Gong Ruini felt stressed out, while Cao Na felt even more exhausted, "Thank goodness you all helped highlight the key points."
Otherwise, given how hard it is, Cao Na was really worried she might fall behind in her grades and leave the advanced class.
Gong Ruini didn’t want Cao Na to think she was cutting corners, but there was no other way. When a kid has to spend two hours a day just on writing signatures, and even longer on weekends, not highlighting the key points would be leaving Cao Na in the lurch.
"Although it’s a bit tiring, the money is good." When Cao Na initially found out she could earn a hundred yuan, she thought it was a fortune.
Working so hard in the Northeastern Rural areas to collect herbs every morning barely earned anything, and just by jotting down so study notes, she could make this much money—how could she not be happy?
"I never thought I’d get paid for it either." Cao Na really didn’t know how to thank Gong Ruini; she just didn’t know what to gift.
Don’t be fooled by how Gong Ruini keeps a low profile outside; she really doesn’t lack anything.
Since that’s the case, "Well, my grandfather has a few bottles of good liquor, I’ll give them to Uncle Zhao to enjoy."
"It’s Moutai, different from what you can buy outside." Cao Na worried Gong Ruini would think it was the sa as what you could buy outside, so she made sure to emphasize that this liquor was different.
Ah, no way, is this the legendary special supply liquor? Gong Ruini never expected that sothing she only heard about before her ti travel, she would actually have a chance to drink after it.
"Oh, I’m so embarrassed." Gong Ruini could already imagine how happy the old man would be to see a bottle of this on the New Year’s dinner table.
"What’s there to be embarrassed about? If it’s not given to your family, it’s going to so obscure relatives popping up out of nowhere." Thinking of those relatives, Cao Na showed no good face—who would enjoy having so many freeloading relatives?
Gong Ruini is not a shy person; mutual exchanges can help everyone go further. At most, she could involve her later on, "In a few days, my family is making sweet and sour ribs; want to make so for your family?"
Initially thought that Northerners didn’t like sweet and sour at, but surprisingly, the Cao family quite enjoyed it, especially Old Master Cao was a big fan.
"Sure." Cao Na didn’t even ntion the at issue. Although food still required ration coupons, Uncle Zhao and his family were resourceful and knew where to find food without needing coupons and as for the high prices, that’s not an issue.
Cao Na looked at the pile of signed books beside her and then at Zhan Banxia, who was still bringing out more books, and she got a headache. "Are these all being shipped to the South?"
"Yeah." Gong Ruini felt sowhat helpless. She thought selling a few hundred books in the South would be good enough, but then the sales were surprisingly great, shocking her.
But thinking about it, it made sense. The South had always valued literature, and it wasn’t yet the ti when knowledge was considered useless. Many people still wanted to study well and get an iron rice bowl job in a factory.
The more you studied, the better your chances of getting into an office job. As long as parents saw hope in their children’s future, of course, they hoped they perform well.
"Your uncle is really making a big profit this ti." Cao Na didn’t know much about this business, but she knew there was a profit; otherwise, relatives wouldn’t be so actively involved.
Whether it’s profitable or not, Gong Ruini wasn’t sure, but it was enough to help Gong Zhuang make more connections. Even specialty items from Northeast were being steadily sent to the South. It’s just a matter of when Gong Zhuang decides to leave the company and consider starting his own business.
Gong Ruini didn’t know how well Gong Zhuang’s factory would develop in the future, but considering how well business was already going now, once he devotes himself fully, who knows how well business will go.
"He makes money; we make money too."
"We’ll work harder and aim to get into Beijing University with high scores. Then we can write a book about all the hard work we put in on this journey." Gong Ruini sketched a big pie in the sky for Cao Na.
If it’s still possible to publish a book then, she wouldn’t hesitate to write one since there might not be another chance to publish a book in the future.
"Great, I was hoping I could earn enough for my college tuition." Cao Na was delighted. The money she had couldn’t compare with Gong Ruini and the others, but it was much more than her peers.
Thinking of her savings made Cao Na a bit anxious. Her parents said they wouldn’t take this money and left it for her to manage.
But what did a young girl like Cao Na know about managing money? Asking her parents only got the suggestion to deposit it in the bank.
Although that was a good idea, Cao Na felt depositing in the bank was a waste, so she asked Gong Ruini for advice.
"Buy a house. If you have a lot of money, buy a big one; if you have less, buy a smaller one." Gong Ruini just bought and bought whenever she had money.
Buying a house, huh? That sounds good. Although she couldn’t afford a large or dium-sized courtyard house, she could get a smaller courtyard, and after so renovation, it could be rented out.
"Okay, I’ll buy a house." Seeing how shrewd Gong Ruini was about buying property, Cao Na would naturally follow suit.
Wow, just like that? Gong Ruini couldn’t help but laugh, "Buying a house is a good idea, but you should discuss it with your family."
Gong Ruini could freely buy, buy, and buy without any concerns. No one in her family was on the political path, so they didn’t have to worry about how having so many properties might look to colleagues and superiors.
But it was different for the Cao family. Cao Na’s parents were both climbing the political ladder, and Cao Li was in the system, so if nothing unexpected happened, Cao Na would likely follow the sa path. In such a family, everything had to be handled with extra caution.
Gong Ruini didn’t want the Cao family to face any consequences over such a minor issue.
"I understand." Cao Na intended to discuss it with her parents. It seed normal to her, but she also had to consider how others might react if the word got out.
How Cao Na ended up negotiating with her family was unknown to Gong Ruini, but from her smiley face and inquiries about properties, it seed like the matter was settled.
Who knows how furious Zhuge Mingshan would be upon hearing that even Cao Na was buying a house; she’d probably be mad enough to consider jumping into the moat.
Sigh, thinking of Zhuge Mingshan made Gong Ruini rember that big house. It was a surprise that those people she thought wouldn’t last long actually stuck around for quite so ti, much to her annoyance.
Although more ti in hand ant more earning opportunities, the longer it dragged on, the more worried Gong Ruini beca about potential unexpected issues. Until the house was in their hands, she couldn’t feel completely at ease.
Cao Na didn’t have high demands, and with the extensive network of her family, she managed to secure a house before the winter break. Although it wasn’t a big house, it was her first property purchase in life, definitely worth celebrating.
Looking at the excited Cao Na talking about her new house, Gong Ruini felt as frustrated as one could be. Why was it that others were able to buy their houses, and yet she was still waiting, feeling exasperated.
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