Schoolbags? Will they be popular?" Chen Xiao Mi's upper lip twitched.
"I have faith in it."
Chen Xiao Mi gave Lu Lin a funny look, "Do you know how to make schoolbags?"
"I do not, but I know how to hire people to make schoolbags for me." Lu Lin showed a cunning smile.
Chen Xiao Mi was still unconvinced.
"Haha, let's give that a try, what's the worst gonna happen?"
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "All right, I'll listen to you."
Chen Xiao Mi thought, 'Our entire saving is basically made by Lu Lin, he has every right to make these business decisions. The worst case scenario is we lose it all and we start over. But I don't think we will lost that amount of money for a while…
Lu Cheng Yu's Wedding Ceremony
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi both had their minds set on the big commercial house with residence area in the back, they paid the money with alacrity. The landlord appreciated how efficient they were, he and his family were in a rush to move, so he decided to give the furniture and some commodity to the couple for free.
Chen Xiao Mi wandered around in the big yard, thrilled, he said to Lu Lin, "This is amazing! Look how big our yard is!"
Lu Lin smiled at Chen Xiao Mi in a doting manner. As a mater of fact, this yard wasn't particularly big in a lot of wealthy families' standard. It was also one of the reasons why this place had been on the market for a while, wealthy families all said it wasn't spacious enough for their big family.
Take Councilor Yang for an example, there were four generations living in his manor. His parents, wife, concubines, kids, grandkids! Of course this place was too small for him and his family. But in Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi's case, there were only four people in their family, of course it was more than enough.
Chen Xiao Mi went to check the commodity the landlord left for them. There were some fabric, some oil and flour, Chen Xiao Mi did some quick math, he was stoked to find the commodity was worth more than 11 taels of silver.
The young couple decided to not move in for a while, they decided to keep this whole thing a secret, they didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. A commercial house with residence area in town was too conspicuous.
The two came up with an excuse, they would just say they were just here to do some house sitting for the owner if someone asked them.
On the other hand, Lu Cheng Yu and Li Fang Yue's wedding day was just around the corner.
The villagers all had their eyes on the wedding, they were so curious to have a look at the bride for they all knew how picky Tang and Lu Cheng Yu were.
The Lus had displayed ostentation and extravagance for the wedding, Lu Cheng Yu had even hired a sedan chair from town.
A lot of young girls in the villages wished their future wedding could be this grand as well.
Tang had made it very clear that she was going to be very picky about the guest list, leaving the villagers wondering whether Lu Lin was invited.
They all thought Lu Lin wasn't invited. Firstly, he was sold to Chen Xiao Mi, he didn't even bring changed clothes with him when Tang and Grandma Lu asked some villagers to carry him to Chen Xiao Mi's house on two pieces of door planks. That basically meant they had renounced him.
Secondly, Tang didn't send anyone to invite Lu Lin. Lu Lin didn't have to show up and humiliate himself in front of so many people.
But some villagers judged Lu Lin for not showing up, Lu Cheng Yu was his cousin after all, and he should show up and send his wishes according to custom. But neither Lu Lin nor Chen Xiao Mi was bothered by those voices.
The Lus had invited so many guests for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding, it was very impressive.
To return to Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.
Lu Lin was thinking about the details about opening a commercial house, he thought they were short-staffed, so he had been thinking about buying some help.
"Buy some help? From a human trader?" Chen Xiao Mi asked in shock.
Lu Lin nodded. Buying servants and maids from human traders was not against the law in that time and space, it was a common practice in big families.
Chen Xiao Mi frowned and said, "Do we still have the money though? We bought farmland and that commercial house, that's 266 tales gone."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "We still have about 50 taels, we can make another 15 if we sell another batch of sweet potato wone."
Chen Xiao Mi pursed his lips and sighed, "We just have 50 taels left?"
50 taels was actually a large amount of money, but Chen Xiao Mi's mindset still hadn't changed from they had over 300 taels of silver, so he had this feeling of huge loss.
Lu Lin smiled and comforted him, "Haha, we only have 50 tales cash now, but wee have that amazing commercial house in town now, remember?"
Chen Xiao Mi was cheered up, but he wasn't as visionary as Lu Lin. He couldn't think of making money from doing business, he believed in hunting and working in the farmland.
