When the couple were alone, Shen Xuyue asked Zhao Mingyue, "Didn't you say that the three older brothers would get a 2% bonus?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "I've thought about it, but giving them money is less effective than helping them find a way to make money. They're all young and capable; giving them money for nothing might not be a good thing." What if her brothers think they have her as a patron and become lazy and idle? Wouldn't that harm them? There are countless examples of people becoming corrupted by money, especially money that comes too easily. Those who win big in the lottery often abandon their wives and children and squander it all, becoming penniless in just a few years. Therefore, money earned by oneself is more valuable.

Shen Xuyue nodded: "That makes sense. If you say that 10% of the shares are given to Third Brother, I reckon the two sisters-in-law wouldn't be too happy."

"They should have some ideas, since my third brother wasn't involved. If they disagree, I'll ask them to return some of the money to me later, and I can use it to help my third brother open a clinic or pharmacy." Zhao Mingyue had made up her mind. She could support all three of her brothers in starting their own businesses. Her third brother was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, so opening a TCM clinic would be a good idea. As long as he had the skills, he wouldn't have to worry about not having patients.

Shen Xuyue gave a thumbs-up approvingly: "Great idea, I support it."

Zhao Mingyue said, "I'm worried about one thing that's a bit difficult. If I don't let my nephews and nieces work in my factory, will my family think too much about it? This is different from your family's situation. They all have their own careers, and everyone is together, so there's no need to worry about estrangement. If I tell my brother and sister-in-law that I don't want their children to work in my factory in the future, will they think I look down on them, that I'm not letting them go to Beijing, and that I'm deliberately distancing myself from relatives back home?"

Shen Xuyue frowned and thought, "If I explain it clearly, it should be alright. It would be best to find a solution that satisfies both sides."

Zhao Mingyue said, "How about setting up a startup fund or a school fund? When the children go to university, study abroad, or start their own businesses, they can receive a sum of money from here. Of course, the startup fund will only be one sum, no more, so they can go out and make their own way. I will treat your children and my children equally, so you shouldn't feel that I am distancing myself from them."

Shen Xuyue thought for a moment: "This idea seems good. However, some people may feel it's unfair, after all, the number of children in their families is different. My second brother's family has four children."

"What can I do? If they can't understand, let them have another child. I don't mind spending more money. Aren't their situations the same? Their family property, divided between two children and four children, will it be equal?" Zhao Mingyue said, then suddenly laughed. "I feel like I'm a big piece of fat meat, being cut off here and there. Do I have the ability to support such a large group of people?"

Shen Xuyue reached out and patted his wife's head: "You've worked so hard. Not only are you exhausted, but you also have to maintain the relationships of such a large family. It's better when we don't have money, but when we have money, it's easy for us to drift apart. It's clear that money is not a good thing."

"That's right. I'm afraid that even if I work so hard, no one will appreciate it. That would be the most disheartening thing," Zhao Mingyue sighed.

Shen Xuyue said, "How could that be? Don't worry, no matter what, I'm on your side."

The couple were discussing the matter inside the house when Hu Nianchun and Zhao Shunsheng knocked on the slightly ajar door: "Mingyue."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Mom, I'm here. Come in."

Zhao Shunsheng and Hu Nianchun pushed open the door and walked in. Zhao Mingyue asked, "Dad's here too. Where's Liangliang?"

“She’s playing outside with her older brother and sister,” Hu Nianchun said, sitting down next to Zhao Mingyue. Zhao Shunsheng sat down on a stool and asked, “Would you like to warm yourself by the fire?”

"No need, it's not too cold yet," Zhao Mingyue said.

Hu Nianchun got down to business: "I heard from your father that you're going to pay for your two older brothers to lease a mountain to grow tea?"

Zhao Mingyue nodded: "That's the plan."

"Given away for free, not borrowed?" Hu Nianchun said in surprise.

Zhao Mingyue said, "I guess so."

“How can you give it away for free? Did you find any money on the street? Why would you give it to your brother for no reason? It’s good enough if you can lend him money; there’s no such thing as giving it away for nothing. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts; that’s how you can make a living. If you get into the habit of giving, they’ll all think you’re a piece of meat and will be trying to squeeze money out of you every day.” Hu Nianchun strongly disapproved of his daughter’s approach. His sons were already doing very well. The eldest two owned factories, the youngest was a doctor, and they all earned more than others. The two eldest sons were even millionaires, living better lives than most people in the village. There was absolutely no need for them to help him out.

