Chapter 60: The Problem Is We Have No Money

Zhang Xiaole tried to lighten the mood. “What are you thinking about? Are you thinking that Gong Er is a jerk?”

Lu Chuan didn’t want to continue this topic. Gong Er was a lowlife, and he had no intention of ever dealing with him again. “It’s a shame Zhu Xiaosan couldn’t make it.”

Zhang Xiaole said, “He’s busy studying for the college entrance exam. You have no idea—after you got into college, it was a huge shock to all of us. His parents don’t want him to keep studying, there’s too much work at home, so he has to squeeze in study time whenever he can.”

They all wanted to climb out of their mountain village, and Lu Chuan understood that. “How about you?”

Zhang Xiaole shrugged. “It’s whatever. My family doesn’t really need me to help out with the work. My dad’s set on having me take the exam. But college is tough—I figure if I can get into a junior college, that’d be good enough.”

Lu Chuan laughed. “Take my study materials. You and Zhu Xiaosan can look at them together.”

Zhang Xiaole said, “Thanks.” He didn’t stand on ceremony with Lu Chuan.

After the classmates had left, Lu Chuan’s mother came in and said to him, “That Gong Er is no good. Don’t you go doing anything to let Fang Yuan down. Now that you’re married, you need to settle down and live a good life.”

Lu Chuan thought to himself, Gong Er really is no good, just look at the trouble he’s caused me. “Please, just don’t say anything. My heart’s never wandered. Fang Yuan is so stubborn—if she gets the wrong idea, I’ll be worried sick. Who knows what she’d do.”

His mother nodded. “Exactly. We can’t do anything that would make Fang Yuan misunderstand.”

Mother and son both knew what was up. Then she asked, “That Hong Yan—are you sure there’s nothing going on between you two?”

Lu Chuan’s face darkened. Where did the trust go?

Meanwhile, Fang Yuan was seeing Wu Hu out. Their conversation was a lot more positive than what was happening inside.

Fang Yuan was all about business. What she cared about was making more money than five grown men combined. “Did you find someone to check it out? How much does that thing cost? Where can we buy one?”

Wu Hu, who’d been drinking and already had a headache, replied, “Whatever it costs, we don’t have enough money for it. We can’t afford it.”

Fang Yuan said, “How can that be? We’ve got quite a bit saved up.”

Wu Hu twitched his mouth. “‘We’? I’m not getting involved. Just let it go.”

Fang Yuan insisted, “No way. That thing earns more than a few men put together. Help me ask around, see how much we’re short. I’ll borrow the rest from Dad.”

Wu Hu said, “Even if you make more, your husband’s still in school. The family’s not exactly rolling in cash. Besides, Dad’s money—I can’t borrow it for you.”

Fang Yuan was blunt. “That’s your problem. Just help me find out where to buy it.”

Wu Hu said, “But what if we buy it and no one uses it?”

Fang Yuan replied, “How could that happen? Didn’t you see? As soon as we returned it, someone else rented it right away. Besides, you guys all work on construction sites—don’t you have any connections? If they don’t use my mixer, they’ll use someone else’s.”

Wu Hu thought to himself, Looks like my relationship with the eldest brother is about to go south. “You sure have it all figured out.”

Fang Yuan said, “It’s my money. Even if I lose it, I’m willing. Just help me ask around.”

Wu Hu asked, “Have you talked it over with your husband?”

Fang Yuan replied, “What’s there to discuss? It’s not like I’m wasting money—it’s to make more. Or do you expect me to go haul bricks at the construction site to pay for his schooling?”

Fang Yuan was so capable that Wu Hu was left speechless. “You should still talk it over. Don’t worry, I’ll help you ask around.”

See, their conversations always revolved around business.

After sending Wu Hu off, Fang Yuan returned home to find the house already cleaned up.

Lu Chuan’s mother had even washed all the rags. “Second daughter-in-law, we cooked in your house today, and the kang is nice and warm. You two should stay outside a bit longer.”

