"Granny Shen, she is too nice, she has worked hard for the harvest, and now she has transported all the harvest in our warehouse!" Lu Lin felt so sorry.
"Well, hopefully this is going to comfort you, I think Granny Shen did the right thing by transporting the grain to our warehouse. We're not living in the village any more, imagine someone has stolen all the grain! Plus, she is nice to us, we can be even nicer to her, we are a family now. Don't overthink it, all right?" Chen Xiao Mi stroked Lu Lin's hand gently.
Lu Lin thought about it and nodded. The villagers were usually very nice, but no one knew how far they would go when they were starving. If grains were left in an empty house, it was also very possible that they would be stolen.
"It's a bumper harvest year this year," Chen Xiao Mi said.
Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah! Thankfully, the country is prosperous and the people are at peace. I don't think we can still do business if it's a bad year, it will be unsafe for us."
…
Granny Shen's autumn harvest went on smoothly, and the Lu family was different.
In the village, even women needed to help out in autumn harvest, but Lin Xiu'er and Li Fang Yue were both pregnant, they had been slacking off on house chores, so naturally neither of them helped out.
Lu Cheng Yu went to school, so his family did not dare to trouble him with things like this. Therefore, only Lu Ming and Lu An were available.
Grandpa Lu knew his two sons very well, so he hired some help from the village, offering each one of them 25 cents per day.
25 cents was a handsome pay at ordinary times, but many people were hiring during autumn harvest season. 25 cents didn't look as great.
Even though Grandpa Lu had hired help successfully, but the help had a discussion in private. Granny Shen had offered the help 30 cents per day and Grandpa Lu only offered 25 cents, which made him look a little stingy.
Lu An had lost his job, Grandma Lu couldn't ask Lu An to hand in any money now, she became more and more stingy.
At the beginning of the autumn harvest, Grandma Lu would just find fault with the workers. She repeatedly despised how slow they were, she was always spouting off deducting their pay if they didn't speed up, she kept forcing them to work overtime.
When the host Lu Lin's parents were alive, Grandma Lu scolded them daily as well. And she would become aggravated if the host Lu Lin's parent defended themselves, therefore, they would just ignore her as time went by.
Lu Ming and Lu An had quarreled frequently during this period of time. Grandma Lu loved them both, she would just keep mute when her two sons argued. And now she just vented all her anger on the help, she would just break out into curses out of thin air.
Grandma Lu had a good opinion of herself, she didn't find it improper to abuse the help.
The villagers who took the job really needed money, they just tolerated the unfair treatment. However, soon the whole village knew how mean Grandma Lu was.
There was also a comparison between Grandma Lu and Granny Shen. They all agreed Granny Shen was a saint.
Mini Sweet Potatoes
The help didn't defend themselves on the first day Grandma Lu insulted them, that had given Grandma Lu the impression that they would allow her to walk all over them for good. Therefore, Grandma Lu went even further the next day.
The help endured the abuse until nightfall the next day and finally they couldn't stand it anymore. They went to Grandpa Lu and asked for their pay for the past two days, they wanted to quit.
"What's going on? Why is everyone quitting?" Grandpa Lu said unhappily.
The leading man said, "Grandpa Lu, we are here to work and make money. We are not here for the insults. Now please pay us, we are all quitting."
Grandpa Lu frowned in embarrassment, feeling a little upset in his heart. Grandpa Lu secretly felt that these people were working for them for money, so what if his wife directed a torrent of abuse at them? It was normal for the 'master' to scold the 'help'. Grandpa Lu had always looked down upon other villagers for he had a good opinion of himself.
The help now united and confronted him, which made Grandpa Lu feel that his authority was challenged, and he was annoyed by that.
Grandma Lui exploded when she heard the help wanted to quit and they pestered Grandpa Lu for their pay. "You have all been slacking off, and now you are asking for money! Such wishful thinking."
The villagers suffered so much for their pay, now they were all indignant by what Grandma Lu said.
"What do you mean? You want to renege on your debt, you don't want to pay?"
"How dare you make such a scene! Slackers! The lots of you! You should be grateful to me for willing to hire you in the first place."
The leader, Zhang Danian, looked unhappy and said, "Grandma Lu, what nonsense are you talking about? Autumn Harvest season is the busiest season in the year, so many people are hiring, and we decided to work for you even though you pay less than others because we are from the same village! I really don't know why are you being so unreasonable!"
"That's right! The people who worked for Granny Shen got 30 cents per day, and they had two buns for lunch."
"But look at us, we are working like a horse for you, and we can't have one bowl of soup. All you do is rushing us!"
Grandma Lu fumed immediately as they mentioned Granny Shen. Shen Chi and Chen Xiao Cai now were engaged, Grandma Lu just assumed it was Lu Lin who had been supporting Granny Shen's family financially, Grandma Lu was furious that the help now were comparing her to Granny Shen.
That had escalated this argument, Grandma Lu let fly with a stream of abuse which was downright rude, leaving the inarticulate men flustered.
One of the men was so indignant that he raked up the old story of Grandma Lu stealing money from Li Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.
Grandma Lu was very sensitive about that story, she had never stolen from Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, but no one believed her.
Grandma Lu made a tremendous row, she and the men almost started fighting. The Village Head arrived in time to mediate this dispute.
As a result, Grandpa Lu paid the help, but Grandma Lu deducted 5 cents from everyone saying that they didn't work hard. Grandma Lu meant to deduct more, but the Village Head stopped her from doing that.
Grandpa Lu was annoyed by his wife's bitter sarcasm when she talked to the help, he was not happy about what the help had done as well, he found them inconsiderate and ungrateful. They were here working for him but they dared make such a ruckus. He got so awkward when the villagers mentioned that they paid less money to the help than Granny Shen, but he blamed them for pointing that out and not protecting his dignity.
The help were filled with indignation, but they did not want to make a big fuss over 5 cents. However, the Lu family's reputation in the village had hit rock bottom.
When the help went home and told their wives about it, they were naturally bitter about unbearable grievances.
Some villagers said that Grandpa Lu was so heartless! He spent money like water e for his grandson's wedding, but he deducted even 5 cents from the help's wage. They called him 'one of the heartless rich'.
Grandpa Lu didn't care much when the help quit. In Grandpa Lu's opinion, he didn't need to worry about hiring people now that he had money.
However, he found that no one was willing to work for him even though he was willing to raise the wage. Grandpa Lu asked around and found that the villagers had been saying that he liked to deduct the help's pay.
Several villagers pointed at Grandpa Lu and talked about him behind his back, that had angered Grandpa Lu.
The Lu family was not able to hire any help, Grandpa Lu had to ask the Village Head to guarantee that Grandpa Lu would pay in advance, and he would not deduct their pay.
Grandpa Lu agreed helplessly.
When Grandpa Lu came back to his senses, he found that was super unfair, what if the new workers loafed on the job, but he had already agreed he wouldn't deduct their pay, he could only endure it.
The Lu family managed to collect all the grain from their field with difficulty.
…
The autumn wind had been soughing since the Autumn Harvest, it became colder and colder.
Business in Lu Lin's store was getting even better.
