Lu Lin discovered that the aesthetics of Linzhen and Liuzhen seemed to be somewhat different. Some bags that no one cared about in Linzhen were very popular in Liuzhen. Of course, some bags that sold well in Linzhen were ignored in Liuzhen.

Lu Lin discovered that both Lin Town and Liu Town had several so-called influential figures. The bags admired by these people were more likely to be favored by others, possibly similar to the celebrity effect in his previous life.

During this period, Lu Lin has launched a number of bags one after another.

For some wealthy people, what matters is not money, but being able to buy good things sooner. Therefore, although there is another shop in town that is similar but cheaper, their shop still sells better. After staying in town for a while, Grandma Shen thought that she hadn't been back for a while, so she took Shen Chi back to the countryside.

Knowing that Granny Shen was going back, Lu Lin lent her the donkey cart.

Grandma Shen and Lu Lin have become increasingly familiar with each other here, and she didn't refuse, thinking that she would bring Lu Lin more vegetables from the countryside when she came back.

There's still some distance between the town and the countryside, so when Lu Lin gets busy, he goes directly to the market to buy vegetables. In Grandma Shen's opinion, this is a huge waste.

Grandma Shen took Shen Chi to work in the fields for a while. When several villagers saw Grandma Shen and Shen Chi return, they immediately gathered around them.

"Grandma Chen, you're back! It's been quite a while since you last came back."

Grandma Shen smiled and said, "Yes!"

"Grandma Chen, you and Shen Chi work in town and never come back. Are you living in town?"

"yes!"

"The rent in this town is so expensive, it must be very costly for you to live there."

“The master is wealthy and has several servants’ rooms. He was assigned one, but there are no extra rooms available now.”

Grandma Shen smiled. There were only three servants' quarters in total, and it was really not easy for her and her grandson to have one. It must be Lu Lin taking care of them.

Housing is also a big problem. The female workers in this shop all live relatively close to the town. If they lived far away, they would waste a lot of time on the road.

“Achi, now that you stay in town every day, you’ve seen a lot of things.”

Chen Chi smiled awkwardly and said, "Auntie is joking."

"Are you joking? The Chen family's son used to help out at the shop, but he's disappeared recently. Has he been sold off?" a plump woman asked casually.

Chen Chi was startled by the woman's words, "How is that possible?"

The woman smiled awkwardly and said, "I heard it from the old woman in the Chen family. She said that Chen Xiaomi was stopping her from selling her grandson because she wanted to keep him for herself."

Chen Chi blinked, finding it hard to believe that such absurd rumors could circulate in the village.

Xiao Cai was clearly sent by Lu Lin to the next town to be a shopkeeper, yet some people in the village actually thought that Xiao Cai had been sold.

Grandma Shen, I heard that all the female workers in the shop are under his management. Grandma Shen smiled and said, "Yes, they are under his management. It's probably the boss's idea."

"Grandma Chen! Could you please come and help out at the shop?"

Granny Shen said with some difficulty, "I can't make that decision."

Although the house where Lu Lin and his family lived was quite large, the main house couldn't be touched; it was the big boss's territory, and Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi rarely went there. The east and west wing rooms were where the Chen brothers lived, and those also couldn't be touched. The only remaining rooms were three servants' quarters, which could accommodate a few people, but all of them required Lu Lin's approval.

The three servants' quarters were quite spacious, but in case of bad weather, some female workers might stay overnight in them, so they weren't always empty.

Grandma Shen and Shen Chi tidied up the land in the countryside. While Grandma Shen was busy working there, people would come up to ask if she could also work at the shop.

Seeing that Granny Chen disagreed, her expression turned rather unpleasant.

Helpless, Granny Shen hastily dealt with the weeds in the field and returned to town.

Lu Lin looked at Chen Chi and said with some surprise, "Someone from the Chen family said that I sold Chen Xiaocai."

Chen Chi nodded. "Yes, there are still people who believe it."

