Father Fan led Lin Yong to a pile of coal dust and handed him a shovel. “Come on, I’ll tell you what to do.”

Lin Yong felt like throwing the shovel away. Back at the Lin household, he was the one giving orders. Now at the Fan family, it had all reversed!

Still, he thought of the three-bedroom house and swallowed his anger.

Father Fan instructed, “Dig a large hole in the middle of the coal dust.”

Lin Yong heaved and dug, but the hole was too large, scattering the coal dust everywhere. Father Fan got annoyed. “It’s too spread out. You need to gather it back together.”

Lin Yong reshaped the coal dust into a pile, but the hole disappeared. Impatient, Father Fan said, “Let me show you how it’s done.”

He grabbed the shovel, made a neat hole in the center, and told Lin Yong, “Now pour water in here. The ratio of water to coal dust should be 1:10.”

Lin Yong smirked, filled a bucket with water, and dumped the entire bucket in. The excess water spilled out, turning the coal dust into a sludgy mess.

Father Fan shouted, “Too much water! Stop!”

But Lin Yong ignored him and emptied the whole bucket. The coal dust was now a watery soup, impossible to mix properly.

Father Fan wanted to scold him but held back. Clearly, this kid wasn’t meant for manual labor. Frustrated, he dismissed Lin Yong.

Lin Yong hummed a tune as he went back to bed for another nap.

Father Fan cleaned up and returned inside. Mother Fan asked, “How did it go?”

Father Fan sighed. “Don’t ask. Lin Yong dumped an entire bucket of water, and now it’s a soup. We’ll have to buy more coal dust if we want to make any coal balls.”

“He doesn’t know how to make coal balls?”

“That can’t be. Even kids know how to do this. The Lin family must have taught him.”

“Then he’s doing it on purpose, sabotaging us instead of helping.”

“We completely misjudged him. We thought he was an obedient boy. Turns out, he’s a spoiled young master. When we’re old, we can’t rely on him.”

The couple sighed heavily. Mother Fan concluded, “If he won’t work, he should at least hand over his money. He can’t just live here for free while we serve him.”

Father Fan nodded. “We’ll test him again. If he’s really just a freeloader, we’ll kick him out early.”

When Lin Yong woke up, the aroma of breakfast wafted through the air. His stomach growled. He went out to find the table laden with food—fried dough sticks, steamed buns, millet porridge, eggs, and pickled vegetables.

The sight was mouthwatering. Lin Yong washed up and sat down, reaching for a dough stick.

Mother Fan’s chopsticks blocked his hand. Smiling, she said, “Lin Yong, if you want to eat, you need to pay the food expenses first.”

Lin Yong was furious. First, they dragged him out of bed to make those ridiculous coal balls, and now they were denying him food?

Was this the Fan family or an old-fashioned torment session for a new daughter-in-law?

He guessed right. The Fans were testing him. As a live-in son-in-law, he needed to be “tamed” early, to live under their rules.

But Lin Yong wasn’t like other live-in sons-in-law with no alternatives. He had his family, a job, and a lot of options. Plus, he had a rebellious streak. The Fans’ tactics were doomed to fail.

Feeling angrier by the second, Lin Yong shot back, “This is fraud! Before the wedding, you never charged me for food. Now, right after the wedding, you suddenly change the rules and ask for money while making me do hard labor!”

Mother Fan smiled politely. “Lin Yong, things are different after marriage. Before, you were a guest. Now, you’re family, and family shares responsibilities. You need to contribute to the household.”

Lin Yong refused. “Xiao’e, what do you think?”

Fan Xiao’e, already in on her parents’ plan, chimed in, “Lin Yong, my parents are right. After marriage, we should contribute to the family. Wouldn’t you pay your parents for food if you ate at their place?”

“No! I never paid them anything. They’ve always given me money instead. Mom, Dad, didn’t you say you’d treat me like your own son? My parents never made me work or pay. They even gave me money. That’s how you treat a son.”

Father and Mother Fan: … That’s not a son—that’s an ancestor! We wanted a hardworking son-in-law, not someone we’d have to serve!

Father Fan realized they had made a grave mistake. He waved weakly. “Fine, fine. Just eat and head to work.”

Lin Yong gleefully devoured most of the food on the table. Full and satisfied, he left for work.

Father Fan muttered, “We’ve brought a wolf into the house.”

The family decided Lin Yong’s eating habits were unsustainable. From now on, he’d have to eat at the cafeteria, not at home.

Fan Xiao’e worried, “Dad, Mom, won’t he leave if we push him too hard?”

“Let him go! It’d be better if he left. The real problem is if he stays and becomes impossible to get rid of.”

Lin Yong left the house in high spirits. The accommodations were spacious, the food was great, and while the Fans nagged, they couldn’t really control him. Life was good.

He visited the credit union and deposited the 1,400 yuan he had brought from home.

This money was his safety net, kept hidden even from Fan Xiao’e. With this cash in hand, he felt confident.

He stashed the deposit slip in his underwear pocket, pleased with his foresight. Living with the Fans provided free room and board, allowing him to save even more money. If he could get Fan Xiao’e’s earnings, his savings would grow even faster.

Meanwhile, Lin Ning had spread her bath scrub business across almost every bathhouse in Dong’an County. However, supply at general stores and small shops was saturated, with the factory’s sales team already dominating those markets.

Unfazed, Lin Ning focused on bathhouses and occasional trips to markets to set up a stall.

At the end of the second week, she received another payout from the garment factory: 2,100 yuan.

Director Cao was thrilled. The factory had sold 210,000 bath scrubs that week. To expand further, they had purchased more sewing machines and hired additional workers. Production capacity would only increase.

Lin Ning was ecstatic. Her commissions would also grow.

Director Cao joked, “At this rate, Lin Ning, you’ll become a ten-thousand-yuan household in no time!”

The term “ten-thousand-yuan household” was a badge of honor in the 1980s, signifying financial success during China’s reform and opening-up era.

Lin Ning replied, “Director Cao, I’d appreciate it if you kept my earnings confidential. I don’t want this money to cause me trouble.”

Director Cao understood. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

Leaving the factory, Lin Ning calculated her total savings: over 4,000 yuan—enough to buy a house.

Her next step? Buy a home!