Chapter 180: Not the One in Charge

Fang Yuan knew Wang Cui-xiang’s temperament. “Today I’ll let you get used to it, but tomorrow you’re not allowed to do it anymore. I brought you to the provincial capital so you could enjoy life, not so you could cook and play housemaid.”

Lu Chuan just laughed on the side. My wife doesn’t even have two hundred yuan in her pocket, but she sure talks tough.

Wang Cui-xiang said, “Whether I’m a housemaid or not, I’m still your mother. You’ve built up such a big family business, but how much money do you really have left? Stop making a fuss. Just eat at home like normal. It’s not easy for your husband to earn money, so you should take it easy.”

Then she added, “This house your fifth brother has—if we’d talked about it back home, even your fourth brother wouldn’t have dared to dream of it. Good thing we split up the family.”

Fang Da-leng, their biological father, looked at his son through rose-colored glasses. “Old Fourth isn’t that kind of person.”

Nobody believed that except Fang Da-leng himself. It was just something to listen to.

Fang Yuan said, “Don’t worry, Fifth Brother knows what he’s doing.” My fifth brother would never let himself get taken advantage of like that.

Wang Cui-xiang said, “Your dad and I are getting old, we don’t care about these things anymore. Don’t worry, whatever you’ve bought is yours. Your dad and I don’t have our eyes on it, and we won’t let those other brats have their eyes on it either. You’re a Lu, they’re Fangs, so they can’t even if they wanted to.”

She was clearly saying this to Lu Chuan, afraid that what Fang Da-leng had just said would make her son-in-law uneasy.

Lu Chuan said, “Mom, to tell you the truth, Fang Yuan’s been thinking about buying a crane truck. The reason we got this yard was so that if we bought a crane truck in the future, we’d have somewhere to park it. Nobody else can lay claim to it.”

Wang Cui-xiang was annoyed. “What the heck is that?”

Lu Chuan answered simply, “Something we can’t afford.”

That was a perfect explanation. Wang Cui-xiang pulled her son-in-law aside. “Lu Chuan, I’m sorry for you. This girl of mine is just too much. Don’t spoil her in everything. Every family saves a little money, but she—she just spends it all. I don’t even know who she takes after.”

Lu Chuan said, “Mom, don’t say that. If Fifth Brother had put all his money into buying houses back then, he could’ve bought two. But after just one New Year, his money isn’t even enough to buy one more.”

Wang Cui-xiang was surprised. “Why? Did he blow all the money? What a spendthrift.”

What else could it be? Forgive Wang Cui-xiang for not thinking of it right away—her first instinct was to blame her son.

Fang Yuan quickly cut in, “My fifth brother isn’t the type to waste money. The prices just went up.”

Fang Da-leng said, “See, I told you, we should’ve bought a place too. Fifth Brother already has one. Now the prices have gone up.”

Wang Cui-xiang shot him a glare. “Where would we get the money? Stop talking nonsense.”

Fang Da-leng tugged at his wife, clearly wanting to buy. “Let’s just keep it between us.”

Wang Cui-xiang said, “Buying property isn’t a joke, it’s about building a family foundation. Are you just doing it for fun?”

Fang Da-leng said, “When we’re old, we could live closer to our daughter. If the two of them ever have a fight, she’d have somewhere to go. Didn’t you say a daughter should always have a backup plan? Why bother buying something for Fang Yuan back in the village? Here is much better.”

Wang Cui-xiang couldn’t even look at her son-in-law, dragging Fang Da-leng off to the kitchen. Did he have no sense at all, saying everything in front of the son-in-law?

Fang Yuan, always straightforward, said, “If you buy one for me, that’s great! Mom, why don’t we just take out the money and see how much we have?”

Lu Chuan muttered, “Mom, if you’re buying, you should buy it for me. I’m the one who feels insecure. Why should we be leaving a backup plan for Fang Yuan?”

Fang Yuan shot back at Lu Chuan, “Dream on!” Why should it be for you?

