CHAPTER 450: CHAPTER 450: CRITICIZING FOR THE SAKE OF CRITICISM

Gong Tao returned to the room, tore open the letter, and after a quick glance, it made him furious.

"Truly a bunch of clueless people."

"Whether I do well on the exam is none of their business."

"I don’t believe that Gong Zheng wouldn’t have any review materials."

"I’m in the countryside here."

Without reading the letter, based on Gong Tao’s few complaints, Gong Ruini knew the intent of the letter: it was to blame Gong Tao.

Cai Meina also looked unhappy as she took the letter and read it. After finishing, her smile vanished completely, "How dare they, saying we wouldn’t give Gong Zheng the review materials for the college entrance exam."

"I think they’re just not using their brains. Why didn’t they say why Gong Zheng didn’t give us materials?"

What upset Cai Meina more was, "How were we supposed to know Gong Zheng was also going to take the exam? We haven’t been in touch with the family."

"Besides, doesn’t he have a very capable father-in-law? With his father-in-law promoting him, his promotion was just around the corner, why bother studying?" Cai Meina said indignantly.

When he was in trouble, he kept writing letters to Gong Tao, expressing his helplessness.

Later, when a promotion opportunity arose, he stopped writing completely. Such people, always trampling on others when they’re up and kicking them when they’re down, "Even if we’re brothers, what do we owe them?"

Cai Meina was very upset, "This time we can’t ignore this letter; we must reply, or they’ll really think we’re easy to bully."

In the past, every time the Gong family wrote unpleasant letters, Gong Tao would just ignore them, never replying, pretending they never existed. This time Cai Meina insisted that they couldn’t do that.

"Otherwise, they’ll really think they can bully us. Hmph, the debt from the Dong family was shared among Gong Qiang and his three brothers, right? When distributing, they didn’t mention anything good about us. Now, when things come up, they think we’re bad, flipping their attitude as fast as flipping a book."

Gong Ruwen came in later, listening to his parents’ angry tone, he was baffled, wondering what’s going on and who caused trouble again.

"It’s a letter from Zhang Lan, speaking up for Gong Zheng, saying we didn’t give him the review materials." Gong Ruini whispered to Gong Ruwen.

Ah, no way, Gong Ruwen was stunned. Initially hearing that the Gong family sent a letter, he was surprised, thinking maybe they heard from Gong Zhuang that Mom and Dad were taking the college entrance exam and wanted to mend relations. Unexpectedly, it was another lecture.

"Is Uncle also taking the college entrance exam?"

Although Gong Ruwen was young at the time, he often heard people mentioning, "Grandma always says Uncle is smart, has all sorts of good grades. Could it be that he didn’t do well this time?"

Right, that must be it. Gong Ruini initially felt there was something fishy about the letter. But listening to Gong Tao and his wife’s complaints, she didn’t think much further, internally cursing Zhang Lan, hoping she’d soon get her comeuppance. Otherwise, even being far away, getting these letters constantly would still disrupt one’s peace.

"It must be that he didn’t do well." Gong Ruini finally understood why Zhang Lan was so upset because there’s really not much hope for Gong Qiang’s branch, and as of now, Gong Zheng’s future is unpredictable.

However, this failed exam might heavily impact Gong Zheng, who already struggled in workplace battles. Currently, his days aren’t going well. After receiving the chance to take the exam, who knows how much he put on the line, but now with poor results, who knows how many in the workplace will mock him.

"If they knew Mom and Dad’s scores, how would Uncle think?" Gong Ruini was truly curious about whether Gong Zheng would go mad knowing the scores of Gong Tao and his wife, whom he always looked down on.

That scene would surely be great, but if Gong Zheng really goes mad, could Zhang Lan hold it together? Would she also go mad seeing no hope?

If that’s really the case, Gong Ruini really wants to say it’ll be quite the scene.

"I don’t know how it’ll go, but I’m guessing they’ll resort to nasty tactics." For some reason, Cai Meina suddenly felt that those petty people from the Gong family wouldn’t want to see their family rise again and might resort to all sorts of vicious means to prevent them from attending college.

Thinking it over, Cai Meina said, "Dad, let’s wait until we get the notification letter before communicating with the family. Anyway, the Northeast gets heavy snow, and delays in receiving mail are quite normal."

Yeah, those people from the Gong family are shameless, especially Gong Xiaoyu, who’s quite a shady character, always thinking he’s the eldest and everyone should cater to him.

The Gong siblings never thought of going along with Gong Xiaoyu. If they really had to choose a leader, Gong Ruini would rather choose Zhao Xuran over Gong Xiaoyu, that incompetent.

Not to mention, Zhao Xuran will become a dominant president in the future; at least he’s a caring brother, who leads by example, unlike Gong Xiaoyu, of whom only Zhang Lan would still think he’s a capable eldest grandson.

"Okay, we’re really busy now anyway." Gong Tao remembered his brothers, figuring probably only Gong Zhuang wouldn’t be jealous, but the other brothers definitely would be.

"Less meddling in Gong family matters, otherwise there won’t be any good for us." Thinking of the matters mentioned in Gong Zhuang’s letter, Gong Tao sighed inwardly, lamenting how such a promising family ended up like this; it’s truly something nobody could have predicted.

Who cares about Gong family matters? Cai Meina had no intention to get involved, nor the desire to do so, knowing it’s a sinking ship with everyone on board trying to get off; who would think of hopping on?

"Dad, just don’t meddle yourself." Gong Ruwen watched as his father was just focused on lecturing Mom, and hurriedly spoke up.

The young man did great; he’s a bit straightforward, but in life, being straightforward is good. Gong Ruini cheered for her brother’s words.

Gong Tao was filled with grievance; he might have been a bit foolish before, but ever since coming to the Northeast, he focused on his own family, so why would his son stubbornly think he’s not good enough?

"Right, take care of yourself." Cai Meina patted Gong Ruwen’s head as a reward for voicing their sentiments. Their son was good, expressing their feelings directly.

Even though his son said so, even his own wife echoed it, and Gong Tao felt even more aggrieved, "Wife, you should have faith in me; I’m not that kind of person."

Gong Ruini believed this point, but there was a very important question, which was, "What if Grandma comes to us, crying and making a fuss?"

Gong Ruini admired Zhang Lan for one thing: although she’s someone who cares about face, when benefits are involved, she’ll do whatever it takes, using all kinds of tactics to pretend pitiful or act domineering, all for achieving her goals.

"What to do, I don’t have any money." Once they start studying, what’s the income like? Gong Tao indicated that even if there’s crying and fussing, there’s nothing he could do.

"What if there’s money later?" Gong Ruini was just concerned that once Gong Tao’s income improves, Zhang Lan might definitely bring her sons and grandsons to seek help from Gong Tao, putting all sorts of burdens on him.

"It’s what I earn anyway." Gong Tao said firmly, but his expression turned serious.

Gong Ruini could tell that her father was a person who understood matters, so she stopped talking hypothetically; some things are better mentioned once, no need to elaborate.