Wan Tie cherished Yun Niang all the same after her face was disfigured, they had a beautiful family not long after they got married, Wan Xiao Fan was a cute boy. But good times didn't last long, the madam's son fell into disfavor after the master's concubine gave birth to a son.
The madam's son was incited by some servants who had ulterior motives, he started to find fault with Wan Xiao Fan. He asked Wan Xiao Fan to serve him in his study, but he abused Wan Xiao Fan at his own will, poor Wan Xiao Fan was nearly beaten to death.
In that time and space, even the government wouldn't intervene in servants who had signed indentures.
Wan Tie couldn't just sit back and watch his son suffering like this, he contradicted the young master once and the madam decided to sell them to the human trader in a rage.
Yun Niang was glad that both Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were so nice to her son, her son had become a bit special since he was abused by the young master, she had always felt sorry for her son. She always guessed she was part of the reason why her son was abused by the young master.
Yun Niang was the madam's maid, and she always caught the master staring at her since she married into his family with the madam. The madam had disfigured her face out of jealousy, the master had lost interest in her since that. But the master started to taking concubines, the madam always vented her anger on Yun Niang.
Things started to worsen since the master married Concubine Lin, Concubine Lin was great at creating conflicts between the master and the madam. She asked the servants and the maids to rake up the old matters like the madam disfiguring Yun Niang's face out of jealousy. The madam abused Yun Niang even more, she found an excuse and sell them to a human trader.
They had endured countless hardships after they were sold to the human trader, the human trader would give the three of them a bun for a whole day's ration.
Wan Tie squinted his eyes and said, "Master Lu is such a genius, those schoolbags are amazing!"
Yun Niang was the one who put different parts together, Wan Tie had seen the finished products as well. Wan Tie used to be a butler in a big family, he always thought he had seen a lot of novelties, but never had he seen anything like the schoolbags.
Yun Niang nodded, "I think the schoolbags will be popular among the students."
Yun Niang had put together several schoolbags of different styles, Lu Lin brought some to the shop and started to sell. It didn't start off great, people had no idea what those bags were for and they showed zero interest in them. Lu Lin sent two to Councilor Yang's kids.
Councilor Yang was one of the wealthiest people in town, the stuff he and his family members used were likely to become a trend.
Councilor Yang's kids carried the schoolbags to school this day, and soon they had attracted their classmates' attention."
"Yang Teng, Yang Miao, your bags are so pretty! I haven't seen a bag like this before."
Yang Teng and Yang Miao enjoyed all the attention, soon they became a little bit light-headed.
"This is called schoolbag, see, it has many sections within, you can put books and stationery in different sections, and look over here, you can tie a knot here to keep all your stuff in place. How convenient is that!" Yang Teng demonstrated his schoolbag to his classmates, he had fondled his schoolbag for a long time when he was home and now he was more than happy to show off in front of his classmates.
"What's more, check out the straps, you can carry it on your back just like this." Yang Miao chimed in.
The kids were all amazed by the schoolbag. Yang Teng then showed off the wooden pendant hanging on the straps.
The kids asked Yang Teng and Yang Miao where they could get a schoolbag like this.
"Sino Commercial Shop just around the corner!"
The kids asked their parents to buy schoolbag for them first thing they left school that day.
Schoolbags had soon swept the entire school thanks to Yang Teng and Yang Miao.
Nearly half of the kids in school bought schoolbags within a few days. Kids who still didn't have schoolbags would feel so dwarfed when they walked past kids who walked with a strut, showing off their new schoolbags.
And a few more days later, nearly every kid went to school with a schoolbag bought from Sino Commercial House.
The price of schoolbags ranged from 100 cents to 1 tael according to design and fabric.
Lu Lin had also hired a carpenter to carve wooden pendants as ornaments on the schoolbags. Lu Lin was once again amazed by the craftsmanship of that time and space, all the pendants were so exquisite, even an adult like him was fond of the pendants, let alone kids.
The schoolbag had become a hit, a trademark of the Sino Commercial House.
Lu Lin found out that Wan Tie was literate, he was by no means a scholar, but he was about to read and write, he knew some basic math as well. Therefore, Lu Lin hired Wan Tie as the manager of the shop.
There were several kids from Big Stone Village went to the school near Lu Lin's shop, Lu Lin didn't want to be seen in the shop, plus Wan Tie had the experience of being a butler, so he asked Wan Tie to take over all the administration work, Wan Tie didn't let him down, he had been doing an excellent job.
Lu Cheng Yu had noticed a lot of his classmates had bought schoolbags, he didn't want to be looked down upon, so he decided to ask for money from Grandma Lu and get one as well.
The Lus were strapped for cash due to Lu Cheng Yu's grand wedding ceremony, but Grandma Lu didn't have the heart to say no to her favorite grandson, so Lu Cheng Yu ended up getting 300 cents from his grandma.
Lu Cheng Yu didn't pass the exam to become a Xiucai, he was depressed so he had asked for a few days leave from school on the excuse of his wedding.
But soon he was fed up with the drama at home. Li Fang Yue didn't get along with neither Grandma Lu nor Tang, and she would complain tearfully to Lu Cheng Yu that she was mistreated.