Lu Lin had seen him through, he patted Chen Xiao Mi on the shoulder and said, "It's all right, we have 2 mu of farmland now, if our business fails, we can always sell that commercial house, come back to the village and live on the farmland. Don't worry, everything will be okay."
Chen Xiao Mi finally beamed, "You are right!"
Lu Lin didn't blame Chen Xiao Mi for being so pessimistic about their business, he knew it took time to change someone's mindset.
Chen Xiao Cai now trotted to the room, "Big brother, Lin Gege!"
"Cai, where have you been?"
"Lu Cheng Yu is getting married today, I just went to have a look."
Chen Xiao Mi was intrigued, "It's splendid, isn't it?"
There was no entertainment in that time and space, so people always were interested in weddings and funerals, even Chen Xiao Mi was curious about Lu Cheng Yu's wedding.
"Yeah, they must have spent a lot money on the wedding. But the Secretary-General didn't show up."
Chen Xiao Mi rested his chin in his cupped hand, he gloated, "Really? That big shot in-law isn't here?"
Lu Lin smiled, "As you said, he is a big shot, maybe he is occupied somewhere else."
This big shot Secretary-General was now Lu Cheng Yu's brother-in-law, he was supposed to show up at the wedding. But nobody in the village knew the truth, Li Fang Yue's sister was just the Secretary-General's concubine. Concubines had low status in this time and space, some scholars would even send their friends concubines as inspirations to write poems and articles.
Li Fang Yue's sister Li Ru now was favored by the Secretary-General, but that didn't change the fact that she was a concubine. So it was natural that the Secretary-General couldn't be bothered to show up in Li Fang Yue's wedding.
"Maybe Lu Cheng Yu and the Lus will get disappointed soon." Said Lu Lin.
The Lus spent so much money on this wedding not to satisfy or impress the bride, but the Secretary-General! But now the Secretary-General didn't even want to show up at the wedding, chances were their efforts would be wasted and their calculations would fall through.
Lu Lin squinted his eyes, 'Lu Cheng Yu might be too anxious to get married when he heard Li Fang Yue was the Secretary-General's sister-in-law, he didn't really do any research. He just bought whatever the matchmaker said and thought Li Fang Yue was a well-connected lady who could help him in his exams and official career.'
Lu Cheng Yu gave Li Fang Yue 30 taels as betrothal present in the hope that Li Fang Yue would bring an equal amount of dowry or at least a decent amount of dowry. He didn't mind if she brought less, because he knew Li Fang Yue's brother Li Hong was their parents favorite, their parents might will take that money and save up for Li Hong.
Tang was a calculating person, but not this time, she fell for the title of Secretary-General and she didn't do her research. She agreed to marry the girl for fear that someone else would snatch this marriage from them.
Grandma Lu and Tang were busy in the kitchen, they both pulled a long face.
Grandma Lu craned her neck to have a look outside of the window, "Have you seen the Secretary-General? Why isn't he here yet? The bride's sister isn't here either!"
Tang looked embarrassed, she said in a low voice, "Maybe they are busy."
Grandma Lu frowned, "Busy? Too busy to attend a family member's wedding? They should have time to at least show up and send wishes, plus, today isn't New Year Eve or anything, how busy can they be?"
Tang gnashed her teeth, she was thinking the same thing, so many guests had asked her the same questions, she was just too embarrassed to see the guests so she now was hiding in the kitchen.
"Maybe they will come in the afternoon." Said Tang in a low voice, even herself didn't believe that.
"Have you seen the bride's dowry?" asked Grandma Lu.
Tang was curious to see Li Fang Yue's dowry as well, but she didn't have a chance to have a good look at the stuff that Li Fang Yue had brought with her yet. She didn't want to appear as greedy on the first day that Li Fang Yue married into the family, she didn't want Li Fang Yue to speak ill of her in front of her brother-in-law in the future.
"I haven't got a chance to check yet. But I've heard some ladies in town would have a handsome dowry, hopefully Li Fang Yue's parents have given her a decent amount of money." Said Tang.
Tang had even heard some wealthy families would even give the daughter a commercial house as part of the dowry, Tang had dreamed about that, but she gave up on that thought when she saw the guests came with Li Fang Yue, it looked like Li Fang Yue's family didn't take this wedding seriously.
