CHAPTER 446: CHAPTER 446: PLANNING

Zhao Gang woke up around ten at night, yawning, and noticed how unusually quiet the house was.

His wife wasn’t there with him, which puzzled Zhao Gang. The deeper the night got, the more clearly he could hear the sounds from the next room.

Wow, nobody was asleep; they were all chatting away in Cai Ming’s room, and he could even hear his twins giggling away.

After Zhao Gang got up from the kang, he overheard Gong Tao animatedly talking about their trip to Beijing.

"Wow, Uncle Gong, is Beijing that fun? And so much tasty stuff too?" Zhao Guangran listened all night to Gong Tao talking about Beijing, getting all sorts of excited.

But at the thought of not having as much good food in Beijing, he wasn’t all that keen. No way, he couldn’t listen to more; who knows, Uncle Gong might have been sent by his big brother to persuade him.

He had to hold firm. Just think about what Dad said today about the price of herbs in Beijing. If he stayed here, from the start of collecting herbs to the end, it would bring in a lot of money.

Zhao Guangran kept comforting himself with these thoughts; no matter how great Beijing was, they could make money. Sure, even if Sister Ni said they could make money in Beijing, how to make it was another question.

"Of course, it is. I’ve never seen a city that big." Even though Gong Tao considered himself an adult and had been to many places, remembering the sights in Beijing, he thought of himself as a bumpkin despite nearing his thirties.

"And the schools there look so much better than ours." Zhao Gang had specifically looked at several schools during his recent visit to Beijing. Even after the exercise session, those students were still much more enthusiastic about learning compared to the countryside.

Zhao Gang knew as long as they had their eldest son looking after them, the kids would study diligently. But who wouldn’t want their kids to perform even better?

"Exactly, exactly," Gong Tao agreed with this view. He couldn’t understand why Zhao Guangran was throwing a tantrum about not wanting to go to Beijing.

Although there were pros and cons in Beijing, the capital was beyond anything the Northeast could compare with, let alone leaving a kid like Zhao Guangran here alone.

"Dad, did you find a house this time you went?" Gong Ruini took the opportunity to ask about her most concerned topic when Zhao Gang joined the conversation.

As for Zhao Guangran’s fuss about not wanting to go to Beijing, she considered it nothing more than pretentiousness; why bother doing any so-called ideological work for him?

In Gong Ruini’s view, once everyone leaves, she wants to see how Zhao Guangran would make a fuss.

Can Zhao Guangran cook?

Can Zhao Guangran take care of himself?

Once Zhao Guangran experienced such a life for a few days, he’d definitely follow them to Beijing without mentioning staying here alone.

"We haven’t found one yet. We plan to look for a house once we get to Beijing." Zhao Gang felt that finding a house in Beijing shouldn’t be difficult.

"It shouldn’t be hard to rent; it just depends on which university we get into and then rent nearby." Otherwise, it wouldn’t be convenient for school.

Huh, so they had been there all this time and hadn’t settled this matter? Gong Ruini was utterly puzzled.

Zhao Gang’s reasoning was sound: the plan was to rent a house near the universities the adults would attend. However, they’d be carrying loads of luggage to Beijing. What would they do with those things then? They couldn’t just haul them all over Beijing searching for housing.

And even if they were willing, would those haughty drivers be willing?

They couldn’t just take a driver to unload everything at places that bought herbs, could they? While it would be convenient, it would also alert village folks that they didn’t sell to the supply and marketing cooperatives.

Everyone would think if they didn’t sell to the cooperatives, there must be a higher procurement price; they’d certainly be dissatisfied knowing this.

"What about our stuff, then?" Zhao Xuran asked directly.

"We found a place in the suburbs to store those things." Zhao Gang was excited, "We found a place outside the city, not far from where Gong and I might attend university; it’s quite large. It used to be a grain storage site for the village, now vacant, so we rented it." Thinking of the space they rented made Zhao Gang feel great.

"Especially there’s a big yard; we could grow vegetables and raise chickens later." Gong Tao was also very satisfied with this property. "It’s quite spacious, and we’ve been cleaning up the house these days."

"We’ve even fixed up the kang."

"And roughly cleaned the house, though there are quite a few mice." The only dissatisfaction with that house was the number of mice, but there’s no helping it.

After all, it was previously used for grain storage, so how could there be few mice? "Once we get a cat, it should be fine."

No way, there are mice? Gong Ruini felt goosebumps creeping up. Oh dear, just the thought of those filthy, disgusting creatures scurrying around the house made it unbearable.

Gong Ruini couldn’t help but think, "Could it be that there were too many mice, and they couldn’t deal with it, which is why the house was empty?" Otherwise, why else would they leave the house vacant?

Especially since it conveniently became available for her father and family to rent; no matter what she thought, it seemed like a big problem, perhaps someone set a trap for them.

"Right, right, not sure if having a cat would help." Zhao Guangran was also frightened. Not that he’s timid, but he thoroughly disliked seeing those dirty, sneaky mice.

Of course, Zhao Guangran didn’t fear the mice; he hated them for stealing food from their home. Isn’t that like competing with him for food?

"If one cat isn’t enough, we’ll get two. There’s nothing that can’t be solved." Zhao Gang felt that although rats were quite annoying, they weren’t a big issue.

"If that fails, we can get a dog." Gong Tao added that if cats weren’t effective, then dogs it was.

Seems like they’ve got it all planned out. Gong Ruini watched them look so relaxed and unconcerned, "Haven’t you already picked out the cats and dogs, just waiting for us to take them when we get there?"

"Well, yeah, Ni Zi, you didn’t know, the cat just had kittens, we’re not sure, but the dog is excellent, it’s a big German Shepherd, which could also guard the yard." With lots of stuff, especially since their move won’t go unnoticed, Zhao Gang guessed it would draw quite a bit of attention.

The bigger the city is, the more bustling it is, but likewise, all kinds of people are there, so preparations must begin from the start.

"Without a cellar, they must be cautious." There were simply too many belongings at home, and just the gold alone required them to be extra careful.