The popularity of dolls was greater than the bags.
Quite a few merchants went to Lu Lin's store to place orders and sell them to their local stores.
Lu Lin had to buy another two women who were good at needlework from the human trafficker.
One was called Xique and the other Lin Chun.
Xique was twenty-six years old. She was from a poor family and was sold to a wealthy family when she was a child. She worked conscientiously for the master for about two decades. Although the Xique was only twenty-six years old, she looked like she was in her mid-thirties due to the strain.
Xique's old master's fortunes declined and Xique was old to the human trafficker.
The other one was Lin Chun. She was sold by her mother-in-law after her husband died, her mother-in-law firmly believed that she had brought bad luck to her husband.
The arrival of the Xique and Lin Chun greatly reduced the pressure on Granny Shen and Yun Niang. Lu Lin asked Granny Shen to teach them how to make dolls.
After all, Granny Shen was old and her eyesight had dropped a little, so she struggled a little bit on some delicate work. So she took the initiative to talk to Lu Lin about hiring more people.
Now that Lu Lin asked her to teach new people, Granny Shen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
The two new women both had a sad life, and Granny Shen was sympathetic to them, she had fun teaching them.
Shen Chi was in Willow Town. After the Xique and Lin Chun arrived, they stayed in the same room with Granny Shen.
…
Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi walked on the market while Chen Xiao Mi kept looking around.
This year's harvest was good, and many farmers had bright smiles on their faces.
Lu Lin saw a few mountain people selling mountain goods and he bought some specialties from them.
Chen Xiao Mi looked at what Lu Lin had bought and pouted, "Actually, this kind of thing is everywhere on the mountain. There is no need to spend money on them."
"In my hometown, mountain goods are very difficult to buy, they are very rare, there are also people who sell seconds at best quality prices."
Chen Xiao Mi knew that Lu Lin was talking about a different time and space. He found that place quite fascinating, Lu Lin could have two bowls of rice per meal but he couldn't buy mountain specialties.
Chen Xiao Mi pouted and said, "If you like them, buy more."
"There's no need to buy too many," Lu Lin looked at the stall at the end of the market and saw a familiar face. "Isn't that Liu Gui Yong, Uncle Liu?"
Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, "It really is! We haven't seen him for a while."
Lu Lin hired Liu Gui Yong and his team to build one more room for their house in Big Stone Village, but now they didn't go back to the village as much due to the heavy workload in the commercial house. Every time Chen Xiao Mi thought about the house in the village, he would let out a sigh and get a bit nostalgic.
"Uncle Liu, isselling sweet potatoes?" Lu Lin was confused. Last year, sweet potatoes encountered poor sales. 'How come they planted sweet potatoes this year again?'
"Do you want to brew more Sweet Potato Wine?" Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and asked.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Alright." Manager Wang in Good Luck Restaurant loved Sweet Potato Wine, Lu Lin thought that could be the side hustle. Although the doll business was booming, it was good to not put all your eggs into one basket.
…
"Uncle Liu," Chen Xiao Mi stepped forward and greeted Liu Gui Yong.
"Master Lin, Master Xiao Mi, how are you!" Sino Commercial House had a great reputation. Liu Gui Yong had also inquired about the two of them. He knew that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were working for the Big Boss in town and they had earned a lot of money. Now, there were many people in the village who relied on doing embroidery for Sino Commercial House to make money.
The village people tended to feel ill at ease in the presence of the rich, so Liu Gui Yong became a little cautious when he saw Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin this time.
"Uncle Liu, why don't you sell sweet potatoes to the grain shops?"
Liu Gui Yong sighed and said worriedly, "The sweet potatoes of this breed are too small. None of the grain shops is willing to take them."
Chen Xiao Mi took a sweet potato and looked at it. "Such a small sweet potato, I can eat one in two bites! Geez, so small!"
Lu Lin bumped Chen Xiao Mi with his elbow and Chen Xiao Mi smiled embarrassedly.
Liu Gui Yong didn't mind how blunt Chen Xiao Mi was and he smiled bitterly, "Master Xiao Mi, this is a new breed, they will stay this tiny no matter how long you let them grow in the field, but they are super sweet. However, not a lot of people appreciate them, they refused to give them a try! we find no market for them! . There are many people in my village who have planted nothing but this breed of sweet potato, I dread to think what if they still cannot find shops that are willing to buy from them. They will end up with no money for winter!"
Lu Lin was confused, "Sweet potatoes didn't sell well last year, right? Why did you and your villagers plant so much this year again?"
Liu Gui Yong said embarrassedly, "This… actually, someone had tricked us all."
Chen Xiao Mi was confused, "Tricked you all?"
Liu Gui Yong sighed and explained, "Sweet potato was in excess of demand last year. No one wants to plant sweet potatoes this year until someone called Liu Qi came to our village."
"Liu Qi said that he has a new sweet potato breed from the south. This sweet potato is much sweeter than the ones we have here. It is very popular with the wealthy families in the south. He asked us to plant it. He promised us that he would come to collect them in autumn. The mini sweet potatoes are several times more expensive than the regular ones. He promised us that he would buy them all from us."
"We have our doubts in the beginning. However, that person was so articulate and imposing, slowly he has convinced us all."
Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head and asked, "This year, didn't he show up?"
"He did show up, but he said that our sweet potatoes are too small. He accused us of slacking off on fertilizing, and the sweet potatoes don't meet the standard, he won't buy them from us!"
Chen Xiao Mi was furious, "It was him who brought the seeds to you, right? It is his responsibility to teach you and the villagers how to take care of the plants, but why would the sweet potatoes shrink?
Lu Lin narrowed his eyes and said, "Maybe it is the difference in the geographical environment. The climate in the south was different from ours. The terrain and soil are different as well, so the sweet potatoes turned out to be smaller."
Chen Xiao Mi rolled his eyes and said, "Uncle Liu, do you know this Liu Qi? Is he also from your village?"
Liu Gui Yong nodded, "Yeah! Liu Qi's father went to the south to do business not long after Liu Qi was born. I heard that they made a lot of money. They had even bought several houses and stores in the south, and his father now had got a few concubines."
Lu Lin blinked and understood why the people in Big Gulf Village believed Liu Qi. Liu Qi's father was a successful businessman.
Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and said, "If it's really sweet, we can buy some."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes." He could brew some Sweet Potato Wine. Size didn't matter in brewing, if they were really that sweet, Lu Lin could save some money on sugar.
Lu Lin bought 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes and let Yun Niang steamed some for snacks.
Chen Xiao Mai liked the sweet potatoes and he ate three of them in one go.
Qin Lang and Qin Ming were both big eaters. Lu Lin had always been generous on the two boys' diet, they ate at least a dozen.
Chen Xiao Mi ate the sweet potato and said, "It's really sweet. It's just too small, I can finish one with two or three bites."
The price of sweet potatoes wasn't high, Lu Lin was more than happy to buy more, he could share some with the workers and brew the rest.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mi and said, "If you like it, I'll buy more."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "Sounds good."
Dried Sweet potato Freebies
Yun Niang's cooking skills were so good that Lu Lin rarely cooked now. He would only cook some new dishes for a special occasion or when he was seized by a whim.
