Chapter 5: Proposing a Plan to Father

Chapter 5: Proposing a Plan to Father

Perhaps her son’s solemn vow to commit to his studies made Chen Xiulan happy, or perhaps it was because her husband had worked hard in the fields all morning and deserved a proper treat. After returning from the family plot with vegetables, Chen Xiulan specifically went out and bought half a catty of pork. So, at lunchtime, the table was unusually graced with two meat dishes.

Stir-fried greens with pork, stir-fried luffa with pork, and a plate of cold shredded potatoes.

The main staple was rice.

Sitting on small stools around the low wooden table, looking at his father who still wore a serious expression, his gentle and joyful mother, and his lively younger brother Su Chunyu who was already in fifth grade, Su Chunfeng felt an endless surge of joy and happiness well up inside him, along with a sadness, regret, and guilt he found hard to put into words…

In his past life, neither he nor his brother had been able to fulfill their parents’ wishes—Su Chunfeng had stopped attending school after middle school, stubbornly even running away from home to secretly follow his master and cultivate the mysterious Esoteric Arts. His younger brother Su Chunyu had barely finished high school before dropping out to work on the farm and take odd jobs. Later, Su Chunyu did fairly well in his own business ventures and brought some honor to their parents. But Su Chunfeng, he had become obsessed with practicing the Esoteric Arts, living as a freeloading slacker for over a decade, causing his parents heartache and disappointment. Together, they became the object of neighbors’ mockery and pity.

Later, when he and his parents had their fiercest argument, he had already achieved some cultivation and stepped into the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts, quickly making a bit of a name for himself.

Back then, he thought he could get rich overnight. But for various reasons, it wasn’t until the second half of 2009 that he rapidly amassed great wealth. However, he then discovered that wealth wasn’t omnipotent. He didn’t have time to enjoy it, nor time to win back his parents’ hearts that had grown disappointed in him, nor time to fulfill his filial duties…

“Dad, Mom,” Su Chunfeng couldn’t help but sigh deeply, saying with full self-reproach, “Before, it was all my fault. I’m sorry.”

Both Su Cheng and Chen Xiulan were a bit confused. What was up with this kid today?

“Silly child, what nonsense are you talking?” Chen Xiulan felt a slight pang in her heart and said gently, “Hurry up and eat. After you finish, go back to school quickly and study hard from now on.”

“Yeah.” Su Chunfeng nodded, his eyes growing a little red.

Su Cheng frowned, seeming to think of something, and said, “His mother, go get another wine cup… Let Xiaofeng have a little drink with me.”

“Nonsense, the child is still young,” Chen Xiulan quickly protested.

“A little won’t hurt.” Su Cheng snorted, putting on a stern face as if angry. “Those middle school rascals, is there one who doesn’t drink? Don’t be fooled by how they all act proper at home. Check out which village market day doesn’t have half-grown boys getting drunk?”

Su Chunfeng smiled with a shy expression and said, “Mom, I’ll just have a little. I’m happy today.”

Chen Xiulan pursed her lips and gave her son a glare, but smiled and got up to bring a clean wine cup to the table. “Three cups at most, no more.”

“Okay,” Su Chunfeng replied.

“I want to drink too!” Su Chunyu waved his chopsticks and shouted.

Whack!

Su Cheng slapped his younger son on the head and scolded, “Drink your rear! You’re still a little kid!”

Su Chunyu immediately fell silent.

Actually, Su Cheng didn’t fully believe that his son Su Chunfeng would become so obedient and sensible after this vow of determination, that he would definitely study hard and get into university in the future—such vows of determination had happened plenty of times before under the pressure of his fists and slaps, with not much effect to show. What made Su Cheng happy was that this time the child’s determination was voluntary, his attitude was sincere and earnest, and he even showed signs of remorse.

Secretly, it made Su Cheng feel like the child had grown up overnight.

From the moment their child was born wailing, all parents feel joy at every little event that shows their child’s growth, and each time they are filled with confidence about their child’s future… Now that he’s grown up, what’s a little drink?

