Lu Lin went to the countryside to collect wild berries. Old Mrs. Chen ran to watch from afar, and when she saw Zhang Rui, she became quite angry.
Previously, when Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen went to their son-in-law's house to ask for money, they were scared away by Zhang Rui and lost face. Grandma Chen disliked this son-in-law very much and also hated Zhang Rui.
Seeing her grandson getting involved with Lu Lin, the old lady felt that her daughter and that scoundrel Chen Xiaomi were in cahoots, deliberately trying to bring her bad luck.
Grandma Chen sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said sullenly, "After all, she's a married daughter, like water spilled from a bowl. I never expected Chun'er to be so heartless."
Old Master Chen was also somewhat frustrated. Chen Jing had caused such a big problem, and Old Master Chen still hoped that his daughter could share some of the burden.
If Lin Chun'er had married an ordinary person, the two elders would have made a scene, and Lin Chun'er would definitely have had to pay a price. However, since Lin Chun'er married a butcher, the two elders of the Chen family were so frightened that they returned home.
Lu Lin collected the wild berries and returned to town. The Chen family's thoughts had no effect on Lu Lin at all.
As soon as Chen Xiaomai got home, she found Chen Xiaomi and presented her treasure.
"Brother, look, there's a snake."
"Not bad, it's a very big snake, and it looks quite fat!" Unlike Lu Lin, Chen Xiaomi was still very respectful.
Chen Xiaomi spent some time in the mountains and often managed to catch snakes.
If Chen Xiaomi catches a snake, the three brothers will eat roasted snake meat in the mountains. Therefore, in Chen Xiaomai's eyes, snakes are no different from chickens and ducks; they are all edible.
Chen Xiaomai tilted her head and said, "I showed it to Brother Lin, but he didn't want to see it. Qin Ming said Brother Lin is afraid of snakes. Brother Lin is so capable, would he be afraid of snakes?"
Chen Xiaomi: "..." Lu Lin is probably afraid of snakes. Before, when he encountered a snake, he would always cut off its head and repeatedly confirm that it was dead before daring to approach it.
Chen Xiaomi rubbed her nose and said, "Your brother Lin doesn't like this stuff. If you catch this again, you don't need to show it to your brother Lin."
Chen Xiaomai tilted her head and said, "So Brother Lin is really afraid of snakes. I didn't expect Brother Lin to be so useless."
Chen Xiaomi: "..."
Lu Lin busied himself hauling a large cartload of wild berries into the yard, completely unaware that his tall and mighty image in Chen Xiaomai's mind had crumbled. Chen Xiaomi came out, looked at the wild berries in the yard, frowned, and said, "Isn't this too much?"
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, that's why we need to deal with it quickly." Anything that can't be properly disposed of will just have to stay at the convenience store for now. "We probably don't have enough jars for jam, go buy some more."
Without hesitation, Chen Xiaomi replied, "Okay."
Zhang Rui and Qin Ming were washing wild berries in the yard, while Chen Xiaocai was also washing and eating them as she went...
Zhang Rui said with a headache, "Boss, these wild berries are even harder to store after washing!"
Qin Ming glanced at Zhang Rui and said, "Don't worry, Brother Lu will be able to sell them all."
Qin Ming had a somewhat blind admiration for Lu Lin. Ever since Lu Lin sold a doll for several dozen taels of silver, or even earlier, Qin Ming had admired Lu Lin immensely. In Qin Ming's view, everything Lu Lin did was right. Lu Lin would never do a losing business.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi went into the kitchen and chased everyone else out.
Lu Lin had previously produced a batch of jam, and the sugar in the convenience store was almost used up. Now, Lu Lin had to buy sugar separately, which greatly increased the production cost.
Looking at the several baskets of washed wild berries, Chen Xiaomi said, "There are quite a lot. It won't be easy to sell them all at once!"
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, so many wild berries. It would be troublesome if we just kept them. We can send a batch to Liuzhen to sell."
