Chapter 44: Watch What You Say

Boss Fang wasn’t having it. Just because his brother-in-law had a couple more years of schooling, did that make him better than him? What about his pride? “Ma, I’m the eldest brother-in-law here.”

Wang Cuixiang replied, “And your dad is the father-in-law. I’m saying this to him too.”

Fang Daleng protested, “Come on, I was just showing respect for someone educated. If we’re talking about skills or street smarts, I’m not lacking. I’ve eaten more salt than he’s walked roads.”

All the Fang brothers refused to accept it, nodding along. The lot of us together are definitely better than that brother-in-law.

Wang Cuixiang snorted at her silly sons and turned to Fang Daleng. “Your brother-in-law said everyone in the surrounding villages comes to your meat stall and nowhere else.”

Fang Daleng lifted his chin. “That’s true. He’s not wrong. Not that I’m bragging or anything.”

Fang Xiaohu chimed in with his brothers, “No lies detected. Dad’s got great connections.”

Wang Cuixiang rolled her eyes. “Are there any other butcher shops in the village? Huh? There’s only yours.”

Duped and still clueless—how dumb can you be?

She shot a glare at her blockheaded men and stormed off, muttering about how it was her fault for not giving her kids more brains, or for not being pickier when she chose a husband—now it’s affecting the next generation.

The men were left standing there, dejectedly trailing after her. Fang Daleng tried to comfort himself—his brother-in-law was something else, even he could be fooled.

Boss Fang thought to himself, better not mess with that brother-in-law in the future—he’s trouble. The rest felt the same.

Pretty boys are never up to any good.

Things were much simpler on Lu Chuan’s side. He just coaxed Fang Yuan, telling her not to worry about the money and to have a little faith in him.

Fang Yuan sighed. What else could she do? The money was already gone. For once, she clung to Lu Chuan, asking, “You really are smart, right?”

Lu Chuan blushed, feeling awkward admitting it himself. He glanced shyly at Fifth Brother beside him.

Fang Yuan continued, “Last night I let you rest, didn’t bother you, so your brain should be fine, right?”

If his brain didn’t work, the money would be gone—Fang Yuan was genuinely worried.

But these two sentences were enough to embarrass Fifth Tiger into fleeing the room. He’d have to talk to Fang Yuan later—some things just shouldn’t be said out loud. Even he was blushing.

He’d even seen his brother-in-law blush just now. People were definitely overthinking things.

The couple, on the other hand, didn’t think much of it. To reassure Fang Yuan, Lu Chuan called Fifth Brother back and started explaining everything to Fang Yuan and Fifth Tiger, jotting down notes and calculations in a little notebook, laying out exactly how the money was being spent.

After a thorough explanation, Fang Yuan still looked confused. Lu Chuan had no choice but to sum it up: “So, we’re not going to lose money.”

That last sentence she understood. As for why they wouldn’t lose money, she had no idea.

Fang Yuan and Fifth Tiger stared blankly at the notebook. Lu Chuan blinked at them. “You can read, right? You know how to do accounts?”

They both nodded. They’d gone to school, just hadn’t gotten very far. Otherwise, their dad wouldn’t have gotten so excited over a son-in-law who could actually study.

Lu Chuan frowned. “Then you should be able to figure it out.” The math was pretty basic, not hard at all.

Fang Yuan mumbled, “I get it.”

Fifth Tiger said, perfectly innocently, “Doesn’t mean we actually understand it, though.” He said it with such childlike honesty, completely unabashed.

Lu Chuan rubbed his chest, feeling bad for their teachers. In the end, he stuck to the one thing they could grasp: “Anyway, we’re not going to lose money.”

But Fang Yuan’s focus was elsewhere: “But can we make money?”

Fifth Tiger stared eagerly at the college student’s notebook. He cared about that too. Not losing money and making money were two different things.

Lu Chuan replied confidently, “Yes. As long as things go as I calculated, we’ll make a profit.”

Fang Yuan thought he was being vague and missing the point. “How much?” That was what mattered.

Lu Chuan thought, how could he give such a specific number? He made a conservative estimate. “Definitely more than the deposit you gave me.”

Fifth Tiger’s eyes widened. “That’s a lot! Normally this job would take about twenty days, but with this thing, my brother says we’ll be done in half a month, easy.” Earning five hundred in half a month—where else could you find a deal like that?

Lu Chuan raised his eyebrows at Fang Yuan. “See? With this mixer, we’re saving five days’ wages. Worth it, right?”

Fang Yuan stroked the mixer. “But the deposit was five hundred. You think that’s cheap? What’s there to be proud of?”

Then she asked, “Is this thing really that good? Can it really make money?” After all, she hadn’t seen it in action yet.

Lu Chuan explained carefully, “With machines, things are naturally easier and faster than doing it by hand.”

Fang Yuan, still stroking the mixer, felt like a whole new world had opened up. “If I’d known, why bother with a man? A mixer makes more money than a man ever could.”

Fifth Tiger and Lu Chuan stared at her, dumbfounded. She actually said that out loud—what was going on in her head?

After all that, this was her only takeaway? Wasn’t she missing the point?

Lu Chuan didn’t think he was inferior to a mixer, but when it came to work, he really couldn’t compete. Still, it felt a bit humiliating.

He looked at Fang Yuan and said seriously, “It can’t cook for you.”

Fang Yuan shot back, “You’re not that great at cooking either.” Lu Chuan clutched his chest—ouch, that stung.

Fifth Tiger was even more blunt: “It can’t have kids with you.”

Fang Yuan glanced at Lu Chuan, but at least didn’t say anything. After all, the machine really couldn’t have kids.

But after that, Lu Chuan’s face turned red. Now that someone had brought it up, should he start thinking about it?

He kept sneaking glances at Fang Yuan, but she didn’t seem to care and wasn’t blushing at all.

She just commented calmly, “This thing is really valuable.” Clearly, she and Lu Chuan were on totally different wavelengths.

Lu Chuan couldn’t exactly ask her how she felt about having kids.

He turned to look at Fifth Tiger, who’d been born less than five minutes apart from his own wife. Maybe he’d stolen some of Fang Yuan’s nutrition in the womb—how else could she be so slow?

Then again, this brother-in-law didn’t seem much sharper than Fang Yuan.

Lu Chuan’s thoughts wandered off—he started worrying that their future kids would take after them. His face grew even redder.

After all, that brought up a very old, very primal question.

That whole evening, Fang Yuan circled the mixer, barely sparing Lu Chuan a glance. The two siblings discussed things among themselves, only asking Lu Chuan for help when they didn’t understand something. “So you just plug it in? Do you know how to use it?”

Lu Chuan patiently taught them how to use it, explaining everything in detail. They listened carefully, and if they weren’t worried about wasting materials, they would have tried it themselves.

Fang Yuan asked, “How do you know all this? You’re not just making it up, are you?”

Lu Chuan replied, “Why would I rent it if I didn’t know how to use it? That’d be a waste of money.”

Fang Yuan nodded. “True. This big guy is really great—it can even make money.”

Lu Chuan finally understood: in Fang Yuan’s eyes, as long as something could make money, it was good and useful.

Everyone outside praised him for being a good student, a college graduate, but Fang Yuan never cared—except when she was fighting to marry him.

To her, his only use seemed to be stepping on Fang Daleng’s pride.

That realization left Lu Chuan feeling a little indignant.

Thank you all for your support—please bookmark, recommend, and vote for this story. Thank you!"