It was a long commute, but none of them wanted to quit.
One of the apprentices Xiao Da Li chimed in, "How great is that porridge! Do you remember our last boss, he only paid me 15 cents per day, and he only provided me one small bowl of porridge, I had to work on an empty belly basically the whole day. I'm so grateful to Lu Lin for providing us so much food!"
Xiao Da Li was interested in digging some 'muddy sticks' and cooked some yam porridge himself, he found the yam porridge Lu Lin cooked for them so delicious.
Xiao Da Li couldn't believe the villagers in Big Stone Village had turned Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi down, they were the best boss anyone could expect!
Xiao Da Li and the other apprentice were in charge of carrying the black bricks to Chen Xiao Mi's house the next day. The villagers in Big Stone Village asked them curiously, "Hey, you two, are you working for Chen Xiao Mi?"
Xiao Da Li nodded.
"Really? Have you heard of Chen Xiao Mi before? Hmm, he's got some stories… …", the villager made a face, trying to intrigue Xiao Da Li.
Xiao Da Li simply nodded his head as a reply. He really wasn't interested in those made-up stories.
Xiao Da Li really enjoyed working for Chen Xiao Mi, he wouldn't boss them around or pretend to know something that he actually doesn't, neither would he pick holes just to demand a lower price like the people Xiao Da Li used to work for.
And Xiao Da Li really admired Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin's intelligence when he saw the kang they built, how he wished he could learn from them! But it was still too early to bring that up, they barely knew each other yet.
The villagers became so anxious when they saw Xiao Da Li showed zero interested, they gabbled on, "Do you know he is a Bio? He has even hunted a tiger once, he is so violent that his family couldn't stand him and they have kicked him out! Aren't you afraid of him?"
Xiao Da Li rolled his eyes and said, "Look, I'm here to work for him, I'm not interested in his personal life, he has my respect as long as he pays me as he has promised at the end of the day."
Xiao Da Li didn't understand why those villagers were so obsessed with running Chen Xiao Mi's name. There was nothing wrong in hunting a tiger, it just meant Chen Xiao Mi was brave and strong, and those villagers were jealous.
The villagers shook their heads in exasperation and left.
Xiao Da Li had met several other villagers who tried to convince them that Chen Xiao Mi was bad and they shouldn't be working for him. Xiao Da Li was really baffled, he didn't understand why those people had nothing better to do than running a person's reputation.
Lu Lin was well aware of those villagers' behaviors, and he let out a sigh when he saw no one show signs of quitting.
And of course it was going to a different story if Liu Gui Yong and his team found the job boring and wanted to find something better, Lu Lin would talk with them openly and let them go if they insisted on leaving.
The villagers were becoming envious when they saw Liu Gui Yong and his team working in full swing, they also wanted to look for some casual work and have some income!
They had tried luck in town, but no one was hiring, so they got envious of Liu Gui Yong and his team. The envy had escalated when they pried into Liu Gui Yong's wage!
40 cents per day for Liu Gui Yong, even an apprentice like Xiao Da Li was getting paid 20 cents per day! That was the most handsome pay on the market, and Lu Lin even provided a meal for them!
Voices of discontent were heard everywhere. Lu Lin played innocent and said it was the Village Head who told him that the villagers were too busy to work for them.
The villagers were jealous of the handsome pay, and they also coveted the kang, they wished they could learn how to build kang from the couple. So they went to the Village Head's home to complain.
They maintained that they should keep the goodies within their own village, and they were more than willing to work for the couple, they asked Zhang Cheng why he turned Lu Lin down without even consulting them first.
Zhang Cheng was furious when the villagers confronted him. He just assumed everyone hated Chen Xiao Mi and no owe wanted to work for him, he was not wrong, but he had underestimated the power of money, the villagers were willing to do anything for money.
Therefore, Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had a discussion, they were willing to select six villagers to build a mule stable and a chicken coop for them because Liu Gui Yong and his team were already building the room for them.
Chapter End Notes
Making New Friends
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Liu Gui Yong bore a grudge when he saw the villagers in Big Stone Village trying to steal his job, but he didn't show it. He kept blaming his other son Liu Wu for having conversations with the prying villagers, and he glared at Liu Wu when he found out Liu Wu had told the villagers their wage.
