Chen Xiao Cai tilted his head, "I also heard many villagers have a crush on Lu Tong, they say she is pretty."
Lu Lin smiled, 'That Lu Tong is a lazy bone compared to other village girls who work hard all the time, she doesn't do any farm work, so she has fair skin and she wears better clothes, that's why the villagers think she is pretty.'
However, the young villagers couldn't figure that out, they had completely ignored the more important traits like good personality and diligence. Their parents couldn't convince them either, but 20 tales of silver was too much.
"Well, that has nothing to do with us, let's just watch and see how this turns out for Tang." Said Lu Lin.
Chen Xiao Cai nodded.
It was springtime, villagers tended to get busy on the farm land, but the young couple didn't have any farm land, so they kept going into the mountains.
Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were busy too, they had been collecting food scrapes for the geese and chickens at home. The geese and chickens started to lay eggs, more than enough for their kitchen.
Lu Lin felt so glad that the kids had become so responsible for the animals at home.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had expanded their veggie patch in the yard too, now that had lettuce, carrots, cucumber and so on.
This young couple went to town this day.
Manager Wang was more than happy to see them, he could make 200 cents for each jar of jam sold in the restaurant, plus the jam had attracted more customers for his restaurant. He had made significantly more money this month.
"Manager Wang, this is the last batch of jam, 20 jars in total. And I have 40 jars of sweet potato wine for you asl well."
Manager Wang took a look at the wine and asked whether they still had the other kind of alcohol.
Lu Lin apologized and said he didn't have enough ingredients to brew the other kind of alcohol.
Manager Wang nodded and said he understood, he paid the couple 32 taels in total.
"Lu Lin, Xiao Mi, you guys are becoming rich." Manager Wang smiled.
Lu Lin smiled and shook his head, "Not really, jam is so hard to make, and the ingredients are so expensive, you have no idea how much sugar I've put in each jar, and we all know how expensive sugar is. And I suffer a great loss if they go bad."
Manager Wang nodded and smiled, "Yeah, you guys work hard for your money. Anyways, please think of me whenever you have new business ideas."
"Of course, of course!" replied Lu Lin, "Manager Wang, your restaurant is packed today, and it looks like they are all here to buy that pastry."
"Yeah, it's called the Scholar Pastry. People are buying it for good luck in the Spring Imperial Examinations." Manager Wang explained.
"Ah~ they are for the Spring Imperial Examinations~" Lu Lin nodded, "it looks like people value the Spring Imperial Examinations so much."
Then Lu Lin recalled in modern society parents also valued college entrance examination, they would go to the temple to worship Buddha for good luck for their kids, 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 while, he decided to buy some for the Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai just because the pastry looked yummy.
Lu Lin also bought some buns after he bought the pastry.
Chen Xiao Mi asked Lu Lin on the way back how many sweet potatoes they had left.
"Not a lot, we have been brewing a lot of wine recently. We have sold 300 jars of sweet potato wine, so there's only a small pile of sweet potatoes left in the shop now."
"How much beer have we sold?" asked Chen Xiao Mi.
"About a quarter of the total inventory."
"Hmm, why don't you have this much Latiao in stock?" Chen Xiao Mi blinked.
"Haha, because when you hang out at a friend's house, you bring beer instead of Latiao." Lu Lin was amused by Chen Xiao Mi's question.
Chen Xiao Mi lied in the mule carriage cozily and said, "How strange you people are! I think Latiao is so 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 were wide open when he heard that, 'What a shame that no one is selling farmland, it would be great if we could just buy some farmland and find some tenant peasants. But probably I shouldn't do that even though there is farmland available, that's too high-profile.'
Chen Xiao Mi knew the villagers all knew he was doing business with Manager Wang in town, but no one knew how much money he had made, and he intended to keep it a secret too.
Chen Xiao Mai greeted Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi like a puppy as soon as they were home because he knew Lu Lin would bring him something to eat.
Lu Lin handed the pastry 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 so uncouth.'
But on a second thought, Lu Lin changed his mind, Chen Xiao Mai could eat the pastry in whichever way he liked, the important thing was he was enjoying it.
