Chen Xiaomi and the others arrived at the market early and secured a good spot.
Normally, you have to pay to reserve a spot at the market, but today is different; it's first come, first served.
The streets were already bustling with people, and numerous stalls had opened, selling everything from lanterns and wine to candied hawthorns, bamboo baskets, and linen... a wide variety of goods were available.
Lu Lin spread a piece of cloth on the ground and laid out three rows of gloves.
"This row costs three hundred coins a pair."
"These pairs cost five hundred coins each."
"These are two taels of silver a pair."
...
Chen Xiaocai looked at Lu Lin and said, "Two taels of silver!"
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes!"
Chen Xiaocai blinked and said, "How much rice can you buy with two taels of silver! And you want to sell a pair of gloves for that much?" Three hundred coins is also very expensive!
"This is fox fur, very rare." Chen Xiaomi caught the fox after winter. Some of the wealthy and powerful people in the town loved to use fox fur to make fox cloaks. Unfortunately, the fox that Chen Xiaomi caught had fallen into a trap beforehand, and its fur was a bit torn, so Lu Lin had Granny Shen make it into fox fur gloves.
"Xiaocai and Xiaomai, you two need to work hard when you start shouting! If we sell a lot of gloves, I'll buy you some sweet cakes," Lu Lin said.
Lu Lin was shy and felt a bit reluctant to publicly demand a price, but he felt no pressure at all when it came to bribing child laborers with small favors.
Upon hearing Lu Lin's words, Chen Xiaocai's eyes revealed a hint of disdain. He always felt that Lu Lin's tone was somewhat like that of a fox.
Chen Xiaomai blinked at Lu Lin and asked, "Tang Gao, really?"
Lu Lin nodded and said seriously, "Yes, it's sugar cake, really."
Chen Xiaomai, biting her finger, suddenly opened her mouth and shouted, "Gloves for sale! Gloves for sale!"
Chen Xiaocai blushed slightly as she watched Xiaomai working so hard. She thought to herself, "Third Brother is so easy to fool. I can lure him away with just a piece of sugar cake." Even so, Chen Xiaomai joined in the shouting.
Chen Xiaomai has been eating well lately and has grown up. Wearing a new cotton coat and a tiger-head hat, she looks very cute.
Chen Xiaomai's voice was crisp and bright, and soon people came to see what was new. However, because the gloves were too expensive, most people just glanced at them and left.
Seeing that many people were looking but few were buying, Chen Xiaocai became a little anxious. "Should we lower the price?"
Lu Lin shook his head and said, "No, this is the price."
Lu Lin thought to himself: Anyone with a keen eye can recognize the design of these gloves at a glance. If you want to make money, now is the time. In a few days, all sorts of gloves might come out, and they'll be worth even less. These gloves will just rot in my hands; I can't lower the price of them.
Chen Xiaocai looked at Chen Xiaomi for help, and Chen Xiaomi replied without hesitation, "Listen to him."
Chen Xiaocai blinked, vaguely sensing that her older brother was increasingly listening to Lu Lin. Although Shuang'er usually listened to the men in the family, Xiaocai always felt that her older brother was different, but...
Chen Xiaomi knew nothing about Xiao Cai's thoughts. He just thought that Lu Lin was a scholar who had seen a lot in his life. Since Lu Lin was the one who made this, he should listen to Lu Lin. If it really couldn't be sold, then it would just be a waste of some fur and cloth.
Lu Lin spotted a young man in a brocade hat and fur coat walking by with a pageboy and immediately gave Chen Xiaomai a wink.
When Chen Xiaomai was at home, she had already practiced with Lu Lin. She raised her hands and said, "Selling gloves! Selling gloves!"
The young master, who had been looking around curiously, was indeed drawn over. "What's this?"
Lu Lin eagerly picked up the most expensive fox fur gloves and introduced them, "These are gloves, young master. You'll be warm wearing these. They have a flap that can be closed to keep out the wind. You can also flip them up if you need to move around."
"Wearing these gloves makes practicing calligraphy in winter less cold."
The elegantly dressed young man's heart skipped a beat upon hearing Lu Lin's words. "It's exquisite, how much does it cost?"
Lu Lin smiled and said, "Two taels of silver."
The servant frowned and said, "Two taels of silver? You're robbing me!"
The servant looked at Lu Lin and thought he was being dishonest, thinking that Lu Lin was trying to swindle people just because his young master was well-dressed and rich.
Lu Lin glanced at the servant beside the young master and smiled to himself, thinking: "He's definitely someone who serves a rich man; he looks quite arrogant."
Lu Lin smiled calmly and said, "This is top-quality fox fur, and there are only a few pairs available. If you think it's too expensive, these rabbit fur pairs are only 300 coins a pair, which is very cheap. They are just simpler in style, but they are still very warm. You seem to be a very important person, so using rabbit fur doesn't suit your taste."
Liu Yi smiled and said, "Of course I want the best. Two taels of silver isn't expensive. I want two pairs of fox fur and five pairs of rabbit fur." Liu Yi considered it for a moment. She could use fox fur for herself, and rabbit fur for the gifts, since they looked about the same anyway.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's five taels and five hundred coins in total. Since you're the first customer, I'll just charge you five taels of silver."
