Chapter 82: What’s Within Sight, What’s Beyond

Looking at the money, the two brothers started to panic. They’d never earned this much before, never seen this kind of money.

This was only half the project. What about the future? Lu Chuan was thinking ahead: “Fifth Brother, don’t go blabbing about this. I don’t feel too settled about it myself.”

Wu Hu wasn’t thinking as far ahead as Lu Chuan, but he was even more tight-fisted: “Don’t worry, even Big Brother won’t hear a word from me.”

Lu Chuan said, “We should let Fang Yuan pay back Mom and Dad first. They probably already have an idea what’s going on.”

Wu Hu replied, “Ahem, brother-in-law, listen to me on this one. Just say it’s money the two of us scraped together. The workers haven’t even been paid yet.”

Honestly, when these two get together, it’s all schemes and calculations.

Lu Chuan raised an eyebrow. What was Fifth Brother up to? Even if he discussed it with him, it’s not like he could make the decision.

Does Fifth Brother not understand his position in the family, or does he have doubts about Fang Yuan’s standing at home? Is he trying to test him?

Wu Hu figured his brother-in-law would get what he meant, so he spoke plainly: “I’m not even married yet, and Mom and Dad have several sons.”

Alright, so the brother-in-law is being cautious with the in-laws. But Lu Chuan was even more careful, wary that Fifth Brother might try to take advantage and rope him in.

Lu Chuan smiled sheepishly and said, “I’m not the one in charge. Fifth Brother, you should discuss it with Fang Yuan.”

Wu Hu’s face instantly darkened. “Useless. What can I even count on you for?”

Lu Chuan thought to himself, If I agreed with you, you probably wouldn’t be happy either, and who knows how you’d deal with me. Do you take me for a fool?

Before the two of them could even finish sorting out the money, Fang Yuan didn’t give them a chance to show off. She just took Lu Chuan’s share, and even questioned him if a single dime was missing.

Wu Hu listened as Fang Yuan did the accounts, not a cent off, and was even more amazed than if he’d just gotten a thousand bucks: “What’s missing? I gave it to you. That’s the wages for five men.”

Lu Chuan couldn’t stand hearing about “supporting five grown men” at home: “Fifth Brother, watch what you say.”

Fang Yuan didn’t have time for Lu Chuan. She was grinning from ear to ear, holding the money she’d earned with her mixer.

Lu Chuan looked a bit dumbfounded. No matter how much money he made, it didn’t matter—his wife cared more about the mixer.

He felt a bit aggrieved. He’d made more than the mixer, but why didn’t Fang Yuan ever smile at him like that?

Then Fang Yuan generously took out twenty yuan and handed it to Old Lu: “Dad, here, your wages for the past few days.”

Old Lu quickly stepped back: “We’re family, what’s the point of this? Whose money am I earning, anyway? I can’t take your money.”

Fang Yuan said, “Dad, take it. You still have to take care of Mom and Xiao San. I don’t feel comfortable letting anyone else watch over the machine. From now on, you’re in charge of it. I’ll pay you wages—not as much as bricklaying, but the work is easier and steadier. It’s definitely better than farming.”

Old Lu refused, flustered: “There’s no need for you to pay me. What would that look like?”

Fang Yuan replied, “Otherwise, I’ll find someone else.”

Old Lu immediately took the money: “Well, it’s money. No way I’m letting someone else have it.”

Wu Hu watched from the side and commented, “Our Fang Yuan really belongs in your family. Look at her—anyone would think she’s your own flesh and blood.”

Lu Chuan was pleased to hear that. “Fang Yuan, you take the money I split with Fifth Brother and pay back Mom first.”

Fang Yuan glanced at Lu Chuan. Did he even need to say it? She’d already put the money away: “It’s a lot. I can’t believe this is real.”

Lu Chuan saw how happy his wife was and added, “We’ll definitely earn even more in the future.”

Fang Yuan asked, “You’re not going back to school?”

Lu Chuan shut up. He still had to go to school.

Wu Hu said, “It won’t get in the way of his studies. This project is just for the two of us. The stuff brother-in-law does, I can’t do. But I can manage things and bring in workers. From now on, the money is for the two of us to split.”

Lu Chuan said, “Fifth Brother, isn’t that just free money for me?”