Chapter End Notes
Internal Contradictions Within the Lus
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
"Dad, I want Scholar Pastry! Have you bought me some today?" Lu Song Shi demanded.
Lu An rubbed his forehead and said, "I bought you a piece today, just leave me alone for the rest of the day."
Lu Song Shi pouted, "Dad, all my friends now have become friends with Chen Xiao Cai, they don't hang out with me any more, and they kept saying Chen Xiao Cai have treated them with some Tangyuan balls."
Lu An felt so bitter on hearing that, he had bever paid any attention to Lu Lin when Lu Lin was living under the same roof with them, he always looked upon on this nephew who looked a bit slow.
But to his surprise, this Lu Lin had turned it after he got married.
Lu An worked in town, he knew Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had been doing business with Manager Wang, but he couldn't pry for more information like what business it was and how much money Manager Wang had been paying them. However, he was sure they had made a lot of money considering how often they visited the restaurant.
Lu Tong now walked in, "Song Shi, what are you eating?"
Lu Song Shi quickly hid the pastry behind his back.
Grandma Lu usually doted on Lu Cheng Yu and Lu Song Shi the most, but she had been paying more attention to Lu Cheng Yu who was going to attend the Spring Imperial Examination recently.
Grandma Lu had spent good money buying and cooking amazing dishes for Lu Cheng Yu, as a result, the other family members could only live on a budget thus Grandma Lu could afford to buy fancy stuff for Lu Cheng Yu.
Lu Song Shi felt so jealous on seeing Lu Cheng Yu's lavish lifestyle, his mother didn't like it either, but she knew now wasn't the time to make a scene, so she had to mollify her son.
Lu Song Shi was a spoiled child, he sneaked into the kitchen and served himself a bowl of chicken soup stealthily.
Tang was so furious when she found the chicken soup was missing that she slapped Lu Song Shi.
Lu Song Shi wasn't a pushover like the host Lu Lin, he made a scene after he was slapped, his mother also joined him, Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu tried so hard to appease them.
Grandma Lu doted on Lu Cheng Yu, she also doted on her youngest grandson Lu Song Shi, so she scolded Tang hard for this. Tang knew she went too far and she apologized reluctantly.
Lu An bought pastry for his son this day to make him feel better. Lu An's face darkened on seeing Lu Tong walking in without even knocking on the door.
Lu Tong took a look at the Scholar Pastry and said, "Fourth Uncle, you bought this Scholar Pastry for my brother, right? Come on now, I will bring this to him."
Lu Song Shi's heart sank as he heard that, he had just had a few bites of the pastry. He cried after Lu Tong took away the plate and the pastry.
Lu An started to dislike Lu Tong on seeing his son crying.
Lu Song Shi's mother Lin Xiu'er frowned on hearing the story.
"Damn that Tang and her stupid kids, they all act like Lu Cheng Yu is already a scholar now, that Lu Tong is so arrogant too, a villager girl she is, but she turns her nose up to people like she is a lady in town. She is not getting any younger, I say let's just pray that she won't end up being an old maid!" Lin Xiu'er looked really upset.
Lu An sighed, "Let's keep it to ourselves, hopefully Cheng Yu can pass the examination and have a successful official career, we will become official's relatives by then."
Lin Xiu'er frowned, 'I know! That's why I have been putting up with this nonsense! That Tang has become more annoying recently!'
"Hopefully Cheng Yu can make it this time!" Lin Xiu'er gnashed her teeth.
Lu An gave half of his wage to Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu, and he knew the money went directly to Lu Cheng Yu's tuition fee.
Lin Xiu'er stroked her son's head.
Lin Xiu'er wasn't having a good time herself either, Tang had made up a lot of excuses like she needed to stay home and take care of Lu Cheng Yu to avoid doing farm work, thus Lin Xiu'er had been doing an awful amount of work. She had been doing the entire family's laundry by hand. It was terrible.
Lu An felt sorry for his wife, but there was nothing he could do, he sighed and said, "Let's wait until Cheng Yu finishes the examination."
Lin Xiu'er nodded, "Yeah, there's no better way."
Lu Cheng Yu paid 3 taels of tax last year, so Lin Xiu'er thought Lu Cheng Yu had to marry this year regardless of the result of the examination.
