Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 30 - 30 30 Li Jia's Request

30: Chapter 30 Li Jia’s Request 30: Chapter 30 Li Jia’s Request Li Jia was a rather attractive woman whose appearance, although not instantly stunning like Ye Tong’s, was very pleasant to look at, belonging to the kind that grows on you as you keep looking, making you find her more and more gentle and likeable.

Furthermore, her height of about 1.74 meters made her stand out as a great beauty in this rural area.

Her figure was not overly voluptuous, yet not skinny either.

Although her curves were not the exaggerated S-shape, she had a nicely proportioned body with all the right assets.

She had been married once before, and married Fu Xuebing for her second marriage, bringing along a four-year-old child who had already started kindergarten this year, with Fu Xuebing’s parents taking care of the child in town.

“He asked you for a loan?” Li Jia didn’t mind Yang Fan’s gaze drifting across her collarbone, and she asked furiously.

Yang Fan nodded, “Sister-in-law guessed right, he sold me a bag of astragalus root, and along the way, he took three hundred yuan.

To be precise, it was three hundred and one, with exact change.”

“That bastard!” Li Jia’s mouth turned down sharply in anger, and it looked like fire might soon burst from her eyes.

“What’s with the extra one yuan?

What trick is that bastard up to now?”

“That, well, he owes it to me, so I have to count it!” Yang Fan said with a smile.

Li Jia was momentarily at a loss for words, then said gloomily, “Next time he asks to borrow money from you, don’t lend it to him.

That bastard has been sneaking around lately, and I suspect he’s either gotten involved in gambling or has something to do with women.”

“The little money I hid away was secretly taken by him and squandered.

Just now he even asked me for money, and when I saw him carrying a bag of astragalus root out, I guessed he might be coming to you.”

Yang Fan frowned slightly, “Old Fu is quite bold in business dealings, but I haven’t heard that he has any interest in gambling tables.

Could it be that he has some legitimate business?”

Li Jia snorted coldly, cursing with disdain, “He doesn’t have any legitimate business.

He always leaves the house acting all high and mighty, and when he returns, the house reeks of a mix of cigarette and perfume smells.

He doesn’t care about anything at home and leaves everything to me.

That bastard is getting worse; while I’m only guessing, I’m sure it’s one of those two things.”

Hearing this, Yang Fan felt it might be true.

He gave a wry smile and said, “Sister-in-law, saying that makes me feel like my money might have just flown away!”

Fu Xuebing already had a reputation for borrowing money.

It was a bit better if he borrowed a large amount since he tended to pay those back more often.

However, the small loans of a few hundred to a thousand that were willingly given were rare, and most of the time, people had to confront him and curse him to his face before he would remember to repay.

Yang Fan was mentally prepared for this reason.

He lent the money only because it was not a large amount and to save face.

Had it been any more substantial, he wouldn’t have loaned it at all.

“I hurried over as fast as I could but still couldn’t stop him,” Li Jia said with a hint of speechlessness.

“If he doesn’t return the money, I’ll find a way to pay you back, or if you don’t mind, I can work at your house for a few days.

But if you want the money, you might have to wait.

I don’t have any money right now to pay you back.

The little private money I had saved up has all been found and taken by that bastard.”

“No worries, sister-in-law, I’ve only just lent the money.

It’s not like I’ll demand it back immediately; I’m not in a hurry,” Yang Fan said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Okay then, you go on with your business, I’ll be on my way,” Li Jia said with a nod.

She had just taken two steps when she turned around, looking a bit embarrassed, and asked, “Fanzi, you travel around a lot, do you know where they’re hiring?

Somewhere not too far so it’s easy to get back home.”

Yang Fan thought for a moment and shook his head, “There doesn’t seem to be anything nearby.

It’s easier to find work in the county town, but it’s not convenient to return home.

Sister-in-law, you’ve got a good thing going at home, why the sudden desire to find a job?”

Li Jia hesitated for a long while, clearly embarrassed to talk about this matter, then chuckled wryly and said, “What else could it be?

It’s because I’m broke.

That bastard Old Fu is getting more and more unreliable, I have to think of something for myself.”

“Sister-in-law, if that’s the case, I think you should just stick to farming medicine.

After all, your business is already set up, just keep it going.

The market for medicinal herbs has been pretty good these past few years,” Yang Fan suggested.

Li Jia nodded thoughtfully, “I’ll think about it a bit more.

If Old Fu doesn’t come around, I can’t handle such a big matter by myself.

Old Fu has made a mess of the medicinal herb business; I’m even more clueless.”

“You’ll understand it better as you go along.

It’s actually not that complicated,” Yang Fan said with a smile.

As long as you work hard at growing medicinal herbs, you definitely won’t suffer too much of a loss; the market for these things doesn’t fluctuate wildly.

There are indeed losses, but not many due to big market changes.

How much can you lose with just a few acres?

If this year’s market isn’t good, you could just hold onto the stock and not sell it.

Li Jia glanced at Yang Fan and said with a touch of embarrassment, “Fanzi, now that we’ve come to this, sister-in-law, would you please do me a favor?

If you have time, could you help me take a look and give me a rough guide?

If you’re busy, never mind.”

Yang Fan had only made a small suggestion, but unexpectedly, he had wound up with a job to do.

But Li Jia was different from Fu Xuebing; this woman was thrifty in life and decent in her dealings.

She had helped Yang Fan’s family quite a lot before.

It was just because she was in a second marriage that her status at home had always been low, without much say in things.

Perhaps it was Fu Xuebing’s constant messing around that made her anxious and led her to think about finding something to do.

Yang Fan’s casual encouragement seemed to have also given her the idea of taking charge.

“Sister-in-law, you go home and wait for a bit; once I finish sorting these herbs, I’ll come over,” Yang Fan agreed.

Li Jia smiled shyly and nodded.

After she left, Yang Fan tidied up the astragalus Fu Xuebing had brought.

Just as sister-in-law returned, they had a simple breakfast, and then he headed towards Fu Xuebing’s house.

He planned to quickly give Li Jia a rough explanation and then hurry out to buy goods.

He had already wasted yesterday; if he didn’t get moving today, he was almost becoming as negligent as Fu Xuebing.

Fu Xuebing’s house was on the right-hand side of Yang Fan’s House, with a vegetable garden belonging to the Yang family in between.

Back when Fu Xuebing opened his repair shop, he had split from his parents.

Even though his parents still looked after his children, they lived separately.

When Yang Fan reached the entrance and saw the gate wide open, he walked straight in.

“Sister-in-law!” Yang Fan called out as he stood in the yard.

“Yes.” From the west room, Li Jia’s voice came through.

Heading towards the voice, Yang Fan walked over, “Sister-in-law, you’ve got quite a lot of bees here.

That’s practically an industry…

Hey, what’s this…”

As Yang Fan pushed the door open and glanced around the room, he quickly took a step back out.

Li Jia seemed to be in the middle of something, but with her shirt open and her chest exposed, she looked quite enticing.