The Fantastic Little Farmer

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Relatives’ Money-Borrowing Show

It took Zhang Yun a monumental effort to finally convince them he truly had no Experience and no connections!

These tomcats immediately lost interest and left. It seemed that shaking down Zhang Youcai was secondary; their most pressing priority was getting Zhang Yun to take them out for some action...

Zhang Yun immediately called Zhang Youcai, relaying their intentions and how he had covered for him.

Zhang Youcai sighed in relief. ”You’re a true friend! Uncle Cai won’t forget this!”

”I’m not calling to claim credit. I just want you to keep your guard up. The others are fine, but Jin Lu might still seek you out in private.”

”Understood! I have him under control.”

”There’s one more thing...”

Before Zhang Yun could finish, Zhang Youcai eagerly interrupted, ”Spit it out!”

Wasn’t this just claiming credit? Since he claimed credit, he definitely had a request. He was already prepared for it.

”After all these years, you must have reliable channels to offload gold, silver, and antiques. I’m planning to collect some Ancient Artifacts. Could you help me sell them when the time comes? A commission won’t be a problem.”

Zhang Youcai was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Zhang Yun to delve into the antique business.

”Nephew! Don’t think I’m jealous of your million-yuan windfall, but the Ancient Artifacts business is full of murky waters. Let alone a million not even making a ripple, it’s practically a bottomless pit. Your money came fast, but that was a stroke of luck, not a regular occurrence. It’s better to keep your feet on the ground.”

Zhang Yun could tell these were words from the bottom of his heart. ”Thanks, Uncle Cai. I know my limits. After seeing your collection last night, I just want to dabble a bit. I won’t get in too deep.”

”Alright, then use your own discretion. I’ll help you sell them when the time comes, and let’s not even talk about a commission.”

”Deal! We’ll talk about it then.”

Zhang Yun looked at the ring in his hand. He figured it was the effect of this item. As long as he could confirm they were Ancient Artifacts, it meant he could distinguish the genuine from the fake. As long as they were old enough, they would definitely be worth money—it was just a matter of how much. Even if he couldn’t acquire antiques with prestigious provenance or high artistic value, simply not losing money would be a win.

He immediately went online to do some research, familiarizing himself with the approximate market prices of common antiques. Then, he drafted a message about purchasing Ancient Artifacts and sent it directly to the village group chat.

”Zhang Yun! You’ve finally shown up. Where are you?”

”What antiques? What kind of antiques could we possibly have around here? Let’s talk about the ginseng instead.”

After posting it, Zhang Yun also shared the message to his Friends Circle. Then, ignoring the incoming messages, he brought out some fruits and vegetables, chopping them up to feed the fish. The sky hadn’t darkened yet. Zhang Yun noticed that the fish he checked on every day had noticeably grown much larger and were ready to be sold on the market. The fingerlings, on the other hand, hadn’t changed much. It was clearly the effect of the crops from the Peach Blossom Spring Space. The only issue was that the small fingerlings couldn’t compete for the food; it was all devoured by the aggressively feeding large fish.

Once he finished his chores and saw it was getting late, Zhang Yun hopped on his motorcycle and headed home.

The way out of the mountain was a dirt path, which transitioned into narrow ridges between the fields outside. Riding his new motorcycle, Zhang Yun didn’t dare go too fast, afraid of taking a spill. Along the stretch leading out of the mountain hollow, he saw several people trickling back from digging for ginseng. It was obvious they had all come up empty-handed. Everyone wanted to pull him aside to ask questions, so Zhang Yun had no choice but to speed up a little.

This burst of speed made him realize something: with his enhanced physical abilities, handling a motorcycle had also become much easier! In the past, he had to be very careful riding along the field ridges, occasionally tapping his feet on the ground for balance. Now, he just cruised right through! With a perfect grasp of his balance and center of gravity, there was naturally no risk of falling.

Upon entering the village, people greeted him all along the way. It felt like he had become the man of the hour in just half a day...

Right as he reached his doorstep, Zhang Yun heard a bustling commotion inside. The moment the sound of his motorcycle entering the courtyard echoed, a large crowd immediately poured out of the house.

”Yun, where have you been all day?”

”You weren’t intentionally hiding from us, were you?”

”I’m your aunt, remember?”

