The old lady of the Lu family knew about the commendation order and stayed at home sulking.

"That emperor is really something. Lu Lin has done a good deed, and he just gives him a few words of praise and that's it. He doesn't even mention giving him any money," the old lady said bitterly.

Lu An sighed and said, "Mother, you can't say things like that carelessly. If someone hears it, you'll be beheaded." Lu An still had a lot of respect for the emperor, and it would be terrible if word got out that he was criticizing the emperor.

The old lady said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm just talking about it at home, I won't go out and make a fuss. But this emperor is too stingy. Mother, you don't know, there is silver, I heard there are several thousand taels, but it wasn't sent here, it was sent to Sha County." Several thousand taels! Compared to that, his previous monthly allowance of two taels of silver was nothing, not to mention that he was now toiling in the fields for a living.

The old lady couldn't help but tear up. "This is too fair! That little bastard already has so much silver, and the emperor is still giving him more."

The old lady thought to herself: If only the money were delivered to her, she would never believe that Lu Lin could force her to hand it over once it was in her pocket.

For Old Madam Lu, nothing is more painful than having money but not being able to see or touch it. The fact that Lu Lin received the emperor's reward is enough to keep the old lady up at night for several days.

Looking at the old lady's reaction, Lu An felt somewhat helpless.

Lu An was filled with regret. He never expected Lu Lin to become so successful. If he had known, he should have clung to Lu Lin's coattails. If he had, he would be the magistrate's elder now, a position that would have been enough for him to swagger around.

Cheng Yu, that scholar, seems to be of little use except for exempting some land taxes.

Compared to the money Lu Chengyu had to spend on his studies, the tax exemptions seemed insignificant. Lu Lin was truly wealthy!

The old woman said with a dark face, "I heard that the butcher's family plans to seek refuge with Lu Lin."

Lu An frowned. When Lu Lin left, Zhang Rui couldn't go because his child had just been born. He heard that Lu Lin had left Zhang Rui some money. Recently, he heard that Zhang Rui was planning to go to Sha County with a caravan to seek refuge with Lu Lin.

In fact, Lu An also had the idea of ​​seeking refuge with Lu Lin, but he also understood to some extent that even if he went there, Lu Lin would not give him a friendly welcome.

It's quite a distance for them to get from here to Shaxian. If they don't get anything good from this round trip, then all their efforts will be in vain.

The old lady said angrily, "That scoundrel only knows how to take advantage of others, and that brat Lu Lin only knows how to benefit outsiders."

The old lady patted her chest. Every time she heard news about Lu Lin, she felt a lump in her throat. She had always thought Lu Lin was going too far, but these days, in addition to feeling that Lu Lin was going too far, she also felt a bit regretful. She suddenly realized that she shouldn't have raised her eldest grandson.

If Lu Lin had been allowed to study back then, things might be different now.

Chen Jing was busy in the field. At first, he was reluctant to go to the field, but over the years, he has been pushed and shoved, and has gradually become more like a farmer.

Years of habits are not easily changed, and Chen Jing still tends to avoid difficult tasks.

After a day in the fields, I would lie in bed all night with a sore back and aching muscles.

Chen Jing heard several people talking about Lu Lin, but he didn't go over to listen.

When villagers talk about Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi, they mostly talk about how successful the two are and how well they live. Over the years, Chen Jing has become somewhat numb to it. Although he has become numb, he still feels uneasy when he hears about it.

When Chen Jing returned home, he heard the old lady cursing and swearing.

"Mother, what is Grandma doing now?" Chen Jing asked.

After Chen Jing stopped studying, the old lady's attitude towards him worsened. After it was revealed that Chen Xiaomi was the owner of Huaxia Trading Company, the old lady became even more disappointed in Chen Jing. Now, the old lady and the old man prefer Chen He and Chen Qu, and Chen Jing feels that he has less and less status in the family.

Zhang said sullenly, "Your grandmother went to your aunt's house to ask for money, but she didn't get any."

Chen Jing sighed and said, "That butcher is not someone to be trifled with!"

Zhang said sullenly, "Your cousin has made a lot of money with Chen Xiaomi. Our Chen family should get a share of it."

The Zhang family.

"How could this happen?" Zhang Cheng murmured.

Zhang Cheng is getting old and has been gradually retiring from his position in the past two years. He has now handed over the village headship to his son.

Zhang Jin sighed and said, "Yes, I never expected Lu Lin to be able to do this. Even the Emperor treats him differently."

Zhang Cheng had always hoped that Lu Chengyu could bring glory to the clan, but unexpectedly, it was Lu Lin, who had never gotten along with Lu Chengyu, who accomplished this.

When the commendation came down from above, the Lu family became extremely embarrassed.

Lu Lin, a man favored by the Emperor, was married into the Lu family and is no longer related to them.

Now that Lu Lin has graduated, Lu Chengyu is inevitably being compared to him. With this comparison, all the villagers feel that the old man of the Lu family is blind, mistaking a fish eye for a pearl and a pearl for a fish eye.

Many villagers felt that Zhang Cheng lacked foresight and hadn't properly won over Lu Lin for the village. However, now that Lu Lin had gone to Sha County, some villagers who wanted to join him didn't have the courage. The journey to Sha County was long, and if they encountered some highway robbers on the way, it would be a huge problem.