Zhao Shunsheng puffed on his pipe and said, "Xiao Shen, Mingyue, it's not easy for you two to earn money. Your brothers are well-off, so you don't need to give them money. Let them earn it themselves."

Hu Nianchun continued, "Even if you give them the money, they might not remember your kindness and might even think you didn't give them enough. Today you asked for those shares, and your two sisters-in-law aren't happy about it, are they? You paid for them all, and it's up to you how much you want. If you only ask for 10%, they'll think you're asking for too much."

Zhao Mingyue chuckled, looked at her parents, and said, "Actually, my sisters-in-law probably think I gave that money to my third brother, and they're not too happy about it, since he didn't do anything."

Hu Nianchun said, "So, don't give money to anyone. Keep your money safe. Let them earn it themselves. They have hands and feet, and they're not incapable of making money."

Zhao Mingyue knew her mother was right, but she still wanted to maintain a balance for the sake of both families: "I just feel that I'm in a better position now, so I want to help my brothers get rich sooner and have a better life."

“Life is already very good. We’ve built a new house, and your older brother is even planning to buy a tractor. We have meat to eat every day. In the past, we couldn’t even get enough to eat. What more could we ask for?” Hu Nianchun said.

Shen Xuyue looked at his mother-in-law and said, "Mom, Mingyue has already said this, so we can't go back on our word. As for the final decision, let's see what my brother and sister-in-law think."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Dad, Mom, this is what I'm planning. If my eldest and second eldest brothers are unwilling to give their shares to my third brother, I'll have them return a sum of money to me. Then I'll give that money to my third brother to support him in opening a clinic or something. That way, I'll be sponsoring my three brothers' business venture."

Hu Nianchun shook his head and sighed, saying, "Your daughter doesn't value money at all."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Mom, I earn money so that we can live a better life and make our family's life better. Actually, there's another request I haven't mentioned. I want my brothers' families to be doing well so that when their children grow up, they won't try to force their children to work for me. What I fear most is relatives coming to work for me. If they do well, that's fine, but I'm afraid they'll do badly and cause all sorts of trouble. I can't fire them or scold them. You can imagine how difficult it is for me."

Hu Nianchun said, "What's wrong with scolding? You're an elder, so you can scold me if you need to."

“If I scold them or take action, won’t my brothers and sisters-in-law have something to say? That would hurt their feelings and disrupt harmony. The family would end up straining their relationship because of this, which is what I fear most. So I’m thinking of letting them sort out their own affairs so they won’t have to rely on me anymore. I’m willing to help if they have difficulties, but they can’t come to me to do work. I’d rather give them money to start their own businesses,” Zhao Mingyue said. She now deeply understands the difficulty of explaining this to her family; how to strike the right balance without hurting their feelings.

Zhao Shunsheng tapped his pipe and said, "The problem that Mingyue is considering isn't nonexistent; it's indeed possible that this could happen. Since that's what you're thinking, then just say it outright."

Zhao Mingyue said, "I'm worried that my brothers and sisters-in-law will feel that I look down on them and won't let them come to my house."

“Visiting relatives and doing business should be separate things, they are not the same thing,” Hu Nianchun said. “Besides, since you live so far apart, it’s not easy to get close to each other. If you don’t invite them, why would they think of visiting your house? They probably don’t even call you normally.”

Hu Nianchun was telling the truth. Generally speaking, only Zhao Minglang kept in touch with Zhao Mingyue. Her two older brothers never called to check on her unless necessary; it was always Zhao Mingyue who initiated the calls. Zhao Mingyue was quite far from her two brothers in age, and their relationship wasn't particularly close to begin with. Now that they were all married and had their own families, and didn't know how to express their feelings, it was no surprise that they had become distant.

That's probably how it is between most relatives, especially those who live so far apart. The problem is when they don't contact you unless there's a problem, and then they always come looking for you, and you can't refuse, or they'll say you're heartless. It's never easy to be perfect and please everyone.

Zhao Mingyue smiled and said, "Mom, let's not talk about this. I'm the younger sister, so I'll just let it go. Anyway, I'll make things clear upfront so we don't have to argue later."

Hu Nianchun said, "Okay."

