Chapter 284: Chapter 284

If something holds no hope, there is no expectation, and even less disappointment.

Well, now look, everyone discussed and debated for half a day, and prepared quite a bit, yet this is the result we get. How can people accept it?

Gong Ruini’s face completely fell, "Dad, speak up, I can handle it."

Zhao Guangran could only regret that his big brother didn’t get rewarded, but really, he wasn’t that disappointed.

After all, the most disappointed should be Gong Ruini. Zhao Guangran noticed the disappointed look on her face. He wanted to laugh a bit—what’s the use of having a so-called treasure map if it leads to nothing?

Zhao Xuran shot a glance over, didn’t he see that even their own father was not in a good mood? Saying anything sarcastic now would definitely be remembered by their father.

Zhao Guangran was jolted awake, yes, indeed, mocking Gong Ruini was like mocking their own dad. He’d better keep a low profile.

Zhao Gang glanced at Gong Tao, indicating that he should speak. He really didn’t know how to say it; wasn’t this just a matter of hitting kids with harsh truths?

Even though Gong Ruini didn’t seem overly expectant, she must have had some hopes too.

Gong Tao was also somewhat reluctant. Why burden him with disappointing the kids? Didn’t they know Ni Zi would be unhappy?

"I’ll say it then." Since neither was willing, Cai Ming stepped forward. They couldn’t just say nothing, right?

Fine, no matter who says it, at least someone is willing to provide an answer. "Go ahead, uncle."

Everyone already knew it wasn’t a good outcome, so there’s no such thing as being more disappointed. "The box didn’t cost us anything; it’s just that my dad and Uncle Zhao put in some effort to clean it up."

"We just lost a bit of money on the tools we prepared." Thinking back, they were lucky to scout early and not prepare too much stuff, otherwise, who knows how much more they would have lost.

His sister said calmly that she wasn’t angry or disappointed, but Gong Ruwen knew his sister wasn’t happy. "Maybe that’s not even the place meant for treasure after all."

Yes, right, that’s exactly it. Gong Ruwen thought the map was a bit unclear. Maybe the place they went to wasn’t the correct spot, so how could they find anything?

Gong Tao knew his son didn’t want to accept this reality. Honestly, if possible, he didn’t want to either, but some things happen regardless of what we want.

"Xiao Wen, truly, there was nothing found, and the place is correct." Gong Tao took a deep breath and stated the harsh truth.

Despite all the preparations, learning this fact from Gong Tao left their mood somewhat deflated, and Gong Ruini tried hard to swallow her unhappiness.

Things that cost no money—it’s normal not to find anything. How often does one discover treasure? A person’s fortune is limited; finding good things all the time isn’t necessarily a good thing.

"Actually, not finding treasure doesn’t mean there were no gains." Zhao Gang noticed Gong Ruini’s emotions, or rather, everyone’s mood wasn’t high, so he mentioned something that would cheer them up.

No treasure, what could possibly be discovered? Everyone looked at Zhao Gang with indifference, eager to know what he claimed was a gain.

It couldn’t be that those who transported treasure left something behind, could it? If so, that would be quite the gain.

Even if the things aren’t abundant, it doesn’t matter; that would still be something, an unexpected windfall.

"There’s a hot spring in the cave." Zhao Gang was excited; after all, it was a hot spring, "It’s quite warm inside."

What, a hot spring? No way, Gong Ruini’s first reaction was disbelief. If there truly was a hot spring, shouldn’t steam rise from the cave entrance? But she never saw any.

"The hot spring is deeper inside, and actually, the wall wasn’t tightly constructed; it was a pile of rocks. Over the years, the vines made the gaps larger, and now the temperature isn’t low..." Zhao Gang was also curious why he hadn’t discovered such a good place earlier. If he had known, sigh.

None of that mattered; since Zhao Gang and the others investigated in person, it shouldn’t be wrong to be a hot spring. Check latest chapters at novęlfire.net

Now with a hot spring, they wouldn’t have to worry when winter comes. Otherwise, heating in the middle of the night was a tedious job, and with a hot spring, things would be a lot easier.

Gong Ruini actually thought about taking a hot spring bath if possible. Though it’s not outdoors and she couldn’t enjoy the hot-cold contrast of bathing in the snow, it’s still a pleasant thought.

She wondered what benefits the hot spring might have for the body, or if it could make a woman’s skin beautiful—Gong Ruini was genuinely curious.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have the equipment to test it, nor did Gong Ruini want to reveal the hot spring’s location. After all, it’s still 1974, with three more winters of greenhouse vegetables waiting to make them money.

When the time comes, set up more frames—they have to grow the vegetables and make a good profit. This money would be tangible cash to spend freely, without worrying about realizing it.

"Plant vegetables." Zhao Xuran thought of this too, "But vegetables need sunlight."

Even if there’s not much sunlight, it’s necessary for vegetables, or leaves might yellow, and yellow-leaved vegetables wouldn’t sell well.

"Yeah, when the time comes, you kids need to start helping out." Zhao Gang indicated that exposing veggies to sunlight should be handled by the kids.

The kids are grown enough to help shoulder some responsibilities for their parents.

Oh, come on, Zhao Guangran was annoyed. This is not fair; don’t they know the effort needed to go up the mountain in the snow for vegetables’ sunlight, which was exhausting?

"Let’s grow some chive first; if the temperature is right, they grow fast. As for vegetables, just plant some lower down."

"Or we can just plant a few veggies this year, sell what we have, and forget the rest." Last year everyone was busy, Zhan Jing noticed, but since the income was good this year, there was no need to be that busy.

Selling vegetables is profit, but it’s hard-earned money. Last year was special, so Zhan Jing felt bad about saying not to plant. But this year is different; it’s unnecessary to work that hard.

Zhao Gang didn’t want too much strain either, so he looked at Gong Tao to see his opinion.

What’s there for Gong Tao to say aside from agreeing? "When the time comes, we’ll just check the mountain vegetables daily. Oh, and I need to make a wooden door these days."

Otherwise come winter, those little gaps would let in a great deal of wind, not good for vegetable growth.