"Regardless, Lu Lin being commended by the Emperor is still beneficial to our village," Zhang Jin said.

People from other villages probably wouldn't know the ins and outs of their village. If they talked about it, they would only say that Lu Lin had received an award from higher-ups.

Lu Lin, who was far away in Sha County, was unaware that the news of the emperor's commendation had reached his village. He became the center of attention and a source of pride for the village.

After the start of spring, Lu Lin began preparations to build a winery.

The tofu shop does good business, with people coming and going every day. The blacksmiths and carpenters who work for Lu Lin often help villagers sell their goods. However, the tofu shop's business is too thin; no matter how much they sell, they don't make much money.

Chen Xiaocai looked at Lu Lin and said, "Brother Lin, are you going to build a winery?"

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, selling tofu is a business, but the profit margin is too low. Brewing wine is much more profitable."

Chen Xiaocai nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes!"

Chen Xiaolai found two teenagers in the village to work as helpers in the shop, and basically stopped managing the tofu shop itself.

Buying a shop in Linzhen is not easy, but it is much simpler in Shacheng. There is plenty of vacant land, and it is very easy and cheap to build a winery.

During the winter, many people borrowed Lu Lin's mules and farm tools. Now that Lu Lin was going to repair the distillery, he gathered these people together to work.

One of the soldiers in the military camp, upon hearing that Lu Lin was going to build a winery, also came over to help during his summer vacation.

Lu Lin was taken aback to see so many soldiers coming to help him, and that they didn't want any money.

Lu Lin hadn't expected that his status among the patrol soldiers had become so high. These people were actually working for him for free, even though he had heard that the soldiers in the patrol battalion had never had a good impression of the county magistrate.

Lu Lin suddenly felt that he might be the kind of good official who shines and inspires others, and that the soldier, having discovered his noble character, would come to join him. Of course, all of this was just wishful thinking on his part.

"Brother Lin, the people from the patrol battalion don't want money, but they want good food. They want hot pot, egg pancakes, spring rolls, steamed cakes with brown sugar..." Chen Xiaocai said.

Lu Lin sighed and said, "We came here for the food!"

Right now, there's a food shortage, and the prices of many things are rising. If you want to eat these things, it will cost a lot of money.

Chen Xiaocai nodded, his expression strange, and said, "Now many people outside say that working for our county government is good food, and the cooks there are incredibly skilled."

Lu Lin: "..."

Lu Lin shook his head, thinking that Ji Yun'an probably ate a lot of food at his place and told the soldiers about it when he returned to the military camp. The seasoned soldiers in the camp probably took it to heart when they heard it.

Lu Lin shook his head and said, "Try to prepare the food as well as possible."

Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "I know, but oil is also in short supply right now." Lu Lin sighed and said, "I see. If he had known, he should have bought more oil. In my previous life, a bottle of oil didn't contain much."

“Several officers and soldiers asked me if the brewery we built was real,” Chen Xiaolai said.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's certainly true."

Chen Xiaocai smiled and said, "They told me to treat them to drinks after the rice wine is made."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's something we can consider."

If more wine is brewed in the future, a batch can be sold at a low price to people in the military camp, which can deepen the communication between the two sides. Wine is a good thing. It is easiest to communicate feelings when drinking.

The brewery was repaired quite quickly, with batches of migrant workers coming and going.

Originally, Chen Xiaocai's ledger contained many debts, but now, those who owed money have gradually paid them off.

Dinner is served.

Around noon, Chen Xiaomi called out softly, and all the migrant workers stopped what they were doing and walked toward the distillery's canteen.

Because there were many people eating, Chen Xiaomi simply set up a large round table.

"Brother Xiaomi, what are we having for dinner today?" Lei Zheng asked Chen Xiaomi with a fawning expression.

Chen Xiaomi said casually, "There's a braised chicken with potatoes." Compared to other dishes, chicken is still quite expensive, so Lu Lin added a lot of potatoes and bamboo shoots, so it should taste pretty good.

Lei Zheng nodded and said "Oh".

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lei Zheng and said, "You came yesterday too. Did you neglect your duties?"

Lei Zheng smiled and said, "How could that be? I just happened to be born on Xiu Mu Ri."

Chen Xiaomi looked at Lei Zheng and thought to herself: This guy seemed to have said the same thing a few days ago. Could it be that Lei Zheng came here specifically to work for a bite to eat?

As soon as the workers arrived at the dining hall, they sat down and started eating. Everyone was probably afraid of being shortchanged if they didn't eat enough, so they ate heartily and didn't talk much.

The dishes on the table were quickly devoured.

With many people working together, the distillery was quickly built.

After the winery was built, Lu Lin wanted to buy wine jars, but instead, the camp delivered many empty wine jars.

There was also a wine cellar in this patrol camp. With so many soldiers, they would occasionally drink some wine. After the wine was finished, the wine jars were left and piled up in an open area. Some villagers would secretly take one or two to use as pickling jars, but there were still quite a few left.

Knowing that Lu Lin wanted to brew wine, the camp gave him all the empty wine jars they didn't need, which saved him some money.

Wine jars also cost money. Although Lu Lin is not short of money, he would save money wherever possible.