Liu Wu just scratched his head when he saw his father glaring at him.
Liu Wu had a quick tongue and always said what he thought without much deliberation. He got mad when the villagers tried to convince him that neither Chen Xiao Mi nor Lu Lin was good person, and they wouldn't pay him on time for sure.
Liu Wu defended Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin, he told the villagers to mind their own business and all of his team members were getting paid on time. Some cunning villagers took advantage of Liu Wu's outspoken nature, they deliberately asked him detailed questions, Liu Wu fell for that, he had said something that was meant to be a secret.
Lu Lin had selected several honest and hard-working villagers from Big Stone Village, the villagers were grateful for Lu Lin's kindness, and they worked industriously.
It became so interesting, the villagers and Liu Gui Yong's team worked in a competitive way, both teams wanted to outshine.
It only took Liu Gui Yong's team ten days or so to build the room, Big Stone Village team was unwilling to lag behind, they finished building the mule carriage, chicken coop, goose coop ahead of schedule as well. Lu Lin asked the Big Stone Village team to dig a cellar and laying bricks in the new room.
The villagers were happy that they kept getting work and getting paid, but they couldn't help but wonder how exactly Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi could had so much money to keep paying them to work for them.
They knew they didn't have a chance to get anything useful from Liu Gui Yong's team, so they decided to approach Chen Xiao Cai after some calculating.
Chen Xiao Cai had been as busy as a bee recently, he needed to keep an eye on all the animals and he was in charge of feeding them three times a day. So the villagers had seen Chen Xiao Cai quite a fair bit in the yard, they would just always beat around the bush, trying to pry for information, they wish they could have a clue why all of a sudden Chen Xiao Mi became so rich.
Soon Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin decided to build a kang in the new room as well. Both Liu Gui Yong's team and the Big Stone Village team watched them attentively on the day they built the kang.
The Big Stone Village team had even declared that they were willing to work for free for them for three days as long as they could watch and learn how to build kang. Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin thought about it and they nodded their assent.
The villagers soon became hotcakes after they had learned how to build kang, so many rich families were willing to hire them with a high price to have a kang for winter.
Other villagers wished they were on good terms with Chen Xiao Mi as well, they were jealous of their friends who were making a fortune through leaning from Chen Xiao Mi.
Zhang Cheng, the Village Head, was so depressed due to that.
As the Village Head, he wanted their entire village to shake off poverty and become prosperous. He kept blaming Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin for teaching Liu Gui Yong and his team who were from the other village the skills to build kang. He insisted such skills should be exclusive to their own village, thus the villagers could go to town and work for those wealthy families.
Zhang Cheng would squint his eyes and imagine how great it was going to be if only their own villagers knew how to build kang, they didn't have to compete with Liu Gui Yong's team, and they could price themselves out of the market.
Casual laborers who tried to find work in town would always get exploited, but not many laborers knew how to build kang, so both Liu Gui Yong's team and the Big Stone Village team were getting paid pretty well in town. Therefore, the Big Stone Village team had been so busy building kang in town that they didn't have time to teach their fellow villagers the skills or build kangs for the villagers who had been dying for a kang.
Zhang Cheng banged on Chen Xiao Mi's door and blamed Chen Xiao Mi for teaching Liu Gui Yong's team instead of the fellow villagers the skills, but Lu Lin talked back to him with just one sentence, "Village Head, you are the one who told me the fellow villagers were too busy to work for us, aren't you? It's not like I prefer looking for help from the Big Gulf Village, I just couldn't find any help from our own village."
Zhang Cheng didn't see that coming, he didn't expect Lu Lin would talk back to an elder like him. He turned furious and left in embarrassment.
Zhang Cheng was even more furious when the villagers who had learned the skills from Chen Xiao Mi were not keen on teaching their fellow villagers, they had been so busy working for the wealthy families in town.
Lu Lin understood why the villagers were indifferent to Zhang Cheng, the villagers he had picked to work for him were all from a deprived background, he understood they would rather accumulate some wealth first before sharing this skill.
In Chen Xiao Mi's house.
Chen Xiao Mi just counted their savings, he pouted, "We have less than ten taels left. Our building project went over the budget, we ended up spending two more taels than we have planned."