Grandma Lu felt so down, Lu Cheng Yu had been her favorite grandson since he was born. In Grandma Lu's eyes, Lu Cheng Yu was so perfect that he was eligible to even marry a princess. But now Grandma Lu wasn't happy about this bride, it looked like the bride's family wasn't taking Lu Cheng Yu seriously.
Grandma Lu changed the subject and said, "Where's Lu Lin? That jerk didn't come either? He really wants to renounce us."
Tang deliberately didn't invite Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, but she thought they would come with a present anyway, so now she was mad that she wasn't able to take the present and put on airs in front of the villagers.
"This Lu Lin, now he is becoming more and more like Chen Xiao Mi since they got married!" Tang growled.
The villagers were busy talking outside as well.
"Do you know how much the Lus have spent on the wedding? Look, there's even a sedan chair!"
"I have no idea, but it must be a big amount, I heard the betrothal present alone is 30 taels, I don't think anyone in our village has received or accepted 30 tales before!"
"I can't believe they are so rich, but they still forced Lu Lin's father to join the army to save tax! Grandma Lu used to wail day ant night to force Lu Lin's father, tut tut tut… …"
"I haven't seen many guests from the bride's side, is that Secretary-General here yet?"
"No, the Secretary-General isn't here." Replied Zhang Jin.
Zhang Jin, the Village Head's son, was popular among the villagers, they loved to gossip with him.
"But why? Isn't he the bride's brother-in-law?"
"Speaking of Lu Lin, he isn't here either, right?"
"Lu Lin now is determined to renounce them! I can't believe he really has it in him! Renouncing your family is a big deal, isn't it?'
"I can understand him though, his father died because his grandparents forced him to join the army, his mother died from overworking, and he was sold to a ferocious Bio by his grandparents."
"But blood is thicker than water!"
Zhang Jin chimed in, "Listen, I can relate to Lu Lin, Lu Lin got married on two pieces of door planks, and now look at Lu Cheng Yu! Can you blame Lu Lin for not showing up?"
The villagers exchanged a look, they started to nod in unison, they all thought the Lus were in the wrong.
Betrothal Presents and Dowry
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had a few visitors when Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony was in full swing.
Qin Yi was fully recovered now, he hunted a stag and brought it with him as a thank you gift for the couple. The couple felt bad for taking this present, they declined several times but to no avail, Qin Yi and his kids insisted them taking the stag.
Lu Lin finally agreed, but he insisted that Qin Yi and his kids should stay for dinner. Qin Yi felt a bit shy, but he agreed to stay in the end.
Lu Lin cooked three courses and some soup, Stewed Chicken with Dried Bamboo Shoots, Braised Fish in Brown Sauce, Scrambled Eggs with Tomato, Pork Bone Broth and some veggies as side dish.
The Qins lived in deep mountain, they had not had a feast like this before. They hadn't had a proper meal since Qin Yi's wife passed away. The two boys tried to take small bites and act civil in the beginning, but soon they started to devour the dishes.
Qin Yi kept shotting warning looks at his kid but to no avail. Qin Lang and Qin Ming just couldn't help themselves.
Qin Yi shook his head, he gave up, he knew he couldn't blame his kids. Lu Lin was such a great chef, soon Qin Yi gave up on his table manners as well.
Both Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were glad that they had guests, they hadn't had any guest for so long.
"Mi, I'm so happy for you, I cannot believe a young hunter like you now has a such big household!" Qin Yi said with emotion and admiration in the tone.
Qin Yi wished he could buy a house and settle down in the village as well, but he didn't have any money. Qin Yi knew Chen Xiao Mi when Chen Xiao Mi first started hunting, Qin Yi felt sorry for such a young Bio who had to risk his life in the deep mountains so he helped Chen Xiao Mi several times, but life was so unpredictable, now not only had Chen Xiao Mi survived, but he was leading such an affluent life.
Chen Xiao Mi scratched his head and said modestly, "I just… I just have some good luck."
Chen Xiao Mi was very respectful to Qin Yi who was a senior hunter, he always acted humble in senior hunters' presence.
Qin Yi finished his rice in the bowl, Chen Xiao Mi served him another bowl.
"Thank you so much, Mi. This is such a feast!"
Chen Xiao Mi smiled, "Lu Lin is a great cook."
