My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 24 Slippery
"By the way, you can also be my supervisor."

“Building a greenhouse requires a lot of things. I’m not comfortable leaving such a huge pile of things on the ground and having someone else watch over it.”

"We still have to leave it to our own brothers."

Chen Erzhu patted Chen Ling on the shoulder, took out a Hademen cigarette, handed it to Chen Ling, and lit it for him.

He then lit another cigarette for himself, exhaled a puff of smoke, and continued:
"If you ask me, if all else fails, just set up a tent in the field and sleep there at night. That way you won't have to put up with your wife's temper when you get home."

"It'll only be a month or two at most. Do you think your brother Zhu would mistreat you?"

At this point, Chen Erzhu patted his chest and said:
"Putting everything else aside, once the greenhouse is finished, I'll take you to the sand quarry, and we brothers will make big money together..."

"This is still a sure thing!"

Chen Ling found it extremely amusing to see him offering cigarettes and patting his chest.

They're just making empty promises and expecting people to work for nothing.

What good things are you thinking about?

Cursing under his breath, Chen Ling shook his head, stubbed out the half-eaten Hademen cigarette in his hand, and sighed deeply.

"No, Erzhu, I really can't help you right now..."

"You've probably heard that my wife's family came to cause trouble. They made me lose face this time, and they've been bothering me for the past few days."

"My wife is crying and making a fuss at home all day long, and I don't know what to do. These past few days, I haven't even had time to go to the arcade or the pool hall."

"This mess is so messy that even if I wanted to help you, I couldn't."

Upon hearing this, Chen Erzhu immediately stopped laughing, threw his cigarette butt on the ground, and said, "Hey, you rich guy."

"Are you still going to pull this stunt with your brother Zhu?"

"Is it because I didn't assign you to the sand quarry after we changed the farmland a few days ago?"

"You don't need to deny it, I knew it right away!"

"I know exactly what you're thinking..."

These words left Chen Ling completely bewildered, leaving him somewhat confused.

However, soon, a vague memory from the depths of his mind was recalled.

He actually forgot.

At that moment, I was extremely envious of Chen Erzhu's lifestyle.

He's supported by a rich woman and manages things at a sand quarry in the county town, so he doesn't have to do any physical labor.

Isn't this just like making money while lying down?

Being able to frequent upscale restaurants and nightclubs every day—that's an incredibly carefree life.

At this moment, in my eyes, living like Erzhu is what it means to be capable!

In reality, many workers in sand quarries and mines these days are just like Heise Hui.

But at this time, Chen Ling, who was young and naive and yearned for the glamorous world, saw it as incredibly glamorous.

Just like a teenager with delusions of grandeur seeing the Young and Dangerous movies and taking it as their life goal.

They are single-mindedly trying to become like Erzhu and live that kind of life.

Making money is easy, and you can live a life of luxury; it's definitely better than staying in the village farming.

The key point is that he felt that if he went into the sand quarry and made money, he could hope to marry a beautiful and fashionable city girl like Joey Wong, which made him very excited.

So, he had a bit of a desire to curry favor with Erzhu, since they were all from the Chen family and he wanted to follow him, hoping that Erzhu would take care of him.

What's the result?

Chen Ling was still too naive, foolishly letting this bastard outsmart him several times.

Chen Erzhu always used the sand quarry as leverage to get him to do things.

Take the recent land swap for example; it was all orchestrated by Chen Erzhu under the pretext of getting into a sand quarry. "Heh, I told you so."

Seeing that Chen Ling didn't speak, Chen Erzhu chuckled and pointed at him with his finger.

"You kid, you have no idea how difficult it is to get into a sand quarry these days."

"I've been lobbying everywhere, sending gifts, and even having meals with people, but as you can see, there's still no response."

"But this time, I can guarantee it to you."

"why?"

“Old Liang, who manages the sand dredging boats, is getting old and is planning to leave in the next couple of months. Once he leaves, you can come in and take his place…”

At this point, Chen Erzhu gave him a knowing smile and offered him another cigarette.

"Don't rush things. You can trust your brother Zhu to handle things."

However, Chen Ling did not take the cigarette from his hand, but waved his hand and said, "I'm not smoking anymore. I've been holding in a lot of anger lately, and smoking too much will make me nauseous."

"What do you mean?"

"You still don't trust your brother Zhu?"

Chen Erzhu frowned, clearly displeased.

Trust you? I'd be a fool to trust you again.

Chen Ling sneered inwardly, but quickly said aloud, "Nothing of the sort. Don't always think the worst of me."

“We’re all descendants of the Chen family. We’re all family, so we don’t need to be formal. We’ve been dealing with each other for so many years, and I’ve always believed whatever you say.”

"With our friendship, what does a sand quarry matter? Do you think I'm a petty, narrow-minded person?"

These words left Chen Erzhu speechless.

It also stopped him from saying what he originally wanted to say.

He blinked, paused for several seconds, then coughed lightly and said, "What are you saying, Fugui? That's not what I meant."

"It's because I didn't do a good job on the thing you asked me to do, brother. I've been thinking about it and I feel really guilty!"

"I thought you were unhappy with me because of this."

"But speaking of which, what have you been busy with lately?"

Chen Ling sighed again, his face contorted with worry, and said, "As I just told you, there's something really bothering me at home. I'll talk to you about it when I'm less busy."

"In the end, it's still better for you sand quarries. You make more money and have fewer worries. You're much better off than us farmers."

"Keep an eye out for me, if Old Liang, who manages the sand dredging boats, really quits, be sure to arrange for me to go there instead."

"If this really works out, brother, I'll thank you properly!"

As Chen Erzhu listened, he lost his composure and felt a deep unease.

He felt that Chen Ling today was different from the Chen Ling he knew; even his tone of voice was different from before.

However, he was quick to respond verbally, patting Chen Ling on the shoulder and saying, "No need for thanks, we're all brothers. If you want to go, I'll definitely arrange it for you."

Chen Ling's expression immediately softened considerably, and he said seriously, "One thing at a time, I still need to thank you. How many times have you helped me over the years, Erzhu? I've wanted to thank you for a long time."

"But I have things to do right now, let's talk again when you get back to the village."

Chen Erzhu felt increasingly uneasy, but still said, "Okay, then you go ahead and get busy. I'm taking Sister Hong to the dance party too. We'll get together again when we get back to the village."

After Chen Ling drove the donkey cart away, Sun Yanhong, who had been leaning against the motorcycle with her arms crossed and hadn't said a word, walked up to Chen Erzhu and couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you standing there for? You've been fooled by him..."

"This kid, he's gotten so slick in just a few days. He's got a whole bunch of nice things to say, but not a single one of them is useful."

Upon hearing this, Chen Erzhu paused for a moment, then realized what he meant, and his expression turned rather unpleasant.

(End of this chapter)