Chapter 84: If We Don’t Set the Rules Now, It’ll Be Too Late

“Erha, stop barking.” Mengmeng, wobbling as she walked toward the dog, scolded Erha in a tone she must’ve picked up from someone else.

Cao Shujie watched his daughter charge ahead with reckless confidence, and he couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat on her behalf.

What if Erha got annoyed and snapped at her? Then what?

But to his surprise, he had clearly misjudged the situation—and overestimated Erha’s courage. After a short game of cross-eyed staring between Erha and Mengmeng, she reached out and grabbed the dog’s floppy ears. Erha instinctively glanced at Cao Shujie, then wisely chose to retreat for now.

“Huh, this dog’s actually pretty smart,” Cao Shujie muttered.

Cheng Xiaolin chimed in from the side, “Just like someone else I know. No wonder it’s smart.”

Then she darted off.

At first, Cao Shujie didn’t catch on. But when he saw his wife running off, it finally clicked—she’d just called him a dog. “You little minx, you’re asking for it!”

And with that, he took off after her.

Mengmeng watched her parents suddenly bolt away and stood there, confused. What just happened?

On July 16th, Cao Zhenggang called Cao Shujie to let him know the pigsty on the mountain was finally finished, and the wire fencing had all been installed. He asked him to come up and inspect the work.

When he got the call, Cao Shujie felt a wave of relief. Finally! If this had dragged on any longer, he would’ve lost his mind.

He let his wife know, then braved the scorching sun, riding his electric scooter all the way up to the orchard. After parking on the mountain’s turning platform, he headed straight toward where Cao Zhenggang was waiting.

“Shujie, you’re here early,” Cao Zhenggang greeted him warmly.

Cao Shujie’s eyes were already on the rows of pigsties built from red bricks and cement slabs to the north.

As he walked over, his mind was already buzzing with plans—how many cows, sheep, and chickens to raise, how many pigs to keep. He even thought about how, next time he craved meat, he wouldn’t bother buying it from outside. He’d just butcher one of his own. Profit didn’t matter; what mattered was peace of mind.

“Shujie, I did the math. If you really get this whole area running, you’ll be making serious money,” Cao Zhenggang said, eyeing the more than 80 mu of mountain land with a hint of envy.

For folks in the countryside, no matter how much money you make working outside, nothing beats the security of having land back home. It just feels more solid.

But Cao Shujie waved a hand modestly. “Grandpa Zhenggang, don’t say that.”

“You know better than anyone—I’ve already sunk seven to eight hundred thousand into this, and I still can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Who knows how many years it’ll take to break even.” The pressure weighed heavily on him.

Not to mention, he still had to pay over 2,300 yuan in loan interest every month.

Sure, he knew that interest would eventually be refunded to him, but he’d still have to pay back the 1.3 million yuan principal to the bank in one go!

That’s over 1.3 million RMB—not exactly pocket change.

Cao Shujie wasn’t some carefree fool. Of course he felt the pressure.

“The fruit’s almost ripe. I need to figure out how to sell it at a good price,” he thought to himself.

After the final cleanup, he and Cao Zhenggang settled the labor and material costs for the fencing and pigsty construction. Once the numbers were in, he realized this round had cost him even more than building the house—over 123,000 yuan.

That kind of spending really hit hard, but he didn’t regret it.

In his eyes, laying a solid foundation now meant fewer expenses down the road.

It was all about long-term investment for lifelong returns.

“Besides, I’ve got a 30-year lease—and I can renew it anytime. There’s still a long road ahead!” Cao Shujie wasn’t worried at all.

In fact, he was already planning to head back to the Rural Commercial Bank to talk to Ma Changrong about another loan once this batch of interest-free funds ran out.

What, they wouldn’t give him another?

Then he’d just go lie down in the bank and play dead!

He clearly remembered how some people in his past life pulled it off—perfectly demonstrating the saying: “The debtor is king!”

You couldn’t even die if you wanted to!

*Cough cough!* Lost in his triumphant daydreams, Cao Shujie nearly choked on his own spit and burst into a fit of coughing.

“Back to work, back to work.”

After pruning the orchard and removing the dead fruit, he finally made it home under the glow of the moon, which hung in the sky like a sickle. The moonlight was faint, but thanks to the land rental fees Cao Shujie had paid, Cao Family Village could now afford streetlights.

“Shujie, what took you so long?” Cheng Xiaolin asked.

He set the pruning shears down in the south room before heading off to wash his face.

He scooped up some sun-warmed water and splashed his face. The water in the basin turned black.

Staring at the murky water, he drifted off in thought. Meanwhile, Mengmeng came pattering over.

She tiptoed to peer into the basin, then let out a loud, “Ew! Daddy’s so dirty!”

*Smack!* Out of nowhere, Cheng Xiaolin appeared and gave her a swat on the butt. “Mengmeng, watch your mouth or I’ll spank you again.”

Mengmeng was stunned, staring up at her mom with teary eyes, not understanding what she’d done wrong.

Cheng Xiaolin scolded her, “Your dad’s working hard to earn money for you. Say something like that again, and you’ll get it worse.”

But Mengmeng didn’t understand grown-up logic. Her bottom lip trembled, eyes brimming with tears, looking like she might burst into sobs at any moment.

Cheng Xiaolin barked again, “Mengmeng, don’t you cry. If you cry, I’ll spank you again.”

Terrified, Mengmeng held back her sobs as best she could, sniffling quietly. Still, two fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

Wang Yuelan, not knowing what had happened, saw her granddaughter crying and rushed over, heart aching. “Mengmeng, what did you do to make Mommy mad? Tell Grandmother.”

“Mom, leave her be,” Cheng Xiaolin said. “This little rascal’s getting too bold. If we don’t set the rules now, we won’t be able to control her later.”

Hearing her daughter-in-law say that, Wang Yuelan wisely turned and headed back to the kitchen. “Shujie, are you hungry? I’ll heat up some food for you.”

Cao Shujie: “…”

So he was just there to be a background prop.

Mengmeng: “o(╥﹏╥)o”

She watched as Grandmother walked into the kitchen. Just then, she thought about reaching out to grab Grandmother and burst into tears, hoping Grandmother would stand up for her—but it was no use. Wang Yuelan acted like she hadn’t heard a thing.

And that only earned her a scolding from Cheng Xiaolin: “Mengmeng, go ahead and cry, let me hear it.”

Hearing her mom say that, Mengmeng sniffled, turned around, and ran off.

(End of this chapter)