Lu Lin was amused by how meticulous Chen Xiao Mi was when he counted the money, he felt Chen Xiao Mi was like a tiger when he was out in the mountain hunting, but he was like a cute little squirrel when he was counting their savings.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yeah, we spent a little more than we planned, but that's still enough for us to pass this winter comfortably. We can sell another batch of alcohol in town to have some more cash in hand in case something comes up."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "That's right."
"We can finish the final touch ups for the new room in just a few days." Lu Lin said casually.
Chen Xiao Mi got the undertone and he blushed.
"Are these hide for sell?" Lu Lin pointed at the animal skin piled by the door.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded.
Chen Xiao Mi didn't slack off in hunting even though they had made a fortune from selling alcohol, he had always seen hunting as his foothold that he would never give up on. But Chen Xiao Mi did have become more cautious when he was hunting, he would not risk his life on hunt those ferocious animals for more money.
Lu Lin took a closer look at the hide and said, "Do you mind not selling them? We can sew them as lining in our winter jackets. I can even ask Granny Shen to make aa few gloves for us, the hides here are all of good quality, I'm sure we can make gloves out of them and sell them for a good price."
"Gloves? What are those?"
Lu Lin reached out his hand to explain it, "Gloves are like jackets for hands, you put them on in winter, so you don't have chilblains."
Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head and sighed with emotion, "Wow, is it also a thing popular in your hometown? That's so refined!"
Lu Lin smiled and scratched his head shyly.
What Chen Xiao Mi didn't say out loud was he actually wasn't interested in wearing those gloves, he found that too dainty for him, he just thought he would tear those gloves apart within ten minutes considering it was all labor-intensive work that he was doing.
Lu Lin needed to put this "you kids need to sleep in a different room" lecture on the agenda now that the new room was all done.
Lu Lin had been racking his brains on how to make it easier for Chen Xiao Cai, he didn't come up with anything good, so he just decided to go with it.
"Xiao Cai, you are a big boy now, do you know big brave boys don't share a room with the adults. Don't be afraid, this is a good practice before you get married."
Chen Xiao Cai pouted, he was not interested in getting married.
"Xiao Cai, I know what you are thinking, but you will get married sooner or later. Sharing a room with Xiao Mai is a good thing, it means you are a big boy who can take care of your baby brother now, you guys have a big kang all to yourselves, and the best part is you will no longer hear your brother's snore at night!" Lu Lin thought he did a good job in convincing Chen Xiao Cai.
Chen Xiao Cai said, "But my big brother doesn't snore."
Lu Lin smiled, "Ah~ so it's you who has been snoring at night, see, it works out pretty well in the end. Me and your big brother won't hear you snoring if you sleep in the new room with Xiao Mai."
Chen Xiao Cai knew where Lu Lin was heading, he stamped his foot and said, "I will sleep in the new room with Xiao Mai, I will take good care of him."
"I have faith in you." Lu Lin grinned and said, "We are running out of pickled vegetables, would you like to buy more from Granny Shen?"
Lu Lin had been buying a fair bit of pickled vegetables from Granny Shen recently, sometimes he would just encourage Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai to run the errand for him, because he thought talking to people was good for kids.
Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "I'd love to."
"Good boy, these are for you." Lu Lin handed Chen Xiao Cai some chestnuts roasted with sugar as snack.
Lu Lin had picked some chestnuts in the mountains, he had made some chestnuts roasted with sugar this day as a snack for the kids, both Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai loved the sweet flavor.
Lu Lin was surprised when Chen Xiao Mi told him the villagers didn't know the chestnuts were edible because the shells were so hard and prickly, he felt sorry for them because chestnuts were so yummy.
Lu Lin had been storing some chestnuts in his shop, he roasted some with sugar that day for the kids, but Chen Xiao Mi wanted to have some as well, and he had fallen in love with the flavor after the first bite.
"Xiao Cai, feel free to share some with you friends." Lu Lin encouraged Chen Xiao Cai.
Chen Xiao Cai frowned, "Why would I do that? I can finish these by myself, and I can always share them with my brothers."
"You can make more friends by being nice and generous."
"Friends? The kids in the village are so dumb, I don't want to be friends with them." Chen Xiao Cai pouted.
