Call Him Brother-in-Law

From the time he returned home until the start of the new school term, Fang Chang'an remained quite busy.

The first priority was moving. Opening the shop could be postponed because renovations could not be rushed and the inventory had not yet been delivered, whereas there were only a few days left before the start of school on September first.

The house had already been thoroughly cleaned, but Cong Rong took Fang Chang'an to go over it two more times. Once the furniture arrived, they would be ready to move in.

Cong Rong had originally intended to save money wherever possible, planning to bring all the old furniture from their former home. However, after ordering new beds from Shan Peng and Fang Yan, Fang Chang'an persuaded her that they needed to buy a coffee table. Besides, their old sofa had been used for over a decade and was broken, with its base propped up on bricks; it was impossible to bring something like that into the new home.

The old furniture could simply be left behind in the old house, as they might still need to stay there during holidays and festivals in the future.

Cong Rong also agreed that her son made sense.

Then Fang Chang'an suggested that since the sofa was being replaced, they might as well buy a TV cabinet to match and form a complete, attractive set.

There was plenty of room for bargaining on such items, so Fang Chang'an asked Shen Chengiyan for help. Shen Chengiyan drove them to the county furniture mall. His high school classmate, being very accommodating, offered a complete set consisting of a sofa, coffee table, and TV cabinet for twelve hundred yuan, with free delivery to their doorstep.

Cong Rong had been slightly hesitant at first, but she truly loved the brand-new furniture, and the price was indeed lower than she had originally expected, so she went ahead and bought it.

The furniture was delivered the very next day. Shan Peng's side also moved quickly because the tables and chairs were already made, and the beds had been crafted beforehand without needing any paint. Once finished, they were delivered right to the house, along with three complimentary bedside tables—an attitude completely worlds apart from his previous demeanor.

Cong Rong bought a framed painting of "Eight Steeds," which she hung on the east wall where the sofa was placed. She also had a large Chinese knot that had just been embroidered the previous year, which she hung on the north wall above the TV cabinet. The coffee table and sofa were arranged on the east side of the living room, while the dining table and chairs were placed on the west side. With the floor mopped spotlessly clean, standing inside made her feel almost as if she were dreaming. A spontaneous sense of happiness made her feel that spending several thousand yuan was well worth it.

The new home was basically set up, and Cong Rong planned to move their belongings over on the twenty-ninth. With so many newly bought items, the large pieces they needed to move were much fewer, mainly consisting of pots, pans, bowls, clothes, one bed, two wardrobes, and a long bench—all of which were part of Cong Rong's dowry when she got married.

On the twenty-eighth, Fang Luyong and Shan Peng first helped transport the bed to the new home. Fang Changming and Fang Fangran were visiting the new home for the first time, running around excitedly upstairs and downstairs. Amidst their joy and excitement, there was also a sense of unreality, as they kept wondering if they were dreaming and how they had suddenly managed to move into a new home.

This house had a total of four bedrooms—one downstairs and three upstairs. The eastern bedroom on the upper floor, where the staircase was located, was slightly larger. Fang Chang'an had originally planned for himself and Fang Changming to share this room, as it could fit two beds, while his parents and younger sister would each have their own room. However, Cong Rong insisted on living downstairs and giving each of her three children their own room.

Since the front door of the house opened directly into the living room, and the bedroom and kitchen were further inside, the downstairs bedroom still lacked optimal lighting despite having a window. Therefore, Fang Chang'an did not want his parents to live downstairs, but Cong Rong had made up her mind and refused to be persuaded. It was only later that she revealed her reasoning: "If your father gets drunk again later and starts making a fuss, living downstairs will be much quieter."

Her intention was to prevent Fang Lujun's drunken disturbances from affecting the three children.

Fang Chang'an tried to persuade his father over the phone as well, and Fang Lujun also felt that living downstairs was a good idea—not because he thought his drunken antics would affect the children, of course, but simply because he didn't want to climb stairs.

Since neither of them could be persuaded, Fang Chang'an had to give up. Fortunately, the bedroom also had a window for ventilation.

Before the move, another very important matter was the telephone. Fang Chang'an had originally planned to transfer their home telephone line, but he was told that because the service area was different, it could not be transferred. Although Fang Chang'an could not understand why telephones in the same town belonged to different service areas, he had no choice since the telecommunication office made the rules. He then took a step back, deciding to install a brand-new telephone in the new house and disconnect the old one.

However, the telecommunication staff then said: "Your original telephone line was signed under a two-year contract, and it hasn't expired yet. It cannot be disconnected."

Cong Rong asked, "When I installed the telephone, no one told me I had to use it for two years."

The staff replied, "It must have been mentioned. It's impossible that it wasn't. You either didn't hear it or forgot."

Cong Rong retorted, "We've already moved. Who is going to use the original telephone?"

The staff member answered, "That's your business, and it's none of our concern. Either you leave it there unused and keep paying the monthly fee, or you pay the penalty for breach of contract, and then we'll disconnect it."

