TATLC Chapter 49

Lu’s house was very gloomy because of Lu Cheng Yu’s failure.

 

Grandpa Lu did nothing but smoke his pipe and Lu Tong didn’t dare to act pretentious like she used to.

 

Lu Tong is very anxious these days because she knows her family won’t pay taxes for her. They will definitely marry her off before paying the taxes. Before, there were several candidates who met her requirements, but she didn’t like them and rejected them all. Recently, a matchmaker came to her house, but the candidates she introduced were getting worse and worse.

 

When Lu Tong came back from washing clothes in the river, she heard the voices of her mother and Matchmaker Wang in the hall and listened in.

 

“Matchmaker Wang, is the Li Family in Big Wind Village really as good as you say? Do they really own more than 20 mu of farmland?  The young master in the family is also a scholar?  Really?” 

(T/N: 1 mu is equal to 1/6 acre.)

 

Matchmaker Wang laughed: “Why would I lie to you? The Li family is not as prosperous as the rich families in the city, but they are very rich in our village. Young Master Li did very well in school, maybe one day he will have a successful official career, imagine, Lu Tong will be living such a comfortable life by then, she will be an official’s wife.”

 

Tang narrowed her eyes, she had asked many families about her daughter Lu Tong recently: “Matchmaker Wang, how come I never heard of any Young Master Li in Big Wind village?”

 

With Tang’s face darkening: “Is this Young Master Li named Li Ji, is he the one who widowed two years ago, and he has a five-year-old son? His wife died because his mother tortured her, didn’t she?”

 

Wang’s matchmaker forced a dry smile, she didn’t expect Tang to know this, so she said: “That’s not wrong, Young Master Li’s deceased wife was a bad star, hence she died early, but his family is really a rich family.”

 

Tang was furious. The Li family was well off, but that old lady was not an easy person to get along with. It was said that Young Master Li’s first wife was tortured to death by that old hag. Yet, this matchmaker actually introduced a widower whose wife had died to her daughter.

 

　　Young Master Li’s ex-wife left behind a boy, so once his daughter married him, she would become a stepmother. Young Master Li’s son was already five years old, so he must be quite old.

 

“You stupid woman! How dare you come to my house and bring this to me! Leave!” Tang was furious.

 

Wang’s matchmaker had been doing matchmaking for years, all the villagers respected her. This was the first time someone had spoken to her like this, she got angry and said: “You think your daughter is a princess?  Wake up! She’s already 17 years old, and you want 20 taels of silver for an engagement gift? You know, only a few villagers can afford it! I’d feel very grateful to Young Master Li if I were you!”

 

Hearing that, Tang trembled with anger.

 

Tang had always hoped that her daughter would become an official’s wife so that she and Lu Chengyu could support each other. However, her son failed to pass the imperial examination and her daughter was getting older. Tang had to settle for the second best and wanted to find a wealthier farming family. As a result, the people introduced by these people were all ugly.

 

She thought she had made a compromise by even considering marrying Lu Tong to a villager and not to an official, but now it seems that Lu Tong can’t even marry into a rich family.

 

Matchmaker Wang left cursing, and Lu Tong hid away before she came out.

 

Lu Tong hated Wang’s matchmaker for that, and she couldn’t help but blame her mother for rejecting so many good ones in the past.

 

Lu Tong only entered the house after matchmaker Wang had long since left.

 

Tang smiled at the sight of her daughter: “Tong, don’t pay attention to that fat woman, I’ll definitely find a good family for you!”

 

Lu Tong nodded, but her hopes were not too high.

 

The marriage was not settled, and matchmaker Wang had nothing good to say. She came out and ridiculed the Lu family. When asked why she looked so angry, she told the villagers that Tang looked down on the villagers and Tang would only marry Lu Tong to a rich official’s family.

 

The villagers who were interested in getting engaged to Lu Tong now gave up on the idea, they thought it was better they didn’t ask Tang so they don’t get humiliated.

 

At Lu Family’s house.

 

Grandpa Lu looked anxious and said: “We still haven’t found a good family for Tong, looks like we have to lower our standards.”

 

Grandma Lu glanced at Lu Tong with a frown and said: “It’s been a long time since a good family asked about you.”

 

Lu Tong lowered her head in silence, she could feel the entire family looking at her as something of an eyesore.

 

Lu Tong tried to make eye contact with her elder brother Lu Cheng Yu, but Lu Cheng Yu ignored her, he was struggling to save himself from disgrace at the moment.

 

Lu Tong was devastated that her elder brother ignored her, she admired her elder brother since she was very young, she always thought her elder brother was the pride of the family, but now she realized that her elder brother was not what she imagined.

 

Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin were living such a comfortable life while the Lu Family was overwhelmed with anxiety.

 

“Lin Gege, everyone is saying that Lu Tong can’t get married now because her standards are too high and she looks down on ordinary villagers.” Chen Xiao Cai said near the dining table.

 

Chen Xiao Cai was now more outgoing and he was so close to Lu Lin, he would share any news he heard from the villagers with Lu Lin.

 

Lu Lin smiled and bantered: “Cai, you are getting a lot of good information.”

 

Chen Xiao Cai lowered his volume and said: “I heard it from the villagers.”