Chen Xiao Mi knew that was Chen Xiao Cai's self-protection mechanism because Chen Xiao Cai tried to make friends with the other kids for so long, but the other kids turned him down because of the stupid stuff their parents told them, they would bully Chen Xiao Cai and stay away from him. As time went by, Chen Xiao Cai leaned to shut himself away.
Lu Lin knew he couldn't force Chen Xiao Cai to do something he wasn't ready for, he just nodded and patted Chen Xiao Cai's head.
Chen Xiao Cai stuffed the chestnuts into his pockets. The pockets were sewed by Granny Shen on Lu Lin's request, and they were so useful, Granny Shen started to sew pockets on Shen Chi's clothes as well.
'I don't mind sharing some with Shen Chi if I meet him later.' Thought Chen Xiao Cai.
Chen Xiao Cai got along with Shen Chi pretty well.
Chen Xiao Mai was so excited when he Chen Xiao Cai asked him whether he would like to go to Granny Shen's with him. Chen Xiao Mai didn't have any chance to go out and meet people before Lu Lin came to the family because he had been so sickly, now he became healthier and he would love to go out more.
Granny Shen welcomed the two boys on seeing them in her yard. Granny Shen and Lu Lin had become close over the past few days, she had made some money from sewing clothes and selling pickled vegetables to him.
Chapter End Notes
Instant Noodles
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Chen Xiao Mi smiled at his two brothers retiring figures and said, "Lu Lin, you have asked them to run errands for you again."
Lu Lin said innocently, "Running errands is not the point, what I'm trying to achieve here is to help the kids to make new friends. They are getting big now, they need to be independent one day, making friends is good for them."
Chen Xiao Mi laughed, "You are so good at sugar-coating."
"What I said is true though, kids need friends as much as adults do, interpersonal skill is important for everyone. Have you noticed Xiao Cai has been smiling more now?"
Chen Xiao Mi squinted his eyes and thought for a while, "Yeah, he seems happier."
Lu Lin bantered, "Maybe he is longing for love."
Chen Xiao Mi didn't agree, "But he is just a kid now."
Chen Xiao Mi cast a glimpse at Lu Lin and doubted whether Lu Lin was really educated, because no educated person would spout on things like love.
"I'm just kidding, don't be so serious. Xiao Cai is just nine years old, but it's going to be nice if he has a childhood sweetheart."
Chen Xiao Mi was lost in thought, he had never thought about that before.
"All right, let's change the subject. Can I have some instant noodles please?" Chen Xiao Mi suggested.
Lu Lin once cooked some instant noodles from his shop and Chen Xiao Mi fell in love with it completely and he blamed Lu Lin for not sharing with him earlier.
Lu Lin told Chen Xiao Mi instant noodles was junk food in his hometown, people tended to avoid it. Chen Xiao Mi found that hard to believe, he was convinced that Lu Lin was just looking for excuses to not share with him.
With that being said, Chen Xiao Mi decided to not let Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai know about instant noodles because kids needed to have nutritious food.
Lu Lin added two poached eggs, some ham and some vegetables into the instant noodles to make it less bad. Lu Lin had burned all the packages in case the kids asked them what they had been eating without them.
It didn't take long to cook the instant noodles. Chen Xiao Mi's eyes sparkled when Lu Lin served him a bowl, he ate the whole thing with relish.
"Is this really junk food? Only poor people eat this? But it's so yummy! I can eat a whole pot by myself!" Chen Xiao Mi kept asking Lu Lin the same questions.
"I know you find this hard to believe, but what you are eating is really junk food, sir."
Chen Xiao Mi started to believe it when he saw how sincere Lu Lin was.
Lu Lin cleaned the pot and the bowls quickly in case the kids came back earlier than he thought. He cast a glimpse at Chen Xiao Mi who was lying in bed with a food coma, he couldn't understand why the villagers were scared of such a ball of sunshine.
Soon Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were back with a new batch of pickled vegetables.
Chen Xiao Mai jumped on the kang in the new room and started to roll about.
"Gege, come join me, it's so much fun!" Chen Xiao Mai invited Chen Xiao Cai. (T/N:Gege or Ge is a way to address older man than you to show respect.)