Anyway, no matter how strictly you manage them, you can’t stop adolescent kids from secretly drinking with their classmates.

Holding this somewhat joyful yet somewhat indulgent mindset, and already tired from the morning’s work, Su Cheng drank a bit more than he should have. So, during the meal, without realizing it, he truly started treating Su Chunfeng like an adult, chatting with his wife about life and some future plans.

These plans naturally involved farm work, harvests, and how to earn more money.

As Su Chunfeng chatted with his parents, he also guiltily pondered in his heart how to help the family improve their financial situation.

In his past life, he had been busy with cultivation. After entering the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts, he rarely paid attention to commercial or economic matters in society. So now, reborn, he couldn’t think of a single brilliant idea to get rich and prosper—truly unworthy of being a reborn person. Of course, he wasn’t completely ignorant. In a decade or two, urban housing and land prices would skyrocket, certain super-rich would make a fortune in various businesses… But none of that was suitable for their current impoverished family to pursue.

Just as he was at a loss, he heard his father mention that hiring a harvester for this year’s wheat harvest could save some effort and time.

What Su Cheng was talking about was that simple machinery mounted on the front of a small tractor, which quickly cut down wheat and rice. It was just becoming popular in rural areas.

As the saying goes, what is said carelessly may be taken seriously by the listener.

A thought suddenly struck Su Chunfeng. He immediately remembered the rise of Combine Harvesters about a year after his middle school graduation in his past life. He recalled that the Zhong family in their village was the first to buy a Combine Harvester back then. With that one machine, during the busy May wheat harvest, they cut the wheat, then used it for rotary tilling after the harvest. In autumn, they could rotary till again. Within a year, they built a fortune…

Thinking of this, he immediately said, “Dad, I think instead of spending money to hire someone else’s machine, we should buy our own Combine Harvester and make money with it!”

“What?”

“Combine Harvester!” Su Chunfeng said with a serious expression. “After evening self-study last night, when I went to the restroom, I heard two teachers talking. They said Combine Harvesters save the most time and effort, and they’re already becoming common in many places across the country… Once that thing is in the field, villagers just wait at the edge with sacks to load the grain and take it back for drying. They say it can cut over a hundred acres a day if it keeps going. After finishing, you can even take the harvester off and install a rotary tiller, tilling the land in a whir. The ground becomes flat and soft, with no big clods, much better than land plowed by a tractor. And after tilling, you don’t even need to level the ground! Think about it, so much easier!”

Hearing this, Su Cheng frowned and thought for a moment. “Did your teachers say how much that thing charges per acre for cutting wheat? Or for tilling an acre? If it’s too expensive, who’d use it?”

Su Chunfeng scratched his head, sorting through his memories. “It’s not expensive, probably around twenty or thirty yuan, right? The key is it saves time and effort. Nobody minds spending that bit of money. Think about it, saving ten days or half a month of work—how much more could you earn going out to work in that time?”

“That’s true,” Su Cheng nodded repeatedly, then shook his head. “But that Combine Harvester thing must be very expensive. We can’t afford it.”

“Get a loan!” Su Chunfeng said almost without hesitation. “I heard those two teachers say a Combine Harvester, a rotary tiller, and a 50-horsepower tractor altogether only cost about seventy thousand yuan! If you do well, just from cutting wheat in one season you could make seventy or eighty thousand!”

“That much?” Su Cheng’s eyes gleamed.

Chen Xiulan was also full of happy surprise. When had her eldest son learned so much? He spoke so convincingly, and his tone was so bold—”only” seventy thousand yuan? Seventy thousand yuan was like having seven ten-thousand-yuan households! His father only earned fifteen yuan a day doing backbreaking work like building houses, moving bricks, and mixing mortar!

Not to mention, at such a young age he even mentioned getting a loan!

You should know, although the national Credit Cooperative had encouraged farmers to take out loans for business a few years ago, what were the results now? Most loans were hard to recover, and Credit Cooperatives and banks didn’t dare lend casually anymore. Those who got loans, if they made money, they refused to repay; if they lost money, they were saddled with debt, reportedly unable to even pay the interest—just thinking about the high interest on loans was terrifying.

