Chapter 62: Ruthlessness and Injustice Should Be Subtle

Lu Chuan felt he’d explained things pretty clearly, but unfortunately, what Fang Yuan wanted was a definite answer.

But how could he just say it outright? When it comes to matters of ruthlessness and injustice, you have to be subtle, reserved. At the very least, it should be “only if my brother-in-law is ruthless will I be unjust.” He said, “We have to keep up appearances—your parents are watching, after all. Besides, he’s your big brother.”

Fang Yuan retorted, “Are you stupid? He hasn’t even come to you, and I’m still his little sister.” In Fang Yuan’s mind, there was no question—they needed to strike back.

Lu Chuan replied, “That’s exactly why we need to handle things gracefully. We can’t act like your brother.”

Fang Yuan grew anxious. “Handle it gracefully and lose all the money?”

Lu Chuan thought, Why can’t she just take a hint? “Even if we invite your brother, he won’t come. Don’t worry.”

Fang Yuan said, “I can’t not worry. We’ve already split up, so why bother inviting him?”

Lu Chuan felt exhausted. There was no need to argue about this, so he changed tack: “Aren’t you still hoping to lend him the mixer in the future?”

Fang Yuan conceded, “That’s true.” She knew how to endure humiliation for the bigger picture. “But I still feel uncomfortable about it. I just don’t want to invite him.”

Lu Chuan said, “You don’t have to. I’ll do it. Besides, we might not even get any work.”

Fang Yuan smiled, “Don’t worry, Fifth Brother is making connections. He said yesterday that you did a great job last time, and now you’re famous in the village. There’ll be plenty of people wanting to hire you. If this job doesn’t work out, there’ll be another.”

Lu Chuan was modest. If something wasn’t a sure thing, he wouldn’t count on it. “It’s still not certain, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Fang Yuan insisted, “Why not? I’ve never seen anything make more money than that big machine. It even makes more than my dad selling meat. With it, what’s there to worry about for college? I could support you for ten years, not just four.”

That was even harder to listen to—letting his wife support him? Was he supposed to be a kept man? Still, he was a little moved that he was part of Fang Yuan’s plans.

Fang Yuan, worried Lu Chuan would object, said, “Don’t say anything yet. Let’s go to the village first. Let me think about this, and you should think about it too.”

She was even stalling for time now. That was progress.

Lu Chuan couldn’t argue—Fang Yuan’s reasoning was sound.

He thought about the money he’d earned and felt the weight on his shoulders. He couldn’t keep up with his wife’s spending.

At the village, Lu Chuan wanted to greet Fang’s eldest brother, but the man avoided him, saying he was about to head out for work.

Still, the brothers looked a bit awkward. After all, this was a little embarrassing.

No matter how long Fang’s eldest had been in this business, going solo and taking the lead was a path his brother-in-law had paved for him.

Now, they’d quietly left Lu Chuan behind to go it alone. It wasn’t very honorable.

They couldn’t act natural around Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan couldn’t just let his brother-in-law leave like that. He wasn’t afraid—he had things to discuss with him. He stopped him openly.

Fang’s eldest was uncomfortable and spoke first, “Brother-in-law, you should focus on your studies. This line of work isn’t for you in the long run.”

Fifth Brother snorted. Was that just your excuse to keep all the profits for yourself?

Lu Chuan said, “Big Brother, I get it, I do. I just wanted to let you know—there’s a job at the site from last time. I thought we could check it out together.”

See? Even in this situation, Lu Chuan still invited his brother-in-law, showing his sense of duty—and, of course, making Fang’s eldest lose face.

But Fang’s eldest still tried to be loyal, “Over there? If you need workers, I can introduce some. Your second brother and the rest of us are just laborers, nothing more. We’ve got other things to do, so we’ll head off.”

In other words, he didn’t want to get involved. As for saving face, after going solo, he couldn’t hold his head up in front of Lu Chuan anyway, so what’s a little more?

As for Fifth Brother, he could join in whenever he wanted—the others would be fine with it.

Fang’s eldest felt embarrassed in front of his brother-in-law and left without saying much.

Lu Chuan, in his father-in-law’s house, had done the right thing and kept his dignity. He touched his nose—this was as good as it could get.

Third Brother said, “Big Brother, you don’t have to be like this. We all have families to feed.”

Fourth Brother added, “Exactly. We can’t block our brother-in-law’s way to make a living.”

Second Brother glared at Fourth Brother—he was the worst. “Let’s go. No matter how nicely you put it, it still looks bad.” The brothers hurried off.

Fifth Brother relaxed, “Alright, let’s go too.” He was pleased—Fang’s eldest had finally lost some face.

Lu Chuan called to Fang Yuan, “Come on, let’s go together.”

If there weren’t people watching, Lu Chuan would have wanted to show off to Fang Yuan: See? I told you, even if I invited Big Brother, he wouldn’t join us.

But he didn’t get the chance.

Fang Yuan said, “I’m not going. You guys go. I wouldn’t understand anything anyway.”

That wasn’t like her. Lu Chuan asked, “Aren’t you usually proactive? This is about making money.”

Fang Yuan didn’t even look up, “I’ll just wait for the results.”

Fifth Brother pulled Lu Chuan away, saying, “Why so hesitant? My sister’s not going anywhere. Without Fang Yuan, you wouldn’t dare take on a job.”

Lu Chuan was embarrassed. He didn’t dare say much more to Fang Yuan, just greeted Wang Cui Xiang and left.

Wang Cui Xiang was clearly unhappy. Earning a bit of money had caused so much drama in the family.

They were all in construction, but had split into two camps.

It hurt both the family’s pride and their reputation. Luckily, Fifth Brother was still with the son-in-law.

Especially seeing her eldest son get embarrassed by Lu Chuan—it was really humiliating.

Lu Chuan had “righteousness” written all over his face, making her own sons look bad by comparison.

But honestly, Wang Cui Xiang didn’t believe Lu Chuan really wanted to work with the older brothers. He was just putting on a show. He handled things more gracefully than the eldest.

Such a son-in-law made her anxious. If she wanted anything for her daughter in the future, she’d have to be clever about it.

Wang Cui Xiang looked at Fang Yuan, “You stayed home to complain to me about your brothers?”

Fang Yuan replied, “No. Making money is something everyone scrambles for. If my big brother wasn’t like this, he wouldn’t be my big brother.”

Her daughter was actually being reasonable? Though she was a bit sarcastic about her eldest, Wang Cui Xiang said, “At least you remember that.”

Fang Yuan said, “When I was little, my brother would trick me out of my pocket money, candy, snacks. He’s never been a good person.”

Wang Cui Xiang felt tired. Not much reasonableness here—just holding grudges. “He’s your big brother. How can you talk like that? Can’t you let go of childhood things?”

Fang Yuan replied, “I was little then—he wasn’t. People say a child’s nature shows early. Anyway, I never got along with him. If it was Fifth Brother, I’d definitely make a fuss.”

A poor sibling relationship was actually a good thing—it meant less drama.

Wang Cui Xiang didn’t know what to say. “No matter what, your brothers won’t let you suffer.” When sons lose face, mothers do too.

63."