On one hand, Lin Xiu'er wanted Lu Cheng Yu to become a Xiucai so their farmland tax would be exempted to a great degree, on the other hand, she didn't, because Tang would become even more arrogant if her son really did well in the exam.
Lu An let out a deep sigh, "The examination is hard, hopefully he can do well."
The villagers didn't know much about the exam, but Lu An worked in town, he was more cultured than the villagers, so he knew the Spring Imperial Examination was actually very daunting.
Chapter End Notes
Failure
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
The Spring Imperial Examination ended with great fanfare. Chen Jing had successfully become a Tongsheng, which was an easy title to get. Lu Cheng Yu was already a Tongsheng before the exam, but he failed again to get the title of Xiucai.
Lu Cheng Yu was crushed by this defeat, he couldn't leave the house for days.
Miserable and gloomy atmosphere reigned the entire house.
Everyone was well aware that Xiucai wasn't an easy title to get, Lu Cheng Yu had many classmates in their forties were still Tongsheng. So logically speaking, they shouldn't be this sad because Lu Cheng Yu was still young.
However, they had their hopes high thanks to Tang's gesture, she had turned down all the villagers who showed interested in betrothing with them. As a result, the villagers took the hint and betrothed with other people.
Therefore, quite a lot villagers now gloated over Lu Cheng Yu's failure. They made fun of Tang for being so proud and arrogant, now neither her son nor her daughter was engaged.
Lin Xiu'er stopped tolerating Tang's bad temper at this point, Tang didn't have what it took to put on airs anymore, so they would argue with each other all the time.
Nothing dramatic, but arguments all the time.
Lin Xiu'er would resort to insinuation and complain that Lu Cheng Yu had wasted so much money yet he was still a Tongsheng.
Lu Cheng Yu was a proud person, he was so indignant whenever he heard those innuendo.
Chen Jing was very excited that he made it to Tongsheng this time, he was on an equal footing with Lu Cheng Yu now, he didn't like the way Lu Cheng Yu pushed himself forward at school, he gloated over Lu Cheng Yu's failure the most.
All the scholars favored Lu Cheng Yu at school, but the truth was Lu Cheng Yu was still a Tongsheng!
"Tong, come on now, wash the clothes in the basin. You are going to get married one day, you need to practice doing more chores." Lin Xiu'er shouted.
Lu Tong walked to the basin reluctantly, color flared in her cheeks, she couldn't help but take a step back on seeing the pile of clothes in the basin.
Lin Xiu'er's lips twitched on seeing that, "Come on now, Tong, no village girl is like you, you will end up being an old maid if you carry on like this."
Tang had been so picky on selecting potential in-laws for Lu Tong, she had offended a lot of matchmakers, so Lu Tong's marriage got delayed due to that.
Lin Xiu'er held a grudge against Lu Tong for taking away her son's pastry the other day, so she was enjoying educating Lu Tong now.
"Fourth Aunt, you are free now, why don't you do the washing?" Lu Tong pouted.
"You lazy bone, I'm going to cook now! Tong, seriously, no village girl is like you, you should start practicing doing housework now, otherwise your future in-laws will blame us for spoiling you!" Lin Xiu'er was furious.
"Why are you being so loud?" Grandma Lu walked out of the room.
"I'm asking Tong to do some housework, she will marry sooner or later, her future in-laws will laugh at us if she is incompetent in housework," Lin Xiu'er sighed, "it's been a long time since the last matchmaker has visited us, hmm, maybe we will end up paying tax for her too!"
Lu Tong's heart gave a jolt on hearing that. She was not taking it well when Lin Xiu'er talked about her like no one wanted to marry her.
Grandma Lu nodded on hearing what Lin Xiu'er had said, she cast a glimpse at Lu Tong with disgust and looked away. Grandma Lu had also noticed less and less matchmakers showed interest in Lu Tong now, and they all pointed out that Lu Tong shouldn't be so picky because she was not young any more, she might end up being an old maid if she didn't change that arrogant attitude.
Grandma Lu used to have high hopes for Lu Tong, she thought this granddaughter of hers would marry into a wealthy family in town and lead a comfortable life, but recently it was just some poor villagers who showed interest in Lu Tong. Therefore, Grandma Lu started to feel maybe Lu Tong was not as good as she had thought, maybe she should lower her hopes.
