Chapter 51: Two Tigers Cannot Share One Mountain

Fang Yuan’s shout had just the desired effect—getting paid halfway through the job? Was there really such a good deal?

Everyone put down their work. Big Brother Fang led his men over, his face full of disbelief. “They really paid?”

No one had expected this. It was always so hard to get money from Old Sun, but with Lu Chuan, the man in charge actually paid up front.

Lu Chuan came over to his brother-in-law and explained, “Originally, how to use this money should have been discussed with you, Big Brother, but Fang Yuan got excited and blurted it out. The foreman trusts us and is willing to pay half up front because of your reputation.”

Lu Chuan genuinely thought this way, and made a point to explain it to his brother-in-law, worried he might feel disrespected.

If the money hadn’t already been handed to Fang Yuan, Lu Chuan would have given it straight to his brother-in-law.

Big Brother Fang was open-minded about it. “What’s there to discuss? It’s your business—you call the shots.”

Lu Chuan knew very well how he’d gotten this job. It wasn’t really his own doing; without his brother-in-law, none of this would have happened.

Lu Chuan quickly said, “Big Brother, how about this—when it’s all done, we’ll settle accounts among ourselves. For now, let’s pay everyone their wages.”

With everyone gathered around, it wasn’t the time to get into details. Naturally, the first thing was to let everyone see the money and lift their spirits.

Big Brother Fang had no objections. Working with Lu Chuan and getting paid so quickly made him look good, too.

Lu Chuan took out his little notebook and settled up with everyone, paying them as agreed.

Earning two days’ wages in one day—who wouldn’t be happy? Sure, it was tiring, but everyone said they’d come back as long as they could still move. Hard work didn’t scare them.

And the money came so quickly—no one had expected that.

Afterwards, the Fang brothers were left without any money themselves. Why? Because they hadn’t figured out how to split it up among themselves yet.

Big Brother Fang’s view was that he should get paid the same as everyone else. If his brother-in-law felt bad about it, at most he could pay them a bit extra for keeping watch at night.

But Lu Chuan couldn’t just do things that way, and it wasn’t the right time to argue about it outside.

So he simply told his brother-in-law there was no money left. That settled it—no need to discuss how to split it anymore.

Later, Fang Yuan said quietly to Lu Chuan, “Aren’t you short on money for school? Big Brother said to split it this way, so just do it.”

Lu Chuan patiently explained, “It’s not that simple. When it comes to money, even real brothers need to make things clear. Otherwise, you end up not feeling like brothers or family anymore. We’re not greedy for a little extra. Trust me on this.”

Fang Yuan nodded, agreeing to listen to Lu Chuan. “I don’t want what isn’t mine, but what’s yours—I’ll be holding onto that.”

Lu Chuan couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course.” If you don’t let your wife hold the money, who else would you give it to?

But honestly, Fang Yuan didn’t look like someone who wasn’t greedy for money. Lu Chuan truly believed he hadn’t misjudged her. After handing out all that money today, Fang Yuan was probably heartbroken.

Sure enough, Fang Yuan muttered, “So much money, watching it leave my hands—it really hurts.”

Lu Chuan nodded. Fang Yuan was the type who liked money coming in, not going out. But even so, because she trusted him, she kept handing out the money, again and again.

The young couple was moved—Fang Yuan by the money, Lu Chuan by the people and the feelings involved.

Meanwhile, things weren’t so calm on Big Brother Fang’s side. A few days ago, when he’d been drinking with Old Sun, he’d managed to talk Old Sun out of causing trouble.

But Old Sun had half-persuaded him, too. Old Sun had said, “Big Brother Fang, are you really content working for a youngster, letting him boss you around?”

Old Sun was a sly one, egging him on: “Two tigers can’t share one mountain, and you’re the Fang Tiger.”

At first, Big Brother Fang just listened, but after seeing the money today, seeing the huge profits, his thoughts started to waver.

It didn’t make sense for him to let someone else make the money and just get paid by them. Big Brother Fang wanted to be the one paying others. Today’s events really got him thinking.

Seeing the money being split up, Third Tiger and Fourth Tiger were restless too. They’d worked hard and worried over this job—how was the money going to be divided?

If they split it equally with their brother-in-law, even they felt it wasn’t quite right. But if they didn’t, they’d still put in a lot of effort.

Take the money, and you feel guilty. Don’t take it, and you feel it’s unfair.

The brothers all urged Big Brother Fang to go solo—they could split the money among themselves and save the trouble.

When facing hardship, brothers are united—it’s touching.

But when it comes to profit, they fall apart. That’s human nature.

It’s easy to share hardship, but sharing wealth is much harder.

Money really is a wonderful thing—you can’t do without it, but having it brings its own headaches. Of course, everyone is running around for the sake of those headaches.

The brothers kept pestering Big Brother Fang about it. Until the money issue was settled, no one could rest easy.

That night, the brothers finally hashed things out. Lu Chuan wasn’t the type to keep the money and pretend nothing happened.

Big Brother Fang said he hadn’t done much and didn’t feel right taking the money. His brother-in-law and sister had put everything they had into renting the mixer.

So he wouldn’t get involved—just pay him his wages.

But in the future, he’d definitely want to go solo. He didn’t say it out loud, but the brothers knew. Lu Chuan didn’t.

Big Brother Fang said that when he worked for Old Sun, he didn’t get more than anyone else. It wouldn’t be right to ask for more when working for his own brother-in-law.

That’s what Big Brother Fang said, but the other brothers clearly weren’t happy.

Lu Chuan was straightforward: without his brothers-in-law, he wouldn’t have dared to take on this job, wouldn’t have been able to find the workers, and wouldn’t have been able to snatch the job from the contractor.

Lu Chuan said, “Big Brother, we’re short on money. You all want to help us, and we appreciate it, but this isn’t the way to help.”

Big Brother Fang replied, “Don’t make it sound so nice. We all know what’s going on. I’d feel guilty taking the money.”

When it was time to put in the capital, he just didn’t have the foresight.

Lu Chuan was open about it: “Big Brother, hear me out. The six of us will split it evenly.”

Third Tiger and Fourth Tiger’s eyes lit up at that.

Big Brother Fang wasn’t stupid. He thought, if they took the money, the Fang brothers would always be a notch below their brother-in-law in the future.

He laughed, “You’re generous, splitting it six ways. But you can’t always be so generous, or how will my sister get by?”

Lu Chuan didn’t dare say a word. His brother-in-law was making this a matter of principle. He looked over at Fang Yuan.

For once, Fang Yuan understood his look and said, “I’ll listen to him.”

The brothers glared, then glared at Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan got the message—this wasn’t his decision to make. He had to turn down his wife’s trust and quickly said, “We already discussed it.”

Fang Yuan glared—when did that happen? No such thing!

She’d put in all the capital, and the others hadn’t. How could they just split it evenly? This man didn’t know how to run a household.

If it were up to her, just pay Big Brother his wages and that’s it.

Honestly, Fang Yuan’s thinking was even more ruthless than the brothers’. She was the real money-grubber.

One of the hallmarks of the Fang family: eyes light up at the sight of money."

"Chapter 52: None of Them Seem Like Good People