When Lu Lin returned, Liu Guiyong and the others had already left.

"You seem to be in a good mood!" As soon as Lu Lin entered the house, he saw a basket of things in front of Chen Xiaomi, her face beaming with joy.

Chen Xiaomi nodded. "The village head and Uncle Liu from Dawan Village came by and brought some things. They said it was to thank you for helping to sell sweet potatoes. Look here, it's all from their village."

"Uncle Liu is too kind. The village head of Dawan Village is here too."

Chen Xiaomi nodded. "The village head of Dawan Village was very polite." The other person seemed to respect him greatly. Chen Xiaomi had always been looked down upon, so it was rare to be respected like this.

Lu Lin smiled and said, "Really? The village head of Dawan Village is a nice person."

Lu Lin had visited Dawan Village several times and had several interactions with the village head, finding him to be an approachable person.

"She doesn't seem to have any airs," Chen Xiaomi said.

The news of the unsold sweet potatoes in Dawan Village also reached Dashi Village. The two villages are neighboring villages, and many families in Dashi Village have kinship ties with those in Dawan Village.

The people of Dashi Village were aware of the problem of unsold sweet potatoes in Dawan Village. Initially, when the people of Dashi Village heard that the sweet potatoes in Dawan Village were too small to sell, many of them expressed their sympathy. However, soon after, they heard that the sweet potatoes in Dawan Village were becoming a hit.

The dried sweet potatoes made from sweet potatoes from Dawan Village are delicious. Many people in the town like to buy the smaller sweet potatoes from Dawan Village, which has driven up the price of sweet potatoes from Dawan Village.

The people of Dashi Village made inquiries and discovered that the matter was actually related to Lu Lin. It was Lu Lin who made sweet potatoes from Dawan Village into dried sweet potatoes and gave them away as gifts, which made Dawan Village's sweet potatoes famous and caused the small sweet potatoes from Dawan Village to suddenly become in short supply.

In fact, a few families in Dashi Village secretly followed the people in Dawan Village and planted sweet potatoes. Originally, these families were also worried, but now that the sweet potatoes are in short supply, they are relieved.

There were still too many sweet potatoes in Dawan Village, and it would be difficult to sell them all. After thinking it over, the village head called on the whole village to make dried sweet potatoes for sale.

After Lu Lin found out, he bought a batch of dried sweet potatoes from Dawancun and put them in his shop to sell.

After the news spread, everyone in the village thought Lu Lin was amazing; the problem of unsold sweet potatoes in Dawan Village was solved so easily.

As time went on, rumors spread that Lu Lin, who had made a name for himself in town, was now a successful man in the village.

Wherever Tang went, he could hear villagers praising Lu Lin. These villagers all relied on the land for their livelihood, and the unsold grain was a big problem. Lu Lin solved the problem in one fell swoop, which raised his status in the hearts of the villagers to a new level.

Lu Lin remained in town, completely unaware that he had once again become famous in the countryside.

The Zhang family.

Zhang Cheng, smoking a cigarette, said, "That kid Lu Lin has really gotten to know things."

A while ago, Zhang Cheng met the village head of Dawan Village, who was frowning, but now he was beaming with joy.

Sweet potato chips from Dawan Village seem to be very popular, and a lot have already been sold. Although making sweet potatoes into chips is a bit of work, they sell much better after being made into chips, and some have even been sold to other towns and cities. Many people in Dawan Village have made a lot of money.

I heard that many people send things to Lu Lin after they make money.

Zhang Jin nodded and said, "Yes, if it weren't for Lu Lin, the families in Dawan Village would have had a hard time getting through the winter."

"He's so capable, yet he doesn't even help the villagers. He's so concerned about the affairs of Dawan Village, but he doesn't even know where he came from."

Zhang Jin thought to himself: Although Lu Lin is from Dashi Village, isn't he having a bad time there? Besides, many people in the village sell their embroidery to Lu Lin. The embroidery skills of the women in the village are still somewhat inferior to those of the embroiderers in town who specialize in this craft. Lu Lin accepts the embroidery from the villagers mostly because they are from the same village.

Liuzhen.

Looking at the dried sweet potatoes, Chen Xiaocai said happily, "This tastes good."

Chen Chi nodded and said, "Yes, the dried sweet potatoes I've eaten before weren't as sweet as this."

"Brother Lin, it seems like it's been a while since you've been here," Chen Xiaocai said, scratching his head.

Chen Chi nodded and said, "The sweet potato pancakes that Brother Lin made last time he came over were really delicious."

Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Brother Lin's cooking skills are excellent."

Back in the countryside, Lu Lin used to cook often, but he didn't cook much after moving to town. However, if his older brother wanted something to eat, Lu Lin would usually make it.

Chen Xiaocai felt that many of the things Lu Lin made were very novel and that ordinary cooks could not make them.

After the people of Dawancun started selling dried sweet potatoes, the free gifts offered as gifts with sweet potatoes in the shops lost some of their novelty.

Lu Lin collected some spiky chestnuts and made them into sugar-roasted chestnuts, intending to give them away as gifts.

After making the sugar-roasted chestnuts, Lu Lin asked a few people to try them.

Chen Xiaomai was very enthusiastic about the roasted chestnuts, clapping continuously as she ate them.

Qin Lang and Qin Ming ate a bowl of roasted chestnuts together.

"Brother Lin, I didn't expect the stuff inside this spiky ball to be so delicious. I've encountered this before, but I didn't know it was edible. It's such a waste."

Qin Ming nodded and said, "I've seen them too, and I've seen a lot of them. If I had known they were edible, I should have picked them all up."

