Chapter 77: Getting Serious About the Wrong Things

Over on Li Meng’s side, she was discussing things with Lu Feng. “Brother Feng, it’s not easy to make money in the village. We’re still young—why don’t we go out and see the world?”

Lu Feng looked gloomy. He wanted to leave too; he couldn’t stay in the village any longer.

But he just didn’t have the courage. “What could we even do out there? Don’t get any wild ideas.”

Li Meng said, “But the people in this village aren’t very friendly to me.”

Lu Feng pressed his lips together. With all this trouble, he was embarrassed to even go out. If they could avoid staying in the village, that would be best. “But what could we actually do if we left?”

Li Meng could tell Lu Feng was tempted, and came up with an idea. “How about we open a little shop?”

Waiting for Lu Laoda to strike it rich might take a while. Li Meng thought they could at least solve their own basic needs for now.

Lu Feng was worried. He wanted to, but reality didn’t allow it. “We don’t even have the capital. What if we don’t make any money?”

Li Meng was anxious too. They really were out of money—what little she’d brought with her was almost gone after all this.

She looked at Lu Feng—this future tycoon—wondering why he couldn’t just open a small shop now. There was no answer to that. And this future rich man was so cautious with investments, he couldn’t make up his mind.

“When poverty comes, even couples quarrel.” That saying was really true. Lu Feng even started complaining that Li Meng was too much of a spender.

Li Meng thought to herself, Since we got married, you haven’t given me a single cent! Even if I’m spending big, it’s my own money. Was this rich guy always this unlikable before he made his fortune?

When would he finally become that generous, wealthy tycoon?

At first, Li Meng regretted being reborn a little too late. Now she wasn’t sure if she’d come back too early or too late.

Meanwhile, Lu Chuan was making rounds with Fang Yuan, toasting everyone and thanking them for their help. Fang Yuan was gracious, thanking everyone for their support today.

Lu Chuan managed to keep up appearances, looking every bit the head of the household, but his ears were red—whether from the alcohol or from happiness, it was hard to say.

People were imagining things, thinking, Well, I guess this counts as making up for the wedding with Fang Yuan. This is probably what getting married is supposed to feel like.

Whatever Fang Yuan was missing in her head, it must have all stuck to Lu Chuan. Toasting together, he could even imagine it as a make-up wedding ceremony.

And he was tipsy and blushing.

With Lu’s father not at home, naturally, the son had to take charge today.

Watching Fang Yuan call over Xiao San to help Lu Chuan greet guests and drink, Lu’s mother felt her nose sting with emotion.

If her husband were home, things would just be like this.

For the first time, Lu Xiao San realized how much pride there was in helping his second brother and sister-in-law. Even his friends got to sit at the table.

Before, as half-grown kids, they never got this kind of treatment. At most, they’d get an ice pop.

After the guests left and only the family was left, Lu Xiao San was a little excited. “Second Sister-in-law, you really think highly of me. I feel so proud!”

Fang Yuan replied, “If you hadn’t run around helping today, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. You earned that pride yourself.”

Lu Xiao San grinned, a little dizzy from his first taste of alcohol. “But I still feel bad, Second Sister-in-law. You went all the way to invite someone from the commune just to get justice for a scoundrel. Otherwise, you’d have totally dominated today…”

Fang Yuan nodded in agreement. “It’s not your fault. Inviting someone from the commune was the right call. I just didn’t expect them to be so… unhelpful.”

They were there to uphold justice, not to take sides. Lu Chuan felt this topic shouldn’t go on. “You’ve had too much to drink.”

Lu’s mother looked at her youngest son. “Go on, get some rest inside. Your sister-in-law and I will finish tidying up and then head home.”

With one less person, it was much easier to manage things.

Lu’s mother helped Fang Yuan tidy up the house. Fang Yuan let her take all the leftover food. “We’re not home much, and this stuff will just go bad. Please take it home and eat it.”

Lu’s mother nodded and agreed. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of things at home. If there’s nothing else, you two should go. I don’t feel comfortable with your dad out there alone.”