Qin Lang Qin Ming and Chen Xiao Cai Chen Xiao Mai became fast friends, they kept talking and laughing after dinner.
Qin Yi looked at the moon and estimated the time, it was time to say goodbye. Qin Lang and Qin Ming felt reluctant to part with their new friends and such a nice household.
Lu Lin gave Qin Lang and Qin Ming a bag of pancakes as a gift, the kids gazed at Qin Yi like two puppies, Qin Yi felt bad to take more gift from Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, but he didn't have the heart to upset his kids, so he told his boys to say thank you to Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.
Qin Lang held the bag like it were a bag of treasure on the way home. As a matter of fact, he wanted to sell that stag for money and give Lu Lin something else as a thank you gift. But now he was glad he listened to his father, Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had beautiful souls and they deserved the best.
"Father, that was the best food I have ever had! When can we visit them and have dinner at theirs again?" Qin Ming smacked his lips.
Qin Yi put on an angry face, "Is that all you want to do? Have dinner at Chen Xiao Mi's?"
Qin Ming scratched his head with confusion, "Father, you seem to have really enjoy the food as well, you have eaten three bowls of rice, I saw that!"
Qin Yi made a face, he was so glad that the moonlight was dim and his kids hadn't seen how blushed he was. He agreed on what Qin Ming said, that was indeed the best food he had ever had in his life, too.
In Chen Xiao Mi's house.
Lu Lin touched the pilose antler on the stag and said, "Qin Yi is such a grateful person! He can sell this stag for a large amount of money, yet he gave it to us as a thank you gift."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yes, Qin Yi is a great person!"
Lu Lin did some quick math in the heart, the pilose antler alone was worth about 8 taels (T/N: traditional Chinese medical science values pilose antler). Some people would buy the stag as game, it was worth at least 1 tael.
Lu Lin was surprised that Qin Yi had given the stag to them just to say thank you, Qin Yi and his kids needed money more than anyone, but they were just too grateful to keep the stag to themselves.
Lu Lin was touched by the simple and honest folkway that Qin Yi possessed, he hated a lot of people in the village, but he was genuinely touched by Qin Yi.
Lu Lin cut the pilose antler and stored them in the store, pilose antler was precious, both Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi agreed on saving them in the store, they didn't want to sell them just yet. And they agreed on eating the stag meat by themselves instead of selling it as game to the wealthy people in town.
The villagers kept talking about Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony for a long time.
"Why didn't the Secretary-General show up in the end? Isn't the bride the Secretary-General's daughter?"
"No, the Secretary-General is the bride's brother-in-law."
"Oh, just brother-in-law."
"But he is still supposed to show up and send his wishes even though he is just the bride's brother-in-law, isn't he?"
"Is it because he is an official in town, and he looks down upon villagers like us."
"But Lu Cheng Yu goes to school in town, he is a Tongsheng."
"Tongsheng is not a big deal, even Chen Jing is a Tongsheng. I heard most of their schoolmates now are Tongsheng."
"The Lus offered the bride a handsome betrothal present, I do wonder whether the bride has brought some decent dowry."
"Me, too. To think Grandma Lu and Tang agreed to spend such a large amount of money on the bride! But from the little bit I know, I don't think the bride has brought handsome dowry, her family didn't send many guests to escort her on her wedding day, remember? I don't think the bride's family are taking the Lus seriously."
"I agree."
… ….. ……………………………………………………………………………….
The villagers were right, the bride didn't bring much dowry as Tang and Grandma Lu had expected.
Tang didn't ask the bride Li Fang Yue directly, but Li Fang Yue was young after all, she had spilled the beans when Tang beat about the bush.
Tang had prepared 30 tales of cash and several gold hairpins for Li Fang Yue, this Li Fang Yue just brought 5 taels and some blankets as her dowry, 5 taels was totally unworthy of being mentioned compared to the betrothal present and the expenditure they had spent on the wedding ceremony.
Lu Song Shi's mother Lin Xiu'er was so discontented about the outcome. Grandma Lu had asked for money from her little family for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding, and she didn't even get to see the Secretary-General that Grandma Lu and Tang kept talking about.
The Lus had been having some simple diets since the wedding.
Li Fang Yue didn't like the homely fare she was having, so she kept complaining the food was not up to her maiden family's standard. Grandma Lu who already nursed a grievance against Li Fang Yue scolded her.
