That evening, Wang Cheng took the initiative and called Chu Yifeng to explain what had happened during the day. Earlier, he had told Papa Wang that he had asked Boss to put on an act with him, but that had actually been a lie. He had never discussed any such thing with Chu Yifeng. He had simply trusted that Chu Yifeng was smart enough to understand the situation and play along without asking questions.
He did not dare tell Papa Wang that part. Before they had defined their relationship, he could have openly told Papa Wang that the two of them were friends. Now, however, Wang Cheng felt guilty. He was afraid Papa Wang might notice even the slightest clue, and if Papa Wang noticed, Mama Wang would certainly find out too.
“Boss Chu, busy?”
“Not busy. You can explain now.” In his apartment, Chu Yifeng held the phone in one hand while using a wireless mouse with the other to browse a webpage on his computer, which made his claim of not being busy rather questionable.
From that answer alone, Wang Cheng knew Chu Yifeng had been waiting for his call, so he briefly explained what happened during the day.
“If you dislike your eldest uncle’s family that much, why not simply bring them down?”
Chu Yifeng’s suggestion was wonderfully simple, direct, and ruthless. If things were really that easy, Wang Cheng would not have minded at all. But with Old Madam Wang’s extreme temperament, she would certainly come after him and then go around telling everyone how terrible his parents were. Wang Cheng himself would not care, but he worried his parents would be affected.
“It hasn’t reached that point yet. Besides, I still have to consider my parents. We all live in the same village now, so we’ll definitely keep running into one another. There’s no need to push things that far for the time being.” Wang Cheng lay on the bed with one leg crossed over the other. Some things really could not be done without considering the consequences.
Since he had already said that, Chu Yifeng did not press the matter.
“Right, Boss Chu. I contracted one mountain, and Secretary Guan from our village threw in a fruit mountain as well. This happens to be the season when the fruit is ripening.”
“So?” Chu Yifeng immediately heard what he was implying.
Because Wang Cheng had something he wanted to discuss, his voice carried a trace of caution and guilt. “I’m planning to hire some people to pick fruit in the mountains. That fruit mountain is pretty big, and the fruit is ripening little by little. We probably won’t finish picking everything anytime soon, so… I think I may have to delay going back for a while.”
The other end of the line immediately fell silent.
Wang Cheng’s heart started pounding. There was still about a month left in the agreement he and Chu Yifeng had made. If he were still only Chu Yifeng’s employee, he definitely would not have brought this up. But their relationship was different now. Surely he was allowed to think about his own interests a little. Besides, he had thought three months was excessive from the beginning. Only after joining Huaying Real Estate and getting involved in the work connected to Fengxia Mountain did he realize that the condition he had demanded from Chu Yifeng back then had hardly affected Chu Yifeng’s plans at all. By the time he realized it, the deal was already done, and there was no point complaining. He could only blame himself for being stupid enough to believe it. The more he thought about that, the more justified he felt.
“So you know you’ve got me wrapped around your finger, is that it?” Chu Yifeng asked lazily.
“So are you agreeing or not? I’m telling you, you can object, but I can’t guarantee what’ll happen after you object.”
“You’re already threatening me like that. Do I dare refuse?” Chu Yifeng stopped what he was doing and slowly exhaled. In all thirty years of his life, Wang Cheng was the only person who had ever dared threaten him. He could already imagine Wang Cheng’s shameless expression on the other end of the line. The feeling was genuinely novel.
Wang Cheng laughed. “Don’t put it like that, Boss Chu. Threatening sounds awful. I’m obviously discussing it with you.”
“And if the discussion doesn’t go the way you want, you’ll break up with me?”
Wang Cheng immediately sprang upright and protested, “Boss Chu, don’t falsely accuse me. How could I ever do something that rotten?”
“Who was the one threatening me just now?” Chu Yifeng pointed out the evidence at an unhurried pace.
“Boss Chu, you’re a man. Why are you being so petty? Besides, I never mentioned breaking up. You misunderstood on your own. That has nothing to do with me.” Unable to argue his way out of it, Wang Cheng simply started acting shamelessly. It was hardly his first time.
“I’ve never met anyone as shameless as you.”
“Well, now you have. I’ve broadened your horizons, so you should be thanking me.”
Chu Yifeng laughed.
The two chatted for more than an hour. Once it was past ten, Mama Wang called from outside Wang Cheng’s room, telling him and Wang Ziyu to go to bed early, and only then did Wang Cheng wrap up the conversation.
