The Lu family.
Several people were eating at the dinner table when Lu An suddenly said, "Mother, I saw Chen Jing working in the fields. I guess the Chen family doesn't plan to let Chen Jing go to school."
Upon hearing Lu An's words, Wang said, "He's not going to study anymore! That's normal. Chen Jing has caused such a big mess this time. The Chen family sold five acres of land for him. He probably doesn't have the money to go to school."
The Chen family originally owned more than 20 mu of land, but after selling it, they only have more than 10 mu left. There are quite a few people in the Chen family who need to make a living.
Lu An nodded and said, "Yes!"
Lu Chengyu glanced at Lu An and vaguely felt that Lu An's mention of Chen Jing meant that he should also stop studying, so as not to waste the family's money.
Lu Chengyu felt that he and Chen Jing were different. Chen Jing was an incompetent fool, while he was just a little unlucky. Lu Chengyu's face was gloomy, and he had a lot more prejudice against Lu An. During this period, the first and fourth branches of the family had been in constant conflict and had basically broken off relations.
"That Chen Xiaomi must have taken a kickback, otherwise, how could he have come up with thirty taels of silver all at once?" Wang said sullenly.
Upon hearing this, Lu An's eyes darted around. This Huaxia Trading Company must have several hundred taels of silver coming in every month, and the big boss behind it never shows his face. It would be too easy for him to embezzle some money. "Who knows, he might be able to embezzle several dozen taels a month."
Wang looked at Lu An and said, "You really have that much money?"
"A few dozen taels a month, that's several hundred taels a year!" Lu Lin has struck it rich!
Wang thought to herself: Lu Lin is really useless. He lets Chen Xiaomi make all the decisions. Chen Xiaomi is so wasteful, and Lu Lin doesn't even stop her.
Not long after the spring examination, Lu Tong returned to the Lu family.
"Why are you back again?" Tang was always a little impatient with Lu Tong always coming home empty-handed.
"Mother, I'm still your daughter, how can you dislike me like this?" Lu Tong said with dissatisfaction.
Mrs. Tang said sullenly, "Did you quarrel with your husband again?"
Lu Tong nodded and said, "That's right."
Everyone's been busy with planting lately, and they're about to go to the fields. When Lu Tong was at home, she rarely did any housework, let alone went to the fields. The old lady even asked Lu Tong to carry manure, and Lu Tong was so excited that she ran back home.
Lu Tong originally held leverage over Li Fangyue, and Tang was afraid that Lu Tong would make a scene and let the old lady know, so she didn't dare to say anything harsh to her daughter. Now that things have blown up, Tang doesn't care anymore. Having been manipulated by her daughter for so long, Tang has also developed some resentment towards Lu Tong.
“Daughter, why are you arguing with your husband again? You’re married now, but you still need to respect your mother-in-law and be a good wife and mother,” said Madam Tang.
Lu Tong pursed her lips and said, "That brat is so spoiled that he's completely out of control. How can I possibly manage him?"
Mrs. Tang sighed and said, "If you can't control him, you can have a child yourself."
Lu Tong's face was cold. The brat in the family always claimed to be afraid of the dark and insisted on sleeping with her, the head of the household. Lu Tong barely had a few days a month to spend alone with Li Ji. However, this was a private matter, and Lu Tong couldn't tell Tang Shi. Lu Tong figured that even if she did, her mother would only scold her for being useless.
"Mother!" Lu Tong asked.
Mrs. Tang nodded and said, "Yes, it's not just thirty taels, but also a house. Chen Xiaomi must have taken a kickback. The boss of Huaxia Trading Company is really good-natured. Even at this point, he still hasn't fired her."
"I heard that the owner of Huaxia Trading Company went on a long trip, so he probably doesn't know about it," Lu Tong said.
Mrs. Tang curled her lip and said, "You old senile fool."
Zhang Jin was busy in the field, and Liu Yue was helping him.
During this period, Liu Yue saved up some money by selling embroidery to Huaxia Trading Company. This time, when the Chen family sold land, Zhang Jin spent seven taels of silver to buy two acres.
With two more acres of land, the family has accumulated some wealth.
The Chen family sold their other three acres of land to three different families, and some of these families sold embroidery to Huaxia Trading Company.
"I never expected Chen Jing to cause such a mess this time."
Liu Yue nodded and said, "Yes!"
Zhang Jin shook his head. He had originally thought that although the Lu family appeared prosperous on the surface after Lu Lin married into the family, they were actually becoming poorer and poorer.