Fang Yuan said, “Mom, you should sit down and rest. When we have time, we’ll tidy up the west room too, then we’ll have more space.”

Lu Chuan’s mother replied, “You two do your thing. When your dad and I have time, we’ll help you clean up the west room. The kang in there has collapsed—should we fix it?”

Fang Yuan thought for a moment. “No need for a kang. We’ll just build a bed out of wooden planks.”

Lu Chuan’s mother nodded. “You always have good ideas. That’s a good plan.” Basically, whatever Fang Yuan said, went.

Lu Chuan didn’t really get what was so great about it, but his mother always sided with Fang Yuan.

Then Fang Yuan packed up some leftovers for Lu Chuan’s mother. “Mom, take this home. Heat it up for breakfast tomorrow. There’s enough left here for me and Lu Chuan.”

Lu Chuan’s mother knew her daughter-in-law’s temperament and didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the food and left.

Left alone, Fang Yuan startled Lu Chuan with her first words. “I want to buy a concrete mixer.”

Lu Chuan thought he’d misheard. “What?”

Fang Yuan, forgiving his bad hearing, repeated, “I want to buy a concrete mixer.”

Lu Chuan said, “A floral jacket with a concrete mixer printed on it?” After all, that was something they could actually afford.

He felt a bit of indigestion. This wasn’t the kind of thing a newlywed bride should be dreaming about. Seeing Fang Yuan’s face start to darken, Lu Chuan said, “Isn’t that a bit too ambitious? We can’t afford it.”

Fang Yuan slapped the table. “If you buy a cow, you have to feed it and take care of it. But if you buy a mixer, it’s worry-free and earns more than five or six men. Plus, it runs on someone else’s electricity. Why don’t you ever think about these things? We need to buy it.”

This wasn’t a discussion—she’d already made up her mind.

Lu Chuan thought, So this is what you mean by ‘listening to me’? Is this what your mother meant by ‘the man is the head of the household’?

This wasn’t a matter of a few bucks, or even a few dozen or a few hundred. It was a lot of money.

Lu Chuan said, “I know it’s a good thing, but the problem is we don’t have the money. Let’s wait and buy it later, okay?”

Fang Yuan, hearing that Lu Chuan wasn’t outright refusing, softened a little, but her tone was still stiff and her eyebrows arched. “How can we not have money? We’re just a little short, that’s all.”

Lu Chuan took a deep breath. She really was bold with money. “How much are we short?”

Fang Yuan said, “I had Fifth Brother ask around. It’s over two thousand. We’re about halfway there.”

Lu Chuan shuddered. That’s what she called ‘a little short’? That’s not a small expense.

Lu Chuan tried to reason with her. “Our family only spent two hundred on our wedding. That was all our savings for years. Do you know how much half of that is?”

Fang Yuan, now used to calculating money, said, “It is a lot, but we’ll earn a lot too.”

Then she asked, “Are you regretting it? Think you got me too cheap?”

Lu Chuan replied, “Cheap? Our family put in everything we had. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Fang Yuan said, “Be honest—do you think it was too expensive then?”

Could Lu Chuan say it wasn’t cheap? Could he say he just wanted to point out how expensive the mixer was?

He rubbed his head. “Let’s wait until we’ve saved up enough, then we’ll buy it, okay?” This time, he was really trying to negotiate.

Fang Yuan said, “No way. I can’t sleep at night thinking about it. Just imagine—while we’re eating at home, there are five or six men outside earning money for us. Isn’t that great?”

Lu Chuan, setting aside the money issue, found her words awkward. “Don’t talk about men. No man gives a woman money for nothing. That doesn’t sound good.”

Fang Yuan thought, It might not sound good, but that’s really how it works. The rental fees for the mixer are equal to the wages of five or six men. “So how should I put it?”

Lu Chuan said, “However you put it, we still can’t afford it.”

Big-ticket item, indeed.

[End of Chapter 60]"

"Chapter 61: Just That Kind of Bad Temper