 

Lu Lin smiled: “Tang has offended matchmaker Wang, that’s a wrong move. Matchmakers can easily ruin people’s marriages with mere slander, no one can afford to offend a matchmaker. I hear now Tang is burning with anxiety. But well, she asked for it.”

 

Tang was so arrogant when she rejected the villagers who asked the matchmaker to reveal that they were interested in getting engaged to her family, now it seemed like she had to look from another village.

 

Chen Xiao Mi shook his head and said: “Those matchmakers can be quite annoying.”

 

Chen Xiao Mi did not like Tang or Matchmaker Wang.

 

After dinner, Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai went to bed like two good boys.

 

“Mi, how did it go?” Lu Lin looked around to make sure Chen Xiao Cai had already gone to his own room.

 

Chen Xiao Mi sighed and shook his head: “No, I don’t think that will happen.”

 

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi made a lot of money, so Lu Lin suggested that Chen Xiao Cai be sent to school for a better education. But reputation was the No. 1 criteria that scholars considered when they recruited students, Chen Xiao Cai’s reputation suffered because of Chen Xiao Mi.

 

Hence, no scholar was willing to teach Chen Xiao Cai even though Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were willing to pay a large amount of tuition.

 

“How arrogant those scholars are!” Lu Lin looked very dissatisfied.

 

Chen Xiao Mi bit his lip and said: “It’s fine, I don’t think Cai will be elected as an official even though he could become a Xiucai in the future. Plus, it’s not easy to become a Xiucai, look at Lu Cheng Yu, Tang used to brag to everyone that Lu Cheng Yu was a star of wisdom, but look at Lu Cheng Yu now.”

 

Unfortunately, what Chen Xiao Mi said was true, reputation and devotion were the two most important criteria when the government appointed officials. It was impossible for Chen Xiao Cai to have a successful career if a villager pointed out that Chen Xiao Cai was not filial towards his grandparents.

 

Lu Lin sighed and said: “Hopefully we can think of other ways to convince scholars in the future.”

 

Lu Lin did not want to push it because he did not want Chen Xiao Cai to be bullied at school.

 

Chen Xiao Mi took a deep breath and said, “There’s nothing good about studying. Chen Jing also studied, but it seemed that he didn’t have much of a future. Most of the Chen family’s income was given to his cousin. Grandpa and grandma praised Chen Jing to the sky. When Chen Jing asked for money to buy pens, inkstones, and paper, grandpa and grandma would not refuse.

 

In contrast, the family is exhausted and has to spend all the money they earn.

 

Chen Xiao Mi could always smell the scent of rouge from Chen Jing, so he figured Chen Jing probably frequented the brothels in town.

 

Frequenting brothels was a trend among rich young masters, but unlike Chen Jing whose entire family worked hard to support him, the young masters were born with a silver spoon in the mouth.

 

Lu Lin thought for a moment and thought: “We could probably hire a tutor for Cai if we can afford it. I’m not saying I want Cai to become a scholar, I just want him to become literate, that’s all.”

 

The Lu Family were in great turmoil due to the spring planting of the farmland and both Lu Cheng Yu and Lu Tong’s matchmaking.

 

Grandpa Lu even personally visited Lu Lin asking him to come home to help.

 

“Lin, come home with me now.”  Grandpa Lu was used to giving orders to Lu Lin.

 

“But Grandpa, I’m collecting firewood right now, Chen Xiao Mi won’t give me dinner if I don’t collect a whole basket of firewood.” Lu Lin lied.

 

“How dare you disobey me! Are you making excuses now?” Grandpa Lu didn’t buy it.

 

Grandpa Lu used to believe Lu Lin when he said Chen Xiao Mi would hit him if he didn’t do as Chen Xiao Mi said, but all the villagers had seen how the two held hands while laughing and talking on the way to the mountains. It was no secret that the young couple got along well.

 

“You ungrateful bastard! Did you forget about your family after you got married?”  Grandpa Lu was really agitated.

 

Lu Lin let out a long sigh and said: “Of course I haven’t forgotten about my family, that’s why I can’t go home with you, I had a dream about my dead father last night, he told me that he died a horrible death on the battlefield, he died with so many wounds on his body that he still feels so much pain, and he said he feels so lonely because he died on the battlefield and he wasn’t even buried in our ancestral tomb.”

 

Grandpa Lu turned pale when he heard that, he remembered he hesitated when Grandma Lu persuaded him that they should send Lu Lin’s father to the army, but he was reassured by Grandma Lu when she said that the whole family would ride on the back of their son if he could complete meritorious military service.

 

“Grandpa, did you dream about my dead father?”

 

Grandpa Lu didn’t say anything, he left in annoyance.

 

Lu Lin showed a cold smile at the sight of Grandpa Lu’s retreating figure.

 

Chen Xiao Mi now came out of the house and said: “Don’t talk such nonsense, let the dead rest in peace.”

 

Chen Xiao Mi was worried about Lu Lin because the people in that time and space all believed in superstitions, Chen Xiao Mi didn’t want Lu Lin to bring up the dead, so he subconsciously clutched Lu Lin’s hand.

 

“It’s alright.” Lu Lin stroked Chen Xiao Mi’s hand gently.

 

---

T/N: I AM BACK FROM THE DEAD YALL!!!