TATLC Chapter 42

Chen Xiao Mi stared at the jam jar: “How long do we have to wait?”

“Has it cooled down?”

“No.”

“A little longer.”

“Ok.”

Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin did several rounds like that, and finally Lu Lin said that the jam was ready on the fifth round.

Chen Xiao Mi dipped his finger and tasted, he closed his eyes and said: “Y-U-M-M-Y!”

Lu Lin also tasted it, but Lu Lin thought it was too sweet.

“No, I think it’s perfect.” Chen Xiao Mi did not understand, why would someone say something too sweet.

Lu Lin took a glance at Chen Xiao Mi and thought: ‘Maybe he’s right, maybe the locals here do enjoy sweets.‘

Chen Xiao Mi had gulped down about half a bowl of jam while Lu Lin was not paying attention.

“Stop, your teeth will be damaged.”

Chen Xiao Mi pouted: ‘food is food, food is delicious!’

Lu Lin made a large amount of jam using the berries the children picked, he kept it in the store, he planned to sell it to Manager Wang when they went to town next time to sell sweet potato wine.

Chen Xiao Mi hid two bottles of jam, he didn’t have access to Lu Lin’s shop, and he knew Lu Lin would refuse to give him such a large amount of jam.

“It’s not healthy”, “You should take care of your teeth”, “It’s also junk food”… …

“Aiya, Lu Lin, Chen Xiao Mi, you guys finally got here!” Manager Wang beamed with a smile.

Their wine was in high demand, Manager Wang hoped to buy more this time.

“How much did you sell this time?”

“10 bottles of beer, 30 bottles of sweet potato wine.”

“Good, good!” With that Manger Wang asked the busboys to bring the alcohol to the basement, and he handed over 17 taels of silver.

Lu Lin looked at Manager Wang and said: “I made something new recently, can I ask you to take a look?”

“Oh? What is it?” Manager Wang was intrigued.

Lu Lin handed a small jar of jam to Manager Wang, Manager Wang tasted and exclaimed: “Wow, what is this stuff, it tastes so good! You’re very generous with sugar and berries, I think customers will like it!”

Lu Lin smiled: “Right. I’ve put a lot of sugar, so it’s not cheap, otherwise I’ll lose money.”

Manager Wang tasted one more flavor and said: “How many days can I keep it?”

‘How sharp his eyes are! He has asked the key question, shelf life!’

“About seven days.” Lu Lin replied.

“Sounds pretty good.”

The couple decided to sell their jam at Good Luck Restaurant, one silver tael for a bottle, Manager Wang was able to earn 200 cents for each bottle sold.

The high price had scared people away at first, but more and more people showed interest in them. And they became very popular.

A few days later, the berries on the mountain ripened again. Lu Lin asked Chen Xiao Cai to pick some more with his friends, the same price as before, 3 cents.

This time went very smoothly, Chen Xiao Cai had gathered a group of children in no time.

In fact, there were always children asking Chen Xiao Cai if he still wanted some berries these days, but Chen Xiao Cai refused because Lu Lin did not mention anything.

Chen Xiao Cai now trusted Lu Lin completely. Everyone in the village all thought that it was Chen Xiao Mi who came up with the idea of kang and gloves, but Chen Xiao Cai was well aware that it was actually Lu Lin. This child further realized that his big brother was an extraordinary man despite Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi trying to hide things from him.

Zhang Da Hu brought his younger sister Zhang Mei Zi this time, soon the children scattered around the mountain and picked all the good berries on the mountain.

Lu Lin checked the berries and paid the children at night. There were more children than baskets this time, so some baskets were filled by two children together.

“Mi, one more basket is missing.”

Chen Xiao Mi frowned, he felt that this was no accident, someone must have stolen the basket, just like last time.

“This is not right, I need to ask Cai about this. It’s so strange, what if it continues.” Chen Xiao Mi stood aghast.

“What? We lost a basket?” Chen Xiao Cai was surprised.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded.

Chen Xiao Cai narrowed his eyes and said: “I think it was Lu Song Shi.”

Chen Xiao Cai was a little overwhelmed the first time he organized the children to pick berries, he could not remember who was there, but this time he observed carefully and he remembered who was there with him and who took the basket from him.

Zhang Da Hu had mentioned that this Lu Song Shi had incited them for bullying him and speaking ill of Chen Xiao Mi, so Chen Xiao Cai was surprised to see Lu Song Shi among the children.