Lu Lin purchased a batch of mini sweet potatoes and he cooked some sweet potato pancakes.
The freshly cooked sweet potato pancakes were so irresistible with the hot and tasty flavor and golden-brown color.
Because sweet potato pancakes needed oil, Lu Lin didn't cook much. However, each child at home was given one.
Chen Xiao Mai nibbled on the sweet potato cake, his eyes sparkling as he took every bite.
" Lin Gege, this is so yummy."
Chen Xiao Mai reached to the plate for another one as he said that. Lu Lin brushed Chen Xiao Mai's hand off and said, "You have already eaten three. Your Qin Lang Gege will end up having no pancake if you keep eating."
Qin Lang licked his lips and said, "Lin Ge, it's fine, Mai can have it if he wants it."
Qin Lang went to run an errand for Lu Lin when the pancakes were just out of the pot. He came back only to find there's only one pancake left in the plate.
Lu Lin glanced at Qin Lang and said, "Lang, you don't need to spool him like this, and it's not good to eat too much."
Hearing this, Chen Xiao Mai handed the last piece of sweet potato cake to Qin Lang, "Lang Gege, you have it!".
Qin Lang patted Mai's head, he took a bite and his eyes lit up. " Lin Ge, it's really delicious. You're full of new ideas! Now I feel like I can keep running errands for you all day long!"
Lu Lin looked at Qin Lang's reaction and thought to himself, "The people here are so simple and unsophisticated. They appreciate good food. Food can stimulate people's enthusiasm for work."
Chen Xiao Mi had already eaten two sweet potato cakes, and he was nibbling on his third one with relish. Chen Xiao Mai kept staring at Chen Xiao Mi with eyes wide open after Chen Xiao Mai gave the last piece of sweet potato cake to Qin Lang.
Chen Xiao Mi loved the sweet potato pancake in hand, but he loved his baby brother even more, he gritted his teeth and thought for a while, and finally he shared half with Mai.
Lu Lin was amused by Chen Xiao Mi's distressed look on his face.
…
Lu Lin made a quick trip to Big Gulf Village and many villagers surrounded him after they knew he was here to purchase sweet potatoes in bulk.
Liu Gui Yong looked at Lu Lin with a grateful smile. "Master Lin, I have to trouble you again." Liu Gui Yong felt that Lu Lin might not really want these small sweet potatoes, and he was doing a good deed to help them out.
The Big Gulf villagers was so eager to sell the sweet potatoes that they charged a lower price than last year, they charged Lu Lin two cents for one kilo.
Lu Lin spent eight taels of silver and bought 4000 kilos of sweet potatoes. The people in Big Gulf Village were so grateful, they said they would transport the produce to town for Lu Lin.
4000 kilos was definitely bulk buy, but many people in Big Gulf Village had planted sweet potatoes. Lu Lin's bulk order was like a drop in the bucket.
Chen Xiao Mai was stunned when he saw the people from Big Gulf Village delivering sweet potatoes at their doorstep.
"Qin Ming Gege, look, so many sweet potatoes!"
Qin Ming nodded, "Yeah!"
Chen Xiao Mai was confused. "Are we not going to eat rice and noodles anymore? Is Lin Gege going to feed us just sweet potatoes?"
Qin Ming, "I don't think so! I hope not!" Sweet potatoes tasted good, but they were not an ideal staple food.
…
Lu Lin brought the Qin brothers and Chen Xiao Mai to dry some sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes in the Big Gulf Village were very sweet, the dried sweet potato chips were even sweeter. Everyone was unstinting in their praise after they tried it.
When Lu Lin and Qin Lang went to Willow Town to deliver dolls, they brought many dried sweet potato chips to Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi.
Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi were very frugal, they tended to save money on their diet as well. Lu Lin told the two of them multiple times that they should keep a healthy and diverse diet. However, the two of them didn't listen. Lu Lin had to ask Qin Yi to be the supervisor, but it turned out that Qin Yi was more frugal.
Lu Lin had no choice but to find a cook for the three of them for he knew the importance of eating healthy.
Lu Lin was making more dried sweet potato chips for the two kids in Willow Town this day, he wanted the two kids to have some snacks between meals.
Lu Lin made several batches of dried sweet potato chips in the past few days.
Chen Xiao Mi chewed the dried sweet potato chips and said, "Why are you making this much? What if they go bad soon? "
"Business has cooled down a little recently. I plan to do some promotions."
Chen Xiao Mi narrowed his eyes and asked, "Promotions? Like buy one get one for free?"
Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah!"
Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head. He had heard Lu Lin talk about promotions like buy one get one for free, they had similar promotions in this time and space, but most of them seemed to be a scam. For example, by saying buy one get one for free, the merchants meant you would get a pair of socks for free if you buy one outfit. The customers would usually end up feeling disappointed. However, people always liked to gain petty advantages. They would still fall for that because a pair of socks was better then nothing!
"Do you want to use dried sweet potatoes as freebies?" Chen Xiao Mi raised the sweet potato in his hand and asked.
Lu Lin nodded, "Correct."
Chen Xiao Mi blinked and thought to himself, 'It's a bit strange to send sweet potatoes as freebies! However, Lu Lin is so smart, I'm sure he has his reasons and I'm sure it will boost the business.'
A few days later, the store launched a promotion 'buy schoolbags or dolls, get dried sweet potato chips for free!'
Lu Lin ordered a batch of colorful gift bags for dried sweet potato chips. The customers would get a bag of chips for free as long as they but schoolbags or dolls in the store.
Sweet potato chips was not rare, but the customers liked this promotion. Many customers spoke highly of the sweet potato chips in the store, so when they bought dolls, they would always ask the manager for one more bag of dried sweet potato chips.
…
"Master Lin, that sweet potato chips taste so good! Give me one mor bag please," Yang Heng Zhi said to Lu Lin.
Yang Heng Zhi bought another doll in the shop just two days ago. Since he was a regular customer, Chen Xiao Mi gave Yang Heng Zhi more bags of dried sweet potato chips. Yang Heng Zhi didn't take it seriously, but his grandmother had a sweet tooth, she liked them so much that she had eaten them all by herself.
Lu Lin said helplessly, " Young Master Yang, that dried sweet potato chips is not for sale. It is a freebie, you will get a bag of chips for every doll you buy."
Yang Heng Zhi made a face, he said to Lu Lin, "Master Lin, don't you give me this bullshxx. The freebies are not for sale, the lifesize dolls are not for sale, but you have sold one to the destined owner. Look at me, come on now, you know I'll keep supporting your business, I'm sure I'm the destined owner of the chips."
Lu Lin smiled embarrassedly. "All right, Young Master Yang. I'll give you some, but please, don't tell anyone I broke the rule…"
Yang Heng Zhi nodded and said, "I got it."
The dried sweet potato chips were well received since they were launched on the first day. Many people asked that whether they could buy some, but Lu Lin kept telling them the chips were not for sale, many people were left bitterly disappointed, and there were some customers would coax and pester Lu Lin unceasingly like Yang Heng Zhi.
