Chapter 166 Completely Subdued

Since the last time, Chen Fanglan and Grandma Xi's relationship has improved a lot.

Previously, Chen Fanglan would only dare to call home once every two weeks or even once a month, but now she calls home every few days, and they don't argue.

Chen Fanglan spoke gently on the phone with Grandma Xi, but after hanging up, she let out a long sigh.

She looked at Shen Xuewei and said, "Your grandma just told me that her back hurts. I was thinking of buying some ointment or something to take back to her next time I go home."

Shen Xuewei looked worried: "Is it serious? Should we go to the hospital?"

"She should be fine. She's just been working too much in the fields lately and is probably tired. Some ointment will do the trick."

Chen Fanglan said helplessly, "I've told her not to farm so much land, but she just won't listen. It's tiring and doesn't make any money. What's the point of all that effort..."

Looking at Shen Xuewei, whose eyes were vacant, she remembered that the methods Shen Xuewei had given her before had been quite good, and tentatively asked:

"Weiwei, do you have any ideas on how to let your grandparents rest more and not farm so much land?"

Shen Xuewei refocused her attention, picked up the pen that had been spinning around, and casually said:

"Yes, there is a way, but I'm afraid you won't be willing to part with it."

Chen Fanglan's eyes lit up, and she pressed for an answer: "What method?"

Shen Xuewei rubbed her thumb against her index finger twice. "My method might require a lot of money..."

Chen Fanglan squeezed in next to her and sat down. "You go first, I'll think about it."

Seeing her great interest, Shen Xuewei, who had been feeling sleepy while doing her homework, also perked up.

And you know what? If her aunt really helps, her grandparents might have to work less in the fields, and she won't have to work so hard anymore.

She then told Chen Fanglan about her terrible idea.

"Auntie, think about it. Grandpa and Grandma farm so much land. Besides what they eat, there's also what they use to feed the chickens and pigs. What else do they want to do?"

Chen Fanglan clearly knows her parents very well. "For the sake of money, they want to sell more and save more money to hold onto."

Shen Xuewei clapped her hands. "That's right, one important reason is money."

"But when the money they make from farming is far less than the cost they incur, to the point that they're essentially losing money to farm, do you think they'll still farm?"

Chen Fanglan understood what she meant.

“I understand. I’ll give them five hundred yuan a month now, and then I won’t give them any more. I’ll use that five hundred yuan to hire a few people to work in the fields with them… No, I also need to call your second uncle and talk to him about it…”

She's a woman of action; once she decides to do something, she does it right away. She picked up her phone and called Chen Fangyang.

After hearing the idea, Chen Fangyang nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then I won't give you that two thousand yuan a month anymore. Third sister, here, transfer it to you, and you can arrange someone for me."

Chen Fanglan beamed with joy at the thought of what she was about to do.

She patted her chest and assured Chen Fangyang, "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it. This time, I'll definitely make sure Mom and Dad are completely under my thumb."

Chen Fangyang chuckled, then suddenly felt something was amiss.

"Third sister, this doesn't seem like an idea you would come up with. Did Xiao Weiwei suggest it to you?"

Chen Fanglan denied it, saying, "Weiwei is so young, how could she have thought of these things? I just thought of them when I was bored."

Chen Fangyang felt guilty towards his parents for becoming someone else's live-in son-in-law.

Every time I go home, I always try to act like a dutiful son in front of my parents.

He used to be tight-lipped, but now... Chen Fanglan wasn't sure.

She had reason to suspect that Chen Fangyang might reveal something he shouldn't have in order to impress his parents in the future.

It's best not to involve Weiwei in this matter.

To avoid accidentally revealing it later, which would make things difficult for Weiwei at home.

Chen Fangyang felt that this idea was typical of Shen Xuewei's style.

However, Chen Fanglan didn't believe it, and he always trusted Chen Fanglan, so he thought it was just a sudden flash of inspiration on Chen Fanglan's part.

After chatting for a while, Chen Fanglan hung up the phone and began making arrangements.

For ordinary families, hiring someone to work in the fields is a novel and rare activity.

Adhering to the principle of keeping the benefits within the family, Chen Fanglan contacted the classmate who had previously let her stay overnight.

My classmate's name is Wang Suhua. After graduating from junior high school, she worked at home for two years before her family arranged for her to get married.

At the age of thirty, she already has two children who are around ten years old.

She was Chen Fanglan's best friend in junior high school, without a doubt.

After graduation, although the two gradually lost contact, they would still make time to meet once a year.

She stays at home with her two children and can't go out to work.

The man said he went out to earn money, but he didn't send much money back all year round, and he lived a very frugal life.

When it came to this, Chen Fanglan immediately thought of her.

Chen Fanglan made a phone call, explained her requirements, and before she even mentioned how much money she would give, the other party agreed.

"Okay, Alan, don't worry, I'll take care of this."

Chen Fanglan was interrupted, her voice faltered, she paused, and then chuckled:

"Suhua, I haven't finished speaking yet, don't agree so quickly."

Wang Suhua was using a hand-cranked corn thresher to remove corn kernels. She tilted her head and held her phone to her ear with her shoulder, talking as she spoke, her hands never stopping.

"I know what you mean. You want to pay me to help your parents so they can rest more. Ideally, you want them to think you paid a lot of money to hire me, so they'll feel bad about the cost and you can reduce their farming expenses in the future, right?"

Her comprehension skills are quite good.

Back in her school days, she was the top student in her class.

Chen Fanglan nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's right. I just don't know if you have time. If you have a suitable person, you can send someone else. I'll give you a referral fee."

When such a good thing came knocking on her door, Wang Suhua never thought of letting it go to someone else.

“I have plenty of time. I’ve almost finished all the work in the fields, and I was just worried because I had nothing to do. My two kids are on summer vacation, so I can take them to the fields to work with me.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Fanglan felt reassured and entrusted the matter to her.

"Suhua, I'm not offering much money, only a thousand yuan a month, and for now, we're only agreeing to a three-month period..."

Wang Suhua stopped what she was doing.

Isn't a thousand yuan a month too much?

Her husband, in the entire year, never sent more than two thousand yuan home.

They've argued countless times about money.

If it weren't for her two young children and the fact that her family lived nearby, she would have really wanted to run away to work and never come back.

She said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, leave it to me. I promise I'll do my best to help."

Chen Fanglan had always trusted her, and upon hearing this, she did not hesitate any longer.

The next morning, before dawn, Wang Suhua rode her bicycle to Xiaoli Village.

She and Chen Fanglan were classmates, and she had visited Chen Fanglan's home when they were in school, so of course she knew where Chen Fanglan lived.

Standing in front of the Chen family's new house, she reached out and knocked on the door, which was already half-open.