Chapter 139

The villagers had just seen Lin Chuntao driving a mule back, and now they saw Lin Chunxing driving another one back. The two mules were different colors; the one Lin Chuntao was driving back was dark brown, while this one was reddish.

The women who were picking vegetables whispered among themselves, "Oh dear, could it be that the Lin Chuntao sisters bought two mules? I just saw Lin Chuntao drive one back, and now she's driving another one."

Upon hearing this, the woman in the field above frowned slightly.

"No way, isn't one mule enough?"

Those nearby, overhearing the conversation, laughed and said, "Hey, why don't you just ask Chunxing?"

The person who spoke first raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Sister-in-law, your place is closer, you can ask."

The plots of land weren't far from the roadside, and before Lin Chunxing even got close, she heard the woman's greeting.

"Chunxing, you're back?"

Hearing this, Lin Chunxing smiled and replied, "Auntie, are you picking vegetables?"

The woman responded, then smiled and said, "I just saw your sister driving a mule back this morning. Did your family buy two?"

Lin Chunxing looked at the mule slowly walking forward and called out in response.

"Yes, we bought two. We originally only wanted to buy one, but the mule seller insisted on selling both together, saying that if the two mules were separated from the other one, they wouldn't eat grass. So my sister had no choice but to buy both."

The women were stunned by Lin Chunxing's words and exclaimed, "You've all been fooled! How can you say something like that?"

Lin Chunxing feigned surprise and exclaimed, "Isn't that the case? The mule seller said that these two mules have been raised together since birth, and they won't eat grass unless one is around. My sister took a liking to one of them, but she was worried that it wouldn't eat grass after we bought it, so she bought both of them!"

Lin Chunxing's words were sincere and didn't seem like a lie at all. The women exclaimed and hurriedly said, "That mule seller must have lied to you because you're young women! How much did you pay?"

Lin Chunxing shook her head and replied, "My sister bought it. I forgot to ask her how much it cost."

As they spoke, Lin Chunxing and the others gradually walked away, and the women sighed in the field.

"This Chuntao seems quite clever, how could she be fooled by a mule seller!"

One person sighed, and the person next to him smirked and said, "It's because they have money. If they didn't have money, no matter how much they tried to fool people, they couldn't afford both of them."

"So what if you have money? When you're not thinking straight, you'll still get swindled out of it."

In just one afternoon, the news of Lin Chuntao being cheated when buying a mule spread throughout the village. Those who were initially envious felt much better after hearing the story of how she was tricked.

When they got home, Pei Ying told Lin Chuntao what Lin Chunxing and the villagers had said. Lin Chuntao smiled. Some people in the village were envious when the new house was built, but at that time she said that they were in debt and didn't have any food.

The harvest is over now. When they carried the corn back from the field, everyone in the village saw it. The corn harvest was very good. Originally, everyone thought she had planted it for nothing because she planted it late, but they didn't expect such a good harvest. They must feel a little resentful.

They went to the county town to set up a stall every day, and Chai Xingyu and the others often came to their house to buy sauces. Everyone in the village guessed that they were making a lot of money. If you don't buy things for your home, no one can guess how much money you've made. But once you buy things, it's impossible to hide. Especially livestock. The villagers cherish chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and mules. Almost every household wants to have them, but they're not cheap, making it difficult to acquire and even more likely to make others envious.

Lin Chunxing's words are good; they can make those who have reservations feel a little more at ease.

Today's lunch was stinky tofu in a clay pot with rice noodles. Lin Chunxing has been practicing making it lately, and it's been nothing but soup noodles lately. Lin Chuntao is actually getting a little tired of it.

She smiled and said to Lin Chunxing, "The taste seems to be stable now, let's have stir-fry for dinner."

We've eaten a lot of pig's head meat and chicken these past few days, and the whole family has visibly gained weight.

"Is the taste stable now?" Lin Chunxing asked. Lin Chuntao, Pei Ying, and Lin Chunhe all nodded in unison. Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Then I'm relieved. I was worried that things wouldn't go well when the shop opened."

After saying that, Lin Chunxing added, "Sister, Sister Yu and the others work quickly. Shouldn't we pick a date for opening? We should also tell the customers about the stall, otherwise they won't be able to find it when we move it over."

Lin Chuntao nodded.

"We need to find a date in advance. I'll go check on Aunt Yu and the others' progress tomorrow so we can confirm the opening date. Once the date is confirmed, we'll give our regular customers a discount coupon."

What is a discount coupon?

The younger sisters asked in unison, and Lin Chuntao paused for a moment before saying, "Simply put, it means giving them a note that they can get a discount when they come to eat noodles."

In other words, although Lin Chunxing had never seen this thing before, she understood Lin Chuntao's explanation.

Just like when they gave away braised eggs, even just one egg could attract a huge crowd. Even after they started charging for it, people who like braised eggs will still come to buy it.

"Sis, shouldn't we make some more of those license plate tags?"

"Yes, we need to make some more."

Pei Ying said, "I'll make it for you when I have some free time these next two days."

Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Thank you, brother-in-law."

After saying that, Pei Ying asked Lin Chuntao, "Is your discount coupon also made of bamboo?"