How many ordinary people dared to take loans?

And on what basis would banks or Credit Cooperatives lend to you?

“Our teachers said that once you have a Combine Harvester, you wouldn’t just work on harvests nearby. You’d go to other regions too—north, south—wheat ripens at different times in different places. Making a circuit like that, you could basically work non-stop for at least a month, maybe even two.” Su Chunfeng counted on his fingers. “Let’s just calculate for one month. Cutting a hundred acres a day, thirty yuan per acre, that’s three thousand yuan. Subtract fuel costs, food, and hiring a driver’s salary, you should still have over two thousand left, right? Even at the lowest, two thousand income a day, how much is that in a month? Six hundred thousand! After cutting wheat, you immediately do rotary tilling, which could last at least a month, right? How much more could you earn?”

This speech got Su Cheng’s blood pumping. Combined with the alcohol, his face flushed red. He didn’t even stop to think how his fourteen-year-old son knew so much. He immediately said, “Kid, don’t spout nonsense. According to you, wouldn’t you earn over a hundred thousand in a year?”

“Nonsense?” Su Chunfeng declared earnestly. “This is what our teachers said! They were even planning to buy one together! They also said in another couple of years, Combine Harvesters will probably be everywhere. By then, it’ll be too late to buy one—too much competition, so of course the money won’t be easy to make.”

“Your teachers really said that?”

“Is that fake?” Su Chunfeng picked up his wine cup and took a slurp, his small face reddening. “Those two teachers even said that when it’s busy farming season after buying the harvester, they’d take leave and stop teaching.”

Su Cheng nodded and didn’t say more, instead thinking seriously.

Su Chunfeng didn’t continue either.

He knew his father was definitely tempted, and this matter was most likely going to happen. He understood his father. Having been a soldier and fought in war, he was the type who had capability and courage but needed someone to encourage him and propose plans. Moreover, in this era, farmers with little education had a blind trust in school teachers—teachers were educated, and educated people must be right.

After the meal, Su Chunfeng, feeling much more settled in his heart, didn’t linger at home. He just grabbed a couple of books and went to school.

After washing the dishes and urging Xiao Yu to take a nap, Chen Xiulan went to the east bedroom. Her husband was lying in bed for a noon rest but couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning while thinking. She said, “His father, what’s wrong with Xiaofeng today? He talks like an adult…”

“Oh,” Su Cheng replied simply, seeming uninterested in engaging with his wife.

Knowing her husband’s nature, Chen Xiulan sat by the bedhead and said gently with a smile, “Do you really want to listen to Xiaofeng and buy a Combine Harvester?”

“Huh?” Su Cheng turned over, his face stern as he snorted. “What does that little squirt know? Why would I listen to him? He heard this from his teachers… Ah, I tell you, his mother, this might actually work. A while back, when I was working outside, I also overheard people talking about Combine Harvesters.”

“But our family has no money,” Chen Xiulan sighed.

“Borrow. If we can’t, get a loan!” Su Cheng seemed to have already made up his mind.

“On what basis for a loan? Would the Credit Cooperative even lend to us?”

“Mortgage the house!”

“What?” Chen Xiulan was shocked and quickly shook her head. “No, no!”

“It’s fine.” Su Cheng sat up, his expression serious. “I’ve thought about it. If it doesn’t work out, we can sell the Combine Harvester. It should still be worth some money. Plus, we’ll probably earn at least a little? So, at worst, we won’t actually bankrupt the family… Let’s do it!”

Chen Xiulan bit her lip lightly. As a country woman, in big matters she was accustomed to obeying her husband, but she still worriedly said, “I heard it’s hard to get loans from the Credit Cooperative. Even if we mortgage the house, they might not agree. How about we try borrowing first?”

“Seventy thousand yuan, where can we borrow that much?” Su Cheng shook his head. “My army comrade Liu Pingdong, isn’t he the director at the township Credit Cooperative? I’ll go see him!”

Hearing this, Chen Xiulan said nothing more.

…