Fang Chang'an had thought telecommunication companies in future generations were arrogant enough, but he hadn't expected them to be even more overbearing in this era. He had no choice but to ask Shen Chengiyan to step in again, and success was immediate. Less than an hour after Shen Chengiyan made his phone call, he called back to say that while transferring was difficult, a new line could be installed and the old one promptly terminated.

This gave Fang Chang'an the feeling of filing a complaint with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over a problem in later generations and getting feedback on the resolution—it was viciously efficient.

Apart from the new home, their old ancestral home also left behind quite a few "legacy issues," such as the chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep raised at the house.

Cong Rong originally wanted to sell all of them, but the pigs were not fully grown yet, the chickens were still laying eggs, and two of the sheep were still young. After careful consideration, she sold the pigs that had not yet fattened up, two roosters, a ewe, and two large sheep. The remaining hens, a ewe, and three lambs were all given to Fang Luyong's family.

On the morning of the twenty-eighth, Fang Luyong and Shan Peng helped move the new bed over. Fang Lüguo and Fang Changqing also came to help, and afterward, they all went back to the grandparents' house for a meal. Their eldest aunt, Fang Xia, also brought her two children. Except for eldest aunt's husband, Tang Xianyu, and Fang Lujun, who were working away from home, the entire extended family was present.

This kind of gathering happened several times a year, and the routine was basically always the same: having a meal and chatting. The focus of attention this time was naturally the matter of Fang Chang'an's family moving away.

Fang Chang'an's "moneymaking" exploits had been completely exposed. Scoring first in every exam had already made him the quintessential "child of other people" in the eyes of everyone else, but now, coupled with making thousands of yuan on a single idea—and doing so every single year—he had completely turned into a living legend.

In the past, it was usually Shan Fei, Shan Peng, Fang Changming, and others who were lectured, but this time even Fang Changqing and Fang Danran, who had just been admitted to the county's No. 1 High School and hadn't started yet, became targets who needed to learn and make progress.

Shan Fei and Shan Peng naturally couldn't escape their parents' nagging either. Shan Peng didn't react much; he was more concerned that Fang Changming, Fang Fangran, and the others would be attending the same school as him starting next term. He felt a bit worried because his older brother, Shan Fei, had gone off to study at No. 2 Middle School, and he himself couldn't beat Fang Changming in a fight.

Returning from Ma Jiagou to the town, the two brothers started whispering as soon as they got home. Shan Fei instructed his younger brother, "You don't need to worry. If he dares to hit you, just tell me, and I'll go find some people to beat him up."

Shan Peng was more broad-minded and said, "I'm not fighting with him, so why would he hit me? Who knows, if those Lü ruffians start trouble again, I might even be able to rely on Fang Changming. If you beat him up, Brother Chang'an will just come and beat you up."

"Hmph, I'm not afraid of him."

Shan Fei sneered, "He's going to come and hit me? I'm going to sort him out when I get to No. 2 Middle School, just wait and see. In a couple of days when school starts, I'll go look for him right away. I've already lined people up."

Shan Peng looked slightly startled and asked, "Are you going to beat him up? Both our dad and mom will beat you to a pulp—his grades are so good!"

Shan Fei said with vexation, "Then we won't beat him, but we have to scare him a bit. Otherwise, he'll start acting high and mighty again. We need to make him obedient. If he still dares to act like that, then don't blame me. By then, even if I don't want to hit him, Brother Monkey and the others all want to hit him."

With his mother keeping an eye on him, Shan Fei didn't dare get too mixed up with bad crowds at school. However, being in school, he had heard a thing or two about some of the more famous and formidable local hoodlums, and by networking through classmates, he could always manage to establish some connection.

During the summer vacation, Shan Fei had used a classmate to make contact, saying that when school started, he wanted to ask Brother Monkey for a favor to go scare someone together. It seemed that Brother Monkey initially refused, telling them to behave themselves at No. 2 Middle School and not cause trouble, warning that if real trouble started, no one could protect them. However, the older brother of the classmate Shan Fei approached had grown up playing with Brother Monkey, and after much persuasion and a guarantee that they wouldn't stir up chaos, Brother Monkey finally agreed.

For this reason, Shan Fei had even secretly treated people to video games at the arcade. With everything prepared, he was just waiting for the school term to begin.

On the morning of the twenty-ninth, Shan Peng rode his motorcycle over again to help move things. They certainly couldn't finish moving in a single trip, so Fang Changming and Fang Fangran excitedly went over to check out the new home again. Fang Chang'an was too lazy to run back and forth, so he stayed behind to watch the house.

As soon as the others left, he secretly made a phone call to Wang Ke. Today was her birthday.

"Hello."

The young girl clearly guessed that he would definitely call and had been waiting all along. The phone rang only twice before she picked up, her voice sweet and carrying a trace of lingering