When Chen Chi returned to the village, he heard a lot of messy rumors. Some people speculated that Lu Lin was worried that Chen Xiaocai would take all of his and Chen Xiaomi's money in the future, so he sold Chen Xiaocai.

This rumor also has something to do with the Lu family. Madam Tang keeps arguing that Lu Lin is an idiot who makes money but doesn't know how to give it to his family, so that it all benefits an outsider like Chen Xiaocai.

Some people suspected that Lu Lin was worried that all the money would end up in Chen Xiaocai's hands, so he secretly kidnapped Chen Xiaocai. Lu Lin put his hands on his hips and couldn't help but scratch his head. There were actually such rumors. This was really a pain in the ass. Lu Lin took a deep breath and couldn't help but start thinking. It had been a while since he sent Chen Xiaocai away. It was indeed not appropriate to let a child stay outside for so long.

"You mean to have Wan Li switch the side dishes back?" Chen Xiaomi asked.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, I plan to move Wan Li to Liuzhen. As for here, let Xiao Cai handle it."

Chen Xiaomi hadn't seen Xiaocai for a while and missed her a bit.

Lu Lin sighed. There were drawbacks to bringing Chen Xiaocai back.

"If Xiao Cai becomes the manager, the Chen family will probably cause trouble again." Before, when Xiao Cai was just a helper, the Chen family couldn't sit still.

Chen Xiaomi pursed her lips and said, "If they come to cause trouble, just kick them out."

Lu Lin thought for a moment and said, "That's true. It's really worrying to leave such a child out here."

Granny Shen looked at Shen Chi and said, "Chi, you seem to be in a good mood!"

Chen Chi said somewhat awkwardly, "Brother Lin said he would bring the side dishes back."

Granny Shen asked with some doubt, "If we bring Xiaocai back, what will happen to Liucheng?"

Chen Chi blinked and said, "I heard that Manager Wan will be transferred there. Manager Wan is older than Xiao Cai, so he'll be more mature."

Grandma Shen said with some surprise, "Why are you suddenly transferring people back? Did Xiao Cai cause trouble over there?" In Grandma Shen's opinion, Chen Xiao Cai was capable, but still too young.

“I didn’t cause any trouble, but I told Brother Lin before that some people in the village said he sold the vegetables, maybe that’s why…” Chen Chi stammered at the end.

Shen Chi had always hoped that Chen Xiaocai would come back, but he didn't expect that telling Lu Lin would lead Lu Lin to transfer Xiaocai back. He just wanted to give Lu Lin a heads-up.

A few days later, when Lu Lin was transporting goods, he took Wan Li with him and brought Chen Xiaocai back with him.

When Chen Xiaomai saw Chen Xiaocai, she let out a howl and pounced on Chen Xiaocai, who then hugged her tightly.

The two brothers hadn't seen each other for a long time, and Chen Xiaomai was quite excited to see Xiaocai.

Chen Chi stood quietly to the side, watching Chen Xiaocai. When their eyes met, they both blushed.

Lu Lin watched from the side, rolled his eyes, and thought to himself that the kids of this era are something else, dating at such a young age.

Lu Lin thought about it again and felt that it was good to find a suitable partner as soon as possible. In this place, marriages are often arranged by parents and matchmakers. Some couples have never even met before getting married, and after marriage, they dislike each other but still have to make do with each other.

Although there are many ill-fated marriages here, divorces are relatively rare.

In a place where even getting enough to eat is a problem, divorce is naturally not something many people consider. Moreover, the social norms here are extremely strict, and many women, even if they are not doing well, will not mention divorce.

Wan Li was transferred away, so Chen Xiaocai took over the job of manager, and Lu Lin sent Chen Chi over to help.

Chen Chi had been weaving nets, but recently, some ordinary nets have been copied, and the price of nets has dropped. Lu Lin told Chen Chi to learn accounting from Wan Li in his spare time. During this period, Chen Chi has become very good at using an abacus.