When Wu Hu (Fifth Brother) came back, he could tell from Fang Da-leng’s look that Fang Yuan had let something slip.

With all this going on in the provincial capital, with this much family property, they still had to explain things to their parents. He was capable, and he wanted to show off a bit.

Wu Hu rushed to explain, “Mom, Dad, we’re just staying at my brother-in-law’s place for now. We actually have our own house in the provincial capital. We’ll go back to our own place soon.”

Fang Da-leng was delighted. “My son’s made it, better than his old man. That courtyard is really impressive.”

Wang Cui-xiang snorted, “Oh, please. We wouldn’t dare go there. Your dad and I are just here for your brother-in-law.”

Wu Hu said to Fang Da-leng and Wang Cui-xiang, “How can you say that? Your son can’t be less than your son-in-law! I’ll take you to see our own place later.”

Wang Cui-xiang said, “Lu Chuan is more reliable than you. We trust Lu Chuan.”

Lu Chuan knew that was just something to say. They didn’t really trust him. Just a moment ago, they were talking about buying a house for their daughter, just in case.

That night, Wang Cui-xiang took Wu Hu out. Lu Chuan figured that with all this family property, there was no way to keep it from his mother-in-law.

His father-in-law, on the other hand, was calm, just happy to be here. Everything in the provincial capital was new and exciting to him. He was mostly interested in the vegetable market. Since Fang Yuan didn’t cook, he couldn’t get much out of her, so it was Lu Chuan and Fang Da-leng talking.

Especially when it came to analyzing the long-term prospects, Fang Da-leng kept rubbing his hands together. “You know, your mom really won’t agree to us opening a butcher shop here in the provincial capital.”

Lu Chuan knew his father-in-law couldn’t make decisions over his mother-in-law. If she wasn’t happy, he had to talk his father-in-law out of it. “You have an advantage in the village. A butcher shop isn’t just about selling meat—you have your own pig suppliers. In the provincial capital, it wouldn’t be so easy.”

Fang Da-leng was unconvinced. “Why wouldn’t it be easy? Wouldn’t it be even more convenient here?”

The problem was transportation—it would be expensive. His father-in-law hadn’t thought of that.

Fang Yuan had. “Dad, if you truck a pig over, you might not be tired, but the pig sure will be.”

She added, “Besides, how many days would it take to get a pig here? It’s just not practical. Things are fine in the village.”

Fang Da-leng said, “Son-in-law, help your dad figure this out.”

Lu Chuan said, “If you want to do that, you’d need not just a shop in the city, but also a place to keep pigs temporarily, and a vehicle for transport. When you add it all up, you’d need a lot—a lot—of capital.”

Fang Da-leng scratched his head. “So, I can’t even afford to get started.”

Then he looked at his daughter. “You guys really don’t have any money left?”

Fang Yuan understood exactly what her dad meant. She shook her head. Even if we did, we wouldn’t let you get involved.

Fang Da-leng looked at his son-in-law. Lu Chuan scratched his head. “Dad, look at me—I’m useless. Whether we have money or not doesn’t matter to me. The important thing is, I’m not the one in charge.”

Fang Da-leng wanted to say, How can my son-in-law be so spineless? But then he thought, if the son-in-law isn’t in charge, then it must be the daughter. As a father-in-law, he said, “Fine, we men just do as we’re told—that’s a virtue too.”

Lu Chuan gave a strained smile to his father-in-law and turned to leave. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t know what kind of expression to show.

Should he ask his father-in-law, “You’re not in charge, I’m not in charge, so what are we even discussing here? It’s all for nothing!”

Fang Yuan would never lend money out. She said to Fang Da-leng, “That’s a lot of money. Why don’t you go ask Fifth Brother? But let me say this first—if Fifth Brother invests, then the shop, the place, the truck, all of it will belong to him. Your other sons can’t get involved.”

Fang Da-leng said, “You’re too bossy, girl! I’d be working for him for nothing!”"