Bastard 04

Fang Zhiyi walked over and stretched out his hand. "Sis, give me some money."

Fang Wanyun, holding a handful of loose change and feeling excited, instinctively took a step back. "What do you need money for?"

Fang Zhiyi smiled wryly and pointed to a few small-time thugs not far away. "To pay these guys their wages."

Fang Wanyun glanced over. Indeed, they owed a lot to those guys today. When there were many people around, they would boast loudly in the crowd; when it was just a few, they’d gather around pretending to browse. Thinking about her earlier reaction, Fang Wanyun smiled sheepishly and stuffed all the money into Fang Zhiyi’s hand.

"You keep it all. I’m just here to help you out today." She paused, "Don’t laugh at me, but I actually thought you were..."

Fang Zhiyi chuckled, "You thought I was going gambling, right?"

Fang Wanyun blushed and looked down.

Fang Zhiyi stopped joking and waved his hand. A few of the small-time thugs came running over eagerly.

"Brother Fang!"

Fang Zhiyi praised them, "Not bad! Not bad at all! You’ve got potential! Stick with me, and I promise you’ll have enough to eat and drink!"

The group grinned foolishly. Honestly, after following Fang Zhiyi for the past two or three days, they had managed to earn a bit of pocket money—not much, but still something.

"Keep going and collect scraps of thread, bits of fabric, buttons, that kind of stuff. Remember, collect, not rob or steal!" Fang Zhiyi’s expression turned serious.

The others nodded.

Little Shanzi, the leader, looked at Fang Zhiyi as he walked away, then turned to his friends. "Let’s go, get to work!"

"Shanzi, work again? So tiring..." someone groaned.

Little Shanzi shot him a glance. "If you don’t want to work, fine, but don’t expect to get paid tomorrow." He paused, "And don’t scream when you get beaten up."

On the way back, Fang Wanyun looked at her younger brother with curiosity. She always thought he bullied her and never really had his act together. But today... maybe she had misunderstood him?

"Little brother, I haven’t seen those friends of yours before..." Fang Wanyun tried to make conversation.

Fang Zhiyi waved his hand dismissively. "Those guys? I just met them a couple of days ago."

"Huh?"

"When I came out of the scrap yard, those guys blocked me. Could I just let them boss me around?" Fang Zhiyi said casually. "I gave them a little talk about the bright future ahead, and they decided to follow me."

Fang Wanyun seemed to half-understand. After a moment, she said, "Little brother, don’t get mixed up with that. You still need to keep your feet on the ground."

Fang Zhiyi nodded. "Of course, you have to keep your feet on the ground!" he muttered to himself, *but not me.*

At dinner, the Fang family looked at the two large bags of scraps Fang Zhiyi had dragged home.

Old Fang stood up and walked over, opened one of the bags, and examined the contents. He tilted his head, thinking for a while, then glanced at his two younger children whispering together. In the end, he didn’t say anything. As long as this kid didn’t go gambling, that was enough.

Li Cuixia, still sarcastic, said, "Oh, making big money now, huh?"

Fang Zhiyi looked up at her.

Li Cuixia was still quite young, with striking features, but her personality was off-putting. In the original storyline, after her eldest brother broke his leg, Li Cuixia, though grumbling constantly, still shouldered the family’s heavy burdens. However, she aged rapidly from the stress.

“Sister-in-law.”

Li Cuixia was taken aback.

“W-what did you just call me?”

“Sister-in-law?” Fang Zhiyi’s face lit up with a broad smile, her eyes nearly closed in delight.

Li Cuixia jolted. “Fang Dingbang, Fang Dingbang!”

Eldest Brother Fang snapped back to his senses. “If you have something to say, just say it!”

“Your brother is possessed!”

“Pah, pah, pah!” Fang’s Mother hurried over. “Don’t say such nonsense! No one’s possessed!”

Li Cuixia looked frightened. “He called me sister-in-law!”

Fang Zhiyi shrugged. “What’s the problem? Sister-in-law.”

A collective gasp swept through the Fang family.

Fang’s Mother even reached out to grab Fang Zhiyi’s chin, turning her face over and over in disbelief.

Fang Zhiyi smiled wryly, understanding their reaction. Ever since Li Cuixia married into the Fang family, Fang Zhiyi had never treated her kindly. Unlike the others who indulged her, Li Cuixia never coddled her, so she never called her “sister-in-law.” Even when asking her for money, she’d only say “hey.”

“That’s definitely the third brother,” Fang Zhiyi said.

“I was too reckless before,” she continued, “but I promise I’ll change. You’ve all seen it—I haven’t been idle these past few days.”

The Fang family members all nodded; they had noticed Fang Zhiyi’s efforts recently.

What she did next surprised them even more. She pulled out a handful of coins from her pocket and slapped them down on the table.

“Wow, a pile of coins and you’re acting like it’s a fortune,” Little Hei teased.

Fang Zhiyi wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest.

“This is the money I earned from selling handmade goods yesterday, plus what Second Sister made from those little crafts today.”

Old Fang looked up at his daughter, understanding Fang Wanyun’s honesty. Fang Wanyun nodded repeatedly.

“After paying a few helpers and accounting for these small sums collected today, the rest is pure profit. Count it yourselves.”

Fang’s Mother hesitated for a moment, then began to count the money.

Fang Zhiyi smiled and looked at her sister-in-law. “Sister-in-law?”

Li Cuixia snapped back to reality, answering awkwardly, “Uh-huh.”

“Relying on just Second Sister to do this is too slow. Could you help out? I remember you’re pretty good at knitting.”

Li Cuixia was stunned. “Me?”

Fang Zhiyi nodded. “Yes, fifty yuan?”

Li Cuixia’s expression grew strange; she still doubted Fang Zhiyi’s motives, especially hearing how accurately he quoted her wages. She couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Fang Zhiyi ignored this. “Here’s today’s profit. Take a look and see how much there is.”

Everyone waited as Fang’s Mother finished counting.

“Thirty-four!” The amount wasn’t large, but it was quickly counted.

Fang Zhiyi stood up. “See? Thirty-four in one day, and that’s with only Second Sister working. If someone helps out, tomorrow it’ll be sixty. Sixty in one day!”

At these words, the Fang family was stunned. Sixty a day? That’s over a thousand a month!

Seeing their expressions, Fang Zhiyi smiled and said, "We'll sell here for two days, then move to places with more foot traffic. After that, we'll hire people to work on a piece-rate basis, then distribute our products to various shops. Next, we'll recruit more workers, collect materials, build a factory, and eventually, start our own company!"

He waved his hand with a commanding air.

The Fang family stared at him in a daze.

After a long moment, Fang Dingbang stood up and reached out to touch Fang Zhiyi's forehead. "Third brother, you’re not running a fever, are you?"

"I think it’s doable," said Fang's Mother, who had always supported Fang Zhiyi. Now, seeing her son quit gambling and show the ability to make money, she didn’t ask for much—just that he live a decent life. "Mom’s got your back!"

Old Fang and the eldest brother still hadn’t voiced their opinions, but Fang Wanyun hesitated. "Little brother, I... I still have to work."

Fang Zhiyi looked at her and said, "Second sister, you should quit that job. You work yourself to the bone and barely make thirty bucks a month."