Lu Cheng Yu didn't have the patience to comfort this average-looking wife, but he had to do it for the sake of Li Fang Yue's brother-in-law. In the end, he decided to go back to school early to stay away from the drama.
Lu Cheng Yu learned from his classmates that the best schoolbag was as expensive as 1 tael, he stroked the 300 cents that Grandma Lu just gave him and was at a loss what he should do.
He decided to go to the Sino Commercial House with his classmates to have a look first anyways. What came to Lu Cheng Yu's sight as soon as he entered the shop was a rack full of schoolbags with different price tags hanging under them.
Lu Cheng Yu exclaimed in the heart that a schoolbag made of a few pieces of fabric could be this expensive, but he bought one he could afford in the end.
"I've never heard of this Sino Commercial House before, when was it open?" Lu Cheng Yu asked one of his classmates.
"I don't know about the details either, the ex-owner moved to a different province so he sold this property."
"Yeah, the ex-owner's first son has passed the highest imperial examination and is appointed as governor in some other province, their entire family moved together with the son, that is why the ex-owner has sold such a great property. This shop and the residential area in the back." Chimed in the other classmate.
"It must be very expensive." Lu Cheng Yu murmured.
"You are not wrong, I heard the new owner bought it for 250 taels of silver!"
"Do you know anything about the new owner?"
"No, the new owner keeps a low profile."
Lu Cheng Yu raised his head and looked at the shop sign with jealous, he found it unfair that he struggled to buy a schoolbag yet the owner could afford to spend 250 tales on a property.
Little did Lu Cheng Yu expect this new owner was Lu Lin, his cousin whom he had despised since they were young.
Business is Booming
Wan Tie and Yun Niang were both thrilled that the schoolbag business was taking off, servants like them who had signed indentures with the masters relied heavily on the masters' livelihood.
Wan Tie knew neither Lu Lin nor Chen Xiao Mi would abuse them, but he used to worry what if they masters' business fail and they couldn't afford to pay their wages. But now he let out a sigh, he was confident in the prospect of the commercial house.
Wan Tie didn't want much in life, he just hoped his son could grow healthily and happily.
Lu Lin came back home this day only to find Chen Xiao Mi studying the sketch book attentively, Lu Lin told Chen Xiao Mi the day before about zipper and how zipper could make a schoolbag more functional and presentable. It turned out Chen Xiao Mi was studying the sketches and trying to come up with a substitute for zipper.
"The schoolbag business has become a hit!" Chen Xiao Mi grinned.
Lu Lin started to sell schoolbags after he built up a good stock, but now the products were about to well out. The product was so popular that not only kids in this town were buying but kids from neighboring towns were also buying.
Lu Lin nodded, "That's a good thing."
Lu Lin taught Chen Xiao Mi multiplication table days ago, Chen Xiao Mi was a quick learner, Lu Lin had also taught Chen Xiao Mi addition and subtraction, now Chen Xiao Mi had mastered them through account checking at night.
Wan Tie was the manager of the commercial shop, but Chen Xiao Mi would check the account every night, the reasons were twofold, firstly they could have a more direct understanding about the profits and secondly it was good math practice for Chen Xiao Mi.
Chen Xiao Mi ticked off the beads on his abacus and said, "We have sold 210 schoolbags in total, minus the expenditure such as the wages for our workers and maintenance, our net income is 40 taels!"
Chen Xiao Mi let out a sigh of relief that they finally started to have a favorable balance, he was so anxious during the past few days that they had spent money like water. And now they finally started to make a profit, that was great news, it had soothed Chen Xiao Mi's nerves a great deal.
"But we need to have a sense of danger and crisis, the schoolbag business is a hit now, but I think it will go downhill soon." Chen Xiao Mi expressed his concern.
Lu Lin nodded, "I agree."
There were only a limited number of school kids in town, their business would take a bad turn after every school kid bought a bag from them. Lu Lin could feel they had less customers recently.
"I still have confidence in the business if we can launch new products." Replied Lu Lin.
Chen Xiao Mi doodled on the paper and said, "Maybe we can design bags for those rich ladies in town."
Lu Lin nodded, "That's definitely a good idea! There are so many rich ladies in town who do nothing but playing mahjong and going to the theater all day."
"Yeah, but that cannot be rushed, let's give it a bit more time till we gain a firm foothold."
The two looked into each other's eyes and smiled.
Lu Lin decided to take Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai to make a trip to Big Stone Village soon, the vegetables in their veggie patch must be ripe now, Lu Lin wanted to harvest them, Lu Lin was still very frugal even though they were leading a wealthy life.
Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai missed their little friends in the village as well, they didn't say anything to Lu Lin, but Lu Lin cold tell.
Lu Lin took Wan Xiao Fan back to the village together with Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai, he only knew the Wans for a short period of time, he was worried what if the Wans escaped while he and Chen Xiao Mi were away, so he invited Wan Xiao Fan to go back to the Big Stone Village with them. Wan Tie and Yun Niang knew Lu Lin's real intention and they allowed Wan Xiao Fan to go with them with alacrity.
Chen Xiao Mi's house was a bit remote in the village, not a lot of villagers were even aware that they were away.
