Chapter 30: I’m Not in It for the Money, Just Looking for Something to Do

“All fenced in?” Cao Zhenggang asked cautiously.

Cao Shujie nodded. “All fenced in, or we really won’t be able to manage it.”

That made sense—the whole area had already been contracted by Cao Shujie. During the contract period, it was basically his private land.

“Alright, I’ll take the job,” Cao Zhenggang agreed. Work is work, as long as he gets paid.

The other eight people at the table were also quite happy. They hadn’t expected that the first job after Cao Shujie contracted the mountain fields would go to them.

Cao Shujie was a solid guy!

“Shujie, you’ve really made something of yourself,” said a middle-aged man named Cao Yong, giving him a thumbs up.

He added, “You’re the same age as my nephew, but you’ve already contracted all that land. My nephew’s still working in the provincial capital, earning less than 2,000 yuan a month.”

Cao Jianyou chimed in, “Exactly, no one in our village has your guts.”

“Dayong, Jianyou, stop flattering him or he’ll start thinking he can fly,” said Cao Jianguo. He was even happier inside, but he still knew to stay modest.

Even Wang Yuelan was beaming with joy. Her son was capable, and she was genuinely proud.

It wasn’t like when her son had just come back—people were gossiping that he’d failed out there. She’d been furious at the time, but no one believed her when she tried to explain. She’d had to bottle it up.

Now she could finally breathe easy.

After finishing her meal, Mengmeng was full of energy. She couldn’t sit still indoors and ran outside.

Thankfully, Daha and Erha were with her, so she didn’t wander off.

She stopped in front of the makeshift cage that held the little wild rabbit and pouted at the limp creature inside. “Xiao Huihui, are you sick? Need a shot?”

The little rabbit lifted its head to glance at her, then drooped again, ignoring her.

Maybe it was thinking, “Who do you think you are, deciding I need a shot?”

But Mengmeng wasn’t about to give up. She smacked the cage hard—bang bang—almost flipping it over. The rabbit inside was shaken up and scared stiff, instantly standing up and staring at her warily.

“Hee hee, Xiao Huihui’s all better now,” Mengmeng said happily, feeling proud of her own brilliance.

She turned to Daha and Erha and said, “See? Awesome, right?”

Daha stuck out his tongue and gave her a sideways look—utterly resigned.

Erha went even further, lying flat on his back with all four paws in the air, eyes rolled back, playing dead.

Seeing that, Mengmeng got even more excited. “Daha, Erha are sick too. Time for shots!”

She started looking around for a “needle.”

Not far away, she spotted a stick as long as her arm. She ran over, picked it up, and marched toward Daha and Erha.

The two dogs were still dumbfounded, not realizing Mengmeng was about to strike.

By the time she poked Erha’s belly with the stick, they realized something was wrong.

“Ow…” Erha yelped instinctively in pain.

“See? Shot worked. You’re better!” Mengmeng declared, convinced her “medical skills” had cured him, and began poking even more enthusiastically.

Erha had had enough. He rolled over and stood up, barking furiously at her: “Awoo! Woof, woof!”

His face twisted in rage, showing his teeth—he looked like he was ready to risk it all for a bite. But the moment he heard Cao Shujie’s voice, his momentum died.

“Erha, are you looking for trouble?”

The brown-eyed Erha glanced at Cao Shujie standing at the door. He’d never forgotten how this man kept them awake all night chanting.

“Meow!” called the little wild cat perched on the wall, perhaps trying to advise Erha to know when to back off. After all, they were living and eating at his place—don’t be an idiot.

“Awoo.”

Erha whimpered and rolled over on the ground, making Mengmeng laugh out loud.

“Daddy, look! The puppy’s so cute!” she shouted happily.

“Yeah, play with them, but don’t run off, okay?” Cao Shujie reminded his daughter.

“Okay!” Mengmeng replied cheerfully.

Cao Shujie went back inside, poured water for his father and the others, and chatted with them.

He shared his ideas for improving the mountain fields, like putting up a wire fence, digging a well on the mountain, and laying irrigation pipes.

Everyone was stunned. They realized no one else in the entire Cao family village was doing what Cao Shujie was doing.

“Shujie, that’s going to cost a lot of money,” Cao Zhenggang reminded him.

Cao Shujie nodded. “Grandpa Zhenggang, I know. But once the infrastructure is in place, everything will be easier and more efficient.”

Since he was so determined, no one said anything more. The job was simple—do the work, earn the money!

…

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. With April more than halfway over, the weather was warming up fast, and even a thin long-sleeve shirt didn’t feel cold anymore.

In the past couple of days, Cao Shujie had also gone to check on the house. It was nearly done—just a few finishing touches left. In another three or four days, it would be ready for airing out and then he could get Cao Tiemin to start the interior work.

Thinking of that, Cao Shujie called Cao Tiemin. “Tiemin, if you’re free in the next couple of days, come back—I’ll treat you to a drink.”

“Screw your drink, I’m busy. Just tell me what you want,” Cao Tiemin snapped, practically rolling his eyes.

Cao Shujie didn’t beat around the bush. “Didn’t I tell you the house renovation would start after construction? In three or four days it’ll be done. Come check it out and give me a design plan.”

“What kind of style do you want?” asked Cao Tiemin.

“Well, since I built it, might as well make it nice—comfortable to live in, you know?”

He added, “I figured European styles wouldn’t fit in a village. Just give me something like a Chinese countryside style.”

That wasn’t helpful at all.

“…”

Cao Tiemin wanted to curse. “Screw you, I’ll come back in a couple of days and we’ll talk then.”

“Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up—I’m in the middle of a job.”

But Cao Shujie actually did have another question. “Tiemin, do you know where I can buy wire fencing? I want to buy a lot and fence off the mountain I contracted.”

“I walked all over town and couldn’t find any, and no one knows where to get it either.”

That reminded Cao Tiemin of something. “Shujie, you almost made me forget. My mom just told me you contracted over 80 mu of mountain fields.”

Even hearing that number made his liver tremble. He blurted out, “You contracted that much to plant fruit trees? That’s back-breaking work and doesn’t even make much money.”

“What do you mean by ‘much money’? Like making billions a year?” Cao Shujie said indifferently. “I’m not in it for the money. I’m just looking for something to do!”

That was some serious bragging. Tiemin cursed and told him to ask Cao Zhen, who knew a lot of people.

Then he hung up right away, afraid that if he listened any longer, he might crawl through the phone line and kill him.

(End of Chapter)