"Let's make jam first," Chen Xiaomi said.
Chen Xiaomi licked her lips. It had been a long time since Lu Lin had made jam. Thinking about it, she really missed it.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Okay."
Lu Lin poured a large amount of wild berries into the pot, while Chen Xiaomi helped watch the fire.
After making the jam, Lu Lin took it directly to the shop to sell, charging one tael of silver per bottle.
They also offered a discount: customers who purchased goods worth three taels of silver or more in the store would receive a free jar of jam. Many people in Lin Town had previously tasted the jam that Lu Lin had consigned to restaurants, so they were very receptive to the jam. As soon as the jam was released, many people came to buy it.
Because they offered free jam with every purchase of three taels of silver, sales of other items in the store quickly increased.
Yang Hengzhi saw the jam for sale in the shop and waved to buy eight bottles. "Brother Lu, you've finally started selling jam again."
Grandma Yang was a fan of jam. She used to really like the jam sold in the restaurant.
Lu Lin sighed and said, "There's nothing we can do. Business is slow. If we don't develop some other products, we won't be able to make ends meet."
Yang Hengzhi smiled helplessly and said, "Brother Lu, you're being dishonest. Everyone knows that your business is the best on the whole street, with customers coming in droves."
Lu Lin smiled and said, "You flatter me."
Three days later, Lu Lin went with the convoy to deliver the goods. Fearing that the jam would spoil on the way, Lu Lin put several empty jars on the vehicle to avoid suspicion, and kept the real jam in a small shop to keep it fresh. He then went with the convoy to Liuzhen.
Chen Xiaocai was very excited to see Lu Lin coming over.
"Brother Lin, did you bring jam?" Chen Xiaocai asked.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaocai and asked with some suspicion, "How do you know about the jam?"
"Because there's a promotion in Lin Town where you get free jam with every purchase, someone asked me yesterday if I sell jam," Chen Xiaocai said.
Lu Lin raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: I didn't expect the news to spread so quickly, it's already reached here.
"I brought you a batch, but the jam has a limited shelf life. If you can't sell it before then, don't keep it, just throw it away," Lu Lin instructed.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "I know."
Chen Xiaocai thought to herself: Throw it away? Luckily Lu Lin came up with the idea that if it can't be sold out within the deadline, it will naturally be eaten.
Lu Chengyu failed the spring exam again. After a period of commotion at home, he went back to school.
Lu Chengyu has been studying for so many years, and his family is counting on him to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, bringing glory to the family. Under such circumstances, unless the difficulties become extremely severe, the Lu family will not give up easily.
However, the Lu family is not what it used to be. Although the old lady loves Lu Chengyu, she gives him less pocket money.
Being penniless at the academy meant losing face, and Lu Chengyu's personality became much more gloomy than before.
"Brother Lu, it's been a long time since I've seen Brother Chen. Do you know how he is doing?" Liu Feng asked.
Chen Jing often swindled money from the old lady of the Chen family and went out to fool around with his cronies from school. Liu Feng was one of them. Chen Jing's disappearance was a pity for several of his old friends.
Lu Chengyu said calmly, "Something happened in his family, so he's not going to study anymore."
Liu Feng sighed and said, "So it really is because of the loan he took out at exorbitant interest rates before?"
Chen Jing had previously asked Liu Feng for money, but Liu Feng and Chen Jing were just drinking buddies, so when it came to actually borrowing money, Liu Feng naturally avoided him.
Lu Chengyu nodded and said, "That's right."
Lu Chengyu originally thought Chen Jing was quite annoying, but when Chen Jing suddenly stopped studying, and there was no one in the village to keep him in line, Lu Chengyu became somewhat uneasy.
Liu Feng sighed and said, "I didn't expect Chen Jing to give up like this. Brother Cheng Yu, I heard that you have a cousin named Lu Lin who married into Chen Jing's cousin Shuang'er."
