Chapter 516: 516. Lun Chuan’s Dilemma_1 Chapter 516: 516. Lun Chuan’s Dilemma_1 Well, isn’t this great!

Wang Jie felt she had a point on one hand but on the other hand, she couldn’t resist the temptation of being pursued and starting a family.

She didn’t blame Lun Jing for being meddlesome, but since they lived close by, she came over to knock on her door every day, pouring out her troubles and sharing her dilemmas… She didn’t want to share her burden, and she wasn’t willing to settle down decisively, which really annoyed Lun Jing to no end!

Having no choice, she could only make the excuse that she was busy with work and overtime to escape to her son’s place.

But her son was also a closed book; aside from tending to flowers and plants, tidying up the house, cooking, and typing… he didn’t even leave the house!

Thinking about this, she became even more depressed, “What’s with you, staying home all day–you should go out for a walk!”

Lun Chuan sighed, “Mom, I’ve been feeling a bit sensitive recently; the air outside is poor, and it’s hard to breathe.”

He hadn’t noticed before, but during his last few outings, he increasingly felt that the air was polluted. Wearing a mask in the middle of a hot day was also really uncomfortable.

Then there was his skin–he used to be fair-skinned due to not getting much sun, but never to this extent! A slight brush against a bush while walking would leave a red mark…

That made him even more frustrated.

But Lun Jing didn’t think too much about it; she just nodded in agreement, “That’s right, the air quality in Imperial City has gotten worse this year… So much dust and sand. It’s only bearable indoors with the air purifier running.”

She moved on from the topic of going outside and quickly switched directions.

“If you’re not going out, why don’t you chat more online? I’m not rushing you to get married, but the key point is you don’t even go out, so where will you meet people? You don’t have to marry, dating is also an option! Nowadays, isn’t it true that many girls don’t want to get a license, only wanting to date?”

“You can tell them that Mom isn’t pressuring you to get married and have kids, but it’s not appropriate for you to stay cooped up at home without any outdoor activities.”

Lun Chuan had just opened the box in his hand; there were two identical boxes, and opening them revealed sponge-wrapped, exceptionally fresh large green peaches.

Hearing her, his voice was calm, “I’m quite comfortable on my own, and currently, I have no need or thoughts of dating.”

Lun Jing was left speechless.

She thought for a moment and couldn’t help but look at her son suspiciously, “Achuan, I’ve always been too embarrassed to ask you, but you’re a healthy young man… Is there a problem you can’t talk to Mom about…?”

“If it’s true… well, I’m not pushing you, as long as life is good, those little issues aren’t a big deal… let’s just leave it at that!”

Lun Chuan: …

His snow-white earlobes suddenly burned red, and he couldn’t help but turn around and look at her helplessly, “Mom!”

Then, subconsciously, he remembered that bottle of foul-tasting pills and those heated, entwined dreams at night…

Cough!

In any case, presumably because his body was healthy and didn’t require any additional nourishment, he didn’t continue taking them.

At this moment, however, Lun Jing tried to divert attention even more obviously–she leaned over to take a look at the last big box:
“What’s this?”

Lun Chuan opened it and was momentarily stunned.

The box was split into two sections, one side packed tight with modest-sized chestnut burrs, their vicious spikes pressed down by cardboard, still a vibrant green. Interspersed among them were a few narrow leaves with toothed edges.

On the other side, there was a package of soybeans wrapped in layers.

“Oh my!” Lun Jing couldn’t help but show a trace of surprise, “Achuan, I still don’t approve of you playing the hero, but that young lady truly deserved saving! She hasn’t forgotten you in half a year, and anything good she has, she shares with you… Look how thoughtful she is!”

As she spoke, a touch of softness surfaced around her brows and eyes, “Tell me, why weren’t you born a girl? Raising a daughter is so much more affectionate!”

Lun Chuan had already learned to ignore these words.

He simply asked again, “Mom, she sent over a straw mat last time, I find it very comfortable. Do you want one? I can buy it for you if you’d like.”

Lun Jing waved her hand dismissively, “No need for you to buy it. Don’t you send me money every month? I have my own salary.”

Her curiosity then took over as she eyed the chestnut buns, “Did they pack them like this because they were afraid the fresh chestnuts wouldn’t stay fresh if shipped? So considerate… Quick, where are the scissors? I haven’t had fresh chestnuts in years, they must be especially sweet!”

…

The frenzied peach picking finally ended three days later.

Song Tan, tears in her eyes as she checked the transferred amount for correctness, bid farewell to Mr. Qian, and then immediately called a family meeting–
“What shall we use this money for?”

“Isn’t it obvious?!” Wu Lan and Song Sancheng replied without hesitation, “First, let’s pay back the village’s money! If we can’t settle it all at once, let’s at least pay off some of it.”

The debt from Bags Mountain was still outstanding, oh, the agony of being in debt.

Zhang Yanping couldn’t help but marvel at their view on money, continuously waving his hands, “No, no, absolutely not!”

“Tantan, aren’t you planning to develop the barren hills next? The village didn’t say they needed their money back urgently. Once the mountain development is done, money will flow in steadily. Then you can pay back however you want.”

Xin Jun nodded in agreement, “I think so too.”

“Even the nearest deadline on the original contract is 6 months from now. Now that the peach harvest is over and there’s nothing pressing for time, we should get started on the mountain land planning as soon as possible.”

“It’s July now, some things need to be planted in the fall.”

Song Tan sighed, “That’s what I was thinking too.”

Before selling the peaches, it seemed like the money would be more than enough, but only after the sale did they realize that there were too many places to spend it–it was like a drop in the bucket.

However, they didn’t have any connections to professionals who could plan the forest lands, so they still had to pin their hopes on Secretary Xiaozu.

At that moment, a call from Guo Dong came in.

“Have you sold all your peaches? I just saw that the boss seemed to have left.”

“Yeah,” Song Tan replied curiously, “Do you want to buy peaches?”

“Buy peaches? I’m super busy!” Guo Dong was desperate, “Hurry up and pick the Golden Sakura for me! My regular customers are about to drive me insane.”

Picking peaches for just a week or two, and her place hadn’t had anyone picking Golden Sakura, especially since she had moved her pharmacy recently, needed to stock up all kinds of medicinal herbs, inspect their quality, and also had to communicate with her previous clients… She was incredibly busy!

Otherwise, Guo Dong would have gone to pick them herself with a basket in hand.

She hadn’t even had time to think about buying Song Tan’s peaches!

Now, she had no other wishes but to hope that she could get a batch of herbs ready today so she could stay up all night preparing ointments.”

Song Tan felt quite apologetic–prices had been agreed upon, but they were short of hands, indeed delaying the business.

“I’ll arrange it right now!”

There wasn’t much Golden Sakura to pick, it would only take a day or two. Such a small amount of fruit didn’t even require the drying room; she could just use a charcoal stove to get it all dried.

Zhang Yanping, impatient and enthusiastic, also urged Song Tan along,
“Hurry up, once the herbs are ready, both of us make money. I’ve got plenty of male customers on my side, everyone has their needs!”