Lately, many people in the village have been making embroidery and selling it in town, and they've actually made quite a bit of money.

Previously, some people in the village made embroidery, but when they took it to the shops in town to sell, they were often pressured to lower the price, resulting in relatively low profits. However, recently, Huaxia Trading Company has been buying a lot of embroidery. Basically, as long as it's acceptable, they will accept it. However, they will still offer different prices depending on the quality of the embroidery.

The villagers made money following Lu Lin's lead, and their opinion of the Chen brothers and Lu Lin improved considerably. In the courtyard, several embroiderers gathered together to do embroidery.

"A couple of days ago, my husband took my embroidery to the Huaxia Trading Company. Guess what he saw?" the woman asked with a hint of pride.

"What did you see?!"

The woman said with some pride, "He saw the fans sold in the shop, and the fan surfaces were all made of cloth. The patterns on those fan surfaces were embroidered by me. The embroidery we made must have been made into fans."

"I've heard that our embroidery has been turned into round fans. They used to sell for 200 coins each, but the price seems to have come down a bit recently. However, they are still quite expensive."

"Two hundred coins! With that money, you might as well buy dozens of large palm-leaf fans." Although palm-leaf fans are cheap, many poor families are reluctant to buy them. They would only replace a fan when it was completely worn out.

“We think it’s expensive, but the ladies of the wealthy families in town don’t think so. I heard that when this fan first came out, many people bought it by the dozen or so.”

"Let's hurry up and make more embroidery. Once the weather gets cooler, these fans probably won't sell, and then we won't make any money."

"Grandma Shen has the best eye. She befriended Lu Lin early on. Now that she's in town, she should be earning a lot of money every month," a woman said sourly.

"I heard that Zhang Xiuhe wanted to take Grandma Shen's job, but Lu Lin didn't agree."

"Zhang Xiuhe is really something. They've already hired Granny Chen, how can they just replace her like that?" Actually, many women in the village envied Granny Chen's job, but as much as they envied her, they wouldn't just try to take it from her.

"Zhang Xiuhe is, after all, the village head's sister."

"What's wrong with the village head's sister? The village head can't be unreasonable!"

The village head still held some prestige in the eyes of the villagers. A woman smiled and changed the subject, "When my husband went there, he saw Chen Xiaocai working as the shopkeeper. That kid has really made something of himself! He doesn't even flinch at a few taels of silver in business. He seems very experienced."

"Chen Xiaocai is getting more and more capable. If you ask me, studying and becoming an official are all just pipe dreams. It's not that easy to become an official! It's better to be honest, learn a skill, and earn more money. That's more practical!"

As evening fell, Lu An returned home from town. "Did you receive the money?" Lin Xiuer asked.

Lu An nodded. "I've received this month's wages. They deducted two hundred coins from my wages as compensation."

Lin Xiuer said sullenly, "How could this happen?"

Lu An said sullenly, "The boss recently married a new wife, and that woman wants her younger brother to take over my job, so she's picking on me." Lu An's job involved managing over forty migrant workers, and many people were envious of it.

Lin Xiuer asked with some concern, "Then you won't lose this job, will you?"

Lu An shook his head and said somewhat arrogantly, "Probably not. I've been doing this for a long time, and the people under me listen to me very well. Even if the boss wants to replace someone, he should think twice."

Lin Xiuer breathed a sigh of relief when Lu An said no.

If Lu An loses his job, the old lady will definitely be angry.

“You’re considered an old hand, and a boss shouldn’t practice nepotism when hiring. I think it should be fine.” Lin Xiuer smiled, not knowing whether she was trying to convince Lu An or herself.

"By the way, is Chen Xiaomi really pregnant?" Lin Xiuer asked.

Lu An nodded and said, "She should be pregnant, probably a few months along."

Lin Xiuer asked, somewhat puzzled, "He's not feeling well, so why does the owner of Huaxia Trading Company still employ him?" Lin Xiuer thought the owner of Huaxia Trading Company was too strange. Chen Xiaomi was pregnant, and Chen Xiaomai was mentally challenged, yet he still didn't fire them.

Shuang'er has a low social status. When bosses in town hire workers, they generally prefer to hire men. If Shuang'er is pregnant, her work will definitely be affected, and the bosses will certainly not be willing to hire her.

Lu An shook his head and said, "The big boss of Huaxia Trading Company doesn't show up much. It seems that he has handed over all the affairs to Chen Xiaomi. I heard that Chen Xiaomi once saved the big boss's life by chance, so the big boss trusts him a lot."

Huaxia Trading Company is such a large trading company, yet the other party entrusted Chen Xiaocai to be the manager without any fear that Chen Xiaocai might make a mistake.

"Chen Chi and Chen Xiaocai are quite close."

Lin Xiuer pursed her lips and said, "Shen Chi is such a shameless child! A little Shuang'er is running around in public at such a young age. The Shen family isn't a good family either. There are only the two of them left in the family. Grandma Shen must be anxious about Shen Chi's marriage. So, she deliberately makes him stick to Chen Xiaocai."

"That brat Chen Xiaocai is no good. However, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi must have made a lot of money. If any family marries their daughter into his family, they should be able to get a decent dowry. Given Shen Chi's circumstances, it's not bad that he was able to find Chen Xiaocai."

