Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten-Chapter 948 - 950: Ruthless Parents

Looking at the couples around him, Zhao Guangran felt truly desolate.

This was supposed to be a great time to go out and have some good food, to travel, but since he couldn’t take Cao Na with him despite securing the opportunity, his mood was downright terrible.

What bothered Zhao Guangran even more was that his eldest brother was also planning to get engaged. What was this all about? Wasn’t this stealing his thunder?

Was it easy for him to get a wife? Now even getting engaged, someone was competing with him for the sequence.

"Come on, Brother Guangran." Gong Ruzhi just wanted to inform him, never expecting Zhao Guangran would become foolish.

Sigh, he knew this guy would be like this, "What do you plan to give my sister as a gift?"

A gift? What gift? Didn’t he also have to plan his engagement? "Do we still have to give gifts? Aren’t we supposed to mutually waive them?" Didn’t they know how poor he was now, barely scraping by?

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be thinking about sneaking money out of his eldest brother’s wallet to get by. Especially considering Ni Zi’s temper, if he gave something cheap, she’d remember it for a long time.

It would be better if no one gave gifts at all, saving him the trouble of deciding what to give and where to get the money.

Oh, too bad he couldn’t get a gift from Gong Ruini, leaving him in quite a dilemma.

Ah, mutual gift waivers. Gong Ruini was honestly surprised to hear Zhao Guangran say that. It really didn’t fit his character.

"Could it be he’s out of money?" If he had money, Zhao Guangran would absolutely not be so stingy, except this was the only explanation.

Who was slandering him? How could he be out of money? He was Zhao Guangran, after all, not extraordinarily rich but definitely well-off among his classmates, and yet they dared to speak of him like that.

Turning his head, he realized it was Gong Ruini, oh well, having a backer sure made a difference, "I have no choice, I’m just out of money now."

Hmph, even if he had money, it would go to buying clothes and food for Nana.

"Well, the poor have no pride, your brother just said the grandeur of the engagement ceremony depends on your money," Gong Ruini dropped another bombshell. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

What? He even had to cover the engagement ceremony expenses himself? This was a bit too much, wasn’t it? Though a lot of money would be spent, it was also for the Zhao family’s reputation.

"We earn money, and mom and dad didn’t make us turn over any, in fact, our tuition was paid by them, do you feel comfortable asking them to cover your engagement expenses?"

"It’s not just us; it’ll be the same later for Rui Wen, and Ban Xia as well."

"If you can’t even cover the costs of engagement and marriage, can you really say you’re ready to get married? How will you support a family in the future? You can’t always rely on parents and siblings, can you?" Just look at Gong Qiang and Gong Zheng, they couldn’t let this trend start.

Oh my, Zhao Guangran felt like he was caught in the crossfire, looking at Zhao Xuran speaking so righteously.

Zhao Guangran felt like crying; he hadn’t even started complaining before his brother put on such a show, utterly embarrassing him, sigh.

"I get it." What else could he do but agree obediently?

Gong Ruzhi watched with glee as Zhao Guangran got a good talking-to from Zhao Xuran but before he could let out a laugh, he realized something was off; Brother Xu Ran was also staring at him unblinkingly.

Could it be he was expected to answer the same way? But he was far from considering engagement and marriage; there was no need to respond, right?

But Zhao Xuran just kept staring at him without blinking, leaving Gong Ruzhi with no choice, "I get it too."

Good, very good, and then the gaze moved to Gong Jiaming, who habitually sucked in his stomach, "I get it too."

Just like that, Zhao Xuran made the younger siblings promise that all their future engagement and wedding expenses would be covered by themselves, without relying on their parents.

Zhao Gang saw no problem with this; didn’t it show that their kids were capable? How many kids these days didn’t need family support for their weddings; they’d have to bleed out to some extent.

For them, it was just right that those few should handle it themselves, "This is how it should be; isn’t it said that foreigners even pay for their own college tuition, let alone wedding expenses?"

Foreigners managed to do this; there was no reason they couldn’t.

Is that what foreigners do? Gong Zhuang didn’t understand and looked to Gong Tao, who nodded in agreement.

"They need to learn responsibility, or else if we handle everything, they’ll just think their parents are there, and they won’t worry about anything."

This made it impossible for Gong Zhuang to say things like having only these two kids in the family, and the money earned was for them anyway.

"Look at the eldest brother, wasn’t he like this, showing some responsibility as a kid?" But how did he turn out this way, if not for the parents’ indulgence?

What else could Gong Zhuang do but agree with Zhao Gang, "Alright, alright, I have no objections."

Of course, Gong Zhuang had no objections; after all, their second brother was gradually making connections with higher-ups, broadening their network, which would benefit his son; only a fool would offend them.

Especially as Gong Zhuang was curious about what his son’s future would be like. It should be better than what he had.

Thinking of this, Gong Zhuang remembered what his son and daughter had talked to him about yesterday, "Isn’t Ni Zi and them trying to set up a tutoring school? Xiao Ming and them don’t have the money to invest, so they’re borrowing from me, even insisting on a loan agreement and paying interest."

Gong Zhuang was surprised, "They’re actually insisting on paying interest, like with a bank loan; I’m genuinely curious how those two even know about this."

At home, this kind of thing was never discussed, so Gong Jiaming and them must have picked it up here.

Just curious where the kids could have heard about it.

"I think it’s likely; they must have learned after discussing it with Ni Zi and them." Gong Tao explained gently, seeing Gong Zhuang’s confusion.

This sort of thing would happen more frequently in the future; perhaps even as they got older, they wouldn’t even ask them, opting instead for bank loans.

Ah, seeing the second brother’s normal expression, Gong Zhuang returned to his senses, "No, no way, Ni Zi and them investing, not having money, this is how they solve it."

"Yes, indeed."

This left Gong Zhuang completely baffled as to why the second brother thought this way; it wouldn’t do, Gong Zhuang felt he needed to think things over quietly as some things had to be considered.

Miao Cuihua had been listening on the side all along, completely in shock at how things turned out, "What if they can’t repay the money?"

"Then they’ll sell their house, using their assets as collateral." Gong Tao stated that even if a business failed, repayment was a must, "Otherwise, don’t even think about borrowing money in the future."

"Feels just like a bank loan." Gong Zhuang felt a little overwhelmed, considering how tense the second brother used to be over Gong Ruwen and them; now, he seemed so ruthless in such a short time.

"It’s exactly like a bank loan, except we process the funds faster. If you went to a bank for a loan, consider how long that would take." Luckily, their loans didn’t involve urgent matters; otherwise, they’d be in big trouble.

But that’s a bank, and personal loans aren’t quite the same concept.

"What’s the difference? No, if I don’t give them the money, holding onto it myself, I’d make more out of it."