NOVPUB
Chapter 528: Chapter 518: Cast a Long Line to Catch a Big Fish
After seeing off the group at the train station, a few of them walked home. "Brother Ma, come over to my place for dinner tonight with your wife. We can settle our accounts and divide the money," Shen Yunfang said straightforwardly. Their inventory had already been sold out, and because staying at the courtyard houses had been a bit inconvenient these last few days, they hadn’t brought up the matter of settling accounts and dividing the money. Now that everyone had left, she would take her children back upstairs in the evening; it was best to settle the finances as soon as possible.
"Okay, I’ll let my wife know later," Ma Liguo agreed.
After returning to Hongsheng Residential Area, Ma Liguo went back to work, while Shen Yunfang took her children back to the courtyard house. She needed to tidy up a bit there. Although Dashuan and Li Dajie’s families had already cleaned up that morning, there were still some things that needed attention. Additionally, Taxue was still in the courtyard house, and if her family was going back upstairs, she would need to bring the dog with them.
Once they arrived at the courtyard house, Shen Yunfang let her children play on their own while she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
By the time she had tidied up the entire courtyard house, it was already afternoon. Shen Yunfang then took her two children and the dog for a stroll back upstairs.
They had stayed at the courtyard house for the half-month of the New Year festivities and hadn’t been back home for many days. As they reached the foot of their apartment building, they saw a head retract onto the balcony above their door.
"Mom, Granny Sun is watching us from the balcony again," Pangpang said, also spotting the surveillance.
"Yes, I saw her too. She probably missed us," Shen Yunfang said, blatantly lying.
As they went upstairs, indeed they saw a crack in the opposite door with Auntie Sun peeking out from behind it.
You’d think people would remember, but some just can’t control their weird habits; they always have to surveil others.
"Xiaoshen, where did you take the kids for the New Year?" As Soon as they arrived at their door and Shen Yunfang pulled out her keys to unlock it, the person behind the opposite door couldn’t hold back any longer and poked her head through the gap to ask.
"Nowhere special, we just had a few relatives from the hometown over, just celebrating the New Year together and making it lively," Yunfang replied as she opened the door, gesturing for the children to enter. After responding to Auntie Sun with that remark, she added, "Auntie Sun, we’ve just got home and won’t talk long; we need to clean up."
Auntie Sun spat in disgust as the door closed and muttered under her breath, "Slut, who knows which man she’s run off with, taking the kids along."
In her heart, she had already labeled Shen Yunfang as a woman of loose morals—a testament to the deep impression Yoshida had left on these old ladies.
In the evening, after dinner, Shen Yunfang sent the three children off to play indoors. Then, after they cleared the table, they began dividing the money.
They had restocked twice, and by the fifteenth of the first lunar month, except for the kids playing with some, everything else had been sold. Mu Huaxin tallied up the accounts and found that in one month, they had sold a total of sixty-two thousand one hundred sixty yuan.
After deducting the initial investment of five thousand yuan from each family, the profit came to fifty-two thousand one hundred sixty yuan. Divided between the two families, each would take home twenty-six thousand eighty yuan. Including the initial investment, that amounted to thirty-one thousand eighty yuan each.
Ma Liguo was astounded at the sight of the large stack of banknotes before him. "Wife, pinch me, am I dreaming?" he said.
Mu Huazhen unceremoniously pinched him on the waist.
"Hiss, you really went for it, too harsh." Ma Liguo’s face turned green. Who does she think she is, a tigress? She’s cruel to her own man.
"Didn’t you ask me to pinch you? I was just afraid you’d think it was a dream, so I used a bit of strength," said Mu Huazhen, feigning innocence.
Ma Liguo pointed at his wife, speechless. What more was there to say? With a wife like this, he had no choice but to submit.
"Enough, you lovebirds can go home and close the door if you want to show off your love. Showing off in front of a lonely widow like me, are you asking for a beating?" Shen Yunfang waved her slender arm.
Mu Huazhen initially wanted to retort, ’try hitting me then’, but upon recalling Yunfang’s strength, she swallowed her words. She didn’t want to end up in a hospital bed like the obvious example already there.
In the presence of a true master, her police skills were insignificant.
"This is jealousy, pure jealousy. Wait until Li Hongjun comes back, I’ll have a good talk with him about this." Ma Liguo hadn’t thought of this and said nonchalantly.
Mu Huazhen tugged at him from the side. As annoying as he could be sometimes, he was still her beloved husband and the father of her child. She couldn’t let him court death without trying to save him.
Ma Liguo was clueless, seeing Mu Huazhen giving him signals, he just stared blankly, trying to guess what she meant.
Mu Huazhen rolled her eyes, thinking he was hopeless.
She counted out five bundles of ten-yuan notes from the pile of money in front of her and pushed them towards Shen Yunfang.
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Shen Yunfang frowned.
"It’s nothing, just giving you money," said Mu Huazhen curtly, catching Shen Yunfang off guard. She then chuckled and explained, "Yunfang, although we initially agreed to invest half each and share the profits equally, I just can’t take my half of the money with a clear conscience. Don’t speak, let me finish," Mu Huazhen authoritatively prevented Shen Yunfang from interrupting, then continued: "This past month, my husband and I were basically hands-off managers. I used to help cook and assist, but this year, with Wang’s wife coming on board, I’ve had even less to do. You all are out there braving the wind and rain to sell goods, and I see all that. Frankly, you’ve put in much more effort than we have, so it wouldn’t be right to divide the profits as we originally planned."
"Sister-in-law, didn’t we already discuss this last year? Our jobs are different, we each have our own responsibilities, we can’t use that as a measure," Shen Yunfang couldn’t agree with her. At the start of their partnership, she was aware of Ma Liguo and his wife’s situation. The amount that was agreed upon was fair. If it wasn’t suitable, Shen Yunfang would have said something at the beginning. Since it was agreed upon then, it didn’t make sense for her to quibble over it now.
"Back then, I didn’t realize we could make so much. I thought we’d earn, at most, eighteen thousand like last year. Taking a little advantage from you didn’t seem like much, so I shamelessly accepted it. But now, I can’t do the same. I have never seen so much money in my life, and I’m greedy for it. Giving you more would hurt, so here’s the five thousand for you. Besides, this is me playing the long game to catch the big fish; I’m counting on making big money with you in the future. So you’ve got to let me make this gesture, right?"
Seeing Shen Yunfang still trying to push the money back, Mu Huazhen grimaced and said, "Let’s not push back and forth, alright? I haven’t even split the cost of everyone’s meals during this period. All those people consuming rice, flour, and oil, none of it’s free, not to mention the meat you bought for New Year’s. I’m not going to nitpick about that; it’s all included in this five thousand, so don’t push it back at me."
Clearly prepared, Mu Huazhen’s words were well-reasoned, leaving Shen Yunfang without an argument. In the end, Shen Yunfang accepted the five thousand. So in the end, Ma Liguo ended up with twenty-six thousand and eighty, while Shen Yunfang took home thirty-six thousand and eighty.
In one month, they had quintupled their investment, truly a hefty profit.