She added, “Mainly, I don’t trust him with so much money. He’s never seen that much before.”

Fang Yuan nodded too—she was also worried about her mixer. That was all their worldly possessions.

Lu Chuan didn’t want to leave. He thought it’d be nice to stay the night, so he tried to be tactful. “Mom, it’s getting late.”

Lu’s mother looked at the sky. “It really is late. Hurry up and ride back. It’ll be fine.” She was basically shooing them out.

She turned to Fang Yuan. “Second daughter-in-law, if you’re tired, just rest here and let Lu Chuan go to the county by himself.”

Lu Chuan looked at his mom—was she really so eager to send her son away?

Fang Yuan said, “It’s fine, Mom. I’m worried about the mixer at the construction site too. We’ll go together—it’s good to have company.”

Lu’s mother was decisive. “Then hurry up, or you’ll really be traveling at night.”

She helped Fang Yuan gather their things. “Leave the house to me—nothing will go missing, not even a blade of grass.”

Fang Yuan said, “Okay. You and Xiao San take care of yourselves, don’t get upset with them, and don’t make things hard on yourself.”

Lu’s mother’s nose stung again. Her daughter-in-law still cared about her—so thoughtful.

Lu Chuan was basically pushed out the door by the two women.

When they reached the edge of the village, Lu Chuan finally let out a breath. “My mom treats you well, but don’t you think she’s even better to money?”

For the sake of money, she wouldn’t even let them stay at home—just pushed them right out.

Fang Yuan wasn’t fazed by this. “We’re just ordinary people trying to get by. What, would you rather have a mom who spends recklessly and doesn’t know how to save?”

Lu Chuan felt a little aggrieved. “I just don’t want you and Mom to have disagreements over money.”

Fang Yuan said, “What’s there to disagree about? As long as the money’s split fairly, we’ll have no problems.”

They hadn’t known each other long, but Lu Chuan had already learned to follow Fang Yuan’s lead in all sorts of tangential conversations. “Even if it’s not split fairly, there won’t be any problems. Whatever you decide, my mom wouldn’t dare object.”

If you don’t look too closely, there’s not much difference between ‘disagreement’ and ‘fair split.’ That’s how Lu Chuan comforted himself.

Fang Yuan said, “Our family is very reasonable.”

As long as your family believes that, Lu Chuan thought, I’m not about to agree or disagree.

Fang Yuan added, “Besides, I don’t care that much about money.”

Lu Chuan stopped the bike, planted his feet, and turned to look at Fang Yuan, full of doubt. Do you really believe that yourself?

Fang Yuan clearly believed it. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with what she’d said. “What are you looking at? Not going?”

Lu Chuan simply replied, “Looking at you.” Don’t you know your own personality? If you say you don’t care about money, who would believe it? He didn’t dare say the rest out loud.

Fang Yuan didn’t have all those inner monologues. She touched her own face. “What’s there to look at?” She noticed Lu Chuan’s face was flushed. “Maybe I should lead the way—you seem a bit drunk. When you turned your head, you reeked of alcohol.”

Lu Chuan probably really was tipsy. He blew a breath at Fang Yuan. “Can you really smell it?”

Fang Yuan covered her nose. “It’s really strong! Don’t drink anymore, it smells terrible.”

Lu Chuan covered his mouth and sniffed. “No way, I don’t smell anything.”

He pouted at Fang Yuan. “You must be imagining it.”

At this moment, Lu Chuan was truly innocent—he was even afraid Fang Yuan would dislike him.

If it were another girl, she might have shied away. But Fang Yuan wasn’t that type—she had to get to the bottom of things.

She held Lu Chuan’s head steady with both hands, leaned in close, took a big sniff, and then glared at him. “It’s all alcohol! How could I be wrong?”

Lu Chuan stared dumbly at Fang Yuan, his heart about to leap out of his chest. Was Fang Yuan… getting handsy with him?"

"Chapter 78: The Road to Embarrassment