Qin Ming remembered that there were several thorny bushes on his father's land. He had always thought there was nothing to eat, but he was completely wrong. It wasn't that there was nothing to eat, but that he didn't know how to eat.

Qin Lang thought to himself: If I have time to go back to the mountains, I must get more good stuff.

Seeing Qin Lang and Qin Ming's naive and unsophisticated expressions, Lu Lin smiled. Their shop was about to become popular again. Chen Xiaomi used to be a hunter and knew a few people in the same trade. Qin Yi was a mountain dweller. The two of them talked to a few people in the mountains about buying thorny balls, and the people readily agreed. Hunters and mountain dwellers didn't have much income, and Lu Lin's willingness to buy thorny balls would give them an extra source of income.

Before long, a large number of spiky balls were delivered to Lu Lin, who then made some sugar-roasted chestnuts to distribute as gifts.

Sweet potato chips are very common, but roasted chestnuts are different. Many people in the town have never seen chestnuts before, while people in the countryside have seen them, but they have no idea that they are edible.

Being able to eat something you've never seen before is a novel experience for many people.

After the roasted chestnuts were given away as a free gift, some people even came to buy other items just for the free gift.

Yang Hengzhi looked at Lu Lin and said, "Brother Lu, your store's free gifts are really popular!" The dried sweet potatoes a while ago solved the problem of unsold sweet potatoes in Dawan Village, and the sugar-roasted chestnuts recently have also created a craze.

Lu Lin smiled and said, "I have to thank everyone for their support."

Yang Hengzhi looked at Lu Lin and said, "Sell me some chestnuts."

"Sure!"

Yang Hengzhi was somewhat surprised by Lu Lin's quick agreement, but then felt deflated when he saw the small bag of chestnuts Lu Lin had taken out. "That's all?"

"There aren't many of these, and they're being given away as freebies, so I can only sell you a little," Lu Lin said with a forced smile.

Yang Hengzhi said sullenly, "Fine."

The roasted chestnuts at Huaxia Shop have recently become very popular, with many students buying them from the shop. When Yang Hengzhi and his classmates get together, it's quite prestigious to have a small bag of roasted chestnuts.

After selling the grain, the Lu family had less than ten taels of silver left after deducting taxes and wages for the laborers.

Looking at the silver in her hand, Wang said, "This year is supposed to be a bumper year! But the crops in the fields don't look very good to me!"

Grandpa Lu sighed and said, "This land needs to be carefully tended. If you don't take care of it, it won't take care of you. If no one waters or fertilizes the land, it will naturally not grow well."

This manure is the best for nourishing the soil, but it's too dirty. No one in this family wants to do such work, let alone use wood ash to nourish the soil. Nobody thinks of watering or weeding the crops in the field on a regular basis. How can they grow well like this?

Wang gritted her teeth and said, "My daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law are about to give birth, and hiring a midwife will cost money again."

Old Master Lu glanced at Wang Shi and warned, "What are you thinking? We can't skimp on this money!"

Wang smiled awkwardly and said, "What kind of person do you take me for?"

Grandpa Lu sighed, feeling that life was poorer than before, and there was no peace at home. His eldest son and youngest son argued every day, as did his daughter-in-law. Grandpa Lu had aged considerably in this period of time.

After the autumn harvest, bad news came from the town: the authorities were going to conscript laborers.

Knowing that the authorities were going to conscript laborers, the village couldn't help but feel gloomy.

Lu Lin lives in town and is well-informed.

I know that this conscription is mainly for building bridges and roads, and it won't take long, about twenty days. If I don't want to go, I can pay to offset it.

When news of the forced labor reached the village, it cast a pall of gloom over the place.

The regulations stipulated that if a family had two or three able-bodied men aged twelve to fifty, one of them would have to pay a corvée labor fee; if a family had four able-bodied men, two of them would have to pay a fee. To be exempted from corvée labor, one tael of silver would have to be paid. Chen Xiaomi had already separated from her family, and her family would also have to pay one. Lu Lin planned to pay one tael of silver to redeem her. For Lu Lin, whose wealth was approaching one thousand taels of silver, one tael of silver was really nothing.

One tael of silver was nothing to Lu Lin, but it was a lot to the villagers. The poorer villagers in the countryside had no choice but to send people to serve in the army.

Some people in the village were filled with anxiety because of the forced labor issue.

Many people crowded into the village head's house, creating a bustling atmosphere.

Actually, the position of village head is not easy to hold. In matters like corvée labor, the village head is responsible for assisting the officials in handling them. If one is not careful, one will be blamed.

The forced labor also affected the Lu family. Of the three able-bodied men in the Lu family, one had to be sent. Lu Chengyu, being a scholar, was naturally ineligible. Therefore, the choice was between Lu Ming and Lu An.

Neither of the two brothers wanted to go. The corvée labor was very hard, and if not done properly, it could even kill them. But if they didn't go, they would have to spend one or two taels of silver.

Old Master Lu sighed and said, "As for corvée labor, let's waive it by paying money."

Wang said dejectedly, "We don't have many taels of silver in the family, and now another tael is going out." Wang couldn't help but miss the time when the second wife was still alive. If the second wife were still alive, there would be no need to hire helpers in the fields, and the corvée labor could be done by the second wife.

"It wouldn't be good to send the eldest and fourth sons to do corvée labor, as the family is about to be expanded." Old Master Lu secretly felt that even if he sent his two sons, neither of them would be willing to go, and there would be a commotion.

Wang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Since the fourth son lost his job in town, things have been a bit tight for the family lately." The older Wang got, the more concerned she became about money. "This corvée labor is only for twenty days." That's equivalent to fifty coins a day, and fifty coins a day isn't easy to find!