" The dried sweet potato chips you made tastes so good! I've eaten other dried potatoes, but none of them was that sweet," Yang Heng Zhi said.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "I used the mini sweet potatoes from Big Gulf Village. The breed they used would have smaller but sweeter fruits, the texture is a bit different as well. If you like it, you can pay a visit to the village and buy some."
Yang Heng Zhi looked intrigued, "Really? It sounds good. My grandmother loves to eat sweet potato porridge."
During this period of time, Lu Lin recommended little sweet potatoes from Big Gulf Village to many people. He wasn't sure if those people had actually been to Big Gulf Village and bought sweet potatoes from the villagers, but he wanted the news spread by word of mouth.
Many people in Big Gulf Village would struggle to see the winter out if they couldn't sell the sweet potatoes. Lu Lin was still very sympathetic to the farmers who toiled long hours every single day.
…
After ten days or so, several villagers arrived at the gate of the gate of the backyard of the commercial house.
Qin Lang looked at the villagers and said, "How can I help you? "
Liu Gui Yong said nervously, "We are villagers from the Big Gulf Village. We are here to say a thank you to Master Lin, we have sold almost all the sweet potatoes in our village. We're here to express our gratitude."
The people in Big Gulf Village were worried sick about how to sell the sweet potatoes until days ago.
To their surprise, some people came to their village, saying they would love to buy some sweet potatoes.
At first, the villagers were afraid that the customers wouldn't be happy with the size of the sweet potatoes, but the customers specifically said they wanted the smaller ones. And more and more people kept coming to them.
The villagers felt there must be someone who was recommending them to the new customers.
After inquiring about it, Liu Gui Yong found out that it was Sino Commercial House. They launched a promotion to promote the dried sweet potato chips, and the manager kept telling everyone to go to Big Gulf Village to buy more if they liked the taste.
As more and more people came, the dull of sale of sweet potatoes in the village was solved. Many villagers were very grateful to Lu Lin.
Everyone gathered together and felt that they should do something to show their gratitude, so they came over to send some specialties to Lu Lin.
Chen Xiao Mi looked at the mushrooms, Chinese Yam and bamboo shoots from the villagers, he was very happy. These were all from the mountains, Chen Xiao Mi got a bit emotional as he saw the villagers and the way they presented the specialties.
"Uncle Liu, no need to stand on ceremony like this with us," Chen Xiao Mi said with a smile.
"Please let us say a thank you," Liu Gui Yong then introduced their Village Head to Chen Xiao Mi.
Chen Xiao Mi glanced at the middle-aged man standing next to Liu Gui Yong and said, "Nice to meet you, Village Head Liu, I'm Chen Xiao Mi."
The Village Head Liu Tian hurriedly replied with a bow, "Master Xiao Mi, please allow me to say a thank you on behalf of our village. The sweet potatoes would have gone bad in the field if not for you and Master Lin."
Chen Xiao Mi hurriedly waved his hand and said, "It's our pleasure, please don't mention it."
Zhang Cheng, the Village Head in the Big Stone Village always found fault with Chen Xiao Mi, Chen Xiao Mi used to loathe the village heads. Now he felt so flattered and completely at a loss when a Village Head was so polite to him.
Liu Gui Yong looked at Chen Xiao Mi's round belly and said, "Master Mi, you're getting so big now!"
Chen Xiao Mi touched his belly and said, "It's been a few months. I can't even stretch my hands and feet freely with this little guy in my belly! I can't wait to meet the baby."
Liu Gui Yong smiled and said, "Master Mi, all jokes aside, you should rest now…"
Chen Xiao Mi puffed up his cheeks and said, "Rest? Trust me, I've been doing nothing but taking some rest for so long! I'm so fat now."
Every time Lu Lin saw him lifting anything, he would make a scene and stop him. Chen Xiao Mi didn't get it, pregnancy didn't stop other women and Bios from working.
Chen Xiao Mi accepted the gifts and asked Chen Xiao Mai to bring some dried sweet potato chips for the guests.
Liu Gui Yong and other villagers had heard so much about the chips in Sino Commercial House, they all had a taste.
"Master Xiao Mi, this is really good!"
Chen Xiao Mi said smugly, "I like them too. Many customers like them and ask us whether they could buy some. However, we always turn them down, they are freebies, not for sale."
The sweet potato chips was just a marketing method. Sweet potatoes were not a rare thing. Lu Lin didn't expect to make money from making dried sweet potato chips, so he didn't pay much attention to it.
Liu Gui Yong and others ate the sweet potato chips and thought that perhaps they could consider selling dried sweet potato chips as well. However, it was Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin who first came up with this idea, they didn't know whether they would mind it.
When Liu Gui Yong mentioned it to Chen Xiao Mi, Chen Xiao Mi generously said it was fine.
Sweet potatoes were just promotion methods, Chen Xiao Mi was confident that Lu Lin could come up with something else.
Corvee
When Lu Lin came back, Liu Gui Yong and the other villagers had already left.
"You're in a good mood!" As soon as Lu Lin entered the house, he saw Chen Xiao Mi grinning at a basket of things in front of him.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded. " Uncle Liu and the Village Head of the Big Gulf Village were here. They sent us this basket as a thank you gift, they said they were so grateful to us. Look at the specialties, they remind me of home."
"Uncle Liu can do away with formalities with us. Was their village head here too?"
Chen Xiao Mi nodded. "The Big Gulf Village is very polite, too. He seemed to be very respectful to me, that was a new experience for me, Zhang Cheng, our Village Head only finds fault with me."
Lu Lin smiled, "Really? That's very good to hear."
Lu Lin had been to the Big Gulf Village a few times and had talked to their Village Head. He felt that their Village Head was very amiable, he had never put on airs when he talked to Lu Lin.
"Yeah, he is very approachable," Chen Xiao Mi said.
…
The news of sweet potatoes encountering poor sales had spread to Big Stone Village. The two villages were neighboring villages, many families in the two villagers were related by marriage.
People in Big Stone Village also knew that the sweet potatoes in Big Gulf Village were in excess of demand. Many people even expressed sympathy, but soon enough, they heard about the good news that the sweet potatoes in Big Gulf Village became popular.
The dried sweet potato chips made from Big Gulf Village's mini sweet potatoes was very delicious. Many people in town even visited Big Gulf Village to purchase from them, and the price of sweet potatoes from Big Gulf Village had gone up.
When people in Big Stone Village asked about it, they found that it had something to do with Lu Lin. It was Lu Lin who made the sweet potatoes of Big Gulf Village into dried sweet potato chips and promoted then as freebies, which made the sweet potatoes of Big Gulf Village famous.
Actually, there were a few families in Big Stone Village who secretly planted the new breed of sweet potatoes. Originally, these families were also worried, but now that the little sweet potato became popular, they were relieved.
There were still too many sweet potatoes in Big Gulf Village, so it was still difficult to sell them all. After thinking about it, Liu Tian the Village Head he called on the whole village to make dried sweet potato chips.
After Lu Lin heard about it, he bought a batch of dried sweet potato chips from Big Gulf Village and put them in the store for sale.
After the news spread, people in the village thought that Lu Lin was so capable. He had just afforded a livelihood to so many villagers with the greatest of ease.
