Chapter 52: Two Things

◎ One Question After Another ◎

After lunch, Wei Xuan could only sit down and talk properly with her three brothers once she had coaxed the little one to sleep.

Wei Third Brother was impatient, especially since this matter concerned whether he would be able to see his wife often in the future, so he couldn’t sit still.

As soon as he saw Wei Xuan coming over from the next room, he couldn’t wait for her to sit down before immediately asking her, “Little sister, is this thing you mentioned in the letter really doable?”

Wei Xuan wasn’t in a hurry to answer him. Instead, she asked first, “Third Brother, before we talk about this, I want to know what you think about Third Sister-in-law wanting to buy the job I have at the supply and marketing cooperative? Since big brother and second brother are here, let’s discuss this matter face-to-face today. Whatever’s on your mind, speak it out. Once we’ve discussed it, let’s consider it settled and no one can bring it up again in the future.”

After waiting for a while and seeing no one speak up, Wei Xuan asked, “If you’re not saying anything, does that mean you have no objections? Then, this matter can’t be brought up again. No matter who, if anyone mentions it again, don’t blame me for not giving a good face.”

Wei Second Brother glanced at Big Brother, who had his head lowered and seemed to be deep in thought. Ultimately, he felt it was better to rely on himself, so he gathered his thoughts and spoke up, “Little sister, to be honest, the job is yours. Originally, if you want to sell it to anyone, it’s your choice, and none of us have the right to intervene. But…”

At this point, Wei Second Brother glanced at Wei Third Brother before continuing, “But you also know, for us country people, it’s so hard to make money. Having this job is like getting a steady income every month. None of us are fools. If Third Brother’s family is willing to buy it, don’t the other two sisters-in-law want to buy it as well? Three of them are your sisters-in-law, and you’re definitely caught in a difficult position right now. There’s only one job. Whoever gets it, the other two will be upset.”

“No, Second Brother,” Wei Third Brother tried to explain but was interrupted by Wei Second Brother.

Third Brother, let me finish before you speak. I’m not saying this with any ill intentions. I just think that if we’re going to solve the problem, we must first point out the issue and lay it on the table.” Then he turned to Wei Xuan, “Little sister, you were well-meaning. When something good came up, you thought of your family first. As your brother, I thank you for that. Also, I can’t let some minor benefit come between us and cause a rift between us. I don’t want you to feel like you’ve done a good deed and still end up being caught in the middle. Don’t worry. The job matter is settled on my end. I’ll go home and talk to Second Sister-in-law. I won’t let you be put in a difficult position by her. As for the job, if Third Sister-in-law wants to buy it, let her buy it. After all, she has been covering for you for so long. It’s only right that she takes over.”

After Wei Second Brother finished, Wei Big Brother also quickly spoke up, “Little sister, I’ll talk to Big Sister-in-law too. Don’t worry.”

Wei Xuan chuckled. Given how long it took Big Brother to finally say something, it would be a miracle if he could convince Big Sister-in-law.

But no matter what, her brothers were reasonable. They didn’t blame her for showing favoritism, which made her feel reassured.

During this time, the issues caused by the job had made her regret a bit—maybe she shouldn’t have been so kind-hearted from the beginning and just sold the job directly. That way, there wouldn’t have been so many problems later on.

But now, seeing her brothers’ attitudes, Wei Xuan felt that her goodwill wasn’t wasted. No matter what the sisters-in-law thought, for the sake of her brothers and parents, she should help when needed.

The matter with the job wasn’t finished yet. It wasn’t enough for Big Brother and Second Brother to say they didn’t mind, since, even though they were family, sometimes it’s better to be clear about things, as the saying goes: “Even brothers should settle accounts clearly.”

So, she turned to Wei Third Brother, “Third Brother, Big Brother and Second Brother have spoken, so I also have a suggestion. Whether you agree or not, just listen to it.”

“Okay, you go ahead,” Wei Third Brother, still feeling embarrassed by Second Brother’s earlier speech, quickly agreed, eager to listen to his younger sister.

“Third Brother, what do you think of this? I’ll sell the job to Third Sister-in-law, but not for much, just three hundred yuan. You can pay me monthly with your salary. I think Third Sister-in-law’s salary is about thirty-two yuan a month. After subtracting living expenses, if she pays me twenty yuan a month, she should be able to pay it off in about a year. When Third Sister-in-law gets her own salary, she can also give ten yuan every month to Mom and Dad as filial piety. That way, it’ll make up for the work she can’t do at home.”

At this point, Wei Xuan looked at the other two brothers, “And Big Brother and Second Brother, if you guys ever have another opportunity in the future and can’t take care of Mom and Dad, you should also contribute more.”

Of course, Wei Big Brother and Wei Second Brother had no objections. The main thing was, they didn’t think they’d ever have the opportunity to leave the village and move to a big city.

As for Wei Third Brother, Wei Xuan didn’t ask for an answer right away: “You and Third Sister-in-law can discuss it tonight.”

“Okay.” Right now, Wei Third Brother wouldn’t argue with anything Wei Xuan said. The situation had gotten to this point, and he had no face to disagree in front of his two older brothers and younger sister.

