Huaxia Trading Company.
"Xiao Cai, it really is you!" Zhang Dahu came up and greeted him.
Chen Xiaocai has been working as a helper in the shop for half a month, but this is the first time she has met someone from the same village. Usually, even if people from the village come to the town, they don't usually come to their shop.
"Big Tiger, what brings you here?"
Zhang Dahu scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "My dad caught a few fish and brought them to the market to sell, so I came along. What are you doing here?"
"My older brother and Brother Lin are working here, and I'm helping out with odd jobs," Chen Xiaocai said, feeling there was nothing to hide.
Zhang Dahu looked at Chen Xiaocai with some envy and said, "You're really amazing!"
Looking at the expensive bags in the store, Zhang Dahu felt somewhat hesitant. If it weren't for an acquaintance there, he wouldn't even have had the courage to step into such a shady shop.
Rumors have been circulating in the village lately that Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi have gone to work in town, earning two taels a month, and four taels for the two of them combined. They've even brought Chen Xiaocai and Chen Xiaomai with them. The villagers are incredibly envious of Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi's wages. However, some villagers think that it's one thing for Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi to go to town to work, but to bring the simple-minded Xiaomai along might anger their employers, and they'll probably lose their jobs and be sent back home soon.
However, the villagers waited and waited, but the two were never sent back. The villagers could only sigh that Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi were lucky to have met such an honest boss. However, some people thought that the boss was too kind and might just be a nice old man.
Zhang Dahu had seen Chen Xiaocai by chance earlier, and thought he had mistaken her for someone else. He watched her for a while before coming up to greet her.
"Hey Xiao Cai, you get paid for being here!" Zhang Dahu asked curiously.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Yes, but not many, far fewer than my brother."
Zhang Dahu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Chen Xiaomi's wages; they were two taels of silver a month. It would be strange if Chen Xiaocai's wages were about the same as Chen Xiaomi's.
Zhang Dahu had been secretly watching for a while when he saw Chen Xiaocai excitedly introducing the bags in the store to someone.
Looking at Chen Xiaocai, who was talking eloquently, Zhang Dahu felt that Chen Xiaocai was particularly capable. In comparison, although he had a group of "little brothers" under his command, they were not very useful.
"You're still young. In two years, you might end up like your brother." Zhang Dahu looked at Chen Xiaocai with envy, feeling that Chen Xiaocai was different from before.
Chen Xiaocai smiled and said, "Compared to my older brother, I'm still far behind." Zhang Dahu blushed slightly as he looked at the expensive bags in the shop. After being greeted by Zhang Linsheng, he left.
"Dad, Chen Xiaocai is really amazing now."
"Really? How powerful is he?" Zhang Linsheng had tacitly approved of Zhang Dahu's visit to the Huaxia Trading Company, and he was also somewhat curious about the Chen brothers' affairs.
Grandma Shen went back to the countryside a while ago and apparently made quite a bit of money. People in the countryside live a tight life, and who wouldn't want to earn more money!
"Xiao Cai helps the shop manager sell things. Those bags cost several hundred coins each, and Xiao Cai seems to get paid too."
Zhang Linsheng remarked with some emotion, "The Chen family's life is getting better and better."
Zhang Linsheng thought to himself: A few years ago, Chen Xiaomi was still foraging for food in the mountains. At that time, many people guessed that Chen Xiaomi would perish in the mountains sooner or later, and that Chen Xiaocai and Xiaomai would definitely not survive either. I never expected the world to change so quickly, and that the Chen family would live such a life.
When Zhang Dahu went back and spread the word, everyone in the village knew that the Chen brothers were working in town. Lu Lin had already hinted at it at the wedding banquet, so when Zhang Dahu went back and told everyone, no one was surprised. However, the fact that Chen Xiaocai was working at a shop in town was somewhat unexpected.
Many teenagers in the countryside admired Chen Xiaocai for helping out in the shop.
Some of the village girls used to be full of disdain when they mentioned Chen Xiaocai, but now they have more admiration for her.
The Lu family hadn't had much income lately, but their expenses were still considerable, so they had to sell another acre of low-grade land for only seven taels of silver. When Granny Shen heard this news, she vaguely felt that she had overpaid when she bought the land. However, the land was bought with Lu Lin's money, so it didn't really have much to do with Granny Shen.
The Lu family's sale of land again has caused quite a stir. Many villagers admire the Lu family's generosity, selling such good land so readily. Others feel that the Lu family should have sold the land sooner; if they had, they might have been able to save their second son's life and avoid ending up with no descendants. If the second son's family were still alive, they wouldn't be without anyone to do any decent work.
Mrs. Tang has been quite depressed lately. Li Fangyue, who married into the family, is a pampered young lady, and now that she's pregnant, she complains of dizziness whenever she's asked to do chores. Lin Xiuer does the same. At first, things were alright, but recently the two of them have become increasingly unreasonable.
Li Fangyue stayed in the house, feeling terrible. Recently, she hadn't had to do any work, but she was still very uncomfortable.
Lu Chengyu moved to the town to study and rarely came back. When he did come back, he was cold to her.