"Grandma, the river is so far away, how can I just go out and be seen by so many people?" Lu Tong turned to Grandma Lu.
Grandma Lu raised her volume and said, "Everyone in the family is busy, Tong, you are a big girl now, you should help out!"
Lu Tong was surprised that her grandmother had sided with Lin Xiu'er, but she dared not talk back.
She carried the basin and walked to the river in a huff. She kept blaming her brother for this, she was sure she would marry well if her brother had passed the exam, she was sure Lin Xiu'er dared not talk to her like this if her brother had passed the exam…
Chapter End Notes
To Offend Matchmaker Wang
The Lu House was so gloomy due to Lu Cheng Yu's failure.
Grandfather Lu had been doing nothing but puffing away on his pipe, Lu Tong dared not assume airs of importance like she used to.
Lu Tong had been so anxious lately for she knew her family wouldn't pay tax for her, chances were they would just marry her off easily, but the ones the matmakers mentioned recently were just so unpresentable, and she regretted for turning down so many good ones in the past.
Lu Tong heard her mom Tang and Matchmaker Wang's talk when she came home from the riverside doing laundry.
"Matchmaker Wang, is that Li Family in Big Wind Village really as good as you said? Do they really have over 20 mu of farmland? The young master in the family is literate? Really?" (T/N: mu, a Chinese unit of area, 1 mu equals to 1/6 an acre)
Matchmaker Wang laughed, "Why would I lie to you? The Lis are not as affluent as the wealthy families in town, but they are very well off in our villages. That Young Master Li does so well at school, maybe one day he will have a successful official career, imagine that, Lu Tong will lead such a comfortable life by then, she will become a lady."
Tang squinted her eyes, she had been inquiring a lot of families for her daughter Lu Tong recently, "Matchmaker Wang, how come I've never heard there's such a Young Master Li in Big Wind villager?"
With that Tang's face darkened, "Is this Young Master Li named Li Ji, is he the one who is widowed two years ago, and he has a five-year-old son? His wife died because his mother abused her, right?"
Matchmaker Wang forced a dry smile, she didn't expect Tang to know this, so she said, "That's not wrong, Young Master Li's dead wife is such an ill-starred person, but his family is really a well-off family."
"You stupid woman! How dare you even come to my house and bring this up to me! Piss off!" Tang was furious.
Matchmaker Wang had been doing matchmaking for years, the villagers all respected her. This was the first time that anyone talked to her like this, she got riled up and said, "You think your daughter is too good for us villagers? Wake up! She is 17 already, and you want 20 taels of silver for betrothal present? Tell you what, few villagers can afford that! I would feel deeply grateful for the Lis if I were you!"
Hearing that, Tang trembled with anger.
Tang always thought her daughter would marry well and her son would have a successful official career, but the reality now was her son failed in the exam and her daughter was turning old, and she had to act fast.
She thought she had already made a compromise by even considering marrying Lu Tong to a villager instead of an official, but now it looked Lu Tong couldn't even marry into a well-off villager family.
With that Matchmaker Wang left in a huff.
Lu Tong hated Matchmaker Wang for that, and she couldn't help but blame her mother for turning down so many good ones in the past.
Lu Tong only entered the house after Matchmaker Wang was long gone.
Tang put on a smile on seeing her daughter, "Tong, don't worry, I will find a good family for you!"
Lu Tong nodded, but she didn't have her hopes high.
Matchmaker Wang added salt and pepper when the other villagers asked her why she looked so furious, she told the villagers that Tang looked down upon the villagers and Tang would only marry Lu Tong into wealthy officials' family.
The villagers who had interest in betrothing with the Lus now all gave up on the idea, they figured they better not ask for an insult from Tang.
In the Lus' house.
Grandfather Lu wore an anxious look and said, "We still haven't found a good family for Tong, it looks like we have to lower our standard."
Grandmother Lu cast a glimpse at Lu Tong with a frown and said, "It's been so long since a good family asked about you."
Lu Tong lowered her head in silence, she could feel the entire family was seeing her as an eyesore.