Li Fang Yue was not the one to be trifled with, she wept and wailed after she was scolded, she started packing and saying she was going back to her maiden family right away. The Lus were unhappy about her, but they didn't want to offend the Secretary-General, so they had to patch up the quarrel.
Tang complained to Lu Tong, "The more I think about it, the more I'm pissed off about your brother's wife."
Lu Tong ignored her mother and she thought, 'Stop complaining, this is what you signed up for!'
Li Fang Yue was indeed an average-looking girl, Lu Tong would feel sorry for herself for about to marry a widower.
'This Li Fang Yue is so ugly, but she has 30 tales as betrothal present! And look at me, I get this pretty face for nothing!'
Lu Tong was so worried about herself, she knew her family didn't have any extra money to prepare her dowry because they had spent every penny for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding. But she wished she could have some presentable dowry to show her future husband and mother-in-law that her family doted on her and they would protect her even though she was married off.
'My grandma and my mother kept talking about this Li Fang Yue in such an affectionate tone before she married into our family, but they started to detest her after finding out she only had 5 tales as dowry. I can't imagine what will become of me after I got married. This Li Fang Yue at least has a powerful brother-in-law that my family dare not bully on her too much, but what do I have, nothing!' Lu Tong distressed herself about her future marriage.
Lu Tong used to admire her brother Lu Cheng Yu, but not any more. Now she secretly blamed Lu Cheng Yu for spending the entire family's saving.
In Lin Xiu'er's room.
"That Li Fang Yue, who does she think she is! A lady? No, now she is a villager's wife!" said Lin Xiu'er indignantly to Lu An, "Lu Tong is lazy, too. But at least Lu Tong is willing to help out when I ask her to. But this Li Fang Yue, the new bride just keeps rattling on how her sister's husband and in-laws all cherish her and ask her not to lift a finger."
Lin Xiu'er stamped her feet in anger and she continued, "Her sister Li Hong married an official intown, but she married a villager! There's a difference!'
Lin Xiu'er couldn't help but recall the days when Lu Lin and his mother lived under the same roof with them, they would do everything for the entire family. And now Lin Xiu'er thought she now had replaced Lu Lin's dead mother's role, everyone was treating her like a slave.
Lu An tried to change the subject, "Lu Tong is getting married soon, otherwise we need to pay tax for her. It cannot delay any further."
Lin Xiu'er nodded, then she grabbed Lu An's arm and asked, "Is Li Fang Yue really a lady? I don't see that in her to be honest."
Lu An frowned and said, "I think so, yeah. Her sister is betrothed with Secretary-General, she must come from an official's family too."
"But how come her sister didn't show up at her wedding? You have no idea how many guests pestered me with questions like where the Secretary-General is, is the Secretary-General coming or not. I was so embarrassed."
Lu An shook his head resignedly, "Maybe they are just really busy."
"This is drawing water with a sieve, we spent so much money on the wedding ceremony to leave a good impression on the Secretary-General and his wife, but they didn't even show up in the end! All of our efforts were wasted!" Lin Xiu'er got furious as she was saying this.
"Do you remember Li Fang Yue's brother Li Hong? Li Hong kept referring us as 'you peasants', what a snob!"
Lu An shook his head, he pinned his hopes on future, he hoped the two families would get along as time went by.
No one in the family was happy about Li Fang Yue, including Lu Cheng Yu.
Lu Cheng Yu had always imagined he would marry a beautiful lady in an official's family after he became a Xiucai. Li Fang Yue was an average-looking girl, but that was okay by Lu Cheng Yu, he married Li Fang Yue purely because she was the Secretary-General sister-in-law. So he held a grudge that the Secretary-General didn't even show up on his wedding ceremony.
Lu Tong didn't like her new sister-in-law for a different reason or different reasons. She was jealous of Li Fang Yue for getting such a big amount of money as betrothal present, she also blamed Li Fang Yue for their family now couldn't prepare a handsome dowry for her.
Early-stage Preparations for the Business
Zhang Jin went back home only to see both of his parents looking sulky.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Zhang Jin's mother frowned and said, "I asked your father to ask the Lus to repay the 2 taels of silver, but your father turned me down."
Zhang Cheng scratched his head in embarrassment and explained, "The Lus have just held a grand wedding ceremony, they don't have a lot of cash in hand."