“Alright, now that we’ve finished with this matter, let’s talk about the grain collection.”

Finally, the main topic had arrived. The three Wei brothers perked up their ears, and even Wei Third Brother, who had been slouched earlier, straightened up to listen closely.

What did Wei Xuan say? She, of course, emphasized how Cheng Shao had made money from this work.

“If we really do it the way little sister says, this work can make money.”

“Of course, if it couldn’t make money, why would I have you guys come all the way here to talk? Am I just playing with you? Think about it, how big is the capital city? How many people live there? Don’t those people need food? Do they lack money? No, they lack resources! In the past, even though the countryside had grain, the grain had to be handed over. At home, we couldn’t even meet basic needs, so selling it wasn’t an option. But now it’s different. No matter how much grain we grow, the bulk of it stays in our hands. Just like this year’s summer harvest. The house must have a lot of grain, right?”

Thinking about the wheat in several rooms at home, the Wei brothers nodded in unison.

“That’s right. Now, what you need to do is, before others catch on, get the grain from the countryside to the city and sell it for money.”

Wei Second Brother was the first to catch on to what his little sister was implying: “So, little sister means there will be more people trading grain in the future?”

Wei Xuan nodded. It wasn’t just grain—anything that could be obtained could be sold.

So she told her brothers, “This is the inevitable trend. Look, the farmers have grain now, don’t they want to trade it for money to buy the things they need? In the past, people could only sell to grain stations, but now it’s different. The economy has reformed, and people are allowed to do business. There are so many clever people out there, and plenty of them will see this business opportunity. What we need to do is take the lead before the policy is fully clarified. Even if others start doing the same business, we’ll already have made money and gained experience and connections. Who will be able to compete with us?”

Looking at his little sister, who was speaking so confidently, Wei Third Brother’s mind was in a daze. Was this still the little sister who had failed every exam?

Wei Big Brother also felt confused. Besides understanding that the work could make money, he didn’t quite grasp the rest.

Only Wei Second Brother fully understood what his little sister meant. If things worked out as she said, this business could go on for a long time. Maybe at first, they’d have to hide and secretly buy and sell grain like small peddlers, but once everything was on track, it wouldn’t be a small business anymore—it would be a promising big business.

Thinking of this, Wei Second Brother couldn’t help but get excited.

“Little Sister, then does this mean we can also collect some eggs, vegetables, and things like that to sell, besides the grain?”

Wei Xuan didn’t expect Second Brother to catch on so quickly and come up with this idea. She was pleasantly surprised and said, “Of course! Second Brother, that’s exactly what I wanted to tell you. Besides what you mentioned, anything in the village like chickens, ducks, fish, etc., can be sold. Of course, at first, the focus will still be on grain because vegetables might spoil if they don’t sell, and meat from chickens and ducks is more expensive, so you’ll need some capital to buy them. Once you’ve been doing it for a while and have stable customers, you can definitely collect other things based on their needs.”

When Wei Xuan mentioned fish, Wei Third Brother suddenly remembered, “Little Sister, you wrote in your letter asking us to take over the village’s fish pond. Could it be that you were already thinking ahead about selling fish?”

Wei Xuan twitched her mouth. She wasn’t that good at planning, so she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Now, it was a seller’s market. As long as they managed the fish pond well, they wouldn’t lose money. Even if they couldn’t sell the fish, once she opened her shop, she could sell them there. That’s why Wei Xuan had encouraged her family to take over the fish pond.

Seeing that she didn’t say anything, Wei Third Brother thought he was right and sighed, “What a pity, Little Sister was thinking so far ahead for us.”

At first, Wei Father didn’t agree with taking over the fish pond. A fish pond would cost almost all the family’s money to secure. So when he went to the team leader’s office to talk about it, the fish pond had already been taken by the team leader’s family, and the contract was signed.

At that time, the Wei family didn’t take it seriously; after all, they had taken over so much land, and losing one fish pond would just mean less work.

Now, after everyone realized the situation, they all started to regret it.

Especially Wei Second Brother, who angrily said, “It really went to Wang Datou.” Wang Datou was the eldest son of the team leader and had never gotten along with Wei Second Brother since childhood.

Wei Xuan saw how they looked as though they had lost money and quickly said, “Enough, it’s just a fish pond. There’s no point in thinking so much about it now. Instead of wasting time thinking about that, we should focus on how to collect the grain without being noticed.”

Yeah! And how to transport the grain to the city was another issue.

Wei Xuan was also thinking about this problem. Even though it was still a rural area, it only took Cheng Shao an hour to get from his home to the capital city by bike, but from the Dalianhua production team to the city, the trip required two transfers.

If they took a passenger bus, they’d definitely get noticed after a long trip. But if they rode bicycles, not only was there the issue of distance, but how much grain could they carry each time? It would be quite exhausting.

Seeing the worried expressions on her brothers’ faces, Wei Xuan stood up and casually offered some reassurance: “Don’t worry, you can’t become rich overnight. We can only take it step by step. As long as we’re willing to do it, there’s always a way. Alright, the kid is probably about to wake up. I’ll go check on him. You guys should drink some water and clear your minds.”