The Chen family.
Looking at the pairs of gloves, Zhang Yuehong said with some worry, "They're such good products, why can't they be sold?"
When Chen Shouxin saw that Chen Xiaomi was making money selling gloves at the market, he stopped browsing the market and went straight to the fur market to buy fox fur. Several other people also wanted to buy fox fur, and they started arguing.
Chen Shouxin spent seven taels of silver to buy the fox fur from the fur shop, even though it originally cost five taels of silver.
Chen Shouxin originally thought that with such a large piece of fox fur, he could make a dozen or so pairs of gloves and still make a profit of ten or twenty taels of silver. Little did he know that no one would buy them at all, even though those wealthy young men had readily spent two taels of silver to buy gloves before.
At that time, someone even offered three taels of silver to get Chen Xiaomi to sell him the gloves.
He couldn't find anyone to buy them even though he was selling them for one or two taels of silver. He had to beg and plead before he finally sold two pairs for one or two taels of silver each.
Chen Shouxin gritted his teeth and said, "That brat got me into trouble."
Chen Jing, wearing the gloves, was quite happy. Chen Shouxin's gloves weren't selling, so Chen Jing could wear them himself, which made him a little famous among his classmates. There were quite a few wealthy students in the county school, but there were many more from poor families.
Zhang Yuehong glanced at Chen Jing and asked, "Why aren't your classmates buying gloves?"
“They all have them, and some are still poor, so wearing a rabbit fur hat is enough,” Chen Jing said.
Although they were all scholars, they each had their own circles. When the young masters from the town went to study, they would bring a pageboy with them and rarely interacted with these country students. Chen Jing's gloves were just something he showed off to Lu Chengyu and the others.
Zhang Yuehong sighed and said, "What are we going to do!"
The eldest son had bought fox fur before, and the old man scolded him for wasting money. At the time, the eldest son had guaranteed that he could resell it for dozens of taels of silver. Now, he hadn't made a single tael of silver and had even lost several taels. The old man would definitely be angry if he found out.
"Ah Jing! Why don't you take two pairs to the academy? What if someone wants them..."
Chen Jing said unhappily, "Mother, I'm going to be an official in the future, how can I do this kind of merchant's business?" How embarrassing for him to wear gloves to sell at the academy!
Zhang Yuehong was stunned for a moment, then said, "Yes, yes, Mother is confused."
Chen Laoda, still unwilling to give up, made several more trips to the town, but couldn't find anyone to buy gloves. Instead, there were more people selling gloves. Chen Laoda's fox fur gloves went unsold, while some people selling rabbit fur gloves were doing alright, taking the low-profit, high-volume approach.
Winter weather was too cold, and going to town was not easy. At first, he could rent someone's oxcart, but after a while, people complained that the price was too low and refused to rent it to him. Chen Laoda had no choice but to walk. After a few times, Chen Laoda didn't want to go anymore.
...
The Chen family.
"Chen Xiaomi, Chen Xiaomi, come out here!" An impatient voice rang out in the courtyard.
Upon hearing this voice, Chen Xiaomi's eyes flashed with a cold light. She grabbed the sharpened bamboo spear from the house and went outside.
When Lu Rong saw Chen Xiaomi's posture, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.
"Chen Xiaomi, your grandfather is sick. Go back and see him."
Chen Xiaomi snorted and said, "What does his illness have to do with me?"
Chen Shouxin waited for Chen Xiaomi and said, "Chen Xiaomi, you heartless bastard, your grandfather is sick and you don't care."
Chen Xiaomi said with a hint of sarcasm, "Why should I care? When Xiaomai was sick, he also stopped us from calling a doctor, saying that he would get better on his own, that the old man was in good health, and that he would get better on his own."
"You insolent brat, how dare you speak like that? How could our Chen family produce such a disobedient and unfilial person?" Chen Shouxin said angrily.
Chen Xiaomi squinted at Chen Shouxin and said, "Shameless thing, I was separated from you a long time ago. We agreed to stay out of it. You want to take advantage of me now that I'm making money? No matter how much money I make, it has nothing to do with you. Get lost."
Chen Shouxin glared at Chen Xiaomi and said, "You bastard, your second brother is going to be so angry that he'll crawl out of his grave."
Chen Xiaomi looked at Chen Shouxin with a gloomy expression and said, "I'm unfilial. If you're so filial, why don't you pay for the old man's medical treatment? What are you pretending to be if you come here asking me for money? If my father really never crawled out of his grave, the person he would be looking for is you."
It was indeed the old lady who wanted her father to go hunting in the mountains back then, but if it weren't for his good uncle's instigation, the old woman alone might not have been so persistent. However, she's dead now, so there's no use thinking about it anymore.
Chen Shouxin glared at Chen Xiaomi with hatred, "Second brother, look from heaven! Your little bastard doesn't recognize his grandfather or grandmother, he's going to be punished by heaven..."
Chen Xiaomi brandished her bamboo spear and said impatiently, "Get out of here, or I'll beat you out."
Lu Lin came out of the house. Chen Shouxin glared at Lu Lin and then turned his gaze to Chen Xiaomi. "Look at you. You're not like a Hennessy at all. You even spent ten taels of silver to buy a man. Aren't you ashamed?"