Previously, Wan Li, who was in charge of the shop, was a servant who had signed a contract of servitude. Outsiders did not know Wan Li's background and were quite wary of him.

After Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi took over the shop, villagers from Dashi Village would often try to curry favor with them in a roundabout way.

Sometimes, the store is packed with people, but no one is buying anything. They're all just chatting with Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi. Most of the people are very well-behaved, but some people just rub their hands on their bags and make them all dirty.

Chen Xiaocai is good at dealing with customers, but she struggles with these gossipy relatives.

Fortunately, it's not easy for villagers to come to town, and the shop isn't always this crowded.

The Chen family's life is getting better and better.

"Chen Xiaolai is so young, but she's quite good at using an abacus!"

I didn't notice Chen Xiaocai was so thin and small before, but now he looks quite handsome. He must be earning money helping out at the shop. Chen Xiaomi's whole family works in town; they must have made a lot of money.

Many villagers liked to visit Huaxia Trading Company when they went to the market. After seeing it, rumors spread throughout the village that Chen Xiaocai was young, promising, and capable.

When the villagers praised Chen Xiaocai, Old Mrs. Chen was not happy. She favored her eldest son's family, always thinking that they were the most successful and should be living the best lives. Chen Xiaomi's good performance in town made Old Mrs. Chen feel disgusted.

"I didn't expect the Chen brothers to actually establish themselves in the town." Village head Zhang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

“I visited Huaxia Trading Company a few days ago, and the business there is quite good,” Zhang Jin said.

Zhang Cheng said with envy, "Chen Xiaomi has really had a stroke of good luck. She actually got to work in a shop like that. There's a house right behind the shop, and it seems like Lu Lin arranges who lives there. If Lu Lin has so much power, maybe in the future, if people from our village want to stop by town, they can go to Lu Lin."

Zhang Jin said helplessly, "Father, what nonsense are you talking about?" Even if the house didn't belong to Lu Lin, it's not right to trouble him like this.

Seeing his son refute him, Zhang Cheng said somewhat unhappily, "Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi are from the village, so it's only right that they help the villagers. The inns in town are so expensive! I heard that Granny Shen and Shen Chi have a room all to themselves, and there's also a family of villagers from the mountains with two little kids staying there for a long time."

Zhang Jin glanced at Zhang Cheng and said sullenly, "Dad, did someone say something to you? Don't offend anyone for no reason!"

Zhang Cheng said somewhat awkwardly, "I was just saying it casually, but Lu Lin is the same. There are so many embroiderers in the village, yet he insists on using people from other villages."

"Did your aunt say something to you?" Zhang Jin has an aunt who also knows some embroidery. She occasionally goes to town to sell some embroidery to supplement the family income.

Her aunt has a bad habit: she likes to take advantage of others.

His wife also does embroidery. Some time ago, his aunt came over and took his wife's embroidery, saying she would help her sell it in town. His wife thought that since his aunt had many connections, she might be able to get a high price, so she entrusted it to his aunt. As a result, the money she got back was very little, not even enough to cover the cost of the fabric and needles. His aunt then kept telling his wife that there were too many embroidered items in town and that the prices had dropped.

After a few times, his wife no longer trusted his aunt, and as far as he knew, his aunt had indeed embezzled most of the money for the embroidery.

“Your aunt’s cooking skills are no worse than Granny Chen’s, but Granny Chen is getting old after all,” Zhang Cheng said.

Zhang Jin said sullenly, "Father, Lu Lin can use whomever he wants, so don't get involved."

“This isn’t a matter of skill. His aunt is no pushover. As far as he knows, Granny Shen holds a rather important position. Previously, two female workers in the Huaxia shop learned some skills and found another boss, which seems to have had a significant impact on the business.”

The Chen brothers are doing quite well now, and Zhang Jin doesn't want to offend anyone for his aunt's sake.