Era: Seven money-losing girls? They're trying to trick me into having a daughter again!

Fang Wei was in a great mood as he walked home. Finally, his dilapidated house could be repaired!

"Daddy! Daddy's home!"

He had barely entered the courtyard when Er Ya rushed over and clung tightly to his legs with her little arms.

Sanya ran over and clung to Fang Wei's clothes, refusing to let go: "Daddy, where did you go! Mommy said you went to earn money!"

With her hands on her hips like a little adult, Daya asked, "Dad, Mom said you went shrimp fishing last night, did you catch any?"

"We caught them! We caught so many!"

Fang Wei picked up Er Ya in one scoop, then bent down and scooped up San Ya as well. The two girls, one on each side, clung to him, giggling incessantly.

Wu Shaoli also came over and called out, "Dawei..."

Fang Wei was about to call out to his wife when his gaze passed over her shoulder and he saw a man sitting in his yard—it was Village Chief Zhou.

"Shaoli, you take the children back inside first."

Village Chief Zhou turned to Wu Shaoli and said, "I have something to say to Fang Wei alone."

Upon hearing this, Er Ya and San Ya glanced at Fang Wei and obediently slid off him.

Seeing that Fang Wei didn't speak, Wu Shaoli called her daughters into the house and left the door slightly ajar.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Fang Wei sat down opposite Village Chief Zhou and offered him a cigarette.

Village Chief Zhou took the cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Fang Wei struck a match and leaned over to light it for him.

"Fang Wei".

Village Chief Zhou took a deep breath, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and said, "Everyone in the village knows that there aren't many fish or shrimp in that wild river in Jiaoshan."

"You went there in the middle of the night and retrieved more than 500 jin (250 kg) of fish."

"There are all sorts of rumors going around the village now. Some people say you poisoned the river, some say you were electrofishing at night... You need to explain this to me clearly. How exactly did you do it?"

"Uncle Zhou."

Fang Wei feigned helplessness and said with a wry smile, "I didn't even know there were so many shrimp in Jiaoshan."

"If I really had the ability to poison fish with electricity, why didn't I do it sooner? Would I still be so poor that I can't even afford to eat?"

Village Chief Zhou didn't respond; he just kept staring at him.

Fang Wei knew that those two sentences wouldn't be enough to appease this man, so he continued, "Didn't I sell the wild boar I hunted before to Boss Wang of Yingbin Restaurant?"

"Boss Wang casually mentioned that this is the season when river shrimp migrate, and the restaurants in town are all lacking this dish."

"He said if there are river shrimp migrating in the river near our village, we can catch them and sell them to him, he'll buy as many as we want."

"I just couldn't sleep last night, and since I had nothing better to do, I thought I'd try my luck..."

He scratched the back of his head, putting on an honest and simple look.

"Who knew we'd be so lucky, just stumbling upon a migrating school of shrimp. Village chief, what else could it be but a blind cat catching a dead mouse?"

Village Chief Zhou stared at Fang Wei and slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

Taking a chance?

Ah!

The nonsense this kid is spouting is so utterly unbelievable that not only does he not believe a single word, but no one else in the village would believe it either!

But... anyone can fish in that wild river in Jiaoshan.

Fang Wei used a normal fishing net; he did not use any drugs, electrofish, or violate any laws or regulations.

Fang Qiang and Da Cheng, who went fishing together, as well as Chen Dajiao, who helped haul the goods, can all testify to this.

And then there's Yang Qian, that kid. He used to be a good-for-nothing, but after making some money with Fang Wei, he's actually starting to do something worthwhile now.

Tsk!

Village Chief Zhou stubbed out his cigarette on the ground. Thinking of what Chen Dajiao had said about Fang Wei dividing all the money he earned equally among Fang Qiang and the other two, he felt a strange mix of emotions.

He admired the younger generation's generosity, but also felt a pang of regret that it wasn't his own son who earned the money.

As the village head, he should not only refrain from criticizing Fang Wei, but should also support him.

If Fang Wei can lead more villagers onto the right path and make money, he can add more achievements to his record as village chief.

"Fang Wei".

Village Chief Zhou stood up and patted Fang Wei on the shoulder. "I'll find an excuse for you to get through this. I'll just say one thing: now that you've chosen the right path, do it well and don't go astray again!"

"besides,"

Village Chief Zhou gave him a meaningful look and said in a low voice, "If you have anything to say to the old forest farm, just say it. The village will definitely not stand idly by."

Seeing the elder's earnest expression, Fang Wei thanked him and said, "I understand, thank you, village chief."

Village Chief Zhou simply patted him on the shoulder again, then turned and left.

Fang Wei slowly exhaled; the meaning of what he had just said was quite clear.

As long as he doesn't break the law or violate regulations, the village won't make things difficult for him; they might even give him some preferential treatment.

That's enough!

Fang Wei was genuinely worried that once his old forest farm was up and running, someone would sneak in at night to cause trouble for him.

Now that Village Chief Zhou has spoken, although it can't completely suppress those who want to cause trouble, it does have some deterrent effect.

With a creak, the door was pushed open from the inside.

Wu Shaoli peeked out and looked nervously at Fang Wei: "Dawei, the village chief... didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

"fine."

Fang Wei walked over and reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "The village chief just came to ask a few questions and then left."

"Honey, I have some good news to tell you."

"Um?"

Wu Shaoli blinked and asked, "What good news?"

"I gave all 138 yuan of the shrimp I earned to Uncle Li. He promised to go to town today to order the materials. Our family is going to build a new house."

Fang Wei said with a smile, "How about it? Aren't you happy? You don't have to spend the money your family has saved up anymore."

Wu Shaoli's eyes widened instantly, and she was speechless for a while. She could only raise her hand and punch him in the chest.

"How come you do everything so fast!"

Fang Wei grabbed her hand and kissed it, grinning broadly. "What do you mean, 'fast'? Your man isn't fast at all. Every time, it's you who..."

"Are you trying to die?!"

Wu Shaoli gave a coquettish laugh, pinched his waist hard, and said in a low, angry voice, "The girls are all here!"

Inside the room, several girls who were peeping saw Fang Wei looking over and all covered their mouths and giggled.

……

Suddenly, the roar of a tractor filled Laotang Village.

The sound was much louder than Chen Dajiao's tractor; it was the big machine from the town's building materials station that specialized in hauling bricks and tiles.

The blue bricks in the trailer were stacked neatly, and the tiles were piled up to half a person's height.

A dozen or so thick fir logs were laid across the sides of the truck bed, tied together with hemp ropes, and several bags of cement were pressed underneath them, with the faded red characters "State-owned Chaoshan Cement Plant" printed on the bags.

This truckload of stuff cost Fang Wei more than half of his 138 yuan.