Lu Tong tried to make eye contact with her 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 brother ignored her, she admired her brother since she was very young, she had always thought her brother was the pride of the family, but now she realized her brother was nothing like she had pictured in mind.
Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin were leading such a comfortable life while the Lus were clouded with worry.
"Lin Gege, people are all saying that Lu Tong is unmarriable now because her family has lofty disdain for common villagers who want to marry her." Said Chen Xiao Cai by the dining table.
Chen Xiao Cai now became more outgoing and he got so close to Lu Lin, he would share any news he heard from the villagers with Lu Lin.
Lu Lin smiled and threw a banter "Cai, you are getting more and more well-informed."
Chen Xiao Cai lowered his volume and said, "I heard those from the villagers."
Lu Lin smiled, "Tang has offended Matchmaker Wang, that's a wrong move. Matchmakers can easily ruin people's marriage by mere slandering, no one can afford to offend a matchmaker. I heard now Tang is burning with anxiety. But hey, she asked for it."
Tang was so arrogant when she turned down the villagers who asked matchmakers to express that they were interested in betrothing with her family, now it looked like she had to look from other villages.
Chen Xiao Mi shook his head and said, "Those matchmakers can be so annoying."
Chen Xiao Mi didn't like Tang nor 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 it's gonna happen."
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi made a lot of money so Lu Lin suggested sending Chen Xiao Cai to school for better education. But reputation was the No. 1 criterion that the scholars considered when they recruited students, Chen Xiao Cai's reputation suffered due to Chen Xiao Mi.
Therefore, no scholar wanted to teach Chen Xiao Cai even though Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were willing to pay a great amount of tuition fee.
"How pedantic those scholars are!" Lu Lin looked so disgruntled.
Chen Xiao Mi bit his lips and said, "That's okay, I don't think Cai will be elected as an official even though he can 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 is the star of wisdom, but look at Lu Cheng Yu now."
Unfortunately, what Chen Xiao Mi said was true, reputation and filial piety were two most important criteria when the government appointed officials. No way could Chen Xiao Cai have a successful career if a villager pointed out that Chen Xiao Cai was unfilial towards his grandparents.
Lu Lin let out a sigh and said, "Hopefully we can think about some other way to convince the scholars in the future."
Lu Lin didn't want to force it because he didn't want Chen Xiao Cai to be bullied at school.
Chen Xiao Mi took a deep breath and said, "School is not that great, my cousin Chen Jing goes to school too. My grandparents dote on him so much that they would but anything that Chen Jing point his finger at. My grandparents asked my parents to support Chen Jing when they were alive. But I don't think that Chen Jing is even trying to do well at school, he is such a slacker."
Chen Xiao Mi could always smell rouge fragrance from Chen Jing, so he thought Chen Jing probably frequented brothels in town.
Frequenting brothels was a trend among the wealthy young masters, but unlike Chen Jing whose entire family was working hard to support him, those young masters were born with a silver spoon in the mouth.
Lu Lin thought for a little while and thought, "We can maybe hire a tutor for Cai when we can afford one. I'm not saying I want Cai to become a scholar, I want him to be literate, that's all."
The Lus were in such a turmoil due to spring sowing in the farmland and both Lu Cheng Yu and Lu Tong's matchmaking.
Grandfather Lu had even made a visit to Lu Lin in person asking him to go back home to help out.
"Lin, come home with me now." Grandfather Lu was so used to issue orders to Lu Lin.
"But grandpa, I'm collecting firewood now, Chen Xiao Mi won't give me any dinner if I don't collect a whole basket of firewood." Lu Lin lied.
"How dare you disobey me! Are you making excuses now?" Grandfather Lu didn't buy it.
Grandfather Lu used to believe Lu Lin when he said Chen Xiao Mi would abuse him if he didn't do what Chen Xiao Mi said, but all the villagers had seen how the two hold hands while laughing and talking on the way to the mountains. It was no secret that the young couple got along great.
"You ungrateful bastard! Have you forgotten about your family after you get married?" Grandfather Lu was utterly discomfited.
Lu Lin let out a deep sigh and said, "Of course I haven't forgotten about my family, that's exactly why I can't go back home with you, I dreamed 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 felt so painful, and he said he felt so alone because he died on the battlefield and he wasn't even buried in our ancestral grave."