Chen Xiao Cai looked at Chen Xiao Mai dotingly, "It's all right, I'm having fun just watching you."
Chen Xiao Mai produced a pancake from his pocket, "Here, it's for you!"
Chen Xiao Cai's heart softened, "Aww, it's all right, you don't need to save food for me, just have it yourself."
Chen Xiao Cai didn't know why his little brother tended to have this habit of hiding food, it made some sense in the old days when they would starve from time to time, but they had been so well-off recently, there was no need to hide food any more.
Lu Lin had been doting on Chen Xiao Mai as well. Lu Lin would always feed him some snacks, sometimes it was chocolate milk from the shop, sometimes it was steamed egg custard or pancake.
Chen Xiao Cai stroked Chen Xiao Mai's cheek and said, "We are going to sleep in this new room."
Chen Xiao Mai tilted his head, he had no idea what was going on.
Chen Xiao Cai had a rough idea what marriage meant, he knew maybe one day his Big Brother would be pregnant with Lu Lin's baby, and he needed to take care of Xiao Mai more.
Chen Xiao Mai didn't pester Chen Xiao Cai with any questions, he was distracted by the new quilt in bed. He started to play with it with great interest, but he had stained the quilt with his dirty hands in no time.
Chen Xiao Mi didn't know his brothers were already in the new room, he asked Lu Lin whether he had seen them.
"They are in the new room, they can't wait to sleep on the new kang." Lu Lin blinked.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and blushed again.
There was not much entertainment at night in the villages, they tended to go to bed as soon as the night fell. The young couple used to share a bed with two kids, Lu Lin didn't have the chance to make a move, but that was about to change.
Lu Lin cuddled Chen Xiao Mi tightly and soon the two were entangled together.
Chen Xiao Mi didn't show any sign of resistance, that had boost Lu Lin's confidence greatly.
Lu Lin was well aware that Chen Xiao Mi would kick him out of bed if he didn't feel comfortable doing it.
The young couple both had zero experience, so they had finished the first round very soon. The two hadn't fully enjoyed themselves from that brief round, so the cuddling had naturally led them to the second round.
Chen Xiao Mi was very innocent, he had zero experience and zero knowledge about this. But Lu Lin was different, he had been watching videos since a young age even though he didn't actually have any experience. So he considered himself quite knowledgeable in theory.
The two tried their best to keep it down in case they woke up the kids next door. Chen Xiao Mai slept like a baby that night, he wasn't bothered by the new environment at all. But Chen Xiao Cai wasn't so lucky, he kept hearing some noises like rats were having a fight. He didn't sleep well that night.
Chapter End Notes
Liu Gui Yong's Bribe
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi made a breakthrough in their relationship. Lu Lin woke up with a broad smile the next morning, he groped around in the other half of the kang, looking to cuddle Chen Xiao Mi. To his surprise, Chen Xiao Mi had already got up.
Lu Lin scratched his head, 'He better not has gone out hunting, we just had our first night alone last night. It looks like I need to work him harder at night.'
Lu Lin got up and looked around in the yard where Chen Xiao Mi was chopping firewood.
There was already a pile of firewood lying by Chen Xiao Mi's feet, Chen Xiao Mi must have been up for a while. Lu Lin watched Chen Xiao Mi wielding the hacking knife like it were a feature, he was charmed by his partner again. Then he went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for his partner and the kids.
Chen Xiao Mi was a big eater, sometimes Lu Lin couldn't help but wonder the reason why Chen Xiao Mi worked so hard but he still stayed poor was because he ate too much, but what made Lu Lin glad was Chen Xiao Mi still looked so fit even though Lu Lin thought Chen Xiao Mi was overeating.
Knock knock.
Lu Lin walked to the gate with disbelief, they weren't expecting any visitor.
It was Liu Gui Yong and his team.
"Hi, Liu, what a pleasant surprise!"
Liu Gui Yong smiled shyly, "I'm here to send you some farm products as a thank you gift."
With that Liu Gui Yong put down two baskets full of sweet potatoes, he rubbed his hands awkwardly and said, "Nothing fancy, please accept it."