"They have invited so many guests, I'm sure they have received money as wedding gifts." Zhang Jin chimed in.
Zhang Cheng puffed on his pipe in silence on hearing his son.
Zhang Jin's mother snorted, "That Grandma Lu, I guarantee you she will play dumb and act like she doesn't owe us a penny."
Zhang Cheng cast a glimpse at his wife and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? The Lus have so many mus of farmland, no way will they deny that they owe us 2 taels of silver."
"Let's wait and see." Zhang Jin's mother said coldly, then he changed the subject, "Lu Cheng Yu's bride is not even as pretty as our village girls, I don't know why he married Li Fang Yue."
"The bride is the Secretary-General's sister-in-law, there's a difference." Replied Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Jin's mother rolled his eyes and snorted, "A big difference, she is lazy like the rest of the Lus. I can't wait to see how this turns out."
Zhang Cheng shot a waring look at his wife, "Watch it!"
Zhang Jin thought, 'Mother is right though. It used to be Lu Lin and his dead mother who did all the farm work and the house chores, now even Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu have to work because the youngsters at home are so lazy.'
The talk about Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony was soon replaced by Lu Tong's wedding ceremony.
Lu Tong's husband Li Ji dispensed with all unnecessary formalities because this was his second marriage and he didn't care about the ostentation any more. The Lus didn't prepare much dowry for Lu Tong on the excuse of short of money.
Some drama happened on Lu Tong's wedding night.
Li Ji's son cried and went to the bridal chamber to look for Li Ji, and there went Lu Tong's wedding night.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi went to town again to sell another batch of sweet potato wine.
Lu Lin heard some drunkard giving an impassioned speech in the restaurant when Manager Wang went to get him the money, Lu Lin stole a glance at the man, it was Li Fang Yue's elder brother Li Hong.
Li Hong and his friends were gesticulating wildly as they were talking.
Lu Lin had asked about Li Fang Yue from Manager Wang, therefore Manager Wang knew Lu Lin's cousin married Li Fang Yue.
Manager Wang smiled and said, "Li Hong has become a regular to my restaurant since Li Fang Yue got married."
Lu Lin's lips twitched, he had heard that Li Fang Yue had only brought 5 taels of silver as her dowry, now it looked like it was Li Hong who had got the majority of the betrothal present.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi took a seat and eavesdropped for a while.
It looked like Li Hong was the host, so the guests all fawned upon on him.
A guest had talked about Li Fang Yue's wedding, he spoke highly of Lu Cheng Yu for offering such a handsome amount of betrothal present.
Li Hong talked about Lu Cheng Yu with disdain, he said Lu Cheng Yu was just a villager, a peasant who couldn't change his fate even though he became a Xiucai one day, he was born of humble origins and that would never change.
Li Hong also said that they wouldn't betrothed with Lu Cheng Yu if not for the handsome amount of betrothal present.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi exchanged a look and they walked away.
"Lu Cheng Yu has seriously miscalculated on this! He loathed our village girls and he spent so much money on his wedding, but his in-laws look down upon on his like this. Can you imagine how the Secretary-General see Lu Cheng Yu and his family?" Lu Lin said to Chen Xiao Mi.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, he couldn't agree more.
Li Hong recently was having such a good time, he used to think his little sister Li Fang Yue would marry poor because she was ugly, he was so glad that Lu Cheng Yu sent them 30 taels of silver as betrothal present.
Li Hong's older sister Li Ru married the Secretary-General, but the Secretary-General didn't like Li Hong and his family that much. He would always pretend he wasn't home when Li Hong visited them. Li Ru didn't like it when Li Hong visited them, either. She always tried to keep a low-profile to hide the fact that she was just a concubine, but Li Hong always tried to draw more attention to Li Ru.
Li Hong grew up in town, but their family only had a small shop, they didn't lead a wealthy life at all. Therefore, Li Hong was always embarrassingly short of money, the 30 taels was like a timely rain for him to put on airs in front of his friends.
Li Hong wanted to take every tale in the beginning, but Li Hong's father insisted that they should at least prepare some dowry for Li Fang Yue.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi got 16 tales from Manager Wang, they went to the human trader's shop to buy some extra pairs of hands for their commercial house.