Grandfather Lu turned pale on hearing that, he recalled he was hesitant when Grandmother Lu persuade him that they should send Lu Lin's father to the army, but he was convinced by Grandmother Lu when she said the entire family would ride on their son's coattails if he could accomplish meritorious military service.
"Grandpa, have you dreamed about my dead father?"
Grandfather Lu didn't say anything, he went away in dejection.
Lu Lin showed a cold smile on seeing Grandfather Lu's retiring figure.
Chen Xiao Mi now walked out from the house and said, "Don't talk nonsense like that, let the dead rest in peace."
Chen Xiao Mi was worried for Lu Lin because people in that time and space were all somewhat superstitious, Chen Xiao Mi didn't want Lu Lin to bring up the dead, so he clutched Lu Lin's hands subconsciously.
"It's all right." Lu Lin stroked Chen Xiao Mi's hands gently.
Lu Cheng Yu is Getting Married
"What? Lu Cheng Yu is getting married soon?" Lu Lin was utterly astonished.
Chen Xiao Cai nodded, "That's what I heard."
'Tut tut tut, even I have heard about it, and now you need Cai to tell you.' Chen Xiao Mi cast a glimpse at Lu Lin and shook his head.
Lu Cheng Yu and the host Lu Lin were basically the same age, Lu Cheng Yu was twenty days older than the host Lu Lin, but Grandmother Lu and Grandfather Lu treated them with vast difference. Lu Lin had never got any love from them.
"Ha, he did pay tax last year, right?" Lu Lin gloated.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "I think so, yeah."
The more Lu Lin thought about it, the more he gloated.
Lu Cheng Yu was even more arrogant than his mother Tang, the scholars at school had high hopes for him, and he was confident that he would become a Xiucai in no time. He had never landed eyes on a village girl or an average town girl, he counted on networking with the officials in town and marrying a lady in a wealthy family after he became a Xiucai.
Tang had the same plan for her son, she hadn't really thought about Lu Cheng Yu's marriage because she knew they'd have more chance to betroth with a wealthy family after Lu Cheng Yu became a Xiucai.
Last year, when Lu Cheng Yu about to turn 18 and was about to be taxed, Tang had thought about marring a girl for the sole purpose of avoiding tax, so she had talked with a lot of matchmakers.
Lu Cheng Yu showed great interest in the beginning, but soon his high spirits were dampened because the matchmakers had only introduced average village girls to him.
The fact was the matchmakers knew Lu Cheng Yu and his family were in a rush to get married to avoid tax, so they thought Lu Cheng Yu wouldn't be picky, so they only introduced the not so pretty girls to him. As a result, Lu Cheng Yu had rejected them firmly.
So Tang had to pay tax for Lu Cheng Yu last year.
Lu Cheng Yu failed to pass the Spring Imperial Examination this year again, Tang didn't want to pay other 3 tales of silver this year, and she was convinced that luck played an important role in the exams, none from their village had passed the exam this year, there were quite a few people in their fifties or even sixties who still didn't get the title of Xiucai.
Tang figured she could betroth with an all right family as a makeshift plan, thus Lu Cheng Yu could continue the exams with no pressure of paying tax.
"That Spring Imperial Examination seems like impossible to pass." Chen Xiao Mi sighed.
Lu Lin smiled and nodded.
Xiucai was revered by people because the title so hard to get. Compared to the kids from villages whose entire families had to work hard to pay the tuition fee, the young masters from the wealthy families were so lucky, all they needed to do was to study without worrying about anything in life.
Lu Lin rubbed his chin and asked Chen Xiao Cai, "Have you heard who Lu Cheng Yu is going to marry, Cai?"
Chen Xiao Cai frowned and he said, "I'm not sure, but I heard it's a girl from an official's family in town."
Tang was ridiculed by the villagers due to her arrogant attitude, but recently she started to throw her weight about because her son was about to marry a girl from an official's family.
A girl from an official's family in town? Really?" Lu Lin doubted it, he thought that was an exaggeration, but he decided to find out in case it was true.
Lu Lin had met Lu Cheng Yu twice after he got married, but Lu Cheng Yu was very indifferent, and he would just warn Lu Lin that he needed to be filial towards the family elders.
Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin exchanged a look, "I don't think that's true, Lin."
Lu Cheng Yu might be able to betroth with an official's family if he were a Xiucai, but now he was just a Tongsheng, there was nothing special about that title, even Chen Jing was a Tongsheng. Plus all the good girls were married off last year when the 'single tax' came into effect.
Lu Lin rested his chin in his cupped hands and said, "We are going to send the last batch of sweet potato wine to Manager Wang in a couple of days anyway, we might as well ask Manager Wang about this, Manager Wang is very well-informed, I'm sure he knows the inside information or he has heard about the truth from the customers."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "That sounds like a good plan."
The couple brought up the question on seeing Manager Wang.
"The girl's name is Li Fang Yue." Manager Wang was stunned for a second when the couple asked him the question.
"I heard this Li Fang Yue is Secretary General of the County's daughter, is that so?" asked Lu Lin.
Hearing that, Manager Wang chuckled, "That's ridiculous, this Li Fang Yue indeed has something to do with the Secretary General of the County, but she is not his daughter. The thing is Li Fang Yue's elder sister Li Ru is the Secretary General's concubine, but the Lis tend to lie to people that Li Ru is the madam, that's all."
The couple nodded.
Manager Wang continued, "The Secretary General likes Li Ru for her beauty, but I heard this Li Fang Yue is an average looking girl with nothing special."
The couple thanks Manager Wang and left the restaurant.
"So Lu Cheng Yu's fiancé is not the Secretary General's daughter, she is just her sister-in-law, but that's better than nothing, Lu Cheng Yu will become the Secretary General's brother-in-law soon." Chen Xiao Mi rested his head on the window of the carriage and said that to Lu Lin.
Lu Lin squinted his eyes and said, "There's a huge difference between a wife and a concubine, a concubine's kids don't even have the right of inheritance."
Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head and said, "All matchmakers tend to sugarcoat the situation, tell you what, I don't think the Lus know Li Ru is just a concubine."
Lu Lin nodded. The two later found out even the folks live in town didn't know that Li Ru was just a concubine, domestic affairs like this were hard to pry, Manager Wang knew the truth because he was great at networking. Plus that Li Ru always show up with many attendants crowding round, so people just assumed she was the madam.
"Mi, Cai also told me Grandmother Lu keeps complaining that the young masters in town got good grades because they have bribed the examiner, and her genius grandson Lu Cheng Yu failed at the exam because he refused to associate with those evil elements." Said Lu Lin, he thought Grandmother Lu said might be true, but it also might just be an excuse that Grandmother Lu had come up with to save her grandson's face.
Lu Lin searched the host Lu Lin's memory, he found that Lu Cheng Yu indeed was 'a straight-A student'.
"I'm not sure about that." Replied Chen Xiao Mi, "But hey, Manager Wang said that Li Fang Yue is an average-looking girl, I'm sure Tang won't be happy about that."
"But I think Lu Cheng Yu isn't marrying her because of her looks, I think Lu Cheng Yu is marrying her because she is the Secretary General's sister-in-law."
"That's very likely. I say Lu Tong is going to get married soon. No way would the Lus keep her for one more year, it's 3 tales of silver on the line after all, hahaha."
Lu Lin also laughed, it looked like the Lus are going to have two weddings soon, but it had nothing to do with him.
In Chen Jing's house.
"That stupid Grandmother Lu! She has been showing off for quite a few days about her grandson's engagement!" Grandmother Chen looked furious.
Grandmother Chen and Grandmother Lu had a fight about two months ago, they had been hating on each other ever since.
Grandmother Chen gloated over Lu Cheng Yu's failure at the exam for so long, but now the table had turned, Grandmother Lu had been showing off that Lu Cheng Yu was betrothed with the Secretary General's family.
Chen Jing rolled his eyes and said, "Grandma, I used to respect Lu Cheng Yu for he works so hard at school, but now it looks like I had the wrong idea of him, it turns out he is thinking about resorting to nepotism!"
Chen Jing looked like he was afire with noble indignation, but deep down he was mad jealous of Lu Cheng Yu, he knew Lu Cheng Yu would have more chance at passing the exam after he married the Secretary General's sister-in-law.