The noisy crowd swarmed around him. Zhang Yun saw his dad emerge from the kitchen, looking at him helplessly. Clearly, since he hadn’t returned, these relatives hadn’t left either. Instead, their numbers had only grown, with everyone gathering together to drink tea and chat. His dad was about to prepare dinner to host them.

Zhang Yun shot his father a reassuring look while greeting everyone and walking into the living room. After scanning the room, he felt somewhat relieved. His immediate uncles and aunts hadn’t come; these were all distant relatives, so he felt absolutely no burden in turning them down.

Zhang Yun gestured for everyone to An Jing. ”You’re all waiting for me, right? There’s no need to beat around the bush. It’s getting late, so let’s get this over with so you can all head back early for dinner.”

These words caught everyone off guard. ’Get this over with and head back for dinner?’ Was he not even going to host them for a meal? But Zhang Fu had previously kept making excuses, claiming he didn’t know anything and that his son was the one calling all the shots. Now that they had finally waited for Zhang Yun to return, they weren’t willing to leave. Originally, if they had come individually, getting rejected wouldn’t have been too humiliating. But now that they were all gathered together, even though everyone knew each other’s motives, getting rejected to their faces would be far more embarrassing.

In this test of thick skin, no one made a peep.

”You go first. Weren’t you the first one here?” someone nudged another.

”Well... then I’ll start. Huo Sheng has already arranged a marriage with a girl, but her family is demanding that we finish building a new house before she marries him. We’ve poured all our money into the construction, and it’s still not finished. We also need to furnish it, so we wanted to ask to borrow two hundred thousand from you...”

Good grief! Everyone gasped in shock! Zhang Yun had only made a million, and this one family was asking for two hundred thousand. Were the rest of them supposed to borrow nothing? There were over a dozen people here. If the first person took that much, there wouldn’t be a single penny left for anyone else!

”Hey, now... that’s a bit much. If you have to borrow money just to build the house, what about the money for the wedding itself?”

”Exactly! When would you ever be able to pay back two hundred thousand?”

”You should help in an emergency, not fund a lifestyle! Zhang Yun, your uncle just went into the hospital. They found a tumor. It’s benign and in the early stages, so surgery will fix him right up. Lend us one hundred thousand first...”

”HEY! So yours is an emergency and mine is just a lifestyle? Who knows what kind of tumor it even is? A lipoma is a benign tumor too, and it doesn’t do a damn thing!”

”Sigh, they’re all crossing the line. I’m not asking for much, just lend me fifty thousand...”

”PAH! You’re even more shameless, asking for fifty thousand! Why should he lend it to you? Zhang Yun, lend it to me! I’ve even got the IOU prepared. Lend me fifty thousand!”

The living room descended into total chaos. At first, no one wanted to speak up for fear of losing face, but after hearing the demand for two hundred thousand, everyone started scrambling over each other! To make themselves seem more reasonable, they attacked each other for being shameless; to prove they could repay the debt, they loudly declared that the others had no ability to pay him back.

Watching the uproar, Zhang Fu couldn’t help but sigh. He couldn’t control this situation, so he had no choice but to leave it to his son as he retreated to the kitchen. The shouting was so loud it could be heard outside. In truth, there were quite a few people in the village who also wanted to borrow money, but upon seeing so many relatives waiting that afternoon, they had decided to leave for the time being.

Through it all, Zhang Yun maintained his composure, looking as though he were earnestly listening to them. He didn’t ignore a single person, giving each of them the illusion of hope, which spurred them to spare no effort in trash-talking everyone else.

”Everyone, An Jing for a moment! I’ve heard all your difficulties, and as your relative, I really want to help.”

As soon as Zhang Yun spoke, the crowd An Jinged, ceasing their mutual accusations as they waited for his announcement.

”Judging from what you’ve all said to each other, none of these are actually burning emergencies, and it doesn’t seem like any of you have the ability to pay me back either. But that doesn’t matter, because right now, I have money!”

The first half of his statement made everyone’s faces fall, but upon hearing the end and seeing Zhang Yun’s beaming smile, they all grew excited. He had money on hand, and he was still willing to lend it!

Even if they got a little less, it didn’t matter. In fact, receiving less would make it even easier to justify never paying him back!