"Lin Gege! You are back!" Shen Chi was thrilled to see Lu Lin, Chen Xiao Mi and his friends Chen Xiao Mai Chen Xiao Cai.
Shen Chi missed his two little friends.
"I keep your chooks and geese in my yard, would you like me to return them now?" Shen Chi blinked.
Lu Lin felt so sorry that he asked Shen Chi and Granny Shen to look after the chooks, geese and the mule for 20 days or so. Lu Lin had stored some stuff in the shop before they moved, but he couldn't keep the animals in the shop. He lent the mule to Granny Shen to do some farm work for her, so he knocked on Granny Shen's door and asked her to take care of the chooks and geese while they were in town. He had left some food at Granny Shen's for the animals.
He didn't expect they would be away for 20 days, the food he left for the animals was definitely not enough for 20 days, Lu Lin felt so sorry.
Lu Lin went to Granny Shen's together with Shen Chi, the chooks and geese were all very chubby and healthy-looking, it was obvious that Granny Shen and Shen Chi had taken good care of them.
Lu Lin gave Granny Shen a chook and a goose as a thank you gift, he planned to move the rest to their new property in town.
The kids hugged each other, they missed each other a lot. Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai told Shen Chi the funny stories happened to them in town while Shen Chi updated them with the anecdote in the village. Shen Chi had specifically mentioned the sharp contrast between Lu Cheng Yu and Lu Tong's wedding ceremony.
"Big Brother, Shen Chi told me Li Fang Yue and Lu Cheng Yu had a big fight over her brother Li Hong the other day."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, he wasn't surprised to hear that.
He and Lu Lin had overheard Li Hong belittling Chen Xiao Mi last time when they sent wine to Manager Wang. That Li Hong put on airs in the restaurant and looked down upon Lu Cheng Yu, but the irony was he was spending Lux Cheng Yu's money when he belittled Lu Cheng Yu. Chen Xiao Mi thought chances were Li Hong's remarks had reached Lu Cheng Yu's ears.
The matchmaker assured Tang that Li Fang Yue was born in a rich family and she would bring a presentable set of dowry, no way would the bride and her family take advantage of them, that was why Tang allowed Lu Cheng Yu to send so much money to her as betrothal present.
However, Li Fang Yue only came to the family with 5 tales of silver in total. Tang was furious, she felt like she had played into the matchmaker and the bride's hands, she started to see the bride as an eyesore and she always found fault with the bride.
Tang would have had made a scene if Li Fang Yue were a normal village girl, she only dared make oblique accusations for fear of the Secretary-General.
Lu Cheng Yu was as disappointed as her mother, if not more. Lu Cheng Yu was devastated that he failed to pass the imperial examination, he racked his brains in scheming to marry a lady from an official's family thus to take a short cut in passing the exams. Little did he expect that the official in his bride's family didn't even bother to attend their wedding.
The more Lu Cheng Yu looked at Li Fang Yue, the more he found her offending to the eye. Lu Cheng Yu was a good-looking boy, but Li Fang Yue's appearance was by no means attractive. Lu Cheng Yu was seized with remorse, but he dared not say anything for it was him who was eager to marry Li Fang Yue in the first place.
Tang had been ordering Li Fang Yue around for house chores, Li Fang Yue swallowed the unfairness in meek submission at first, but soon she decided she had had enough, she would disobey Tang and scream that she was going back to her maiden family and tell her brother-in-law all about it.
Tang would restrain herself whenever she heard 'my brother-in-law', no one in the family was happy.
What Li Hong said in the restaurant had provoked an outburst of anger from Tang, she was furious that Li Hong referred them as 'pathetic peasants', she was furious that the money they gave Li Fang Yue as betrothal present was now in Li Hong's hands! Li Hong and his evil associates were spending their money indulging in debauchery.
Tang was always anxious to outdo others, she was so indignant to find out her in-laws looked down upon her and her family like that.
Lu Lin gloated over what happened to Tang.
Lu Lin invited Granny Shen to work for him in town, he appointed Granny Shen to become a chief stewardess.
Granny Shen was so flattered that Lu Lin gave her a job offer, she always thought no one would hire an old woman like her, but now not only did Lu Lin want to hire her but he wanted to hire her to manage other workers.
Yun Niang was in charge of the seamstresses and the embroiderers, she was swamped with work all the time.
Lu Lin wanted to find a woman to cook for them, he didn't mind going to the kitchen and cooking, but people always condemned men for cooking.
Yun Niang was a good cook, but she was too busy handling the schoolbag making to cook. Lu Lin would take over and cook for everybody when Yun Niang was occupied.
Wan Tie would look so bewildered whenever he saw Lu Lin cooking.
Lu Lin knew he should establish his authority in front of the servants even though he didn't mind cooking, but he didn't trust just anyone to work for him, and he just didn't want to hire so many people.
Lu Lin pondered the question and decided to hire Granny Shen. Granny Shen could use some extra money to support Shen Chi, plus Lu Lin had confidence in Granny Shen's needlework and work ethics.
Granny Shen told Shen Chi the great news, they packed their stuff and went to town with Lu Lin. Yun Niang welcomed Granny Shen sincerely, she was glad that Granny Shen was here to share her workload. Yun Niang wanted the best for Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi wholeheartedly, because the young couple were the best masters she had ever had, also because she and her family relied on the young couple.
