CHAPTER 538: CHAPTER 533: WAVERING

Although Mrs. Zhou still hoped that Bai Jing’s child was Zhou Guangsheng’s, she only wanted the child and did not insist on Zhou Guangsheng and Bai Jing staying together anymore.

Mrs. Zhou came from a rural background, and she can be quite opportunistic, often as unreasonable as Zhou Yunmei. However, her best quality is her ability to endure and clearly understand the situation.

She knew that her son did not make as much money as Fang Xiu, and her daughter was working in Fang Xiu’s shop. She acknowledged that her family’s financial situation was not as good as the Fang Family’s. Just like Bai Jing before, they needed to be more accommodating.

Furthermore, she thought about her old age in the future, realizing her son’s wife would need to shoulder their livelihood, she knew the importance of cherishing her blessings. To put it bluntly, she would try to please Fang Xiu.

She never acted up in front of Fang Xiu, and during the opening period of Fang Xiu’s shop, she went with Zhou Xiaoyan every day to help out.

Knowing she didn’t understand much about the business in the shop, she would cook, shop for groceries, or help Li Yuchun take care of Haohao, making Li Yuchun and Fang Xiu both satisfied with her.

Even initially when Fang Xiu discussed delaying the marriage with Zhou Guangsheng, she now agreed, saying that once the shop was stable, they would go to register for marriage.

A mother-in-law like Mrs. Zhou, though having her own plans, was still acceptable to others.

Unlike Zhou Yunmei, who spent her daughter-in-law’s money and enjoyed her fortune, she was not just unreserved but also maliciously calculative towards her daughter-in-law.

On Fang Pingying’s side, she was mostly focused on renovating the shop, but suddenly Zeng Weiguo wrote, indicating progress on buying land and that it was temporarily secured through a contact.

The land area was larger than they originally thought, and just using the money from the few of them might not be enough to purchase it. They might have to find business partners or borrow more from banks.

Fang Pingying had no choice but to hand over the shop renovation to Fang Ping’an to oversee while she focused on the land purchase.

The area Zeng Weiguo found through a contact was indeed good. In the future, the provincial city planned to focus development there, and it would all be commercial centers. If they could buy it now, the future shops or commercial complexes would generate astronomical rental income.

Thus, regardless of the difficulty, Fang Pingying was determined to purchase it.

The land currently belonged to a somewhat remote rural area, a small village. If they were to buy, they would buy the entire village, including houses and land, and directly negotiate with the village head without having to go house-to-house negotiating terms like later demolition processes require.

The village leader asked for a steep price, exceeding their budget.

Although Zeng Weiguo was also a businessman accustomed to big dealings, having to produce such a large sum of money all at once made him nervous and hesitant.

As they discussed the matter, Zeng Weiguo hesitantly asked Fang Pingying, "Pingying, do you really think there is potential here? I haven’t heard any news about plans to develop this area."

Fang Pingying knew that cooperating in business had its disadvantages; when difficulties arose, people began to retreat.

In fact, when deciding on this collaboration initially, Fang Pingying had made everything very clear—those willing could join, and those hesitant shouldn’t have agreed at the start.

At this point, even if Zeng Weiguo disagreed, it was too late. However, since the three of them hadn’t yet formally signed an official contract and knew each other so well, Fang Pingying didn’t force him.

Otherwise, if he didn’t back out now, he might consider withdrawing whenever future difficulties arose.

She then responded with a light smile to Zeng Weiguo, "Uncle Zeng, as I’ve said before, this matter involves a substantial amount of money. I won’t force you to cooperate. If you want to back out now, I won’t insist."

Fang Pingying acted this way not only to avoid future conflicts but also because she had her own worries.

Since compared to the past life, many things had already changed due to her actions, a potential butterfly effect could alter this situation too.

She was planning to take a risk this time. If it didn’t succeed, there was still a large piece of land so near to the city area that would likely not lose money on whatever it was used for in the future.

But for Uncle Zeng and juzi, although their relationship was good and they enjoyed working together, she couldn’t impose on them in such a matter. After all, there were limits even between friends.

Juzi didn’t really understand business, especially such significant investments like acquiring land. She simply trusted Fang Pingying completely.

Because she could open a shop and buy a house today, all thanks to Fang Pingying’s guidance, she unhesitatingly chose to continue following Fang Pingying.

After hearing the conversation between Fang Pingying and Zeng Weiguo, Juzi specifically pulled Zeng Weiguo aside, frowning, "Uncle, what are you doing? It isn’t the time to back out, right? Didn’t we agree before to stick together, whether it results in profit or loss?"

"If you back out now, how can Sister Fang gather that much capital alone? How will we face her in the future?"

Zeng Weiguo, ultimately a businessman, valued profits above all regardless of how good their relationship was. He smiled faintly and told juzi, "You naïve girl, this isn’t the time to let emotions dictate such a big business decision."

After he spoke, he glanced at Fang Pingying, expressing his inner concerns, "Don’t blame your uncle for being overly cautious, Xiao Fang is indeed good, and skilled in business. But ever since she proposed buying such a large tract of land, there hasn’t been a solid reason, relying solely on our trust in her isn’t enough."

"Think about it, I’ve been in the business world for so many years; I know some people, and I’ve never heard anyone mention any development plans near here, this..."

Zeng Weiguo didn’t finish his sentence, but juzi understood.

She stared at Zeng Weiguo for a while, then made a decision, "Uncle, if you’re unwilling to invest, then lend me your share of the money. I’ll stick with Sister Fang no matter what. For the other share of the money, we can either borrow from the bank or find another investor."

"No..." Zeng Weiguo instinctively objected, but then he thought that if Fang Pingying was investing a considerable sum herself, it didn’t seem like she did it without any basis. If it really succeeded, wouldn’t they all stand to gain enormously?

Perhaps there could be a compromise. He could withdraw some funds but leave some invested. If they profited, he’d still receive a decent share; if they incurred losses, he wouldn’t drain his entire family fortune.