Chen Xiaomi leaned over the table, looking at the jam, and asked, "Is it ready yet?"
"It'll be fine once it cools down."
Chen Xiaomi waited for a while before Lu Lin finally said it was almost time.
Chen Xiaomi couldn't wait to scoop out some jam, take a bite, lick her fingers, and say happily, "Ah! Delicious."
Lu Lin also took a sip and tasted it, then frowned and said, "It seems a little too sweet."
"I think it tastes great!" Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin and thought Lu Lin was really strange. Sweet is not good! The young master's taste is too different from his. Even when it comes to meat, Lu Lin likes to eat lean meat that is dry and has no oil.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaomi and thought that perhaps Chen Xiaomi was right, after all, this guy was a local.
Lu Lin was distracted for a moment, and Chen Xiaomi finished half a bottle of jam.
Lu Lin said helplessly, "Eat less, or you'll get cavities."
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and thought that Lu Lin's worries were unnecessary. It was really strange that he was worrying about trivial things all day long, whether he could eat or not.
Lu Lin made jam from all the wild berries he collected. After finishing the jam, Lu Lin stored it in the convenience store, planning to sell it at the restaurant along with sweet potato wine in a few days.
While Lu Lin wasn't looking, Chen Xiaomi secretly hid the two jars of jam.
Once something is in the store, you need Lu Lin's permission to get it back. Chen Xiaomi deeply resented Lu Lin's comments such as "You can't eat too much!", "You'll get cavities!", and "It's all junk food!", but she was helpless to do anything about it.
...
"Brother Lu, Brother Chen, you've finally arrived!" The owner of Hongyun Restaurant greeted the two men with great enthusiasm.
The wine that Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi delivered to the restaurant sold very well, and the cooperation between the two parties was excellent.
"How much wine is there this time?" Manager Wang asked impatiently.
"Ten jars of the first type of wine, thirty jars of the second type."
Manager Wang smiled and said, "Very good, very good." Manager Wang called over several employees to move all the wine into the wine cellar, and Lu Lin received seventeen taels of silver.
Lu Lin looked at Manager Wang and said, "I have something novel here that I made by chance, and I'd like to ask you to take a look at it."
Shopkeeper Wang asked with great interest, "Really? What is it?"
Lu Lin took out a jar of jam. Shopkeeper Wang took a bite and said, "This is good stuff! I think many customers will like it. However, it must have a lot of sugar in it. Young Master Lu is really willing to spend a lot."
Lu Lin smiled and said, "There's a lot of sugar in it, so it's not cheap. If it were cheap, we wouldn't even be able to recoup our costs."
Shopkeeper Wang glanced at the jam and said, "This is good, but it can only be stored for a few days!"
Lu Lin's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself: He really is an expert! He immediately got to the heart of the matter, "It can be stored for about seven days."
Shopkeeper Wang smiled and said, "Seven days! That's enough."
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi delivered the jam to Hongyun Restaurant for resale.
Lu Lin and the shopkeeper agreed that the jam would cost one tael of silver per jar, and the shopkeeper would receive a commission of two hundred coins for each jar sold.
The jam was priced high, and initially, few people were interested. However, more and more people gradually started buying it.
...
A few days later, another batch of wild berries ripened in the woods, so Lu Lin gave the basket to Chen Xiaocai and asked her to find someone to pick more wild berries.
This time, finding people went much more smoothly than last time. In fact, after Chen Xiaocai had asked a few people to pick wild berries before, he often encountered people asking him if he wanted to pick wild berries when he went out these past few days.
Chen Xiaocai had not received any definite answer from Lu Lin, so she dared not accept the gifts indiscriminately.
Chen Xiaocai now trusts Lu Lin completely. Everyone in the village thinks the idea for the gloves came from her older brother, but Chen Xiaocai knows very well that it was Lu Lin's idea.
Although Chen Xiaomi avoided Chen Xiaocai in many ways, Chen Xiaocai still sensed Lu Lin's amazing abilities since they lived under the same roof.
Finally, Lu Lin came to collect wild berries again, and the children snatched all the small baskets next to Chen Xiaocai.
Zhang Dahu brought his younger sister Zhang Meizi along this time. The children were busy and soon the wild berries growing in the forest were all picked clean.
As evening fell, Lu Lin collected the wild berries, paid the coins, and sent the children home.
There were more children helping to pick wild berries this time. Some children who didn't get a basket teamed up with those who did, and the two of them picked one basket.
Lu Lin counted the baskets and said to Chen Xiaomi, "There's one less basket now."
Chen Xiaomi frowned. The basket that was lost last time was never returned, and now another one has gone missing. It's very likely that the same person did it.
Chen Xiaomi, hands on her hips, said, "Something's not right. I'll ask Xiao Cai." The baskets cost five coins each, and one is disappearing each time. That's really strange, even though they're not worth much.
"One basket is missing?" Chen Xiaocai asked in surprise.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Yes."
Chen Xiaocai frowned and said, "It was probably Lu Songshi who did it."
When Chen Xiaocai first asked people to pick wild berries, he was a little unsure of himself, so things got a bit chaotic. This time, everyone was familiar with each other, and Chen Xiaocai could roughly remember who came to collect baskets. Chen Xiaocai remembered that Lu Songshi had collected a basket from him.
Chen Xiaocai had a deep impression of Lu Songshi because Zhang Dabao told him that Lu Songshi was behind their backs, urging them not to play with him and saying bad things about his older brother.