Lu Lin had once again become the talk of the town, the villagers kept talking about him nonstop.
Tang could hear all kinds of flattery words about Lu Lin wherever she went. The villagers all made a living from the produce in their field, their primary concern was to sell the produce smoothly. Lu Lin had found a market for the slow-selling sweet potatoes, she was held in high esteem by the villagers than before.
Lu Lin had been in town the whole time and had he no idea that he had gained another round of considerable repute in the village.
…
Zhang Cheng said while puffing his pipe, "Lu Lin is really capable."
A while ago, Zhang Cheng met the Village Head the Big Gulf Village who wore an anxious look on the face, but he was bursting with happiness now.
The dried sweet potato chips from Big Gulf Village seemed very popular. Although it was a little time-consuming, it was much easier to store and sell. Some of them were sold to other towns. Many people in Big Gulf Village made quite a bit money.
It was said that many villagers had sent Lu Lin presents after they made money.
Zhang Jin nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense! If not for Lu Lin, it would be difficult for several families in Big Gulf Village to survive this winter."
"He's so capable, but it has never occurred to him that he is from our village and our villagers can really use his help as well. He's very considerate about the matters in the Big Gulf Village, he should think about our villagers before he thinks about the Big Gulf Village."
Zhang Jin thought to himself, 'Although Lu Lin is from Big Stone Village, but none of us was really friendly to him. What's more, many people in the village are now selling embroidery products to Lu Lin, he is helping us already. The women's embroidery skills in the village were not as great as the embroidery ladies in the town who specialized in doing this.
…
In Willow Town.
Chen Xiao Cai nibbled on the dried sweet potato chips and said happily, "This tastes good."
Shen Chi nodded, "Yeah! I've eaten dried sweet potatoes before, but they were not as sweet."
" It seems like Lin Gege hasn't visited us for a while," Chen Xiao Cai scratched his head.
Shen Chi nodded. " Last time Lin Gege visited us, he made sweet potato pancakes for us, that was so yummy."
Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, " Lin Gege is such a great cook."
Lu Lin often cooked when they were back in the village, but he didn't cook much after they moved to town. However, if his brother had cravings for something, Lu Lin would still cook.
Chen Xiao Cai felt that many things that Lu Lin made were very novel and ordinary chefs couldn't make them.
…
After the people in Big Gulf Village started to sell dried sweet potato chips, the freebies in the commercial store looked less unique.
Lu Lin bought some prickly raw chestnuts, he made some Chestnuts Roasted with Sugar as freebies.
Lu Lin shared some with the workers in the store, asking for their opinions.
Chen Xiao Mai was effusive in his praise, he had been clapping so hard while he ate.
Qin Lang was also surprised by the taste, he shared a bowl of fried chestnuts with his brother Qin Ming.
" I didn't expect this prickly thing to be this yummy. We've encountered this thing before, remember? But we didn't know they were edible."
Qin Ming nodded and said, "Yeah, we've definitely seen them in the mountain before, a lot of them. If I knew this thing could be eaten, I should've picked them up and roasted them."
Qin Ming remembered that there were many chestnut trees near their cave, but they had no idea there were fruits inside the prickly shells. He had always felt that there was nothing to eat. It turned out that he was absolutely wrong. They had so much to eat, but he didn't know how to eat.
Qin Lang thought to himself, 'If I had time to return to the mountain, I would take a few baskets with me and fill them with specialties for Master Lin and Master Mi.'
Seeing that Qin Lang and Qin Ming getting so excited about the chestnut, a smile crossed Lu Lin's face. He had a hunch that chestnuts would definitely win people's heart next.
Chen Xiao Mi used to be a hunter and he had several hunter friends from the neighboring towns. Qin Yi was mountain people. The two of them talked to the people in the mountains about purchasing chestnuts. The hunters promised they would deliver chestnuts to them with alacrity, they were all struggling villagers with limited means, they were grateful to Chen Xiao Mi for purchasing chestnuts from them.
Soon, a large number of prickly chestnuts were delivered to Lu Lin. Lu Lin made some roasted chestnuts with sugar as freebies.
Dried sweet potato chips was common. Sweet chestnuts were different. Many people in the town had never seen them without the hard and prickly shells. People in the villages had seen them, but they had no idea that chestnuts were edible.
Being able to eat something that they had never eaten before was a novelty feeling for many people.
After the roasted chestnuts with sugar appeared as freebies, some people would come to the store just for the chestnuts.
Yang Heng Zhi looked at Lu Lin and said, "Brother Lu, the freebies in your shop is really popular!" A while ago, the dried sweet potato chips had suddenly solved the most urgent problem in the Big Gulf Village.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "I need to thank everyone for support us."
Yang Heng Zhi looked at Lu Lin and said, "Can I buy some chestnuts?"
"Sure!"
Yang Heng Zhi was a little surprised when Lu Lin said yes. And he was a bit discouraged when he saw Lu Lin taking out a small bag of chestnuts.
"Young Master Yang, I didn't make much today and we have to use them as freebies for other customers. I'm sorry I can only sell this much to you," Lu Lin said with an apologetic smile.
Yang Heng Zhi said sullenly, "Okay."
The chestnuts in Sino Commercial House had captured people's heart. There were many students bought dolls in the store just for the freebies.
When Yang Heng Zhi and other students were gathering after school, a small bag of roasted chestnuts with sugar had become a status symbol.
…
The Lu family sold the grains from the Autumn Harvest, after they deducted the taxes and the help's wage, only less than ten taels of silver was left.
Grandma Lu looked at the silver in her hand and said, "This year is a bumper harvest year! How come we didn't end up with much grain?"
Grandpa Lu sighed, "No pain no gain! If you take good care of the field, the field won't return you with a good harvest. No one has fertilized or watered the field! And now you are asking me why we don't have much produce this year!"
Fertilizing was the most important process in nourishing the field, but it was very unpleasant. No one in that family was willing to do such dirty work. As a matter of fact, no one had even watered or weeded the crops.
Grandma Lu gritted her teeth and said, "Our daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law are both about to give birth. We'll have to pay for midwife!"
Grandpa Lu glanced at Grandma Lu and warned her, "What are you thinking? Don't you dare think about saving money on big maters like giving birth!"
Grandma Lu smiled awkwardly. "No… I'm not thinking about that…"
Grandpa Lu sighed. He felt that life was worse than before, and it seemed like his family had always been in a turmoil. His eldest son and youngest son argued every day, and so was his daughter-in-law with his son. During this period of time, Grandpa Lu had aged a lot.
…
After the autumn harvest, another bad news came from the town, the government was about to levy corvee.
The whole village was in miserable and gloomy atmosphere since the news.
Lu Lin was more well-informed about the news since he lived in town.
The corvee this time was mainly to repair the bridge and the road. The corvee was about 20 days, you could pay one tale of silver for an exemption if you don't want to serve as corvee labor.
According to the rules, each household with three men aged from 12 to 50 needed to provide one person as corvee labor, household with 4 men aged from 12 to 50 needed to provide two. The household could pay one tale of silver for each exemption.