"You're so generous, sir!" Liu Yi readily paid the money.
Liu Yi handed the silver to Lu Lin, who then gave it to Chen Xiaomi.
Chen Xiaomi put away the silver, somewhat amazed, thinking that it had actually sold, and seven pairs at once.
Lu Lin's products were novel, and many people were curious about them. However, many people just looked without buying. The animal hides were not expensive, and most people planned to make their own at home.
After Liu Yi left, several more people came to buy gloves, all of them the cheapest rabbit fur gloves.
...
More than an hour after Liu Yi left, there weren't many people buying gloves. Then, a wealthy-looking lady came and bought two pairs of fox fur gloves.
Chen Xiaomi couldn't help but think, "Wow, there are so many rich people in town! They buy this kind of thing for just two taels of silver."
After a while, six or seven people came together.
The group of people were all dressed well, clearly from wealthy families, and had come to buy some new goods.
Do you still have fox fur gloves?
Lu Lin looked at the group of people who had arrived, smiled, and said, "There are only four pairs left."
Lu Lin guessed that these people should know the young master who bought the gloves before. That young master probably showed off before.
"I want them all."
"Hou Li, that's not fair! We all came together, why do you want it all?"
The competitive spirit among wealthy young men is still quite strong. The price of fox fur gloves is a bit high for ordinary families, but it's nothing to a few rich young men who can eat half a year's worth of someone else's household expenses in a single meal.
"Brother, I'll offer three taels, sell them all to me."
"Yun Feng, you bastard, what you're doing is against the rules!"
...
Several wealthy young men, noisily snapping up all the gloves on the stall.
Seeing that all the gloves were sold out, Lu Lin was happy to close up shop early.
Of the more than one hundred pairs of gloves, seven pairs were fox fur gloves, which sold for fourteen taels of silver. The other wool and rabbit fur gloves were cheaper, but they sold for nearly forty taels because of the large quantity. In total, the trip earned fifty-four taels of silver.
Chen Xiaomi, her cheeks flushed, clutched the silver.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaomi and said, "Everything's sold out. Let's wander around a bit."
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Okay."
...
Lu Lin noticed that several familiar people were watching from the sidelines, and when the young masters came to snatch the goods, those people had strange expressions on their faces.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "I never imagined gloves could be so valuable! I should have made more to sell!" All his previous animal hides had been sold off cheaply! If he had made gloves from them, how much money would he have made!
Lu Lin squinted and said, "It won't be worth much next time. It's just that Granny Chen's cooking skills are better."
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Grandma Chen's cooking skills are quite good."
With money in her pocket, Chen Xiaomi, unusually generous, bought several pieces of sweet cake. The soft and chewy sweet cake was delicious. Chen Xiaocai and Chen Xiaomai ate it with great satisfaction.
At Lu Lin's request, Chen Xiaomi bought two new quilts. In Chen Xiaomi's opinion, there was nothing wrong with the old quilts. This year's life was much better than the previous two years. But Lu Lin thought differently. Now that they had money, they should get rid of all the old and worn-out things in the house.
Although Chen Xiaomi felt that Lu Lin was spoiled and acted like a spoiled young master, she did not object.
...
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi were walking on the street. Chen Xiaomi wanted everything she saw, and Lu Lin bought it for her when he saw that she liked it.
Because she made a lot of money selling gloves, Chen Xiaomi gave Lu Lin some "pocket money." Seeing how generous Lu Lin was, she couldn't help but feel a little pained.
"Brother Chen, bring your little brother out to play!"
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Young Master Yang, what a coincidence!"
Yang Hengzhi glared at the two of them and said, "What coincidence? I specifically came to find you. I heard you sell gloves in town. Such good stuff, how come you sold them to those ignorant fools?"
Chen Xiaomi knew immediately that Yang Hengzhi was also eyeing the gloves, but the gloves were selling too well and were all sold out.
“If Young Master Yang likes them, I have a few more pairs here, but not many,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin with some surprise.
Yang Hengzhi was taken aback for a moment, and said with some surprise, "There really are still some."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, there are some, but not many."
Lu Lin took three pairs of gloves from the mule cart and gave them to Yang Hengzhi.
Yang Hengzhi was overjoyed to see that one of the gloves was a pair of fox fur gloves that his classmates couldn't buy.
"There are even fox fur ones left!" Yang Hengzhi said, full of surprise.
"I thought Young Master Yang might like it, so I specially saved it for you."
"Thank you for your trouble, Brother Lu." Yang Hengzhi gave Lu Lin five taels of silver, didn't ask for change, and left with his gloves on.
Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Why do you have gloves?"
Lu Lin smiled and said, "I originally planned to keep it for myself, but since I've run into Young Master Yang, I'll sell it to him."
Chen Xiaomi pouted. She could just wear a rabbit fur one; why would she need fox fur? Such a spoiled young master.
Lu Lin and the three Chen brothers ate a lot of snacks at the gathering and played until evening before heading home.
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