"Thank you so much, Liu! Me and Xiao Mi don't have any farmland, I was just thinking about buying some sweet potatoes on the market, what a thoughtful gift, we appreciate it so much!"
Liu Gui Yong beamed, "I'm glad you like them, this year is a good year for sweet potatoes, we've just harvested a lot. Then I recalled you and Xiao Mi don't have any farmland, so here we are, hopefully you will enjoy them. They are a bit small, but they taste great!"
Lu Lin smiled, "That's so nice of you, I'm sure we all will enjoy them."
Liu Wen, Liu Gui Yong's son, stepped forward and chimed in, "Lu Lin, look what I got for you, some fish and pork."
Liu Wen knew Chen Xiao Mi was a hunter and there was no lack of meat in their family, but it was the thought that counted, plus no one in the villages would complain they had too much meat.
"To what do I owe these gifts, this is such a nice surprise!"
Liu Gui Yong replied promptly, "We just want to express appreciation."
Liu Gui Yong and his team had made a great amount of money from building kang, they all agreed they should pay Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi a visit and say a thank you in person."
Liu Gui Yong and his team talked about it, and they also decided to bring the couple some farm products like sweet potatoes, radish, cabbages, fish and pork.
That was a very generous thank you gift.
Liu Gui Yong's gesture had provoked an uproar from the Big Stone Village, the villagers had different opinions.
"Hey, have you heard that? Liu Gui Yong and his team just visited Chen Xiao Mi and they brought him gifts! I heard there are even pork and fish in the basket!"
"They made some money thanks to Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin, those wealthy families in town strived to be the first ones to have kang so Liu Gui Yong and his team could just overcharge as they wished. Zhang Da Zhu and his team in our village have been doing the same thing."
"But Zhang Da Zhu and his team didn't visit Chen Xiao Mi or send him any gift."
"There's no need, a fellow villager is supposed to help out the other fellow villagers. Mind you Liu Gui Yong and his team are from Big Gulf Village. Chen Xiao Mi shouldn't have taught those people in the first place. We should keep the goodies within our own village."
"Well, Chen Xiao Mi is free to do anything, he can teach anyone at his will. How I wished I volunteered to help him build his room."
"This is our Village Head's fault, he just turned Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi down without even asking us."
"Zhang Da Zhu is in the wrong too, he should have taught us already, but he kept postponing it."
"I know, right? It has been over a month now!"
"I'm sure Zhang Da Zhu has made at least several taels of silver already, aiya, I wished I were selected to help out building a new room for Chen Xiao Mi as well!"
"You? Quit daydreaming! Your son bullies Chen Xiao Mai and Chen Xiao Cai, do you really think you really stand a chance?"
The villagers now became so jealous of Chen Xiao Mi, but those opinions didn't affect Chen Xiao Mi and his life at all.
In Chen Xiao Mi's house.
"Look at these sweet potatoes!" said Lu Lin, "It looks like the Big Gulf Village had a good year for sweet potatoes."
"Yeah", Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "I've seen so many people selling sweet potatoes on the market for such a cheap price. But it's not easy to store these sweet potatoes."
"True, they will turn stone hard on cold days. We can buy a few more days if we store them in the cellar, but there's still a risk. Hmm, let's buy more sweet potatoes and brew some sweet potato wine."
Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin with disbelief, "You know how to brew wine?"
Lu Lin was amused by how stunned Chen Xiao Mi was, "Yeah, I do know."
Lu Lin grew up in a village as well, his parents taught him how to brew wine when he was young. But beer and wine had become so cheap as he grew older, no one was willing to go through the trouble to brew their own wine or beer any more.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi decided to sell another batch of alcohol in the shop to exchange some money first, they went big this time, they sold thirty jars of alcohol for twenty-four taels of silver.
The two then went to Big Gulf Village and bulk bought their sweet potatoes, the villagers felt deeply grateful for the young couple.
They bought one thousand kilos of sweet potatoes from the villagers for five taels of silver. Lu Lin stored most of the sweet potatoes in his shop and his stored some in the cellar to disguise people.
Then he summoned the Chen Brothers to help him brew wine together.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi hade made some money from selling alcohol in the shop, but Chen Xiao Mi always felt unsure about that because he didn't work for it. So now he was pumped to brew wine together with Lu Lin.