There were 3 bedrooms for servants on Lu Lin's property, the Wans took one, Granny Shen and Shen Chi took one, while the other workers all lived nearby and they chose to go home at night.
Shen Chi was a Bio, all the Bios in the time and space were supposed to learn some needlework like girls. Granny Shen wanted to teach Shen Chi some needlework skills in Lu Lin's shop.
Granny Shen was curious about the making of the schoolbags, but she didn't pester Yun Niang with questions, she just did what she was told by Yun Niang, and her needlework outshined others.
Lu Lin used to worry about the market of his schoolbags, but his worry soon turned out to be unnecessary. Some wealthy businessmen in neighboring town would bulk buy from Lu Lin and sell them in their towns. Lu Lin had to hire more people to deliver the order.
Lu Lin recently launched a bag made with linen, this bag featured functionality rather than aesthetics.
It was priced at 80 cents each, more affordable than the schoolbags. The target audience was the public including the farmer and the peddlers who needed to carry a lot of stuff.
The profit margin wasn't great, but it sold well. Chen Xiao Mi was in a great mood recently, their business was booming and he had mastered the multiplication table Lu Lin had taught him.
Handbags
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, Lu Cheng Yu and Li Fang Yue had been married for almost a month. This month, the Lu family had some general turmoil.
Lin Xiu'er glanced at Tang and asked, "Is the bride supposed to return her maiden family by tradition tomorrow?"
Tang nodded. "You are right." Although Tang was not very satisfied with Li Fang Yue, she still valued her trip back to her maiden family.
Lin Xiu'er asked curiously, "Will Secretary-General show up when shereturn to the Li family?"
Tang gritted her teeth and said, "I think so."
Tang was very dissatisfied with Li Fang Yue, but when she thought about how Li Fang Yue was going to meet Secretary-General when she went back to her maiden family this time, she prepared a generous return gift despite herself.
"You've prepared so much meat for her!" Lin Xiu'er fumed.
The family had suffered a lot for Lu Cheng Yu's marriage. They hadn't had any meat or fish or days, Lin Xiu'er had been sulking so much due to that. Grandma Lu became more and more stingy, she would even keep all the eggs to exchange money. Lin Xiu'er was so annoyed when she saw Tang had prepare so much stuff for Li Fang Yue.
Lin Xiu'er thought to herself, "Old Madam is too biased. Recently, the family had been so calculating on the spending, but now she allows you to prepare so much stuff for Lu Cheng Yu's bride."
"It's for the Secretary-General's sake. " Tang explained.
Lin Xiu'er said unhappily, "Isn't it possible that he won't show up? Just like when we expected him on the wedding ceremony!"
When Tang heard Lin Xiu'er's words, her face darkened. Tang lost face when the Secretary-General didn't attend the wedding banquet, she always hang her head in shame in front of Lin Xiu'er. Tang thought that the Secretary-General didn't come because he didn't want to come to the village. "This time is different, the bride is going to town."
Lin Xiu'er pouted and said, "What's wrong with Lu Tong's husband then? How come he hasn't accompanied her to visit us yet?!"
Tang sighed and shook her head.
Lu Cheng Yu rented an ox cart and took Li Fang Yue to the town.
After Li Fang Yue married Lu Cheng Yu, she realized that her mother-in-law was too fierce. Grandma Lu was domineering, she just found her life was not as comfortable as she imagined.
Because the dowry wasn't rich enough, Li Fang Yue felt a little guilty, so sometimes, she knew could only endure the unfairness.
Thinking about how her elder sister lived an opulent life, a life full of fragrant food and exquisite outfits, being surrounded by servant girls, but she married into the countryside. Li Fang Yue often sighed, how she wished she didn't have to live on a budget, she wished she were as lucky as her elder sister in the next life.
……
After Lu Lin's family moved to the town, they paid less attention to the village affairs, and the Lu family's dispute didn't affect them.
Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai gradually adapted to life in the town.
Lu Lin walked into the house and saw Chen Xiao Cai, Xiao Maiand Shen Chi making ornamental knots. It was mainly Shen Chi who was making it, Xiao Cai offering a hand while Xiao Mai observing and interrupting them.
Lu Lin recalled when he was in elementary school, making ornamental knots was popular among the girls and many girls would secretly make them during classes.
Many girls would put crystal beads on the knots. The price of crystal beads in this time and space was simply too expensive. Lu Lin had ordered quite a few wooden pendants and some wooden beads from the carpenter in town.
Shen Chi was not interested in sewing clothes, and he was quite interested in making these fancy knots. He even developed many new styles, what a creative and artistic kid!
Lu Lin was very supportive of Shen Chi's hobbies. He gave some colorful knitting wool to Shen Chi, and he put the knots made by Shen Chi in the shop for sale.
A fancy and exquisite knot could sell for three or four cents. The profit was small, but it had quick returns.
Every time they sold a knot, Lu Lin would give Shen Chi a cent as his cut. Granny Shen felt very sorry, but Granny Shen accepted it in the end due to Lu Lin's insistence.
Granny Shen was happy that her grandson turned out to be so artistic and creative, he could even make money.