Lin Chuntao shook her head, "Making that with bamboo would be too troublesome for such a large quantity; we need to use paper."

Pei Yingdao: "Write it one page at a time?"

"Find a piece of wood, carve the words, and make a seal. Then you can just print it directly onto the paper."

When Lin Chuntao said this, her younger sisters looked at her with admiration. Pei Ying said, "Then write down what words you want to carve, and I'll find some wood to carve them for you."

"You can do this too?"

Pei Ying smiled. In the past, when she was bored and had nothing to do, she gradually developed the skill by carving small trinkets.

In the afternoon, Fan Liniang brought Lin Jialang over for a visit.

Lin Chuntao led the people into the house, and Lin Duo'er went to make tea and brought it over. Fan Liniang said to Lin Chuntao, "Madam Lin, the batch of charcoal we fired last time has been sold out. This is the account book, and this is your share."

Lin Chuntao glanced at Lin Jialang, who was sitting quietly next to Fan Liniang. He pursed his lips after meeting her gaze.

She neither took the ledger nor the money, but fell silent.

Looking at Lin Chuntao's expression, Fan Liniang guessed that Lin Chuntao's feelings were complicated. Deep down, Lin Chuntao probably didn't want to accept the money, but they had a grudge against Lin Jialang and his group.

Fan Liniang said, "My lady, we only had a verbal agreement before. Today, let's write it down in black and white to keep a record."

"To be honest, my wife, there's been a lot of gossip in the village about us making and selling this charcoal. Let's put it in writing: this skill wasn't stolen by Jialang, but rather a collaboration between you and Jialang. You should also get a share of the profits."

Hearing Fan Liniang's words, Lin Chuntao frowned slightly.

"Someone said he stole it?"

Lin Chuntao asked casually, and Fan Liniang smiled and said, "A few idle words are nothing to worry about."

Lin Chuntao sighed softly. She hadn't kept the charcoal-making secret; in fact, many families in the village had made it before. However, no one had planned to sell it. The kilns they dug were small, and they only made a little for their own use.

Lin Jialang and his group built kilns and fired a lot of firewood, which they then sold. Some people, seeing that Lin Jialang and his group didn't get along with Lin Chuntao, were envious of his success and even tried to drag Lin Chuntao into it.

Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Jialang and asked, "You don't have any complaints about me taking 30% of the profits, do you?"

Lin Jialang was stunned by her question. When he came to his senses, he quickly waved his hand and said, "No, Sister Chuntao, I have absolutely no complaints."

He looked at Lin Chuntao, thinking about the money they had earned from this kiln of charcoal. If they had sold it as firewood in the past, he didn't know how long it would have taken to earn this much.

The villagers also started burning charcoal, but they weren't very good at controlling the heat, unlike Lin Chuntao who personally supervised the time. As a result, a lot of charcoal was produced, and not a single piece of firewood was wasted.

Although Lin Chuntao was cold on the surface and didn't give him a friendly look, she had promised to teach him and taught him seriously and responsibly, so he had to give Lin Chuntao every penny of the money.

Lin Chuntao looked at his appearance and smiled as she looked at Fan Liniang.

"Since Madam Fan says so, then let's sign a document in black and white."

Lin Chuntao agreed. Fan Liniang took out two pieces of paper from the account book, which were already written. Lin Chuntao took them and looked at them. Fan Liniang said, "These are what I wrote. Please take a look and see if there is anything that needs to be added."

The text above states the date and year when Lin Chuntao taught Lin Jialang the skill of making charcoal. It also states that the charcoal Lin Jialang made was used for trading, and that Lin Chuntao would receive 30% of the profits, with Meng Yun keeping the accounts.

No time limit was specified.

Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Jialang and asked, "We get less now because we sell less, but if the business grows bigger in the future, we'll get more. Why don't you put a time limit on it?"

Lin Jialang swallowed hard. He had actually thought about this problem before, but he didn't mention it to Fan Liniang, afraid that she would think he was stingy. He was also too embarrassed to mention it to Lin Chuntao, afraid that she would think he was calculating.

He never expected Lin Chuntao to bring it up. He glanced at Fan Liniang, whose expression was calm and unmoved.

During their time together, Fan Liniang proved to be kind and capable, skilled in calligraphy and embroidery. Despite being strangers living together, Fan Liniang treated him and his younger siblings as well as Meng Yue, as if they were her own children.

He was actually quite afraid that Fan Liniang and the others would look down on him.

Fan Liniang glanced at him and smiled gently, "Your sister is asking you a question. Just say what you think. Whether it's with family or dealing with outsiders in the future, you need to be honest."

Lin Jialang took a deep breath and asked Lin Chuntao, "Sister, can we write a time limit?"

Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow slightly. "Okay."

"Is fifty years enough?" Lin Jialang asked.

Upon hearing the number, Lin Chuntao and Fan Liniang both paused for a moment, but when they looked at each other, they both unconsciously twitched the corners of their mouths.

“Okay,” Lin Chuntao said.

Fan Liniang said, "Then I'll write it down for you."

The timeframe was written down in black and white, and Fan Liniang added a note about the date for payment.

After seeing Lin Jialang and Fan Liniang off, Lin Chuntao packed her things and went to the backyard to start preparing to make new chili sauce.