Early morning.
A ray of bright sunlight streamed in from outside the window, warmly falling on Lin Fan's face.
"It's no good when no one is watching; they didn't even see that big piece of cement blocking the drainpipe!"
"If this gets clogged, how will we ever clear it out?"
Xia Xue grumbled as she walked.
Song Yue listened and nodded, occasionally adding a word of criticism.
After venting a lot of her frustrations, Xia Xue finally felt a bit better.
"Why isn't Xiao Fan up yet?"
Xia Xue didn't see Lin Fan on the first floor, so she placed the breakfast she brought on the table and went upstairs.
"Xiao Fan, get up quickly!"
Xia Xue was an industrious person.
Seeing Lin Fan still in bed, she pulled back the blanket. "The sun is shining on your butt, Xiao Fan, get up!"
"Sister-in-law, it's too early; no one will be coming for treatment. Let me lie down a bit longer."
Lin Fan tugged at the blanket and covered himself again.
When he returned last night, he had been thinking about Jiang Edo's pure and lovely appearance, which made him feel fiery all over. He had only fallen into a hazy sleep in the latter half of the night.
"No ambition!"
Xia Xue nudged him. "I brought breakfast. If you don't get up, I'll drag you out of bed."
Lin Fan's hands grabbed the sofa cushion from underneath, silently protesting to his sister-in-law.
"You're not listening, are you?"
Xia Xue threatened, then grabbed the lower part of the blanket and pulled hard!
"Don't, sister-in-law."
Lin Fan pleaded helplessly, simultaneously exerting force in the opposite direction.
*Riiip!*
A tearing sound.
Xia Xue wasn't paying attention and her pants were pulled down along with the blanket.
"Ah!"
Xia Xue glanced only once before quickly covering her eyes and throwing the blanket back.
"Why aren't you wearing pajamas?"
Xia Xue was flustered and didn't know what to say, so she asked a question she knew the answer to.
"I live alone; why would I wear that?"
"Besides, I don't have any pajamas!"
Lin Fan's expression was blank; he wasn't thinking much and didn't realize how awkward his sister-in-law was feeling at that moment.
He remembered that when he was a child, his sister-in-law used to bathe him!
"You, really, hurry up and get up!"
Xia Xue's face turned red, and she hurried away.
If it were in the past, she wouldn't have thought much of it, but now that Lin Fan was grown and understood everything, some things she needed to avoid.
"Sister Xue, what's wrong?"
Song Yue heard the commotion from upstairs and saw Xia Xue come down with a flushed face, so she asked curiously.
"Nothing."
Xia Xue smiled awkwardly, then changed the subject. "Sister, go see if the hot pork rib soup is ready; we'll eat when it is."
Song Yue nodded and was about to say it was ready when she heard hurried footsteps from outside.
Is someone here for treatment?
It's so early!
"Lin Fan, are you there?"
A sweet voice accompanied the knocking.
Xia Xue and Song Yue exchanged glances, seeing the word "confused" on each other's faces.
"Come in!"
Xia Xue called out.
"Lin... Oh, it's Sister-in-law Xia Xue, and..."
Tian Mengyao, holding a folder, walked in looking tired.
She knew Xia Xue reasonably well but couldn't recall Song Yue's name.
As she felt awkward, Xia Xue smiled and rescued her. "This is Song Yue from Wangjia Village next door."
"Secretary Tian, why are you looking for Xiao Fan so early? Is something up?"
Tian Mengyao said "Oh" and replied, "I stayed up late last night to revise the plan and wanted to ask Xiao Fan to take a look."
She sniffed the aroma of food wafting in the air and then smiled, "Sister-in-law Xia Xue, aren't you eating yet?"
Xia Xue nodded and enthusiastically said, "Secretary Tian, please sit down and join us for a meal."
"No, no, I've already eaten... *Gurgle gurgle!*"
The rumbling in her stomach betrayed Tian Mengyao's well-intentioned lie.
"Let's eat together; don't be shy."
Xia Xue didn't laugh at her.
This young girl had a good reputation in Luofeng Village and was pretty. If she weren't the village secretary, Xia Xue would have really wanted to set her up with Lin Fan.
At this moment, Lin Fan, with his messy hair and slippers, walked downstairs.
"Xiao Fan."
Tian Mengyao didn't pay attention to his appearance; her eyes sparkled.
"Why are you here?"
Lin Fan looked up at her, yawning.
"Say 'Secretary Tian'!"
Xia Xue reprimanded him.
Lin Fan waved his hand, looking unconcerned.
"Sister-in-law Xia Xue, it's fine. We grassroots cadres aren't that formal."
"We are meant to mingle with the masses."
Tian Mengyao's tone was very friendly.
Lin Fan frowned, feeling something was off.
"A gift with no cause is either robbery or deceit!"
This young girl must be after something!
Xia Xue and Song Yue tidied up the table and gestured, "Come sit, everyone, let's eat."
The four of them sat down.
In front of Lin Fan was a large basin of pork rib soup, with two large pieces of pork rib in it.
In front of Tian Mengyao was a small basin of pork rib soup, with two small pieces of pork rib and a steamed bun beside it.
It seemed that regardless of whether one was a secretary or not, in the eyes of Xia Xue and Song Yue, Lin Fan was the most important!
Tian Mengyao looked at the food on the table and smiled, "Your family's living conditions seem quite good."
"What are you saying? Yesterday, Xiao Fan bought a lot of meat and ribs, so I was willing to cook more."
"Meat is so expensive now; we really can't afford it."
After Xia Xue finished speaking, Tian Mengyao thought, "Yes, when the villagers' living standards reach this level, my mission will be accomplished!"
Soon, the meal was over.
Tian Mengyao placed the documents in front of Lin Fan and said, "Take a look. I thought about it all night and redid it."
"I think we shouldn't be satisfied with just growing medicinal herbs; simply providing herbs has too low added value."
"We should do some processing, which can not only solve some employment problems but also increase the added value of our products."
Tian Mengyao's ideas were clear and logical, leaving Lin Fan unable to find any flaws.
"Mhm."
Lin Fan nodded, thinking she was too smart.
But when Lin Fan opened the folder, he was stunned.
It read: Total cost for establishing the processing center: about 300,000 yuan!
"Are you treating me like a pushover?"
Lin Fan couldn't help but exclaim.
It was true that he had 980,000 yuan in his account.
But the previous budget was 500,000 to 600,000 yuan, and with this medicinal herb processing center, nearly 900,000 yuan would be gone!
He had intended to keep some private money for himself, but he hadn't expected Tian Mengyao to take it all!
"Xiao Fan, what do you mean by 'pushover'?"
"Yes, what's going on?"
Xia Xue and Song Yue, who had just finished clearing the dishes, came out of the kitchen and looked at Lin Fan and Tian Mengyao with confusion.
"It's..."
Tian Mengyao was about to speak when Lin Fan lied, "It's like this, sisters-in-law."
"When I was treating patients in town, I met some wealthy individuals."
"Coincidentally, Secretary Tian wanted to set up a medicinal herb planting cooperative in the village, so I agreed to help bridge the gap and find some investors."
Lin Fan shook the folder in his hand and continued, "But Secretary Tian's plan is different from what we initially discussed; it increased by 300,000 yuan overnight."
"How am I supposed to explain this to them?"
"After all, they are investing based on my medical skills and our friendship."