Since Shen Chi made money, he was more interested in making knots.
……
One of the seamstresses Su He worked for Lu Lin grabbed some needles and some fabric before she returned home this day.
Su He's home was relatively close to the town. She could reach home in less than half an hour, so Su He often went to the town to find work.
"Mom, did you buy a bun for me?"
Su He poked her son's nose and said in a doting way, "Yes, you little piglet."
He Li saw the things in Su He's hand and scratched his head. "He, where did you get so much cloth?"
"I brought these from work. The steward's Yun Niang said that we can take the things back home and she would calculate our wage by the piece. This way, we don't have to waste time walking back and forth every day. However, I haven't taken my wage for the past few days, I gave it to Yun Niang as a deposit."
There were quite a few female workers who took work back home. Even though their families were close to the town, it was difficult to walk to the shop on a a stormy or a rainy day.
He Li was originally a laborer hired by the year in town, and he was paid 30 cents in a day. He Li was replaced by someone else this year, and his family suffered to make ends meet.
Su He has always made embroidery products and sold them in town to support the household. However, embroidery products were not easy to sell recently.
Some time ago, Lu Lin asked Yun Niang to recruit embroidery ladies and seamstresses. Su He joined them, she believed that it was a good opportunity. She was glad she could make 25 cents per day.
She had worked harder these past few days, she hoped she could make more money by the piece.
"The thing you are making now are called schoolbags, right? The finished products are sold in Sino Commercial House. It is expensive, but there are still many people who buy it!" He Li said.
Su He nodded and said, "Correct, it's so popular among the rich people! I heard that there were also many people in the neighboring town who came to buy them".
"That bag is very useful, but it is too expensive, I don't know how the shop owner comes up with this idea," He Li scratched his head.
Su He thought to herself: There are many procedures for a bag like this. Sometimes, a fancy bag is made with several different color patches, and none of the patches is not easy to make. The shop owner should have spent quite a bit of money on dyeing the fabric alone, but none of this concerns me. I just want to work hard and support my little family.
……
In the backyard of the Sino Commercial Shop.
Wan Xiao Fan walked into the room and said respectfully, "Lin Gege, Young Master Yang is here."
Lu Lin nodded, "Invite him in, Xiao Fan."
When Wan Xiao Fan first moved in with them, he was a little shy and overcautious. He had improved a lot during this period of time. He now dared to play with Xiao Mai.
"Young Master Yang!" Lu Lin was glad to hear Yang Heng Zhi was here.
Lu Lin went to the living room and welcomed Yang Heng Zhi.
Yang Heng Zhi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Brother Lu's business is thriving! "
Lu Lin told others that both commercial house and residential areas were rented, and he just helping others manage it. However, Yang Heng Zhi and the exl owner of commercial house were old friends and he knew the truth.
Lu Lin smiled shyly and said, "It's just a small business. It's enough to make a living." He had already made quite a lot of money, but to these rich people, it was only a hair off a bull's back. The Yang family had a lot of shops and hundreds of acres of farmland. Many of the villagers were tenant farmers of the Yang family.
"Don't be so modest, your bag has become a hit recently! There are few students in the school who have bought the bags in your shop. We heard that your shop is planning to launch some new product called handbag recently, is that right?" Yang Heng Zhi asked.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "This is the plan. Young Master Yang, you are so well-informed."
Lu Lin took two handbags from the closet and showed them to Yang Heng Zhi. The handbags' target audience was the rich ladies in town, so they were very exquisitely made. Each handbag had different embroidery patterns.
Yang Heng Zhi smiled and said, "So beautiful. Can you sell the two bags to me?"
Lu Lin smiled awkwardly and said, "These are sample products, they are not for sale. However, you've already said you liked them, Young Master Yang, no way will I say no to you."
Yang Heng Zhi smiled and said, "Brother Lu is such a straightforward person!"
Yang Heng Zhi was also quite curious about Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi. Yang Heng Zhi and Chen Xiao Mi were old acquaintances. Not long ago, Chen Xiao Mi was very poor, but now they had bought a house and a store.
……
When Chen Xiao Mi came back from outside, he heard that Yang Heng Zhi had been there.
"Why is Young Master Yang here?!"
"He somehow has heard the news of our handbags, so he came to ask." The poor people of this time and space were very poor, but the rich were at the opposite extreme. Many of the rich people in town didn't have much to do except hunting for novelty.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "The news were probably leaked by those embroiderers."
"I agree," Lu Lin separated the embroiderers, he let each of them be responsible for different parts. But people in that time and space were actually very smart. Looking at the items sold in the store and the stuff they were making, they could guess what Lu Lin was about to launch.
Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, "I didn't expect the schoolbags could be so easy to sell."
There were a few days when the bag didn't sell well. Chen Xiao Mi was worried that maybe they had made too much, but two days ago, a rich merchant from another town came over and bought dozens of bags, and just like that the bags were sold out.
Lu Lin nodded. "There are still many rich people."
Although Lu Lin came from modern times, he was just an average Joe in his previous life. He was still a little surprised when he saw how the rich people shopping in ancient times.
Chen Xiao Mi calculated the recent accounts and he felt glad.