The family gathered for dinner that evening, and the eldest brother said they would discuss the matter after dinner. Adults and children ate together; one eight-immortal table wasn't enough, so they set up two, and it was almost full—adults at one table, and children at another. Liangliang had played with his older siblings all afternoon and was very familiar with them. At dinner, he insisted on sitting at the same table as them and wouldn't let Zhao Mingyue feed him. Zhao Mingyue was happy to have some peace and quiet, letting him do as he pleased, only reminding him, "Don't spill your food; cherish it."

Liangliang answered loudly at the table, "I know. It's from 'Sympathy for the Peasants': 'Hoeing the fields at noon, sweat drips onto the soil; who knows that every grain in the bowl is the result of hard work?'" Zhao Mingyue taught him this Tang poem, and he's quite good at using it.

Liangliang made everyone in the room laugh, and they all praised him for being clever. The little guy was beaming with pride, eating with his head held high. With children around, there's always more joy.

After dinner, Liangliang went to his uncle's house with his older siblings because the adults had important matters to discuss, and the children weren't allowed to listen in. Surprisingly, Liangliang wasn't clingy at all. It was his second brother's precious son, however, who had been pestering his mother since dusk and fell asleep before even finishing his meal.

My sister-in-law said, "Mingyue, your Yangyang is very attached to you."

Zhao Mingyue smiled and said, "Yes, we've slept separately since we were little, so we're very independent. We're not clingy."

The second sister-in-law said, "My son is no good. He's fine during the day, but at night, he follows me everywhere." Her youngest son is her precious darling and spoiled.

Zhao Mingyue said, "Don't spoil boys so much. They'll be the ones supporting the whole family in the future."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Zhao Mingyue asked, "How did things go with your discussions back home? Have you come up with the budget yet?"

Zhao Mingliang was taken aback: "Budget? You mean the money for leasing the mountain and buying equipment?"

Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Yes, roughly how much mountain land we need to contract, how many tea seedlings we need, and how much money we need to buy equipment. Just give us a rough estimate."

"We haven't done a budget for this yet. Let's calculate it now." The older brother was clearly not used to big things and hadn't considered things thoroughly enough.

Zhao Mingyue said, "Let's calculate together. Take a thousand mu of tea garden as an example. The contract fee for one mu is about five yuan per year. The contract fee for the land is not much, about five thousand yuan a year. About three thousand tea seedlings need to be planted per mu. The price of one tea seedling is about five cents. The cost for a thousand mu is 150,000 yuan. Of course, if you buy more tea seedlings, the price may be cheaper, maybe two or three cents. Even if it's three cents, it will still cost 90,000 yuan. We also need to hire people to clear the land and plant tea trees. So at the beginning, it will definitely cost more than 100,000 yuan."

When Zhao Mingyue calculated the amount, everyone gasped. Over ten thousand yuan—they had never heard of such a large sum in their lives. The parents were stunned, and the brothers and sisters-in-law exchanged bewildered glances. Their factory expansion had only cost them twenty thousand yuan so far; they never imagined that leasing mountain land to grow tea would cost so much.

Zhao Minghui said, "What if we contract the village's tea plantations?"

Zhao Mingyue glanced at her second brother and said, "What's the price of tea now? Let's say it's ten yuan per jin on average. One mu of land can produce fifty jin of dried tea leaves a year, so the income is five hundred yuan per mu. How much would it cost to contract one mu of land? At least two hundred yuan, I estimate it's more than that. The cost of one thousand mu of land a year would be two hundred thousand yuan. There's also the cost of tea picking. And it's that much every year."

Everyone fell silent for a moment. They hadn't even calculated the cost yet, and they hadn't expected the investment to be so large.

Second Sister-in-law said, "Can we lease less land? A thousand acres is too much. Do we really need that much?"

Zhao Mingyue glanced at her second sister-in-law: "You think it's too much now and are afraid of spending money, but one day you'll think it's not enough, and you won't be able to rent any more mountains. We can't just look at the immediate needs; we need to have a long-term vision. Even if it's a thousand acres of tea garden, at the current market price, you can only earn 500,000 yuan a year. After deducting all kinds of costs, you'll be lucky to earn half of that."

The brothers and sisters-in-law stared in disbelief. They now run a tea factory, and because of its limited scale, the price of fresh tea leaves is relatively high. Each of the brothers can earn more than 10,000 yuan a year, which they already consider remarkable and are the envy of everyone. Now, hearing that they can earn more than 200,000 yuan a year, it has truly opened up a new world for them. They never dared to dream of it before.

