Chapter 207: All Experts

Master Liu was fuming. “Is your family marrying a daughter-in-law or worshipping an ancestor? Does your mother have something on your wife? Just look at how servile she acts—I’ve never seen a mother-in-law so humble.”

Those words were a bit harsh. Lu Chuan replied, “They just get along well. My mom likes to dote on her daughter-in-law. Didn’t you see how generous Fang Yuan is with my mom? How can you call her servile? At most, my mom just goes along with Fang Yuan a lot.”

Master Liu snorted, “If I had a mother-in-law like that, I’d be generous too. Look, your wife says she works fifteen hours a day, and your mom has to get up in the middle of the night to help her like a rooster crowing at dawn.”

Lu Chuan said, “It’s not that bad. My wife isn’t that kind of person.”

So you do know what your mom is like. Master Liu said, “As an elder, she’s actually helping the younger one misbehave. I’m not being unreasonable saying that about her.”

Lu Chuan replied, “But you were out of line talking about my wife. Didn’t Fang Yuan already say you can’t fix our bikes anymore?”

Master Liu had never seen anyone so blatantly take sides. He glared at Lu Chuan. “You’re just lucky no one else pays me as well as you do, or you think I’d still serve you? Tell your wife to stay inside and rest, and stop coming around here.” With that, he stormed off.

Lu Chuan went back to the yard, only to have his mother jump in first. “I’ve never seen a hired hand stirring up trouble for the boss’s family. Now he thinks he can push us around. So what if Fang Yuan comes over? What boss doesn’t keep an eye on things?”

“Mom, don’t say that,” Lu Chuan tried to calm her.

But with her daughter-in-law backing her up, Lu’s mother was full of confidence. “That was years ago, let’s keep it in the family.”

Then she added, “Your wife is just working hard to make money, nothing wrong with that. Don’t let anyone drive a wedge between you.”

Lu Chuan reassured her, “Don’t worry, Fang Yuan’s never done anything wrong.”

Lu’s mother beamed, “I knew my son couldn’t be swayed by some old man. Do you know how much money we’ve made? It’s not just Fang Yuan who can’t stand to see him idle, I can’t either.”

These two really would get up in the middle of the night like roosters.

Lu Chuan was resigned. If only his mom would try to persuade Fang Yuan a little, she’d probably listen.

But Lu’s mother had no intention of reining in her daughter-in-law. In her mind, Fang Yuan could do no wrong. She often said, “I never stood so tall in the village, but in the provincial capital, with my daughter-in-law by my side, I’ve never felt so proud in my life.”

Fang Yuan was genuinely flattered by Lu’s mother’s praise.

“Our family does things right, so we can hold our heads high.”

Lu Chuan was a bit embarrassed to point out that their past actions weren’t always so justified.

As for Master Liu, at his age, what he valued was skill. He could just stand there and direct his apprentice and the job would get done—no need to do everything himself.

He was like a treasure of the household. If you don’t treat him well, and even look down on him, then the mother and daughter-in-law really don’t know a gem when they see one.

Too bad no one listened. If she could actually learn the craft, Lu’s mother would have tried to pick up some skills herself, just so the old man couldn’t boss her daughter-in-law around.

It wasn’t until Fang Yuan took a liking to another junked bike—one that was basically scrap—that Master Liu, after much grumbling, finally agreed to take a look.

Within a few days, the wreck they dragged home was running again, and someone even came by offering several thousand to buy it.

Lu’s mother’s attitude toward Master Liu changed immediately. At dinner, she brought him several boiled eggs.

She finally understood—this was a man with real skills.

She even whispered to Fang Yuan, “Let’s put up with him for now. I’ll sneak over and watch a few more times. If I can pick up this skill, it’ll be a goldmine.”

Lu Chuan didn’t dare let his mother go over there. “At your age, you can’t just pick up a craft by sneaking peeks. If people start saying you’re interested in some old man, that would be a real headache.”

Even Master Liu said, “If you have any clever relatives, I’d be willing to teach them. Just tell your mother to stop coming over here. I have a family, you know.” How mean!

He knew full well Lu’s mother wanted to learn his craft, but still tried to keep her away. Of course, there aren’t many as shameless as Lu’s mother either—trying to sneak a look again and again.

Lu Chuan felt his life was especially lively. Fang Yuan was making money, taking care of her pregnancy, and keeping the men entertained—all at once, without missing a beat.

Lately, Wu Hu was a bit troubled. Things weren’t going well with his girlfriend, and he’d run into some small issues at work. Other than picking up some odd jobs from Zhang Wei, Wu Hu had also gotten some work through friends he met at construction sites. But after the job was done, the money never came.

Back in his hometown, Wu Hu had never encountered anything like this. The Fang family had a big reputation—no one dared owe them money.

He never expected that in the provincial capital, people would treat a tiger like a sick cat and try to stiff Wu Hu.

Wu Hu had never dealt with such slippery people before.

Wan Shun and the others said, “Let’s just beat the guy up and forget about the money. We’ve never been treated like this.”

Wu Hu said, “That won’t do. He’s not worth that much. If I had the time, I’d go toe-to-toe with that old bastard. He’s only daring to stiff me because he knows I’m busy.”

When he vented to Lu Chuan, Lu Chuan said, “Let’s learn from this. If this keeps happening, who’ll want to work with us? Even if he doesn’t pay us, we can’t shortchange our own workers. We’ll pay them first.”

Fang Yuan nodded. “We need to build a good reputation, so we have to pay.”

“We can’t do anything dishonorable,” she said through gritted teeth. “Pay them. Don’t worry, I’ll go get the money myself.” She wasn’t afraid at all.

Lu Chuan said, “You’re pregnant. Don’t make a scene.”

Fang Yuan glared at him. “So what if I’m pregnant? I’m just supposed to sit around and let people walk all over me? I need to teach him a lesson.”

Wu Hu thought, I’ve been keeping a low profile in the city, but my sister is still so fierce.

Fang Yuan almost convinced Wu Hu to drop what he was doing and go collect the debt with her. Lu Chuan held her back. “I’ll handle this.”

Fang Yuan looked down on Lu Chuan for that. “You? You’re not cut out for this.”

Lu Chuan retorted, “Why not? What am I lacking compared to you? I’m not saying you can’t do things while pregnant, but you shouldn’t have to deal with people like that. If you ask me, we should get Big Brother’s brother-in-law to help.”

Wu Hu slapped the table. “Nice! That’s exactly the kind of person we need to mess with that bastard Cui. Let him see what I’m made of.”

Wu Hu added, “Honestly, the only person tougher to deal with than Fang Yuan is that little rascal.”

Lu Chuan frowned, “Wu Hu, what are you saying? Fang Yuan isn’t like that.”

Wu Hu wanted to ask, “Aren’t you bringing up Big Brother’s brother-in-law because you think he’s similar to Fang Yuan?”

But the couple’s fierce glares made him swallow his words.

Fang Yuan wasn’t too happy. “Hiring someone costs money, doesn’t it?”

Wu Hu said, “I’m happy to pay.”

Wu Hu and Fang Yuan really were cut from the same cloth—both hot-tempered. As they spoke, they hopped on their bikes and rode off.

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