The business of selling wine was always done in a sneaky way, which always made Chen Xiao Mi feel insecure. Even the Sweet Potato Wine, they had to use convenience store to ensure that sweet potatoes wouldn't go bad. However, the bag business was different. As long as they had customers, this business could bring them wealth continuously.
"Two days ago, I saw Lu Cheng Yu in our shop. He was here with his classmates, and he bought a bag. I'm pretty sure he didn't see me," Chen Xiao Mi said.
Lu Lin was a little surprised, "Has he already gone back to school, I thought he asked for days of leave for his wedding!"
Their shop was popular among the students, Lu Lin wasn't surprised that Lu Cheng Yu came to their shop, he was surprised that Lu Cheng Yu came back to school so early.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "It looks like it."
"This guy just got married though!" However, the rumor seemed to be true, Lu Cheng Yu's bride didn't seem to have any charm, Lu Cheng Yu didn't want to spend more time with her!
Chen Xiao Mi pouted, "Maybe he just doesn't want to stay in the village."
Lu Lin thought about it and said, "That also makes sense!" The Lu family now relied on Lu Cheng Yu's father and Lu An for farm work, but Lu An had a job in town. Even though Lu Cheng Yu was a Tongsheng, the Lus would ask him to do farm work when there was no one was available.
Lu Tong's Visit
Granny Shen worked in the town. Chen Xiao Mi would bring Shen Chi and Chen Xiao Cai when he went back to the village.
Green vegetables and radish were quite pricy in town. In the spirit of frugality, Chen Xiao Mi would go to the village from time to time to harvest the veggies.
When Chen Xiao Mi came home this time, Lu Tong happened to visit the Lus for the first time after she got married.
In this time and space, the brides and the grooms would visit the brides' family after they got married for a month. The more things the groom bought for his in-laws, the more it showed the bride was living well with her new family, and her parents could rest assured.
Lu Lin was married into Chen Xiao Mi's family, he was supposed to go back to the Lus to visit them. However, Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi didn't go back because they couldn't be bothered.
When Lu Lin married Chen Xiao Mi, he was sick and no one accused him of not paying a visit to his parents' family. However, some people started to blame Lu Lin for not going back to his family after he got married, they even called him ungrateful. However, neither Lu Lin nor Chen Xiao Mi took it to heart.
Lu Lin was sure they would still be ridicule even if they visited the Lus with a bunch of nice stuff. Neither of them was bothered by things like reputation, so naturally they didn't do that thankless task.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi moved to town. Actually, Chen Xiao Mi's First Uncle Chen Shou Xin had secretly come to their house already. However, it was basically an empty house at this point. Chen Shou Xin made a fruitless trip, he left the house without gaining anything.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi lived in a relatively remote place in the village. No one noticed it at first, but some people had discovered it after some time.
Lu Lin just told people that he and Chen Xiao Mi found a job in town and temporarily they would stay in town.
Lu Lin's words instantly provoked an uproar in the village. People were so jealous. A stable job in town was equivalent to a a royal job. Lu An worked in town, people always talked about him and his job in an admiring tone. Now that Lu Lin also was lucky enough to work in town, the villagers all said a good fortune had befallen him and Chen Xiao Mi.
"Gege," Chen Xiao Cai walked to Chen Xiao Mi and whispered, " Lu Tong came back alone."
Chen Xiao Mi couldn't help but widen his eyes. He and Lu Lin's reputation was too bad, so they couldn't be bothered to try to follow those traditions, but Lu Tong had always been very sensitive about her reputation! On such an important day, Lu Tong came back alone, Chen Xiao Mi dreaded to think how the long-tongued women in the village would mock her.
However, Lu Tong's husband actually let her come back alone on such an important day. It seemed that the new husband didn't care about Lu Tong that much.
Lu Lin thought of Lu Tong's disgusted expression after the host Lu Lin committed suicide. He felt that Lu Tong deserved it.
……
In Lu family.
Tang looked at her daughter and couldn't help but feel flustered.
Tang only felt that things had been bad recently. Her eldest son's wife was not as great as she expected. The Secretary-General didn't take them seriously at all, neither did her son-in-law's family. She was married for a month and now she came back home to visit them alone.
In contrast, everyone thought that Lu Lin would suffer after he married Chen Xiao Mi, but they were doing so great.
Although most people in the village were still criticizing Chen Xiao Mi, there were still many people who thought that Chen Xiao Mi was capable and visionary. 'Reputation is something floats in the air, but silver is real.'
"Where's your husband?" Tang asked.
Lu Tong said sullenly, "The kid at home is sick. My husband went to ask a doctor to treat him."
Tang pulled a long face and said, "That damn boy, why isn't he sick early or late? He's sick at this time. Is he faking it on purpose?"
Lu Tong pouted and said, "Who knows!"
Lu Tong had a bad time since she married into her husband's house. Li Ji treated her well, but her mother-in-law always picked faults with her in various ways.
After Lu Tong got married, her mother-in-law would order her to cook, wash the clothes, and she even asked her to sew piles of clothes.
Lu Tong felt that the Li family was looking for a maid instead of a daughter-in-law!