Chen Xiao Mi had already lived separated, they needed to provide one considering they had Mi, Cai, Lu Lin three men of the right age. Lu Lin decided to pay 1 tale of silver for the exemption, 1 tale of silver was nothing for Lu Lin who had over 1,000 taels.
One or two taels of silver was nothing to Lu Lin, but it was an enormous figure for most villagers. The poor villagers had to resign themselves.
…
Fear spread quickly through the village.
Quite a few people visited Zhang Cheng the Village Head to discuss this matter.
Actually, being the Village Head was a hard job. Zhang Cheng needed to assist the officials for levying corvee. That was a very delicate position to be in, a lot of the villagers would complain.
The corvee matter had affected the Lu family. There were three men of the right age in the Lu family. Lu Cheng Yu was a Tongsheng, so naturally he wouldn't go. Therefore, it was going to be Lu Ming or Lu An.
Neither of the two wanted to go. Corvee labor was daunting, there were people who was exhausted to death every year.
Grandpa Lu sighed and said, "Let's spend 1 tale of silver for an exemption."
Grandma Lu said sullenly, "We don't have much money at home, and now we need to spend one more tael." Grandma Lu couldn't help but recall the time when her second son was still alive. If her second son were still alive, there was no need to hire help in autumn harvest or to spend money for exemption, she could force her second son to do it all.
"Lu An's wife is about to give birth, we cannot send him, if we send Lu Ming, I'm sure he will make a scene!" Grandpa Lu hated to spend money, but what he hated more was drama.
Grandma Lu hesitated and said, "Our financial situation is pretty bad since An was fired, one tale of silver doesn't sound much, but we don't have as much income as we used to."
Grandma Lu became stingier as she grew older, she narrowed her eyes and she made up her mind that she was going to make every attempt to convince Lu An.
Education
Lu An pulled a long face and gritted his teeth.
"What's going on? Are you all right?" Lin Xiu'er asked with concern.
Lu An said unhappily, "It's my mother. She advised me to do corvee labor. I know I've just lost my job, but I cannot believe mother has the nerve to ask me to risk my life! we are not as well-off as before, but we are not that poor, I'm sure we can afford the exemption fee, it's just one tale of silver!"
"Mother is too biased towards Cheng Yu."
Lu An said exasperatedly, "Yeah! She spent dozens of taels for Cheng Yu's wedding. She didn't even blink her eyes when Cheng Yu offered Li Fang Yue 30 taels as betrothal present, but now she's asking me to risk my life for one tael of silver."
Lin Xiu'er was a bit depressed. After Lu An lost his job, Tang and Grandma Lu often ganged up and hurled insults at her, saying that she should be more observant and stop Lu An from taking bribes, and Lin Xiu'er was always reduced to silence.
"Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu love Lu Cheng Yu the most!" Lin Xiu'er couldn't help but complain.
Lin Xiu'er didn't feel that way until recently.
"Who is Lu Lin working for? Many people in the village now rely on him to make a living, so the villagers are all speaking highly of him," Lin Xiu'er said bitterly.
Currently, many people in the village relied on selling embroidery products to make money for Sino Commercial House. Lin Xiu'er made some embroidery in private and secretly sold it to Sino Commercial House.
Lin Xiu'er used to look down on Lu Lin, but now she had to rely on Lu Lin to make money.
If it were not for the fact that she had no choice, Lin Xiu'er would never have done this.
Lu An said sullenly, "Who knows?"
Lu An knew that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were working in town for a long time. When he didn't lose his job, people in the village liked to visit him when they went to town, so he had heard that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were doing great in town. In the past, Lu An thought that they were juniors in the family, so he was too proud to show any interest when the villagers brought that up.
"I heard that many people in Big Gulf Village are making dried sweet potato chips and sell them in Sino Commercial Shop. Lu Lin will take some cut for every bag of chips sold, the chips are not expensive, but economy in trifles ensures abundance! That Lu Lin really has the knack of making money!"
Lu An's face darkened and he said, "Alright, alright, stop talking."
Lu An lost his job and hated hearing people praising Lu Lin of being capable.
…
Lu Lin hid in the house, thinking about making some new styles of dolls.
Lu Lin originally thought that the matter of corvee could be settled with one tael silver. But now people in the village thought that he was a rich man, a lot of them were coming to him to borrow money.
Now Lu Lin started to understand the old saying 'Fame portends trouble for men just as fattening does for pigs.'
A group of people would rattle on and on, asking whether they could borrow several hundred cents from Lu Lin.
For Lu Lin, this amount of money was really nothing, but this did not mean that he was willing to be a sucker!
What was more, once he set a precedent and lent money to one person, it would be even more difficult to refuse the people who visited him afterwards. It would cause more trouble if he helped villagers selectively.
Lu Lin decided to just hide in his room and not receive any guest.
Granny Shen sighed as she saw Lu Lin had to hide in his room to avoid the nuisance. She had been meaning to go back to the village for her veggie patch, but when she heard about the corvee, she changed her mind.
Granny Shen knew that in the eyes of the villagers, she was fortunate. If she didn't lend them money, her reputation would be ruined. So the best way was to hide in town just like Lu Lin.
…
The autumn rain fell day after day without ceasing. And after that, winter finally arrived.
Chen Xiao Mi sat on the bed and said, "The people in town really know how to enjoy life!"
When Chen Xiao Mi lived in the village, he used burn firewood to keep warm. And now he was using charcoal fire like other townsfolk. The difference was firewood was free and charcoal was not. But charcoal fire and a stove made winter cozier. Chen Xiao Mi looked at the stove and felt so happy, he had no idea winter could be this cozy and enjoyable until now.
Lu Lin walked in and said, "It gets cold overnight!"
Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yeah! During this period of time, the store's business seemed to be a bit sluggish."
Lu Lin crossed his arms and said, "Maybe because the weather is cold, no one likes to go out on such bitter days."
In this time and space, winter could be very dangerous for a lot of people. If someone accidentally caught a cold, the treatment would cost a lot of money, and there was a high risk that the patient couldn't survive the cold. Therefore, people would generally avoid going out in winter, especially poor people.
Lin Xiu'er gave birth to a son recently. Villagers preferred boys to girls. Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu were happy to have one more grandson, but this newborn wasn't the first grandson in the family, so they were that thrilled.
Tang had high hopes for Li Fang Yue's belly, she hoped it was a boy, not a girl.
Tang had been nice to Li Fang Yue recently and Li Fang Yue knew it very well that Tang was nice to the baby instead of herself. Li Fang Yue felt so stressed after Lin Xiu'er had a son.
Grandma Lu had high expectations for Li Fang Yue, for the baby in her belly was Grandma Lu's first great grandkid. After Li Fang Yue was pregnant, Grandma Lu gave her so much foods or medicines of highly nutritious value. But all those foods and medicines had backfired, the baby was oversized, and Li Fang Yue suffered a difficult labor. Li Fang Yue endured great pain for a day and a night, and she gave birth to a girl.
Grandma Lu's face darkened as she saw it was a girl.
Tang was also greatly disappointed. Lu Cheng Yu was not very young, a lot of his peers had sons already. Tang yearned for a grandson!
