The days passed smoothly for Lu Lin and the Chen Brothers, but the youngsters who attended school in the city had become the talk of the village for the Imperial Spring Exams were just around the corner.
The youngsters’ families would always try to create a quiet environment for them, they would lower their voices and reduce the noise.
“Lin Gege, do you know there are so many matchmakers visiting the Lu’s now?” Chen Xiao Cai asked.
“Oh? Matchmakers? For whom?”
“Some for Lu Tong, some for Lu Cheng Yu. But Tang said Lu Cheng Yu needs to focus on his exams first, so the main one is for Lu Tong. All the villagers said that Lu Cheng Yu is very proud and arrogant, he thinks he is too good for a village girl, he hopes to marry a young lady in the city after he becomes a Xiucai.” Chen Xiao Cai said with a beaming face.
T/N: Xiucai, one who passes the imperial examination at the regional level
Lu Lin was surprised to see Chen Xiao Cai’s change, Chen Xiao Cai used to be a sullen child who always had a gloomy face, but now he looked much happier. Lu Lin thought it must be the little friends who helped him open up more.
“Zhang Da Hu told you this?”
“Not only Zhang Da Hu, but the other kids are also talking about the same thing.”
Lu Lin smiled: “Good job, Cai, it looks like you and your friends really get along well.”
Chen Xiao Cai scratched his head and blushed slightly.
Chen Xiao Cai did not understand why the kids who used to live far away from him were now his best friends, they would tell him all the gossip they heard from their parents unconditionally. ‘Well, maybe it is for the Tangyuan’s sake.’ Chen Xiao Cai thought.
Zhang Da Hu and the children kept asking Chen Xiao Cai when they could help do farm work or pick some berries, they all said that they were willing to work for free, all they wanted was a good meal. But Lu Lin didn’t mention a word about picking berries, so Chen Xiao Cai refused.
“The kids can’t wait to eat Tangyuan again.” Chen Xiao Mi laughed: “I can’t believe they finished the whole pot. I’m so glad I’ve eaten before, otherwise I couldn’t even taste.”
Glutinous rice was too expensive for most villages, it was the first time the children had eaten Tangyuan, and they looked forward to eating again soon.
“Cai, what else have you heard about Lu Tong’s marriage?” Lu Lin was interested in knowing more information.
Chen Xiao Cai shook his head: “Nothing, Lu wants 20 taels of silver as an engagement gift, which has scared many families.”
“20 taels?” Lu Lin was slightly surprised.
’20 taels is not a small amount, and I’m sure the Tang won’t prepare a decent dowry for Lu Tong like other families marrying daughters.’ Lu Lin thought.
Chen Xiao Cai continued: “My friends also say there are many villagers who like Lu Tong, but they are afraid of the 20 taels.”
Chen Xiao Cai simply did not expect his elder brother and elder brother-in-law to have made a lot of money selling alcohol and jam, so he was also intimidated by the number 20.
“Wow, 20 taels!” Chen Xiao Mi muttered, then he couldn’t help but remember he only spent 10 taels to marry Lu Lin, he didn’t think that Lu Tong was worth two Lu Lins.
Lu Lin took a glance at Chen Xiao Mi who was thinking and grinned.
“That will scare a lot of villagers, isn’t Tang afraid of that? Maybe Lu Tong will get married late because of the high price.” Chen Xiao Mi said.
“Tang seems very confident.” Lu Lin shrugged.
‘Tang must be very confident in her children, she has to count on Lu Cheng Yu becoming a Xiucai this time, so both Lu Tong and Lu Cheng Yu can marry well, but it will end badly if Lu Cheng Yu fails the exam. Lu Tong will turn 18 soon and she will have to pay taxes if she can’t get married soon.’ Lu Lin thought.
The villagers enjoyed gossiping. The Lu family was a rich family, they owned a lot of farmland, so 3 taels of tax money was not a big deal to them, but it was a disgrace more than anything else.
Chen Xiao Cai tilted his head: “I also heard that many villagers like Lu Tong, they say she is beautiful.”
Lu Lin smiled: ‘Lu Tong is a lazy bone compared to the other village girls who work hard all the time, she doesn’t do farm work, so she has fair skin and she wears better clothes, that’s why the villagers think she’s pretty.’