Zhao Mingyue continued, "So, it's more worthwhile to contract barren mountains yourself. After all, land is cheap, and you can contract it for ten or twenty years at a time. The amount of money you spend each year is limited, and if the tea trees are well maintained, they don't need to be replaced for many years."

The eldest brother, Zhao Mingliang, finally started thinking: "Mingyue, are you saying you'll cover all the costs for us?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "Yes, I'll cover it for you. Do you want me to have 10% of the shares, or do you want me to get my money back? Of course, you don't have to pay me back all the money, just give me one-third, and I'll give it to Third Brother."

The eldest and second eldest brothers looked at each other and asked, "Shall we discuss this again?" If they earn 200,000 yuan a year, they would have to give 20,000 yuan to the third brother, which is no small amount.

Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Okay."

My brother and sister-in-law all went out. They discussed it all afternoon but couldn't come up with a plan, not even a basic calculation. It was clear they were just going by gut feeling.

Zhao Shunsheng and Hu Nianchun remained silent, their hearts aching as they listened to their daughter say she wanted to give over ten thousand yuan to her sons to start a tea factory. Ten thousand yuan—that was no small sum; they had never seen so much money in their lives. These days, even households with ten thousand yuan were rare. She just took it all out at once. Had their daughter really earned that much money in Beijing?

Hu Nianchun said, "Mingyue, you're not going to borrow money from someone else for your brother, are you?"

Shen Xuyue smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry, we will do what we are capable of. We will definitely not try to do things we can't do."

Hu Nianchun nodded, still somewhat incredulous: "You really have that much money?"

"It's alright," Zhao Mingyue said.

About ten minutes later, my brothers and sisters-in-law returned. My eldest brother said, "As you said, we'll return one-third of your money to you."

Zhao Mingyue nodded, still reluctant to give her third brother a share of the money for nothing: "The money earned in the first few years should mainly be used to pay back my money. I'll give it to my third brother as soon as possible." There was a major inflation in 1988, currency devaluation, and soaring prices. After the 1990s, money became even less valuable, so it was important to pay back the money as early as possible.

The older brother nodded: "Okay."

Zhao Mingyue added, "There's one more thing I want to mention. I hope my brothers and sisters-in-law won't overthink it. I have my reasons. You're all working now, and you'll definitely encounter the same problems I face. In the future, I don't want my brothers and sisters-in-law to arrange for their family members to work in my factory. They can come to Beijing to visit, study, start a business, or find work—that's all fine, I can help. But I won't accept any relatives to work in my factory. This is mainly because I'm afraid someone might use their family connections to gain special privileges, which would be difficult for me to manage. If I try to manage them, it will damage relationships. So I won't use any relatives. I've also spoken with Xuyue's family about not arranging for any relatives to work for me, and they've agreed."

The brothers and sisters-in-law all looked at Zhao Mingyue, and no one spoke for a moment. Hu Nianchun said, "Your sister is worried that if her family members go to work for her, it will be difficult for her to manage them. Managing them is wrong, and not managing them is also wrong, so it puts her in a difficult position and damages the harmony among relatives. You should be more understanding."

Second brother Zhao Minghui nodded and said, "Okay, that's fine."

Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief: "I hope my brothers and sisters-in-law can understand this. I welcome everyone to visit Beijing. In fact, my nephews and nieces are welcome to come to Beijing to find work or start their own businesses. I'm even planning to set up a study and entrepreneurship fund for them. As long as they get into university, or even want to study abroad or start their own businesses, I can sponsor them. The only requirement is that they can't come to my factory. I'm afraid that corruption will breed and cause trouble, which will make everyone look bad and feel uncomfortable."

When her brothers and sisters-in-law heard that she was willing to pay for her nephews and nieces' university education, overseas studies, and business ventures, they were somewhat surprised, and of course, had no reason to object. Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the matter was finally settled; it was considered settled. As for the money, once the land was contracted and she returned home, the funds would be wired over. Her father would manage the money, withdrawing funds only when needed, to avoid any concealment or false reporting.

Zhao Mingyue could finally relax and enjoy the New Year. When her third brother came back for the New Year, she would tell him and his wife, and then the matter would be completely settled. She figured there shouldn't be any problems with her third brother; he was her closest relative, and she would be happy to help him out in private.