Lu Cheng Yu preferred a boy too. After his daughter was born, he only glanced at her, he didn't even hold her.
Li Fang Yue was not happy that it was a girl, but she loved her baby no matter what.
…
Chen Xiao Mi asked casually as he nibbled on the sweet potato chips, "Li Fang Yue gave birth to a girl, have you heard that?"
"Lu Cheng Yu must be disappointed," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, "I agree."
"However, Lu Cheng Yu and Li Fang Yue are still young, I'm sure they can have a son sooner or later, I also heard the baby girl is very chubby and cute. But Li Fang Yue has gotten very fat, I'm worried for her."
Chen Xiao Mi glanced at his belly and then he asked Lu Lin, "Do you like a boy or a girl?"
Lu Lin smiled and said, "I like both." As a modern person, Lu Lin didn't care much about the gender of the baby. Lu Lin was gay in his previous life and he never thought of having children. Lu Lin was already very happy and grateful that he was able to have a baby in this time and space.
Chen Xiao Mi pouted, thinking that Lu Lin must prefer a boy.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi's face and said, "I'm telling the truth. I love our baby no matter it's a boy or a girl."
Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and nodded.
…
In Lunar November, Lu Lin asked Chen Xiao Cai to close the store and came back to Forest Town for the Chinese New Year.
The doll business was not as hot as it was first launched, but the shop could still make a few sales per day. Chen Xiao Cai was a little reluctant to close the store for a few days, but he thought that it had been a long time since he saw his brothers and Lu Lin he really missed them.
Chen Xiao Cai put out a sign saying that he was going to close the store for a few days, which made some residents in the town anxious. Many people were worried that they wouldn't be able to buy dolls as presents for Chinese New Year, so they rushed to purchase a few. As a result, Cai made 30 taels within a few days.
The moment Chen Xiao Cai came back, Chen Xiao Mai jumped for joy.
Chen Xiao Mai threw himself at Cai and howled for a long time. Lu Lin looked at the Mai and thought for himself that there was a wolf trapped in Mai's tiny body.
Lu Lin gave Qin Yi and Qin Lang's wages to their father Qin Yi, he gave Qin Yi three tales extra to thank him for his hard work in Forest Town. Qin Yi was so flattered.
"Master Lin, I do have a question, can our family live in this property for winter? Will the owner of this house have any objections?" Qin Yi asked nervously.
Lu Lin said that the owner of the property wouldn't be back for a long time and it wouldn't be a problem for them to stay for winter.
Qin Yi was relieved after hearing this.
Qin Yi did not want to go back to the mountain for winter. Winter was a battle for mountain people, he didn't want his kids to endure the piercing wind and bitter cold.
When Granny Shen saw Shen Chi come back, she got so emotional. They had talked so much in the room.
…
Chen Xiao Cai entered his room and saw a pile of books, writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones on the desk. He was confused.
"Lin Gege, what are these for?" Chen Xiao Cai asked.
Lu Lin said proudly, "I bought them for you."
Chen Xiao Cai was confused, "Why are you buying these for me? I have no interested in attending the imperial examination!" He wanted to be a big boss in the future and make a lot of money.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Cai and pretended he was a bit disappointed, "Why are you so unmotivated, child?"
Chen Xiao Cai looked at Lu Lin and said, "Lin Ge, why don't you show me how it's done! You can enroll in the school and study hard for a few years, maybe you can become a scholar!"
Lu Lin, "Cai, are you making fun of me? You sure got the gift of gab."
Lu Lin had read books in this time and space. They were all written in traditional Chinese character, quite different from the simplified Chinese character that he had learned in modern society.
Lu Lin felt that he was able to read and write if he put in time and energy. But he was not confident that he could master the classical style of writing in this time and space. And people here all used writing brushes, but he struggled a lot with writing brushes, his calligraphy was a bit unpresentable.
"Cai, I know my strengths and weaknesses, my talent is limited. But you are still young, you can do it!" Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiao Cai was confused. " Lin Ge, it's useless for you to buy this stuff for me! No school is willing to take me."
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Cai and said, "Don't worry. We have money now, I'm sure I can find a scholar for you. All jokes aside, Cai, no pressure, I'm not forcing you to attend the imperial examination, I just want you to get educated, Chi can learn together with you."
Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "Thank you, Lin Gege!"
In Chen Xiao Cai's eyes, people who could read and write were extraordinary people. Chen Xiao Mi wanted to send Chen Xiao Cai to a school before, but no school was willing to accept him. Chen Xiao Cai said that he didn't care. In fact, he was a bit hurt.
Lu Lin prepared study materials for both Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi. Granny Shen was touched again.
Getting education was very expensive in this time and space, the idea 'lack of talent in a woman is a virtue' prevailed. Therefore, women and Bios from regular families didn't get to get education.
Shen Chi was very excited about getting education together with Chen Xiao Cai.
Lu Lin found a fifty–year-old Tongsheng to teach them. This Tongsheng opened a home school in his village to impart rudimentary knowledge to country kids.
Lu Lin didn't have high requirements for the old Tongsheng, he just wanted Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi to be able to read and write.
Lu Lin only bought study materials for Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi, but he told the rest of the children at home that if they wanted to attend the class, it was fine.
Mai had zero interest in studying. The Qin brothers were curious at first, and they also went to listen for a while, but later they were not interested.
Lu Lin held a book in his hand, which was densely marked with notes by pinyin. (T/N: Pinyin is the official romanization system for Chinese, it was developed in the 1950s, so ancient people have no idea what it is.)
Lu Lin asked the teacher to read through a few articles and he marked the articles with pinyin, soon Lu Lin was able to read through the articles as well.
Chen Xiao Mi had no idea what pinyin was. He felt this pinyin system very magical.
A Bio Baby
On the third snow of winter, Chen Xiao Mi finally gave birth.
"Congratulations, Master Lin. It's a handsome baby Bio," the midwife said with a smile.
Lu Lin smiled brightly. "Thank you so much."
Lu Lin handed a red envelop with 200 cents inside to the midwife as luck money, the midwife thanked him profusely and took the red envelope.
Many people didn't like to have Bio baby. The midwife couldn't help but recall when the last family heard that the wife gave birth to a baby Bio, they just left the room in a huff, no one said a thank you to her, let alone giving her red packet money. She looked at the baby Bios and felt sorry for him.
The midwife sized up Lu Lin's happy expression and thought that Lu Lin really liked this baby.
The midwife then thought of the rumors she had heard and felt that Lu Lin might not dare to dislike it. After all, Chen Xiao Mi was a ferocious partner. Lu Lin might end up getting beaten up if he showed any sign of dislike.
Chen Xiao Mi lay in bed, perhaps because he was too tired, he had fallen asleep in a daze.
Lu Lin blinked at the baby doll.
The baby closed his eyes and slept soundly. The gazes from people surrounding him didn't seem to affect him at all.
Lu Lin named the baby Chen Yu, nickname Yuan Bao (T/N: meaning gold ingot).
Chen Xiao Mai looked at the baby in and said worriedly, "He is my little nephew, he is so ugly!"