However, the young men of the village could not figure it out, they completely ignored more important traits such as a good personality and diligence. Their parents couldn’t convince them either, but 20 taels of silver was too much.
“Well, it has nothing to do with us, let’s take a look and see how it goes for Tang.” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiao Cai nodded.
It was spring, villagers tended to be busy in the farmland, but the young couple did not have any farmland, so they continued to go to the mountains.
Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were also busy, they collected leftovers for the geese and chickens at home. The geese and chickens started laying eggs, more than enough for their kitchen.
Lu Lin felt very happy that the children had become so responsible for the animals at home.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi have developed their vegetable field in the yard as well, now there are lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and so on.
The young couple went into town today.
Manager Wang is very happy to see them, he can make 200 cents for every jar of jam sold in the restaurant, plus the jam has attracted more customers for his restaurant. He had made more money this month.
“Manager Wang, this is the last batch of jam, 20 bottles in total. And I also have 40 bottles of sweet potato wine for you.”
Manager Wang looked at the wine and asked if they still had other types of alcohol.
Lu Lin apologized and said he didn’t have enough ingredients to make another type of alcohol.
Manager Wang nodded and said he understood, he paid the couple a total of 32 taels.
“Lu Lin, Xiao Mi, you guys are getting rich.” Manager Wang smiled.
Lu Lin smiled and shook his head: “Not really, jam is very difficult to make, and the ingredients are very expensive, you don’t know how much sugar I put into each bottle, and we all know how expensive sugar is. And I suffer huge losses if they go bad.”
Manager Wang nodded and smiled: “Yes, you guys work hard for your money. Anyway, please think of me whenever you have a new business idea.”
“Of course, of course!” Lu Lin replied: “Manager Wang, your restaurant is full today, and it seems like they are all here to buy that pastry.”
“Yes, it’s called Scholar Pastry. People buy it to get good luck in the Spring Imperial Trials.” Manager Wang explained.
“Ah~ that’s for the Spring Imperial Exams~” Lu Lin nodded: “It seems like people really value the Spring Imperial Exams.”
Then Lu Lin remembered in modern society parents also value college entrance exams, they would go to temples to worship Buddha for good luck for their children, so it was basically the same.
“Yes, we do. Lu Lin, would you like some Scholar Pastry?” Manager Wang asked.
Lu Lin thought for a moment, he decided to buy some for Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai just because the cake looked good.
Lu Lin also bought some bread after he bought the cake.
Chen Xiao Mi asked Lu Lin on the way home how many sweet potatoes were left.
“Not much, we recently brewed a lot of wine. We’ve sold 300 bottles of sweet potato wine, so there’s only a small batch of sweet potatoes left in the store now.”
“How much beer have we sold?” Chen Xiao Mi asked.
“About a quarter of the total inventory.”
“Hmm, why don’t you have this much Latiao in stock?” Chen Xiao Mi blinked.
“Haha, because if you’re hanging out at a friend’s house, you bring beer, not Latiao.” Lu Lin was amused by Chen Xiao Mi’s question.
Chen Xiao Mi lay down on the donkey cart comfortably and said: “How strange you guys are! I thought Latiao was much better than beer.”
Lu Lin laughed.
“How much money do we have now?” Chen Xiao Mi asked.
“310 taels, give or take.”
“Really?” Chen Xiao Mi’s eyes opened wide when he heard that: ‘It’s a pity that no one is selling farmland, it would be nice if we could buy some farmland and find some tenant farmers. But maybe I can’t do that even if there is farmland available, it is too high-profile.’
Chen Xiao Mi knew all the villagers knew he did business with Manager Wang in the city, but no one knew how much money he made, and he intended to keep that a secret as well.
Chen Xiao Mai greeted Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi like a puppy once they got home because he knew Lu Lin would bring him something to eat.
Lu Lin handed the cake to Chen Xiao Mai with a smile. Chen Xiao Mai took a big bite without even looking at it. Lu Lin chuckled: ‘Mai, this is Scholar Pastry, please don’t be too rough.’
But on second thought, Lu Lin changed his mind, Chen Xiao Mai could eat the cake however he wanted, as long as he enjoyed it.
T/N: Comment below what you thought of this chapter!!