Li Fangyue knew that Lu Chengyu already knew that her sister was just a concubine, which was why he was so cold to her.
Li Fangyue actually had a good impression of Lu Chengyu. In fact, Lu Chengyu was quite good-looking, a scholar, and his family owned a lot of land. Moreover, his two elders favored him.
After Li Fangyue entered the family, she also thought about living in harmony with her husband and being of one mind.
However, after entering the house, Li Fangyue understood that Lu Chengyu only married her because of her brother-in-law relationship. Now that her sister's identity had been exposed, her husband felt deceived. In addition, there was the matter of the betrothal gifts. Sometimes, Li Fangyue felt that her husband and mother-in-law looked at her as if she were an enemy.
There was also a domineering old lady in the house. Li Fangyue knew very well that the old lady did not know about her sister's affairs, otherwise, the old lady would never have been so quiet.
The old lady in the family is ruthless; the second son of the Lu family was forced to go to the battlefield.
Although Li Fangyue didn't quite understand why her mother-in-law had refrained from telling the old lady about it, she thought it was always a good thing that the old lady didn't know.
However, the old lady didn't know that this matter had been hanging in the balance for a long time, making Li Fangyue feel uneasy.
Li Fangyue touched her belly, thinking to herself: "It must be a boy in my belly! The Lu family members are all ruthless and heartless. If I give birth to a girl, I don't know how I'll survive."
Chen Jing has been studying in the town, and Huaxia Trading Company has recently gained a very high reputation among the students.
Many wealthy children change their schoolbags every few days to show off their status.
For commoners like Chen Jing, it was just something novel to watch.
Although Chen Jing envied the extravagant behavior of the rich kids, he always put on a show of disdain for their corruption.
Adhering to the principle of "out of sight, out of mind," Chen Jing rarely paid attention to the affairs of Huaxia Trading Company.
However, even though Chen Jing didn't pay attention, someone still told him about the Huaxia Trading Company.
When Chen Jing learned from his fellow students that Chen Xiaocai worked at Huaxia Trading Company, he couldn't help but find it hard to believe.
Chen Jing never expected that Chen Xiaocai, who was so rustic and looked like a gray mouse, would actually be helping out at Huaxia Trading Company. Chen Jing was a little afraid of Chen Xiaomi, but not of Chen Xiaocai.
Chen Jing wondered when he could go and have a chat with Chen Xiaocai.
Lu Lin went to the timber store to pick up the recently ordered ornaments and furniture. When he returned, he saw a large crowd gathered at the store entrance.
A group of people gathered at the store entrance, chattering away, and the crowd dispersed after a while.
Lu Lin learned what had happened from Wan Li. Chen Jing had somehow heard that Chen Xiaolai was working in the shop, so he went there and asked Xiao Cai to give her a few bags. When Xiao Cai refused, Chen Jing started verbally abusing Chen Xiaolai, shocking all the customers in the shop.
Upon receiving the news, Chen Xiaomi ran out from the backyard and beat Chen Jing into submission. Chen Jing then shouted that he would report the incident to the authorities.
Some people felt that something was amiss, and some even actually brought in the yamen runners. However, the runners came, gave Chen Jing a warning, and then left.
Lu Lin had put some thought into opening this Huaxia Trading Company. As the saying goes, it's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings. Lu Lin had bribed several government officials.
Hearing that Chen Xiaomi and Chen Jing were fighting, Lu Lin became worried and went into the backyard.
"Are you alright?" Lu Lin trusted Chen Xiaomi's abilities, but Chen Xiaomi was physically unwell.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Dealing with Chen Jing is more than enough for me." Chen Xiaomi had clashed with Chen Jing several times since childhood. She originally thought she had dealt with Chen Jing, but she didn't expect Chen Jing to come looking for trouble again.
Lu Lin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I know, you're the most capable." Chen Jing really needed to be taught a lesson.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. That guy is pretty good." However, she must have lost face quite a bit. If she really injured Chen Jing, she might end up in court. When Chen Xiaomi and Chen Jing got into a fight, she kicked Chen Jing so hard he fell flat on his back.
Chen Jing didn't come alone; he came with several classmates. Being beaten in front of these people must have been very embarrassing for Chen Jing.
Lu Lin inquired around and roughly learned what had happened. Several students in the academy knew that Chen Jing and Chen Xiaocai were cousins, so they invited Chen Jing to drink and asked if they could get an insider price. After being forced to drink a few mouthfuls of rice wine, Chen Jing was so dizzy that he couldn't tell which way was up. He said that the insider price was nothing and he could get the restaurant to give it to him for free.
Chen Jing told these people that Chen Xiaocai was a member of the Chen family, and even if she separated from the family, she would still be a member of the Chen family. All the things belonging to the Chen brothers should belong to him, Chen Jing.
After sobering up, Chen Jing felt a little guilty. However, since he had already said what he wanted to say, he couldn't go back on his word. So, when Chen Jing went to the shop, he bossed Xiao Cai around and ordered her to bring him a few bags. Xiao Cai naturally refused, so Chen Jing grabbed them from her.
Hearing the commotion, Xiao Mi rushed out and beat Chen Jing up.
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