When Lu Tong was in the Lu family, she had always dreamed of becoming a lady of a rich family. She was afraid that her hands would become rough and she would not get involved in cooking and washing. Tang also felt that her daughter had a pretty face, and it was obvious that she was going to become an official wife's life. Tang would just spoil Lu Tong and ordered Lu Lin and his mother to do the house chores and farm work.
Lu Tong's mother-in-law ordered her to cook all the time. But she wasn't good at it, the food always turned out either burned or uncooked. Her mother-in-law was very dissatisfied with Lu Tong and always scolded Lu Tong for being a slacker.
Li Ji's son was hostile towards Lu Tong, he was worried that Lu Tong might steal his father away from him, so he treated Lu Tong as an enemy.
Lu Tong wasn't a patient or mellow person. She saw the child treat him as an enemy and she just ignored the child.
Tang looked at her daughter and felt depressed. Her daughter-in-law disrespected her. And now her son-in-law didn't even accompany her daughter on the first trip back home, and her daughter just showed up empty-handed. Tang felt like this was the most humiliating day in her life.
Tang looked at Lu Tong with resentment and said, "Why didn't you bring anything, not even one gift today?"
Lu Tong noticed her mother's disdain for her and her heart sank.
Lu Tong recalled how Grandma Lu waited by the door when she entered the gate. Lu Tong was touched that her grandmother missed her so much that she had been waiting for her since morning. However, when Grandma Lu saw that she came alone with nothing in hand, Grandma Lu just scolded her and walked away.
"My mother-in-law didn't prepare anything."
Tang's face darkened, "Your mother-in-law is bullying you."
"Where's my sister-in-law?" Lu Tong asked.
Tang said sullenly, "She went back to her parents' house."
The last time Li Fang Yue and Lu Cheng Yu visited Li Fang Yue's parents, they still didn't see Secretary-General. Lu Cheng Yu and Li Hong argued. When the couple came back, Tang heard that her son still hadn't met Secretary-General, she was greatly disappointed.
Grandma Lu was getting more and more dissatisfied with Li Fang Yue recently as well. She felt that Li Fang Yue didn't deserve her grandson Lu Cheng Yu at all. Every now and then, she would scold Li Fang Yue. Grandma Lu went further and further because she felt that Secretary-General didn't care much about this sister-in-law, he and didn't show up on the wedding or in the returning banquet. Grandma Lu thought probably she didn't need to hold anything back when she scolded Li Fang Yue.
Li Fang Yue couldn't take it one day, she went back to her parents' house in anger.
Tang was faintly worried that they tried to be clever with this marriage only to end up with making a blunder.
"Your brother went to apologize to her. After all, she's married, people will talk if she stays at her parents' house." Tang said worriedly.
Lu Tong smiled sarcastically, "Mom! If Sister-in-law wants to go back, then let her go back. It's no big deal, you're deceived this time!"
Tang glanced at Lu Tong and asked, "What do you mean?"
Lu Tong smiled and said, "I only found out this by chance. Li Ru is not the wife of Secretary-General, she is nothing but a concubine."
Tang exploded and said angrily, "Tong, you can't talk nonsense like this!"
The status of wife and concubine was very different. The children of the concubine did not have the right to inherit anything, and people just looked down on them.
"Mom, am I such someone who talks nonsense? I found out this by chance, but it shouldn't be wrong. You just think about it. Li Fang Yue is not young. If her conditions are so good, why does she wait until now? The people in town know about it, that is, we are tricked by the matchmakers, we are not as well-informed as the people in town," Lu Tong sighed, she actually gloated in her heart.
Lu Tong was actually very angry with her parents. She had a bad life in the Li family and that had a lot to do with her dowry. The Li family had given her twenty taels of silver as betrothal present, and she didn't get anything from her family when she got married. Lu Tong felt that she was sold by her family.
Lu Tong hated her big brother and sister-in-law because of this. When she found out that Li Fang Yue's sister, Li Ru, was just a concubine, she suddenly felt a pleasure rising in her heart.
Tang was so angry that her face turned livid. She always thought it was strange that why the Secretary-General didn't come to the wedding ceremony. If Li Ru was Secretary-General's concubine, everything made sense now.
The position of the concubine was low, so the Secretary-General naturally didn't have to worry about a concubine's sister's wedding.
Tang gritted her teeth, she was so mad that she was about to vomit blood, but she had to help cover up for the family's reputation, "Don't tell anyone about this."
There were quite a lot of rumors about their family in the village already. If people knew that the 'lady from an official's family' that they had spent a lot of effort marrying was just the sister of a lowly concubine, their family would definitely be laughed to death.
Lu Tong nodded and said, "I know, but Mother, you have to be careful too. Li Fang Yue thinks too highly of herself. Mother, you can't always let people ride roughshod on your back!"
Tang said hatefully, "The Li family is too shameless. How dare your sister-in-law go back to her house to threaten your big brother?" Tang was stunned by the news that Lu Tong had brought back, and she forgot to pursue the matter of Lu Tong came home alone.
"Mom, is there any news about Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi?"
Tang sighed, "Who knows? I heard that these two are running to town all day. They seem to have found a job in town. I don't know who actually has hired them. Chen Xiao Mi is not a kind-hearted person."
Lu An's job was envious by many people in the village. Many people hoped to snatch it. In order to keep that job, Grandpa Lu would bribe Lu An's manager every year.