"Jing, do you know much of this Li Fang Yue?"
Chen Jing scratched his head and said, "Not really, but I have heard she is very average-looking."
Grandmother Chen didn't care about how a girl looked like, she valued the girl's family influence more than anything. She was mad jealous that Lu Cheng Yu and the Secretary General would become relatives by marriage soon.
Grandmother Chen didn't like Chen Jing's wife Zhang Yue Hong that much, Zhang Yue Hong was pretty, but she was a regular village girl and she would make a scene whenever Grandmother Chen scolded her.
"That Lu Cheng Yu is so lucky, his brother-in-law is an official, maybe he will help Lu Cheng Yu to become a Xiucai." Grandmother Chen murmured.
Chen Jing defended himself on hearing that, "Grandma, imperial examination is a national examination, there's only limited things that the Secretary General can do to help."
Grandmother Chen sighed, "Limited things is better than nothing."
Chen Jing lowered his head, he couldn't think of one good talk back.
Grandmother Chen then changed the subject, "Now I wonder which family is willing to marry Lu Tong, that girl is just as arrogant as her grandmother."
Lu Tong is Getting Married
Lu Tong's marriage had settled down not long after Lu Cheng Yu was betrothed with the Secretary General's sister-in-law.
Lu Lin was astonished when he heard who Lu Tong was going to marry.
"Li Ji? Widower Li from Big Wind Village?! Didn't Tang and Matchmaker Wang have a fight about this, this Li Ji is a widower, and he has a five-year-old son! How come Tang is willing to let Lu Tong be someone's stepmother? The situation must be really bad for Lu Tong."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Most boys of marriageable age already got married last year, 3 taels of tax is no small amount, Lu Cheng Yu is an exception. Plus Tang asks for 20 taels as betrothal present, therefore, Lu Tong only has a limited number of options."
Li Ji was a widower with a son, but his family was pretty well-off.
With that being said, Lu Lin was still surprised that Lu Tong who was determined to marry an official in town, was willing to become someone's stepmother.
Chen Xiao Mi continued, "I don't think Lu Tong really have a say in this. In our village, wedding ceremony can be simple, you can just borrow an ox cart to pick the bride up, but Li Fang Yue seems to be very demanding on their wedding ceremony. I heard the Lus are throwing a grand wedding ceremony to fawn upon on Li Fang Yue and the Secretary General, they are even thinking about renting sedan chairs in town. And they need to prepare a wide variety of betrothal presents, the village girls' family would only ask for some daily necessities, but the girls in town would ask for jewelries and nice fabric."
The Lus had a lot of farmland, but they were not as well-off as the villagers thought. Chances were they needed to sell some farmland to cover the cost of the wedding ceremony, no villager would sell farmland unless they were driven desperate. Farmland was easy to sell, but it was almost impossible to buy them back.
So the perfect solution was use Lu Tong's betrothal present money to pay for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony.
Lu Lin showed a dry smile, "People in my hometown do the same thing, they are obsessed with big weddings and they are willing to borrow money to cover the cost, it looks like the obsession with big weddings is timeless."
"Yeah, I agree, I don't get it either. And I also heard Li Ji's mother is not that easygoing."
Lu Lin nodded, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Lu Tong. Lu Tong was someone who picked easy jobs and shirked hard ones, Lu Lin didn't think Lu Tong could do well as a daughter-in-law and a stepmother.
But on a second thought, Lu Lin felt like this didn't concern him. Even Tang, Lu Tong's own mother had no problem marrying her into such a family, he shouldn't feel so sad. Plus that Lu Tong wasn't a nice person in the first place.
Lu Tong always accused the host Lu Lin of something that he hadn't down when they were young, she would even blatantly make Lu Lin the scapegoat for something she had done, like she would steal an egg in the kitchen and say it was Lu Lin who did it.
Lu Tong sat in her room, feeling devastated about her fate.
She used to imagine her grand wedding ceremony all the time, in her imagination, she would marry well, she would sit in a sedan chair and become an official's wife, but the cold hard reality was she was going to become a five-year-old boy's stepmother, and her future husband was nothing but a villager… …