“I’m hanging up. My mom’s calling. You should sleep early too. Don’t work too late. If you want a late-night snack, boil some dumplings. There’s frozen food in the refrigerator.”
“Mm. Good night.”
After hanging up, Chu Yifeng closed his laptop, took out a cigarette, and lit it. He took a deep drag and exhaled, the smoke blurring his face. This was the first time he had ever spent more than an hour talking to someone on the phone. What struck him more deeply, however, was that what he had said earlier was true. Wang Cheng really did have him wrapped around his finger, yet he felt no displeasure at all. Instead, there was a strange sense of willingly allowing it, a feeling both fresh and increasingly addictive.
With all four members of the Wang household working together, the new house was finally cleaned by the following morning. What happened the day before had not affected the family’s mood. They simply went about their business as usual, as though nothing had happened.
The neighbors found it strange. Old Madam Wang’s temperament had already become known back when Papa Wang married Mama Wang. Everyone had assumed she would never let the matter rest. Several gossip-loving aunties had even been waiting to bring stools over and watch the next round, yet the entire day passed peacefully without anything happening.
The villagers gathered in little groups and chattered about it, but nobody could work out what had happened, and eventually the matter was dropped.
Madam Zhang, however, had no intention of giving up. Nothing delighted her more than watching Eldest Uncle’s household fight with Wang Cheng’s family. She would have happily fanned the flames until the fire burned even hotter. So she made several trips to Eldest Uncle’s house and finally managed to pry out the reason.
The truth gave her quite a fright. Madam Zhang immediately remembered Mama Wang’s warning that day. Fortunately, she had not kept fighting Guan Lanfang head-on. Otherwise, with Wang Cheng like this, he might have ruined their entire family.
Wang Cheng had no idea that his actions had unintentionally made the sharp-tongued and petty Madam Zhang wary of him. For quite some time afterward, she did not dare stir up trouble again.
Once the matter of the new house was settled, Wang Cheng finally turned his attention seriously to the contracting agreement in his hands.
The contract term was twenty years. It had originally been only fifteen, but Secretary Guan considered the relationship between the two families and the fact that Wang Cheng had genuinely helped solve a major problem for him. Through his connections, he managed to add another five years without increasing the price by much.
Although Wang Cheng had actually been drawn by the fruit mountain, he could not simply leave the medicinal herbs in the other mountain untouched. He had paid money for them, after all. Ever since Secretary Guan publicly announced that Wang Cheng had contracted the two mountains, the villagers had stopped going up to gather herbs and pick fruit. Not everyone was that conscientious, however. Some of the more overbearing villagers did not care, while others even sent children up the mountain to pick things on their behalf.
“Hire more people,” Papa Wang suggested. “I’ve seen that fruit mountain. It’s huge. There’s no way our family alone can pick everything.”
“Your dad’s right. We can’t delay this anymore. If some fruit stays on the trees too long, it’ll fall and rot.” Mama Wang had no objection either. Besides, some fruit grew very high up. They were not professionals, so picking it would be troublesome.
Wang Cheng nodded. “All right. Let’s hire a group first and see how it goes.”
“Better make sure some of them know what they’re doing.” Guanjia Village had no shortage of people with that kind of experience.
“And we need to deal with the medicinal herbs in the mountains too.” Papa Wang was most concerned about the herbs. Fruit, after all, was not as valuable.
“I know. Don’t worry, Dad.” Wang Cheng had already worked out part of a plan the night before. Once the decision was made, they began recruiting workers.
Quite a few people signed up after the news spread. Wang Cheng was not surprised. Most villagers in Guanjia Village farmed for a living, but farming did not keep them busy all year. There were plenty of times when they had nothing to do at home. So the moment they heard the Wang family was hiring, they rushed over to register.
Wang Cheng did a rough count and found fifty or sixty applicants. He had no intention of hiring that many for now. After some selection, he settled on roughly half, including people who were especially good at picking fruit from high branches. There were both men and women. Those who were not chosen were disappointed, but when Wang Cheng told them he would hire more people later, they finally dispersed.
Wang Cheng told everyone to gather at the foot of the mountain at seven-thirty the next morning, then sent them home.
That afternoon, Wang Cheng and Papa Wang went to the market to prepare tools for the next day. Mama Wang and Wang Ziyu went to choose furniture instead. They had abandoned quite a bit of old furniture during the move, so the new house was still rather empty and needed plenty of replacements. The four divided up the work, and their days became busy but fulfilling.