Fan Qian's face flushed red.
Although there were six able-bodied men in the family, the mother was unwilling to cook at home. Jinhua said that if she had to cook, she would not pick the soil.
They couldn't just work without eating, could they? So only five men were working.
The eldest brother said he had injured his leg and couldn't stand for too long; the second brother said he had injured his hand and couldn't dig all the time; the fourth brother said he was too young and could only do half the work.
The third son was left alone to complain about the unfairness and refused to do more work.
He worked himself to the bone and had to coordinate everything, enduring so much frustration!
Fortunately, my second brother's cow joined in, otherwise even five acres of land would have been a struggle!
But these things cannot be said; family scandals should not be aired in public. The four sons still need to be married, and if word gets out, it will affect their chances of finding a good girl.
He looked at Fan Jin and said, "Second brother, your ox is good at plowing, but we don't plow fields. If it's just carrying soil, it won't be much faster. One ox is equivalent to five workers, so we're still losing out."
Fan Jin looked at his elder brother and remained silent.
Xu Laosan was the first to jump out and cursed, "You're talking nonsense! Oxen may be slow carrying soil, but they pull a lot! Tell me, can one animal pull more than five of you combined?"
Fan Dazhu and the other three turned red in the face when they heard their father being scolded. They pointed at Xu Laosan and shouted, "You, you, how dare you talk like that?"
"Xu Laosan, watch your mouth!"
"If you keep doing this, we won't be polite."
Fan Xiaoliu and Fan Qian were from the same clan, so they couldn't use foul language, but they cursed him in their hearts. They asked, "Brother Fan, are you going back on your word? Didn't we agree that whoever used the ox and the donkey would accept the rule?"
This guy talks and acts like he's talking nonsense; he doesn't even want to admit he's a member of the Fan family!
Fan Dazhu, with his neck stiff, shouted: "Who told you that? We didn't know any better. We heard you say how many acres of land a donkey could plow, how many acres a cow could plow, and how cost-effective it was. But what happened?"
"We're just hauling soil, it's not profitable for us at all! You've cheated us, we've been ripped off and we have nowhere to complain!"
The dozens of men in the courtyard gaped in disbelief upon hearing this, utterly astonished that such a shameless person could exist.
"Fine, then you don't need to use the ox anymore, give it to me. I'm willing to pay five workdays in return!"
"I'd love to!"
Fan Erzhu took a step back: "You think you can just give it to me like that? My second uncle hasn't even said anything yet."
"Besides, what about what happened to what we did before? Didn't we lose money over those many days?" Fan Sanzhu asked unhappily.
The men in the courtyard laughed in anger.
They then discovered that extreme anger can indeed cause laughter.
Fan Jin waited until they finished speaking, a fleeting emotion passing through his eyes, and said softly, "Alright, then return the oxen. The one in front is the same as the donkey, worth three workdays."
The first time he refused to lend money to his elder brother's family, the villagers would talk about his own family, but they wouldn't talk about him—in this world, men always get preferential treatment; they would only say Shui Qing.
Especially since it's the Fan family, they wouldn't think it's because their own brother is unwilling to lend the money; they would only think it's because the woman is stirring things up and unwilling to lend to her husband's family.
It's better this way now. All the men in the village are here, they can see and hear clearly. He's not angry, they're even angrier than him!
If it happens again, they won't lend it to you; they'll just praise you and feel relieved.
The man in the courtyard was so angry he was practically spitting fire in his eyes as he looked at Fan Qian and the others.
Fan was overjoyed.
Fan Dazhu and the others were still a little dissatisfied. They thought their second uncle would waive the fee, but they didn't expect him to have to pay three more.
They use oxen for a long time, three a day, so it takes quite a few days.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