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mai and said, "Mai, yes, he is your nephew. And no, he is not ugly, he is just wrinkly looking due to the labor, he will be all handsome and pretty, just like you, in just a few days!"
.
Chen Xiao Mai nodded, then he clapped his hands and said, "That's great. I was just thinking who is gonna marry him if he stays this ugly."
Lu Lin was amused by Chen Xiao Mai and thought to himself, 'Everyone keeps saying Mai is slow, but he is so thoughtful, he is considering his nephew's future happiness already!'
"Don't worry, your nephew will marry well. But Mai, what kind of partner do you want to find?" asked Lu Lin.
Chen Xiao Mai glanced at Lu Lin and straightened his chest, "I want to find someone brave like my Big Brother."
Lu Lin nodded with a smile.
Chen Xiao Mai looked at Lu Lin and said, "You and my Big Brother make a perfect match! You guys are lucky to find each other."
Lu Lin once again thought Mai was actually very smart.
The baby made the household more lively, Lu Lin had been in such a great mood. Chen Xiao Mai stayed with the baby all day long, Granny Shen always visited Mi and the baby as well.
Lu Lin was right, Yuan Bao became so pretty in just a few days, chubby and adorable.
His eyes were crystal clear, making people feel happy at first glance.
…
"Grandmother, are you making this outfit for Yuan Bao?" asked Shen Chi.
Granny Shen nodded and said, "Yeah! Lu Lin is such a good person. He likes Yuan Bao very much. It's rare to find a man who loves the baby regardless of the gender."
Granny Shen was well aware of the fact that the Lu Cheng Yu had a baby girl. She had also heard that after the baby was born, Lu Cheng Yu showed nothing but indifference to his wife and the newborn baby girl. Li Fang Yue did not have enough milk, so she could only beg other breast-feeding women to help her. It was said that the baby girl was so thin and looked so pitiful.
Granny Shen had been worried that if Chen Xiao Mi gave birth to a Bio, it would affect the relationship between Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi. However, Yuan Bao was a Bio and Lu Lin didn't mind at all.
Granny Shen then cast a glance at Shen Chi. Bios tended to give birth to Bio babies. Granny Shen used to worry that Shen Chi would be disliked if he gives birth to a Bio in the future. But now she was relieved, Lu Lin had set a good example for Chen Xiao Cai.
Shen Chi had no idea what Granny Shen was thinking about. He just felt that the house was much more lively.
…
The news that Chen Xiao Mi had given birth to a baby Bio spread to Grandma Lu's ears.
Grandma Lu gloated over the news, she thought Lu Lin now must have disliked Chen Xiao Mi. But she was less Chen Xiao Mai as she thought that Li Fang Yue gave birth to a girl.
Compared to Lin Xiu'er's pregnancy, Grandma Lu was more concerned about Li Fang Yue's pregnancy. She always hoped that it was a great-grandson.
Li Fang Yue's position at home suffered a disastrous decline since she had a girl.
Li Fang Yue was a plain-looking woman. She looked more average since her pregnancy.
Lu Cheng Yu always made excuses to hide in the study, not caring about his wife or his new daughter.
There were more and more contradictions between the Lu An and Lu Ming. Grandma Lu used to favor Lu Ming, Lu Cheng Yu's father, more. But Grandma Lu favored Lu An more since his wife Lin Xiu'er gave birth to a son.
Lu Cheng Yu felt that his family was in a mess and was very annoyed.
…
Lu Lin boiled some goat milk and fed it to chubby Yuan Bao.
Lu Lin found a wet nurse for Yuan Bao days before Chen Xiao Mi's due date, but the wet nurse was not willing to make a trip to their house due to the coldness.
Luckily, Yuan Bao was not a picky eater. He always had a good appetite. He ate, slept, ate, slept day and night, he rarely cried.
Chen Xiao Mai was also very interested in the goat milk. Lu Lin raised three female goats to make sure Yuan Bao wouldn't run out of food.
Although Yuan Bao had a good appetite, he was an infant after all, and the wet nurse would come over from time to time. No way could he finish the goat milk.
Therefore, when Lu Lin was free, he would also cook some goat milk tea for the kids in the house.
Lu Lin would add some tea leaves and sugar for the kids.
The price of tea leaves differed vastly. Good tea leaves were very expensive, but some ordinary tea leaves were much cheaper. Lu Lin doubted the kids would be able to appreciate good teas, so he just bought the ordinary tea leaves.
In Lu Lin's opinion, goat milk tea was very nourishing with high Calcium. It was a little late for him, but the kids should drink more and hopefully they could grow taller.
The sweet goat milk tea was liked by many people in the family. At first, Chen Xiao Mi thought that goat milk was for babies, he turned up his nose at Lu Lin when he offered him the milk tea, but when he saw Mai's happy face when Mai held a bottle of milk tea, he tasted it and got addicted.
Lu Lin often saw the Chen brothers sitting in a row and drinking goat milk tea, laughing and talking.
Lu Lin cooked some steamed cakes this day.
The sweet and glutinous steamed cakes had captured people's heart as well, it was so nice to have something warm and sweet on a cold winter day.
Chen Xiao Mai had been so excited since Yuan Bao was born.
Chen Xiao Mai had been the youngest one at home for so long. His brothers were doing so much to support the family, Chen Xiao Mai was a little anxious. However, he was so young and he was a bit slow, he couldn't help much.
Chen Xiao Mai now was so glad that he was not the baby at home any more.
"Yuan Bao, look, look, this is a tiger," Chen Xiao Mai held the tiger doll and kept showing off to Yuan Bao.
Yuan Bao was too young to give Mai any interactions. Occasionally annoyed by the noise made by Chen Xiao Mai, he would open his eyes and glance at Chen Xiao Mai, then he would go back to sleep. Lu Lin found that very amusing.
Yuan Bao was calm and composed. Lu Lin felt that his son had, indeed, the way of great generals!
Mai who was ignored by Yuan Bao was not upset. He continued to show off his tiger doll when Yuan Bao woke up.
Joy was overflowing in the entire house, everyone lived in Lu Lin's house was having a great time.
…
The cold wind was blowing hard, but everyone felt so warm at heart.
The Qins were having some porridges for dinner, they sat by the stove and they would look at each other with a smile from time to time, they were so grateful to Lu Lin that they didn't have to spend winter in their cave.
For mountain people like them, winter was difficult to endure, food shortage was a problem, and hungry beasts were a bigger problem.
A beast usually wouldn't provoke or hunt people, but a hungry beast would.
"Father, I didn't know winter could be this comfortable!" Qin Ming let out a sigh.
Qin Yi nodded, "I feel the same way!"
However, they all knew if it were not for Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi's help, it was impossible for them to have such a comfortable life.
Qin Yi looked at his two sons and felt relieved. Qin Yi always felt that he hadn't done enough for his two sons when they were back in the mountains. Seeing his two sons working and progressing so much lately, Qin Yi finally saw some hope.
"The wind outside is howling but it's still so warm in the house. This house is so much better than a cave," Qin Ming said.
"It's also because this house is well-built, the houses in the village are not this great, there will be leaks in the windows and the door, there are villagers freeze to death every year."
Qin Yi hoped he could build a good house in the village one day.
…