Hearing Liu Feng mention Lu Lin, Lu Chengyu couldn't help but feel a little sad. Nowadays, when people in the village talk about Lu Lin, they mostly praise him, which makes Lu Chengyu feel very uncomfortable.
“There’s an old scholar in our village who has spent his whole life taking the imperial examinations but has never passed the lowest level. He opened a school in the village to teach people to read, but the tuition is high, so not many people in the village go there. I heard that last winter, he was invited to work at the Huaxia Trading Company.”
Lu Chengyu asked with some doubt, "What is he doing at the Huaxia Trading Company?"
Liu Feng fiddled with the folding fan in his hand and said, "It seems to be for the enlightenment of a few kids from the Huaxia Trading Company. According to that old scholar, it's mainly for teaching Chen Xiaocai and Xiao Shuang'er. The master really has too much money, even getting Shuang'er to learn to read together. Isn't this ridiculous?"
Lu Chengyu asked with some suspicion, "Is Xiao Shuang'er a bit silly?"
Liu Feng shook his head and said, "I heard there's a simpleton, but he's just an eavesdropper who often slips out halfway through. There's also a twin, who seems to be engaged to the master's son, so they're being trained together."
Lu Chengyu immediately thought of Shen Chi. For a while, many people in the village were saying that Shen Chi and Chen Xiaolai were having an affair. It seemed that Shen Chi's reputation was about to be ruined. But then, Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi actually got engaged. It is said that many girls in the village envied Shen Chi's good fortune. A few years ago, Lu Chengyu would never have imagined that Chen Xiaolai, who was born but not raised, could become such a hot commodity.
Liu Feng shook his head and said, "What use is it for Shuang'er to learn to read? That old scholar said the master is too unreliable, but the tuition fee is quite high, so we have no choice but to reluctantly agree. Cheng Yu, is your younger brother very rich? He actually has money to hire someone to teach Shuang'er."
Lu Chengyu said sullenly, "I don't know either. I just heard that he works for a big boss at Huaxia Trading Company, and that big boss hasn't come back for a long time."
Lu Chengyu thought to himself: Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi must have taken a lot of kickbacks, otherwise, how could Lu Lin have gone through so much trouble? The fact that Lu Lin actually found someone to teach Chen Xiaocai to read surprised Lu Chengyu.
Lu Chengyu had always been proud of his ability to study, and seeing that Chen Xiaocai and Chen Chi also received such treatment, he couldn't help but feel resentful.
Liu Feng said sourly: "This Huaxia Trading Company must have made a lot of money. The boss behind it is really carefree to entrust it to a lesbian."
Lu Chengyu thought to himself: The rumors about Lu Lin taking kickbacks in this village have spread so far, yet the boss behind the scenes still hasn't shown his face. I wonder what's going on.
I heard that Chen Xiaomi raises sheep and children in her house, practically ruling the world. Chen Chi sat opposite Chen Xiaocai, eating jam, a hint of difficulty flashing across his face.
"Is it okay for us to eat jam like this? It's very expensive!" Chen Chi said with some difficulty.
Chen Xiaocai waved his hand and said, "Eat up, eat up. Brother Lin said before he left that if you can't finish it, just throw it away. Such good food shouldn't be wasted."
Chen Chi said somewhat awkwardly, "Actually, we can sell it if we lower the price."
Chen Xiaocai shook her head and said, "Lowering the price is not an option. Brother Lin said that we are going to take the high-end route." Besides, Lu Lin didn't leave much jam, and it would be sold out soon even if the price wasn't lowered. Chen Xiaocai only said that to Chen Chi so that Chen Chi wouldn't feel burdened when eating jam.
Chen Chi scooped up a mouthful of jam, put it in his mouth, and said happily, "It's delicious."
Chen Xiaocai took a bite and thought to herself: It's delicious, but it seems a bit too sweet. Chen Xiaocai was surprised to find that her taste was actually becoming closer to that of Lu Lin, the picky guy.
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