Lu An narrowed his eyes. Chen Xiaocai seemed to have become one of the village's potential eligible bachelors. If Chen Xiaocai weren't still a bit young, someone would probably have already come to propose marriage. In the past, the village girls would always look down on Chen Xiaocai, but now they all praised his abilities.

Ultimately, when choosing a husband in the village, money is the deciding factor. Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin together earn more than forty taels a year. Given the relationship between the Chen brothers, it's impossible for Chen Xiaomi to be short of food and necessities for Chen Xiaocai.

Chen Xiaocai tapped away on his abacus. A couple of days ago, more people came, and he miscalculated the accounts. When he checked the numbers that evening, he found that he was short four hundred coins.

Chen Xiaocai was nearly frantic with worry at the sudden loss of so much money, but Lu Lin comforted him, saying that in business, there are always gains and losses, and that he should just be more careful next time.

The shop earns a good amount every day, so Lu Lin really doesn't need those four hundred coins.

"Hey Chen, getting the accounts settled?"

Chen Xiaocai was working on an abacus at the table when a plump woman, accompanied by a maid, stood in front of the counter.

Chen Xiaocai recognized the woman; she was a notorious shrew in the village. The little girl behind her had previously cursed her brother, saying he was destined to be like their father, a scourge that would die in the mountains. Of course, this wasn't the only one who said that; her grandmother spread the word throughout the village, and everyone else followed suit. The little girl hid behind the lady, completely different from Chen Xiaocai's impression of her.

Previously, when Chen Xiaocai met that girl, she thought that although she was young, she was already a little shrew. However, now that she was looking at the girl, she became shy and timid, which made Chen Xiaocai feel a little uncomfortable.

"Auntie, is there anything you'd like to buy?"

The plump woman smiled and said, "The things in your shop are all too precious. Xiao Cai, you must be paid quite a bit for working in a shop like this. Your shop's daily profit must be quite high."

Chen Xiaocai said calmly, "The profits belong to the boss. We only get a fixed salary, not much money."

The plump woman smiled and said, "The boss isn't here, so how much you're paid is up to your brother."

Chen Xiaocai forced a smile and said, "Of course, we can't do things recklessly like this."

Recently, more and more people have been asking him about his wages, and Chen Xiaocai has long been used to it.

The woman chatted with Xiao Cai for a while, asking many questions, before finally leaving, which annoyed Chen Xiao Cai.

In the sweltering summer heat, people often lose their appetite. Lu Lin cooked a large pot of mung bean porridge, let it cool in well water, and then shared it among everyone. It always made people feel exceptionally satisfied.

As evening fell, Chen Xiaocai closed the shop and shared a bowl of mung bean porridge with Xiaomai and the others.

Lu Lin stood at the entrance of the hall, stared at Chen Xiaocai for a while, said nothing, and left.

Chen Xiaomai looked at Chen Xiaocai with a strange expression and said, "Second Brother, Brother Lu was staring at you the whole time, like he was going to sell you off."

Chen Xiaocai glanced at her younger brother and said irritably, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Chen Xiaocai didn't think Lu Lin would sell him off, but he felt that Lu Lin's eyes were strange, and he might be up to something again, or maybe he would send him to a neighboring town like before.

Chen Xiaomai glanced at Shen Chi and said, "Brother Shen, do you think Brother Lin was acting strange just now?"

Chen Chi nodded and said, "It is a bit strange."

Chen Xiaomai grinned happily when she saw that Chen Chi agreed with her.

Lu Lin walked into the room and saw Chen Xiaomi, who was concentrating on making fans. There was already a thick stack of fans next to her, and two fans that had not been finished were left aside.

Lu Lin said with some heartache, "There are still plenty of fans in stock, you don't need to work so hard."

Chen Xiaomi shook her head and said, "No, it won't work! Aren't we supposed to send a batch of goods to Liuzhen in a few days?"

Lu Lin stroked his chin and said, "Perhaps business isn't good in Liuzhen."

Chen Xiaomi glared at Lu Lin and said, "You jinx! Business in Liuzhen is much better than here."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Today, I ran into Aunt Zheng from the village."

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Is it Zhang He's daughter? Yes, it's her."

"That shrew!" Chen Xiaomi wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Her son likes to bully Xiaoxiaocai."

Lu Lin said with some surprise, "Is that so? She came to me today and said that Xiao Cai is not young anymore and it's time to settle down."

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "You mean, she wants to marry her fat girlfriend off to Xiao Cai?"

Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's how it is."

Chen Xiaomi rolled her eyes and said, "Her little chubby girl has always disliked Xiaocai, and they've even argued about it before."

"Have there been any conflicts?" Lu Lin asked.

“Before, that girl lost a handkerchief, which Xiao Cai found. Xiao Cai took it back to her, but the chubby girl complained that Xiao Cai had dirtied the handkerchief and insisted that Xiao Cai replace it with a new one.”

Lu Lin: "..."

“You can’t always look at people with old eyes. You don’t know, do you? Our Xiao Cai is in high demand now. Their family’s current conditions are considered pretty good by the villagers. They have a small three-room tile-roofed house in the countryside, and both he and Chen Xiaomi have decent jobs. Chen Xiao Cai is the shopkeeper and knows how to calculate and keep accounts, so she should be considered quite capable.”