of course, the premise was that Erya kept her mouth shut; she never spoke of things she shouldn’t, and didn’t reveal any little secrets of her friends just to get closer to Gong Ruini, only talking about gossip everyone in the village already knew.

When this matter was getting quite big initially, Gong Ruini wasn’t too happy about it, so why is it causing such a fuss now, sigh.

"Old books are so cheap, and even have dictionaries. People in the village aren’t stupid; buying one of these means all the kids at home can study." Zhao Gang was quite annoyed a few days ago as those involved had no objections, yet some onlookers kept making noise, which was infuriating. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI(F)ire.net

Isn’t this obvious? It’s just taking advantage of the cheap stuff at the recycling center, so they frequently visit it. Besides initially wanting to strike luck, they also hoped to increase their collection of books at home.

Though most books met the requirements, there are a few private volumes that should never be discovered, and if too many people are taken along, how can they still do this?

Zhao Gang thought this matter was unusually tricky, "It doesn’t work not to take them along either, after all, we’re using the village’s ox cart."

This is a public resource, and if the situation turns ugly, no one will benefit.

"Then just take them." Zhan Jing thought Zhao Gang was overthinking things, "Why ponder so much? You know the people in the village; without the money from selling herbs, they might not even have this spare cash."

"Once or twice is fine, but if done often, they won’t bear it."

"Not everyone is like Erya’s family, who earmark the herb money for their children’s education and stick to it." Zhan Jing wasn’t too familiar with Erya’s family before.

But this time Erya bought so many books, without a single word of complaint, and when rumors started circulating in the village, Erya’s parents even apologized directly, which made Zhan Jing see them in a higher light.

The logic is sound, "Take them along, and when the time comes, we’ll send one of our kids too. When more books are bought, who will look too closely?"

Zhao Gang’s idea was, if possible, to take Gong Ruini along; that girl really had extraordinary luck, who else could they take if not her.

Gong Ruini confessed going once was truly exhausting, the food wasn’t good, and she had to get up early, so she really wasn’t keen on going.

If going with Erya, Gong Ruini might consider it, as she could store books in her space. But with more people, how could she store it? What, perform magic?

Gong Ruini had no wish for her secret to be exposed; even if the space was a bit useless, it was still a dimension to store things in.

Zhao Guangran pouted, humph, his brother was biased, their old man was biased too. Why didn’t anyone ask if he wanted to go, yet they asked Gong Ruini?

No matter how upset Zhao Guangran was, Zhao Gang still asked Gong Ruini first, and after she said she wasn’t going, he had to regretfully drop it.

"Xuran, Rui Wen, which one of you will go," Zhao Gang then turned to the other two kids without asking Zhao Guangran.

This made Zhao Guangran quite angry, his own dad was really over the top, knowing he wanted to go, yet only asking his brothers.

Gong Ruini saw Zhao Guangran’s pout that could hold a soy sauce bottle; she actually understood why Zhao Gang didn’t want to take Zhao Guangran.

Wasn’t it just because they worried this boy would let something slip, and in a fit of excitement blurt out things he shouldn’t?

The family’s secrets were increasingly more numerous, and to avoid leaks, to prevent the house from becoming the village’s, or even the commune’s and county’s focal point.

Gong Rui Wen shook his head, "I’m not going." A day at the scrap yard means a day, he needed to focus on collecting herbs and earning money.

With income coming in every few days, Gong Rui Wen fell in love with this money-making business, especially since the schisandra they planted had started fruiting, and if not picked diligently, would fall off, which was all money.

Even though her brother was quite a miser, Gong Ruini was quite helpless, saying she had no sense of security; actually, Gong Rui Wen had even less and was even more money-hungry.

Luckily, the kid knew the principle that a gentleman loves money and takes it in the right way, or else Gong Ruini would be constantly worried that if someone’s values were not right but loved money especially, it would be easy for them to be dragged down.

Since the eldest brother wasn’t going, working and earning money was also good, as Gong Ruini didn’t want to face the Zhao family’s sneaky little fox and someone who’d occasionally throw a few sarcastic comments all on her own.

"Dad, just let my younger brother go." Zhao Xuran wasn’t too keen on going out; he could work at home, help with chores, and review his lessons.

As for books he wanted to read, there were plenty at home for him, plus the thought of all those kids going together and the noisy scene made Zhao Xuran feel a headache coming on.

Let Guang Ran go then, Zhao Gang hesitated for a moment, but since the older son suggested, and the younger one was full of hopeful eyes, fine, let Zhao Guangran go out once, keeping him cooped up at home wasn’t any good either.

Zhao Guangran looked at Zhao Gang pitifully, although his older brother’s suggestion, it still depended on father’s decision in the end.

"Alright." Zhao Gang agreed, though he had to make sure to remind him seriously, "You know the situation at home, what you can’t say must absolutely not be said."

Listening to Zhao Gang rambling on, if it had been any other time, Zhao Guangran would have rolled his eyes, but today he could only endure.

Even though it’s a preliminary agreement, if he isn’t careful in some aspects, they absolutely won’t take him.

Though seemingly obedient, Zhao Guangran was crying inside, why didn’t they remind Ni Zi when she went out, but it’s different for him, it’s excessive.

Zhao Guangran really couldn’t understand, clearly, he was older than Ni Zi, so why weren’t the adults assured about him.