Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 41 - 41 41 Old Zhou's Unrepentant Greed

41: Chapter 41: Old Zhou’s Unrepentant Greed 41: Chapter 41: Old Zhou’s Unrepentant Greed Yang Fan had completely conquered Zhang Yulan with his own extremely solid skills.

When the two exchanged WeChat details and Yang Fan was about to leave, the woman hardly held back her tears, her large eyes filled with reluctance.

Although Yang Fan didn’t plan to take anything, Zhang Yulan still forcefully stuffed two bottles of Maozi and that pile of cell phones into Yang Fan’s second-hand three-wheeler.

Initially, Yang Fan was quite resistant internally.

In the past few days, being fed by Zhu Shanshan had made sister-in-law and Little Mother somewhat suspect he was being kept by someone.

But when Zhang Yulan pulled out a stack of money and gave Yang Fan a choice, he silently accepted those items.

Even though Zhang Yulan had been clamoring to pay him before they had even begun, Yang Fan had indeed thought the same.

But now, he wanted something more long-term and didn’t want these mere immediate benefits.

Leaving Zhang Yulan’s home, Yang Fan took a slight detour, passing through a few villages north of Zhangli Village, collecting goods while heading to the county town.

Although this route took a bit longer, it allowed him to gather more goods.

He had been at Zhang Yulan’s house for almost two hours, and although it was really comfortable, it had slightly delayed his schedule for collecting goods today.

Yang Fan always worked this way if the truck was full, he’d call it a day, if not, he’d work into the evening.

This was tough work for a meager earning.

A lack of diligence meant facing tough times.

At past three in the afternoon, at the height of a scorching sun, when the skin felt almost cooked, Yang Fan, with his truck fully loaded, arrived at the county town, parking in front of Old Zhou’s shop.

His luck had been quite good today; the truck was so stuffed it couldn’t fit more, and he had appointments to collect from a few more households the next day.

“Old Zhou!”

Yang Fan grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the truck, drinking as he walked briskly into Old Zhou’s shop.

Upon entering, however, the place was deserted, not a soul in sight.

Neither Old Zhou nor Zhu Shanshan were anywhere to be seen.

“The door is wide open, these two really are carefree,” Yang Fan muttered, heading towards the storage room at the back.

With the shop’s door open, one of them had to be around.

At the storage room door, situated on the ground floor of the building behind, Yang Fan hadn’t even stepped inside when he heard Old Zhou’s warm and cordial voice, all tenderness as he chatted with a woman, casually dredging up personal matters.

The voice didn’t sound like Wu Xuelan.

It seemed Old Zhou had hired another gentle and considerate assistant.

Yang Fan shook his head and chuckled lightly.

Old Zhou never learns, does he?

He walked in with his bottle of water, in the warehouse piled high with herbs, a woman in a pink jumpsuit was sitting on the floor cutting herbs, while Old Zhou was sitting on a small stool beside her, all smiles as he chatted.

Perhaps too engrossed in their conversation, the two hadn’t even noticed Yang Fan’s arrival.

Silently, Yang Fan squatted next to Old Zhou and took the cigarette tucked between his fingers, lighting it himself.

“Aren’t you afraid someone will sweep your shop clean?”

As soon as he spoke, Old Zhou and the plain-faced girl in her twenties suddenly realized what was happening.

“Damn it, kid, why don’t you make any sound when you walk?

You scared the hell out of me!” Old Zhou exclaimed, thumping his chest and staring wide-eyed.

Yang Fan had handed the cigarette he had smoked twice to Old Zhou and smiled, “Here, calm down a bit!”

Old Zhou, in a bad mood, pursed his lips and pushed Yang Fan’s hand away, “Keep it, let’s go inside the store and talk.”

Yang Fan glanced at the girl and followed Old Zhou out of the warehouse, asking in a low voice, “Is she a new hire or did you bring her in specifically?”

“You’re really getting nosy, huh?

She’s newly hired, a young married woman,” Old Zhou said in a sleazy whisper.

“Tsk tsk, Old Zhou, you really don’t stop until you see the coffin, do you?

Let me make this clear, if something goes wrong again, I’m not covering for you this time,” Yang Fan said, shaking his head; Old Zhou was really pushing Zhu Shanshan’s limits.

“Relax, successful experience is gained from failures.

This time, it’s foolproof!” Old Zhou squeezed his eyes at Yang Fan and spoke in a low voice, “Besides, you should thank me, shouldn’t you?

Xiao Wu, such a pretty and flirty woman, I just gave her to you.

Since the last time you were with her, I haven’t spoken a word to her.”

“I trust you, and I really should thank you.

But you need to clarify, it wasn’t a favor, it was coercion!” Yang Fan said speechlessly, remembering that day’s incident left him with two impressions: thrilling and awkward!

“By the way, why isn’t Sister Wu here today?”

“She went to do her hair with your sister-in-law; I don’t know when, but those two have gotten quite close recently, always in and out of each other’s place.

Your sister-in-law has involved Xiao Wu in everything, it’s almost like she’s asking Xiao Wu to wipe her ass when she uses the bathroom,” Old Zhou mumbled, puzzled.

“That’s really crude of you to say,” Yang Fan remarked with disdain, subconsciously feeling that Zhu Shanshan was orchestrating something big.

“Old Zhou, haven’t you suspected that the sister-in-law is undermining you, pulling the rug out from under your feet?”

Old Zhou’s expression suddenly turned shocked, with one eye larger than the other, he winced, “Hiss… now that you mention it, I have a bad feeling in my heart.

But, it was you who dealt with the person; I haven’t even started anything, so it doesn’t count, right?”

“Attempted, seems to be a crime too!” Yang Fan remarked mournfully.

“No, no, Xiao Wu wouldn’t be so foolish, airing this out wouldn’t do her any good either,” Old Zhou said, still full of doubt, “But still, I need to remind Xiao Wu sometime, you can mess with your food, but this isn’t something to be messed with.”

“Better mention it, can’t be too careless,” Yang Fan said, “Alright, quit worrying about your trivial matters and come check the goods, I’m short on time today.”

Old Zhou grinned slyly at Yang Fan and asked, “What’s the rush?

Got a date with a woman for a romantic battle?”

“I’m not like you, a rich traditional man, casually using cash to make women undress; I’m busy dealing with goods!” Yang Fan said exasperatedly.

Old Zhou chuckled and helped Yang Fan unload the medicinal herbs from the truck.

After careful counting and weighing, Old Zhou transferred the money to Yang Fan’s phone.

After a busy day, subtracting the initial investment, Yang Fan had made a net of $308 today, marking it as a high-earning day.

“Fanzi, see if you can pick some fresh wild greens for me when you’re out these next few days,” after settling the account, Old Zhou handed Yang Fan a bottle of drink and suddenly said.

“Can’t you just take a shovel and dig some up in the wild?

Why bother collecting?” Yang Fan asked.

“It’s for a country inn, they want a large amount.

Do you think I’m talking about the small portion I eat?

I’m a man who owns a farm!” Old Zhou spoke proudly, “Just go for it, collecting a hundred or eighty pounds a day isn’t much.”