Chen Xiao Cai was a little hesitant when Lu Song Shi asked for a basket, he gave Lu Song Shi one in the end, but he did not remember seeing Lu Song Shi send the basket back.

Now he was even more certain that he did not see Lu Song Shi send the basket back when Chen Xiao Mi mentioned there was one basket missing.

Chen Xiao Mi pressed his head, Lu Song Shi was Fourth Uncle Lu Lin’s son.

Chen Xiao Mi was very happy that the Lu’s agreed to marry Lu Lin into his family, as Lu Lin was now a different soul. But Lu Lin was still a Lu in name, Chen Xiao Mi found this quite complicated.

“Forget it, just a few baskets, let’s pay attention next time.” Chen Xiao Mi decided to give up.

Lu Lin took a deep breath, he couldn’t bear to look at Grandma Lu, it wasn’t that he was afraid of that annoying woman, he just disliked the drama, plus the feudal code of conduct valued the child’s devotion. Arguing with elders, no matter who is right, means you have lost the moral high ground.

A few days later, Chen Xiao Cai had organized another berry picking. Three new children had joined them, this time Chen Xiao Cai had seen Lu Song Shi again.

Chen Xiao Cai deliberately gave the baskets to the other children, Lu Song Shi ended up not getting a basket.

Chen Xiao Cai told the children that it was fine if they wanted to use their own baskets, he would count them in a small basket and pay them accordingly.

Zhang Da Hu was happy to hear that, he took a big basket from home.

Picking berries for Chen Xiao Cai was now flourishing in Big Stone Village, some adults became very envious when they heard some children were earning about 100 cents per day, but they knew they should not steal children’s work, so they sent their children to work for Chen Xiao Cai.

Chen Xiao Cai has become the new child leader in the village now.

“Father, look, I made this money.” Zhang Da Man held the coins Lu Lin paid with cupped hands.

Jin smiled: “Good job, Man!”

Zhang Da Man was happy to hear that: “Zhang Da Hu made the best, and I’m the runner-up!”

Children are very competitive in berry picking, the winner will feel very proud.

Zhang Jin sighed when he saw the coins his son made. He used to think Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi would remain poor forever, but he didn’t expect the young couple to continue to prosper every day.

“What’s with that coin?” Asked Zhang Cheng, the Village Chief.

Zhang Da Man said proudly: “Grandpa, I made this money!”

Zhang Cheng was not happy with that: “You went to pick berries for Chen Xiao Cai, right? But I already told you not to play with him.”

Zhang Jin frowned: “Dad, how can you say that to a child? Plus, Man feels good because he gave a little money.”

Zhang Cheng sighed: “But Chen Xiao Cai is Chen Xiao Mi’s younger brother, Chen Xiao Mi’s bad influence.”

“Dad, you think too much, it’s not like that.” Zhang Jin replied.

The jam was popular in the city, Manager Wang could sell two dozen bottles on a good day, but not many people could afford to eat it as a snack regularly, so there were bad days when Manager Wang could not sell it. Lu Lin kept a lot of jam in the store.

Chen Xiao Cai didn’t know exactly what Lu Lin had done with the berries, he just took it for granted that Lu Lin used the berries to brew wine, that was also what he told the other children. Therefore, no one expected the “Good Luck Jam” in town to be made by Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.

The customers who had bought the jam all became returning customers, they loved the taste. Especially the elders who lost their teeth, they enjoyed the soft and creamy texture.

Young masters also like to buy it to impress the ladies. Sugar was very rare, jam was also a novelty, the ladies also liked jam.

“Lu Lin, you finally got here!” Manager Wang exclaimed upon seeing Lu Lin.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Lin looked confused.

“That jam, it was sold out a few days ago, so many customers have been asking me about it, I plan to visit you soon if you don’t come tomorrow.”

“Really? I thought they were hard to sell.” Lu Lin was surprised.

“Are you kidding?” Manager Wang laughed: “Landlord Li had a meeting two days ago, he is one of the richest people in town, he prepared a jar of jam on every table, all the guests fell in love with the taste and they came to my restaurant to buy more.”

Lu Lin was happy to hear that: ‘Good!  Now more and more people know about the jam thanks to that Landlord Li!’

This time Lu Lin handed 30 bottles of jam to Manager Wang.

“Is this all?” Manager Wang looked disappointed.

“They’ll go bad in 7 days, I tend not to make too much.”

“Don’t worry, I guarantee I can sell them even if you double the amount!” Manager Wang smiled.

 

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T/N: Hey guys sorry for the long hiatus I AM BACK!!