When Lu Songshi asked him for a basket, he hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to give it to him or not. But he gave it to him anyway, fearing that it might cause trouble. However, he didn't see Lu Songshi come over to deliver wild berries later.
At this moment, upon hearing her older brother say that a basket was missing, Chen Xiaocai remembered.
Since the matter involved the Lu family, Chen Xiaomi felt a slight headache.
Chen Xiaomi was actually quite fortunate. She was fortunate that the Lu family was willing to let Lu Lin marry into their family, and fortunate that a scholar like Lu Lin had taken over the body of the original Lu Lin.
Lu Lin was originally a member of the Lu family, which made Chen Xiaomi's attitude towards the Lu family somewhat complicated.
Chen Xiaomi squinted and said, "Never mind, it's just a few baskets. We'll be more careful next time."
Lu Lin took a deep breath. He was still somewhat wary of the old lady's unreasonable and argumentative nature. It wasn't that he was afraid, but it wasn't worth making a fuss over a few coins. In this era where feudal ethics prevailed, arguing with the elderly could turn a valid argument into an invalid one.
...
A few days later, Chen Xiaocai gathered people to collect wild berries for the third time. The children who had helped pick wild berries the first two times were all there, and this time there were three new members. When the baskets were being distributed, Lu Songshi appeared again.
When Chen Xiaocai was distributing the baskets, she deliberately left it at the back, so Lu Songshi didn't get one.
Chen Xiaocai told people that if they didn't get a basket, they could use their own baskets to pick wild berries, and they would just pour them into the small baskets to count them.
When Zhang Dahu heard Chen Xiaocai say that, he brought a large basket from his home.
The wild berry picking activity was in full swing in the village. At first, some adults thought it was just children earning some pocket money, but later they discovered that a child had earned more than a hundred coins after a few trips, and they couldn't sit still any longer.
However, the adults in the village were too embarrassed to compete with the children for work, so they simply sent their own children out to pick wild berries.
After picking wild berries a few times, Chen Xiaocai quickly gained popularity among the village children.
"Father, look, this is the money I earned." Zhang Daman held out the copper coins to Zhang Jin.
Zhang Jin smiled and said, "Daman is amazing."
Zhang Daman said with some pride, "Besides Zhang Dahu, I earned the most." Children also have a competitive mentality; the difference in the number of copper coins earned between children who are quick and slow is quite significant.
Zhang Jin looked at the copper coin in Zhang Daman's hand, feeling somewhat strange.
Zhang Jin originally thought that Lu Lin's marriage to Chen Xiaomi would lead to a difficult life, but to his surprise, Chen Xiaomi's family's life became more and more enviable.
"Where did all this money come from?" Zhang Cheng asked as he walked in.
Zhang Daman said with a hint of pride, "I earned it."
Zhang Cheng wasn't pleased to hear this, and said, "You went to help Chen Xiaocai pick wild berries. Didn't I tell you not to go?"
Zhang Daman felt a bit annoyed at not receiving any praise. "Grandpa is so annoying," he said, and ran out sullenly.
Zhang Jin said somewhat unhappily, "Father, it's a good thing that we can earn copper coins in Daman!"
Zhang Cheng frowned, sighed, and said, "Chen Xiaocai is Chen Xiaomi's younger brother! He hangs out with that kid all the time and has been corrupted."
Zhang Jin said with dissatisfaction, "Father, you're overthinking it. It's not as serious as you're making it out to be!"
...
The jam sold well in town; on a good day, they could sell over a dozen jars. However, it was a bit pricey, and not many people could afford it. Sometimes, they wouldn't even sell a single jar a day. Lu Lin didn't take all the jam out at once; he stored most of it in the convenience store.
Chen Xiaocai also only had a vague understanding of jam.
They told people that the wild berries they collected were for making wine, so the villagers didn't associate the "fairy jam" sold at Hongyun Restaurant with Lu Lin and Chen Xiaocai.
The jam tasted amazing. At first, no one knew what jam was, and only a few people bought some to try.
Those who have tried it love it, and there are many repeat customers.
The jam has a sweet and sour taste, which is very popular with the elderly in the town. Some of the wealthier ones, once they like it, like to buy it all.
A jar of jam costing one tael of silver is an astronomical price for many commoners, but for some wealthy young men who are willing to spend lavishly to win a smile from a beautiful woman, a jar of jam costing one tael of silver is nothing.
Sugar is still a rare commodity here, and the jam is very sweet, which suits the tastes of many people.
"Brother Lu, you've finally arrived." Manager Wang was quite excited to see Lu Lin.
Lu Lin looked at Manager Wang and asked, "What's wrong?"
Shopkeeper Wang sighed and said, "It's all because of that jam. A lot of people are urging me to deliver. If you don't come to deliver soon, I'm going to come looking for you."
Lu Lin frowned and said, "Isn't it not selling very well?"
Shopkeeper Wang gave a wry smile and said, "Young Master Lu, you're joking. A couple of days ago, there was a happy occasion at the Li family in the city. Master Li is very wealthy, and he prepared a bottle of fairy fruit jam on every table. Everyone present praised the jam and immediately wanted it."
Lu Lin rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: I see. The jam's reputation was previously only known in a small circle, but this banquet should have broadened its recognition.
Lu Lin handed thirty jars of jam to Manager Wang, who frowned and asked, "Is that all?"
Lu Lin smiled and said, "After all, we can only leave it for seven days, so we can't do too much."
Shopkeeper Wang smiled and said, "Don't worry, we can sell out any more recently. If we can make more, we will."
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