There were over a dozen of people waiting to be selected in the shop, among them were two seven-or-eight-year-old kids with sallow complexion, Lu Lin felt sorry for the kids but he didn't plan to buy the kids. He thought he already had Mai and Cai at home, he wasn't confident that he and Chen Xiao Mi could take care of four kids.
"Hey, morning, distinguished guests, what kind of help are you looking for?" the worker at the shop greeted Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi with a grin.
"We need a woman who can cook and do needle work", Chen Xiao Mi said, he figured Lu Lin wouldn't have time to cook once the shop was open, then he added, "we also need a man, a strong man who can do some heavy work."
The worker nodded as Chen Xiao Mi said that, he pointed at a family of three to Chen Xiao Mi. "They used to work in a big family, but somehow the man has offended the master in the family and the master has sold them to our shop."
Lu Lin walked closer to the man and woman, both their hands were covered with callus, Lu Lin nodded with satisfaction.
The worker had also introduced some pretty girls who used to be maids in big families to Lu Lin, those maids were expensive, 20 taels of silver each, but Lu Lin took a look at them and shook his head because he could tell those girls could not handle heavy work.
In that time and space, labor was awfully cheap, you could exchange a mu of farmland for a human being. Lu Lin got the man Wan Tie and woman Yun Niang for 10 taels of silver, their kid Wan Xiao Fan came with them for free.
Lu Lin took their indentures and asked them to stay in a bedroom in the residential area of the commercial shop. Then Chen Xiao Mi went back to Big Stone Village to pick up Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai.
Chen Xiao Cai gasped on seeing this huge property, "Big Brother, are we staying here?"
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yes, we are."
Chen Xiao Cai asked with confusion, "Whose property is this? It's huge!"
Chen Xiao Mi told Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai that he was house sitting for the owner, the Wans also worked for the house owner.
Chen Xiao Cai nodded, he had no idea how much money his brother and brother-in-law had, he just found that his brother working for a landlord made sense.
It never occurred to Chen Xiao Cai that his brother and brother-in-law could afford to buy a huge commercial shop in town.
Chen Xiao Cai tugged Chen Xiao Mi's sleeve the next second, "But Big Brother, how are we going to support ourselves?"
"Cai, don't worry, the owner pays me money for house sitting." Chen Xiao Mi lied to Chen Xiao Cai, that excuse was came up by Lu Lin.
Chen Xiao Cai was astonished, "Is there such landlord in town?"
Chen Xiao Cai didn't like those wealthy people, well, you couldn't blame him. Most rich people were heartless, they would exploit the tenant farmers who worked hard all year round. Most tenant farmers couldn't even put food on the table in the end.
Chen Xiao Cai found it beyond comprehension when he heard a landlord was hiring his brother to house sit for him and his brother would get paid for that!
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi counted their savings again, "Now we have 40 taels of silver."
Chen Xiao Mi scratched his head anxiously.
Lu Lin smiled, "We have spent a fair bit recently, but it's okay, 40 taels is a big amount. When we first got married, we had less than 10 taels and we were just fine. Everything is okay, we can always brew more wine."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and he cast a glimpse at Lu Lin, "You bought so much fabric in different colors and materials, are you going to make schoolbags?"
Lu Lin nodded, "Correct."
Lu Lin showed Chen Xiao Mi his sketch book, he had sketched several designs already.
Chen Xiao Mi had never seen a ball-point pen or a sketch book, he grabbed them and exclaimed in admiration.
Chen Xiao Mi was more amazed by Lu Lin's sketches, he now confident that Lu Lin's business would take off.
"Do people in your hometown use schoolbags like these?" Chen Xiao Mi asked.
Lu Lin nodded, "School bags are the cheapest ones on the market, some people would spend a ridiculous amount of money on a handbag, how do I put this, you could buy 10 pigs with that amount of money!"
Chen Xiao Mi was dumbfounded, "How come people in your hometown are so stupid! 10 pigs! For a handbag!"
"People have different interests, some people just love handbags and they see handbags as a symbol of status. And also, people who can afford a fancy handbag are not worried about food and alike. But I have watched news about some girls taking a loan for handbags. Anyways, let's not judge."
Chen Xiao Mi said with jealousy, "Do you think they can afford to eat meat every day?"
Lu Lin nodded, "I think they can afford to eat meat for every meal."