"Why are you asking this?" Tang asked.
Lu Tong shook her head and said, "It's nothing. Recently, a Sino Commercial House has risen to fame. They feature a product called schoolbag, and the exquisite ones is worth one or two silver each. They must have made a fortune already. My mother-in-law bought a small bag for her grandson. 700 cents! It is a luxury."
"What does this have to do with Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi?"
Lu Tong was silent for a moment and said, "Someone saw Chen Xiao Mi talking to the steward of commercial house. Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin might be working in that store."
Tang said sullenly, "I've never heard of this Sino Commercial House. I'm afraid it's not a legit store. If the boss knew the details of Chen Xiao Mi, he would fire him for sure."
Lu Tong vaguely felt that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had been mysterious recently. However, never could she imagine that Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin had already bought a huge commercial property in town.
Lin Xiu'er looked at Tang and pulled a long face, " Tong is back. Why didn't she bring anything? Is she having a bad time in her husband's house?!"
Tang tried to act normal, "That's not the case, something special happened in the Li family, that's all."
"No matter how special the situation is, he shouldn't let Tong come back home alone! Can you imagine how the villagers are going to mock us behind our back?"
Lin Xiu'er felt that her days were getting worse and worse. She had more and more work to do, but her food was getting worse and the Lus' reputation was getting worse as well.
Recently, Grandma Lu became more and more stingy. Lin Xiu'er had been hoping that Lu Tong and her husband would bring back some meat, but Lu Tong came back home empty-handed!
Attending a Wedding Banquet
The matter of Lu Tong going home alone was widely discussed by the villagers.
"Little Tong came back alone!"
"That's why people say it's still difficult to be a stepmother. Tang is so ruthless, marrying her daughter into such a family for money." Said a granny who had once gone to the Lu family to ask to betroth with them. At that time, Tang disliked that granny for her family was poor, so Tang directly turned her down. Later, she found out that the Lu family had actually married their daughter into a family where she needed to be a stepmother. That granny had been making sarcastic remarks against Tang.
"It seems like Little Tong visits her family without bringing anything."
"I heard that Tang accepted twenty tales of silver as dowry gifts and she didn't give her daughter any dowry."
"Tang usually looks like she loves her daughter. How can she do such a thing to her daughter?"
" The Lu family has been arguing a lot lately, have you noticed?!"
"Didn't Lu Cheng Yu marry a lady? Official ladies are high maintenance."
"My son went to the town to look for work days ago. He met Li Hong, Li Fang Yue's brother. That guy went to the restaurant with his friends, and it seems like he didn't take Lu Cheng Yu seriously."
"It's so important to marry the right wife, the families of the bride and groom should be of equal position in the social scale. It's very important to marry someone who shared the same views with you. There's no use to marry a lady who isn't interested in working hard. "
……
Several gossip mongers spread the news, the whole village knew that Lu Tong might have a hard time in her husband's house. Lu Cheng Yu's wife, on the other hand, was high maintenance, and Lu Cheng Yu was having a hard time as well.
……
When Lu Cheng Yu returned home, Lu Tong had already gone back.
Hearing that Lu Tong came back alone and she didn't bring anything, Lu Cheng Yu couldn't help but feel that his sister was ridiculous.
After Lu Lin got married, he cut off contact with his family. It was because Chen Xiao Mi was ridiculous to begin with, Lu Cheng Yu didn't take it to heart. But Lu Tong was different, Lu Cheng Yu couldn't believe his sister did that.
"What's going on with my sister and her husband?!" Even though it was a second marriage, Li Ji should accompany her when she visited us for the first time after they got married!
Tang was dissatisfied with her daughter, but she was too shocked when she heard the news about Li Fang Yue. The dissatisfaction had given way to anger.
"Don't be too harsh on your sister, she is having a hard time already, her mother-in-law always abuses her, ordering her around all day." Tang said.
Lu Cheng Yu was educated, but he was a selfish person deep down. Lu Cheng Yu didn't think it concerned him that his sister was suffering, it didn't even occur to him that he should feel sorry that he used up his sister's betrothal present money. Instead, he felt that his sister was too dumb. She was a slacker when she was at home, and now she failed to win her husband's and mother-in-law's hearts after she got married.
Tang sighed and said, "Enough about your sister. Is your wife's elder sister Li Ru the wife or the concubine of Secretary-General?"
Lu Cheng Yu suddenly raised his head and looked at Tang, "Concubine Mother, where did you hear this nonsense?
"Your sister came over and said that Li Ru is just Secretary-General's concubine."
Lu Cheng Yu looked at Tang with disbelief, "This is impossible."
Lu Cheng Yu suddenly thought of several of his classmates who he didn't get along well with, they showed uncanny smiles when they heard that he had spent a lot of money marrying Li Fang Yue. Lu Cheng Yu had previously thought that they were doing that out of jealousy, but now he realized that there might be some other meanings behind those smiles, they were probably ridiculing him for treating a concubine's sister as treasure.
Lu Cheng Yu felt a chill rise from his feet all the way to his head. His heart was cold, but his face was flushed with anger.
Tang looked at her son who looked like he was about to faint, Tang nervously said, "Cheng Yu! Calm down."