Chen Xiaomi scoffed and said, "If you have so much free time, go take care of your son. I don't need your help."
"I don't care, your grandfather is sick. If you don't give me ten taels of silver today, I won't leave," Chen Shouxin said.
A fierce glint flashed in Chen Xiaomi's eyes as she raised her bamboo spear and charged towards Chen Shouxin.
At first, Chen Shouxin acted like he had nothing to lose, but when he saw Chen Xiaomi's murderous look, he chickened out and scrambled away.
After driving Chen Shouxin away, Chen Xiaomi sat back on the kang (a heated brick bed), looking somewhat bewildered.
Lu Lin rubbed Chen Xiaomi's head and asked, "What's wrong?"
Chen Xiaomi took a deep breath and said, "I don't know if my dad will blame me."
Lu Lin smiled and said, "You did the right thing. Of course your father won't blame you. If he does, it's because he's confused."
Chen Xiaomi looked up at Lu Lin and suddenly said, "You wrongly accused that old lady of stealing money before."
Lu Lin rolled his eyes. So much time had passed, and Lu Lin hadn't expected Chen Xiaomi to bring it up now. "If she hadn't come looking for trouble, I wouldn't have bothered with her."
...
The Chen family.
"Eldest son, did you get the money back?" Old Mrs. Chen asked anxiously when she saw her eldest son return.
Chen Shouxin shook his head and said, "He won't give it to me."
"That damned brat, he's made so much money, yet he's still so stingy," Li said angrily.
Old Master Chen sighed with some disappointment and said, "Never mind."
"Forget it, how can we forget it?" Li gritted her teeth. That was dozens of taels of silver! Li deeply regretted separating Chen Xiaomi back then. She never imagined that Chen Xiaomi, that heartless bastard, would actually have a day when he would prosper.
Old Master Chen was also a little angry, "So what if we don't count it?"
After being yelled at by Old Master Chen, Li finally restrained herself a bit.
"You're such a grown man, yet you're still so reckless. Do you think money is so easy to earn?" Old Master Chen sighed.
Seven taels of silver was a considerable sum for the Chen family.
Li shifted her position and said, "This can't be blamed on the eldest son. It's just that the people in town don't know what's good for them."
Li had also heard about Chen Xiaomi's money-making scheme. Apparently, several young masters were robbing Chen Xiaomi's stall, treating expensive items as if they were free.
“It’s not so easy to do business with the rich,” sighed the third brother, Chen Shouren. “Those young masters have plenty of connections. I heard that if they can’t buy fox fur, they just tear off their own fox fur coats. Brother, you should think this through before you do it. This is money meant for meat at home. If you spend it on that, what will we eat for the New Year?”
When Chen the eldest heard his third brother speak, his expression immediately turned sour. "I just want to make more money."
“Brother, fox fur doesn’t cost that much money at all. I think you’ve been ripped off,” Chen Shouren said, shaking his head in a sullen voice.
Old Master Chen's face darkened. Chen Shouren's statement clearly implied that he lacked business acumen and that fox fur wasn't worth the price. However, the price had already gone up at the time, so what could he do?
"Those shop owners in town are all bad; all they know is how to rip people off," the old woman said angrily.
When Chen heard the old lady's words, he felt a little embarrassed. The old lady's words meant that he was convinced that he had been tricked.
...
Chen Shouxin walked out of Old Master Chen's place dejectedly and returned to the courtyard.
Zhang asked with some worry, "What did the old man say?" Zhang's life was not easy because the gloves had not been sold. The old lady always felt that it was because her skills were too poor that she could not sell them, but the gloves she made were exactly the same as the ones Chen Xiaomi sold.
"He didn't say much, but the old man seemed a little unhappy," Chen Shouxin said sullenly.
"Chen Xiaomi only has a little strength, how come she suddenly knows so much?" Chen Jing asked, somewhat puzzled.
This is a kang (heated brick bed) and gloves; it's not something a fool like Chen Xiaomi could come up with. If Chen Xiaomi were that capable, she wouldn't have lived like this before!
"I heard he found something in the mountains," Chen Shouxin said.
"In the mountains?" Chen Jing asked, puzzled.
Chen Shouxin nodded and said, "During the century of continuous warfare, some people lived in the mountains to avoid disaster and made a living by hunting. There were also some scholars from impoverished families who went into seclusion in the mountains. It seems that Chen Xiaomi found the books left behind by those people."
Chen Jing said disdainfully, "Chen Xiaomi can't read." Chen Jing was the only scholar in the Chen family. Although he was not good at his studies, he was still proud of his status as a scholar.
"There's probably a picture," Chen Shouxin said.
"What about the book?" Chen Jing thought excitedly. If there were something like gloves in the book, wouldn't he be able to show off among his classmates?
"It looks like it was burned down," Chen Shouxin said.
Chen Jing exclaimed in surprise, "It's burned?"
Chen Shouxin nodded. "That's how it's been spread."
Chen Shouxin received this information because of something Lu Lin occasionally taught Xiaomai. Xiaomai is simple-minded, but everyone thinks he's easy to fool! Chen Xiaomai only provided some clues, and the villagers filled in a whole bunch of things in their minds.
Chen Jing, his face dark, said, "This guy is really wasting his talents! To do something like this, but he's also incredibly lucky."
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