Meat wasn't expensive in modern society, it was the fresh food like vegetables and fruits that were expensive.
Chen Xiao Mi flipped through the sketch book and said with concern, "Lin, these bags don't look particularly hard to make, I'm worried people are going to copy us like the gloves."
Lu Lin nodded, "Some of them are hard to make, I've thought about it as well, I plan to divide the work, we can hire more workers, each of them is responsible for one link. Maybe it won't stop people from copying from us once and for all, but we can at least make it harder. We don't need to worry about those copycats as long as we can make our brand known."
Chen Xiao Mi found Lu Lin even more attractive when he talked about his business plans with those sparkling eyes.
Chen Xiao Mi handed the sketch book to Lu Lin and said, "Let's put this in a safe place."
Lu Lin nodded, he thought it was high time he should buy some writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones. He didn't want to raise any suspicion from people when he accidentally showed his ball-point pen.
Chen Xiao Mi couldn't imagine how the villagers were going to talk about him after they found out he bought a huge commercial property in town. They talked for days when he made some money from selling gloves.
"Designer" Schoolbags
Lu Lin asked Wan Tie's wife Yun Niang to look for embroiderers in town. Lu Lin offered them 25 cents per day, they hired over ten female embroiderers within one day. People wanted to work, but there weren't enough places hiring, so the hiring went smoothly.
There were more people asking whether they are still hiring the next day, Yun Niang told them they had hired enough workers at the moment, those people were left in disappointment.
Yun Niang was a great seamstress and embroiderer, she was in charge of the integrating all the parts of the bags together.
Lu Lin found Wan Tie rather sophisticated for a servant, Yun Niang was a beautiful woman, but unfortunately her face was disfigured by a long red scar. Their son Wan Xiao Fan was very emaciated and shy, Lu Lin noticed there were some empyrosis scars on Wan Xiao Fan's forearm, he had no idea how it happened.
Both Wan Tie and Yun Niang loved their son dearly, they were so gentle and patient when they talked to Wan Xiao Fan.
According to the worker in the human trader's shop, Wan Tie's parents were servants in a big family, so Wan Tie was born a servant. Yun Niang was the madam's maid, but she offended the madam, so the madam scarred her face to punish her and the madam married her to Wan Tie.
Maids were socially inferior, they would work for the madam since they were little girls and they would usually end up being sold to human traders when they got old.
A lot of maids dreamed of becoming the master or the young master's concubine, even though concubines still suffered severe social disadvantage.
On the plus side, both Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were nice to Wan Xiao Fan. Chen Xiao Mai didn't get to meet kids younger than him very often, so he was very excited about playing with Wan Xiao Fan.
But Wan Xiao Fan seemed to fear Chen Xiao Mai and Chen Xiao Cai, sometimes he would just freeze when Chen Xiao Mai chased after him and play with him.
Lu Lin found that a bit strange, kids of Wan Xiao Fan's age were supposed to be lively and active, but he guessed maybe Wan Xiao Fan was once hurt by his playmates, the empyrosis scars on his forearm were probably caused by his playmates.
Chen Xiao Mai had a warm heart, he would always share his snacks with Wan Xiao Fan, but Wan Xiao Fan dared not take anything from him, Chen Xiao Mai would just pout in sadness when Wan Xiao Fan ran away from him.
Yun Niang was in charge of the embroiderers that Lu Lin hired, luckily the embroiderers all worked very hard for fear of losing the job.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi lived in the east bedroom while Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai lived in the west bedroom, the main bedroom was vacant. Wan Tie and Yun Niang took one of the servants' room.
"Tie, don't you find our masters a bit strange, why don't they take the main bedroom?" Yun Niang asked Wan Tie.
Wan Tie sighed, "Let's not talk about the masters behind their backs."
Wan Tie's parents were servants, he was born a servant, so he learned to observe people's speech and behavior since he was a little boy, and that had paid off. He became the butler in that family, all the masters and madams trusted him.
Yun Niang was the madam's maid, Wan Tie had a crush on Yun Niang since he first met her, but the master hankered after Yun Niang's beauty, the madam scarred Yun Niang's face out of jealousy. The master lost interest in Yun Niang since she was disfigured, the madam made use of the opportunity and married Yun Niang to Wan Tie.