On the eighth day of the last lunar month, the Pri Minister passed away, and after the news spread, the entire nation was filled with grief, organizing various morial activities in their own ways.
The Red Flag Brigade was no exception, and it left every villager who was imrsed in preparing for the arrival of the Spring Festival in shock.
Although there were so who obstructed the morial for the Pri Minister, the Red Flag Brigade and even the commune organized this event.
Gong Ruini had no impression of this Pri Minister, but hearing his stories in recent days, she admired him greatly for being a Pri Minister without children.
Even before Zhao Gang and the others could recover from this grief, they received a telegram from ho: Father critically ill.
Seeing this telegram, Gong Tao couldn’t bear it and nearly fainted.
Cai ina was shocked; after all, the previous notifications had given them so sense that Gong Dajiang’s health was not good, but receiving such a telegram shouldn’t have made Zhao Guangran faint.
"Gong Tao, Gong Tao." Cai ina kept shaking Gong Tao and calling out to him.
Gong Ruini, too, was beside them shouting anxiously, worried if Gong Dajiang would take Gong Tao away as well. Really, was it necessary to be so agitated over an old man?
Clearly, they’ve been talking about how biased Gong Dajiang was before, and it’s not like they didn’t know Gong Dajiang’s health was poor, so why get so emotional now? Gong Ruini really couldn’t understand the reason.
Cai Ming saw that Gong Tao was in trouble and imdiately went to find Zhan Jing to check the situation.
In these days, Zhan Jing was the busiest person in the village, as there were several people who fainted from excitent that he had to attend to, though none of them were serious problems yet everyone habitually called for Zhan Jing.
Just as Zhan Jing finished his work and returned ho, he heard about Gong Tao fainting and was shocked, "Why did he faint?"
Even if their own could get excited, it shouldn’t be to the point of fainting from grief, what’s going on?
"A telegram about critical illness ca." Zhao Gang said softly.
Zhao Gang estimated that Gong Tao fainted not because of Gong Dajiang but because he’d been exhausted these days, and after receiving such a telegram, how could he not faint?
If it were him, Zhao Gang couldn’t guarantee he could withstand it.
Ah, look at the trouble this brings, in the winter near Spring Festival, the old man’s health is bad too, "And don’t know if Taozi can see him for the last ti."
Even though telegrams are fast, it still takes several days; then they have to buy tickets and journey back ho, who knows if they can hold on until Gong Tao gets ho.
Ah, hearing this Zhan Jing understood, it was one blow after another that Zhao Gang couldn’t bear, "You go borrow a car from the village head, then get a proof."
No matter Gong Tao and his wife’s views towards Gong Dajiang, now that this telegram has co, could Gong Tao simply ignore it and not go?
Whether or not he can see him for the last ti, Gong Dajiang’s funeral must be attended.
Zhao Gang nodded, "I’ll take leave."
This year’s festival, ah, well, the celebration here will be rather quiet; Gong Tao’s festival would be more lively given he would be dealing with all kinds of troubleso matters upon his return.
After Zhan Jing finished giving directions, he went inside to check on Gong Tao’s condition and saw him slowly waking up.
"I’m fine." Gong Tao tried to sit up, "I just got dizzy, I’m fine."
Zhan Jing grabbed Gong Tao’s hand annoyed, "Whether you’re fine is not for you to say."
"You wouldn’t want to go back sick, would you?"
Upon hearing this, Gong Tao, who initially wanted to say he was fine, shut his mouth, unsure of how tireso the journey back would be or how chaotic ho would be upon his return.
With our old man gone, how could Zhang Lan hold the fort? People went along with Zhang Lan before only out of respect for Gong Dajiang.
Now that Gong Dajiang’s gone, who would fear Zhang Lan? They’d only worry about her favoritism; Gong Zhuang must have been planning how to divide the money and houses for a while now; as for Gong Dajiang’s funeral, that’s not the main concern.
Thinking about the troubleso matters waiting back ho, Gong Tao was unwilling to take back Gong Ruini and her siblings, "Zhan Jing, Cai Ming, while ina and I are gone, please take care of Ni Zi and her siblings."
When Cai ina saw her husband faint after receiving the telegram, she was worried not only for her husband but concerned if they would have to take Gong Ruini and the others along.
Now knowing they weren’t going, Cai ina was relieved.
Not only was Cai ina relieved, but so were Zhan Jing and the others; with the Pri Minister’s death, everyone was feeling down, and eating was just so-so, bodies were sowhat weakened.
Initially, a few days of rest would get one back in shape, but if forced to travel such long distances, she couldn’t guarantee this family could handle it.
With Gong Dajiang’s condition worsening, aning he’s going to pass, they wondered if the small city they were headed to had anything good.
Even after many years of movents and good items being destroyed, there might still be a stray good item after all.
Plus, she had a lot of money on hand that needed to be spent or Gong Ruini would continually be unhappy; given that, why not return ho to scavenge for treasures.
Gong Ruini had been planning to go back ho with her mother; she didn’t expect they wouldn’t take her back, which left her a bit dissatisfied, "I want to go back."
Gong Ruwen had no opinions on going back; his idea was simply to follow his parents’, but seeing his sister wanting to return, he imdiately changed his mind to follow Gong Ruini’s idea.
"Ni Zi, behave." Bringing one or two back would only add trouble; Cai ina scolded the two kids for the first ti.
"Mom, I won’t cause trouble." Gong Ruini quietly promised, considering that over the years, her health had greatly improved, possibly due to regular exercise or perhaps drinking water from her space, Gong Ruini stated her body wasn’t weak to the point that she couldn’t handle sitting on a train.
"Plus, if I don’t go back, who knows what chaos they’ll stir up." Going back was bound to be contentious, Zhang Lan couldn’t handle Gong Zhuang alone, wouldn’t she direct her fury towards Gong Tao instead?
The main thing is, "Ni Zi wants to spend New Year with Mom and Dad." Once the matters are settled, likely after New Year, Gong Ruini didn’t want their family of four to celebrate separately in different places.
Though Cai Ming and Zhao Gang’s families would take good care of her and her brother, with the forr being an uncle, witnessing Zhao Xuran’s family reunites would upset Gong Ruini greatly.
If it were for another reason, Cai ina wouldn’t approve, but hearing her daughter’s this request made her want to cry, although ultimately this matter was up to Gong Tao to decide.
Among the family of four, three had already made a decision, and at that mont they looked to him to ask his opinion, "Besides agreeing, what choice do I have?"
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