Wu Hu replied, “Dream on. Your wife has to help manage things too.”

Wu Hu wasn’t stupid. What he could do, Lu Chuan could too, but what Lu Chuan could do, he couldn’t. So he couldn’t do without his brother-in-law.

He took Fang Yuan and Lu Chuan home to pay back the money. Of course, Wu Hu also wanted to discuss a few things with Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan nodded, “I get it about not showing off our wealth. But even Mom and Dad can’t know?”

Wu Hu scratched his head, “You know, Mom and Dad have a lot of sons.”

Fang Yuan really understood: “Alright, I’ll say I borrowed the money from you. If you leave it at home, Mom might lend it out to someone else.”

Wu Hu grinned, “From now on, the three of us—me, brother-in-law, and you—we’ll stick together.”

Fang Yuan thought, Lu Chuan is going back to school, and Fifth Brother is still willing to split the money with us. He’s really trying to keep us close: “What’s in it for you?”

Wu Hu said, “What do you mean, what’s in it for me? We grew up together in Mom’s belly.”

Fang Yuan asked bluntly, “So what’s in it for you?” She knew him well enough to know he must have his reasons.

Wu Hu replied, “You just have to think I’m up to something, huh? Fine, I’m up to something. I’m hoping your man will have a bright future.”

Fang Yuan said, “Can he do better than making money?” Forgive her for not having higher aspirations—right now, all she could see was making money.

Wu Hu said, “Look at you, so short-sighted. Don’t let brother-in-law hear you say that.”

Fang Yuan replied, “So what if he does? I’m the only one who can complain about him—he wouldn’t dare complain about me.”

Wu Hu wanted to say, Where do you get that confidence? Why can’t he complain about you? Of course, if Lu Chuan ever dared to, Wu Hu wouldn’t stand for it.

But whether he dared or not, that was another matter.

He took a deep breath and got back to the topic: “Look, the village isn’t that big, the township isn’t that big, even the county is only so big. We’ve been in the county for a while now, and I’ve pretty much been everywhere. It’s really not that big. How long do you think our work will last? Even if we rebuilt the whole county, how much money could we make?”

Fang Yuan said, “You want to rebuild the whole county? Can you even use my mixer for that?”

Wu Hu looked at Fang Yuan, speechless and exhausted. He couldn’t even argue with her anymore: “How could I possibly rebuild the whole county? That’s not what I meant.”

Fang Yuan said, “I don’t get all your ‘bigs’ and I don’t care. As long as you can use my mixer, that’s all that matters.”

Wu Hu rubbed his forehead: “What I mean is, in a place this small, look—Big Brother leads a crew, Old Sun leads a crew, I lead a crew. There are more people fighting for these jobs than we even know.”

Fang Yuan’s eyes lit up: “So my mixer will never be short of work!”

Wu Hu slapped his thigh: “Stop talking about your mixer!”

If they weren’t talking about the mixer, Fang Yuan wasn’t interested. Her face fell: “Go on, then.”

Wu Hu said, “We’re only doing this because brother-in-law started it. I’m following him, and his horizons will only get broader—he’ll see things I can’t even imagine. Just wait a few years, and I won’t lose out.”

Fang Yuan nodded. Fifth Brother was thinking about the future.

Wu Hu continued, “You’ve pretty much learned everything you need. You’re good at bookkeeping, right? Learn more from brother-in-law—how to calculate this, how to calculate that. We’ll just be a brother-sister team. I’ll work hard for a few years. I can wait.”

And with brother-in-law’s remote guidance, Wu Hu felt confident.

Fang Yuan summed it up: “You’re really willing to put in the effort.”

Then she added, “So, should I save up and buy a few more mixers?”

Wu Hu refused to say another word. First, he couldn’t argue with her, and second, they hadn’t even paid off this round of debt yet.

With what money? Brother-in-law earns a little, spends a little. How are they supposed to explain that to him later?

The key thing was, his own money was in Fang Yuan’s hands. What if she turned it all into mixers? You can’t marry a wife with those things. What a headache.

He swore he’d never call his brother-in-law a spendthrift again—his own sister was way worse. She just couldn’t save a dime.

83."

"Chapter 83: Gaining Experience at Others’ Expense