Unexpectedly, Chen Jing had quietly caused such a huge disaster. It truly shows that appearances can be deceiving. One hundred taels of silver! Luckily, the Chen family was well-off. If this were a poor family in the village, they might go bankrupt and still not be able to pay it back.
Liu Yue said with some doubt, "Chen Xiaomi is really amazing. She just casually gave away thirty taels."
Zhang Jin nodded and said, "Yes!" When the Chen clan held their clan meeting, Zhang Jin also went to watch. After signing the letter severing ties, Chen Xiaomi took out thirty taels of silver, clearly having come prepared.
"How much silver does Chen Xiaomi actually have?" Liu Yue asked, somewhat puzzled.
Zhang Jin shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Zhang Jin found Chen Xiaomi a bit strange. If she had money, why didn't she sell the house in the countryside? Once the house is sold, it won't be easy to buy it again. If she didn't have money, why did Chen Xiaomi just take out thirty taels of silver when the old lady of the Chen family asked for it?
Liu Yue hesitated for a moment, then said, "I heard that Chen Xiaomi took kickbacks, and quite a lot of them."
Zhang Jin glanced at Liu Yue and thought to himself: Taking kickbacks is not a glorious thing. Lu An was sent back because he took kickbacks before.
"Where did you hear this news from?" Zhang Jin asked.
Liu Yue shook her head and said, "I don't know, but quite a few people in the village are saying that."
However, it seems that the news initially came from the Lu family that the affairs of Huaxia Trading Company were all under Lu Lin's control. Previously, Dawan Village had even put sweet potato chips in the shop for sale, so Lu Lin must have made a lot of money.
Zhang Jin also had some doubts. "Huaxia Trading Company must have made a lot of money recently." He often saw people coming and going in front of the shop.
Huaxia Trading Company seems to have sold several of its prized possessions. Those are incredibly profitable items, each worth dozens of taels of silver. Just from selling these prized possessions, the store should have already earned nearly a hundred taels of silver.
Chen Xiaocai was out of town and only heard about Chen Jing's situation more than ten days later.
Qin Lang, who was in charge of delivering the goods with the team, knew about it, but Chen Xiaomi told him not to say anything, so Qin Lang didn't tell Chen Xiaocai.
After learning what had happened, Chen Xiaocai became quite agitated. She couldn't bear to see the shop in such a state and insisted on going back to check on things.
Chen Chi said he could help watch the shop, and Xiao Lai could go back first.
Unable to contain himself, Chen Xiaocai followed the convoy back.
Chen Xiaomi was surprised to see Chen Xiaocai looking travel-worn. "You're back!" Chen Xiaocai nodded and followed Chen Xiaomi into the house.
"Big brother, has Chen Jing gotten into trouble?"
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Yes, he owed one hundred taels of silver before. The Chen family has gone to great lengths to pay off the debt."
The Chen family sold their five acres of land in a hurry, getting only thirty-five taels of silver. They paid forty-seven taels, and the loan shark raised the price by another five taels. The remaining twenty-odd taels of silver were all the old lady's private savings, which seemed insufficient, so they borrowed some more.
Chen Xiaocai said somewhat unhappily, "Big brother, Chen Jing caused this trouble, why should you pay for it?"
Chen Xiaomi sighed and said, "Because the matter of this business may soon be exposed, so signing the severance agreement as soon as possible will save us trouble later."
Let's keep this shop's situation a secret for as long as possible.
Chen Xiaocai lowered her head, vaguely understanding what was going on, but still felt somewhat displeased, "They got off too easy."
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "They really got off too easy."
"Brother, as long as we don't say anything, no one should know that this business belongs to us, right?" Chen Xiaocai said.
Chen Xiaomi shook her head and said, "Someone can investigate."
When the shops were transferred, they went to the government office for notarization. The transfer of land, houses, and other things must be done by paying the transfer tax to the government office in order to be protected by the government; otherwise, it has no legal effect.
When Chen Xiaomi bought the trading company, it didn't attract the attention of that registrar. However, now that the company's reputation is growing, who knows when that registrar might become interested in it. Then, a simple investigation will reveal all.
If Li Ru had remained in favor, the registrar would probably have noticed their business long ago. Fortunately, the registrar's new concubine is pregnant, and his mind seems to be elsewhere.
Chen Xiaomi pondered that his business had been growing bigger and bigger recently, but the "behind-the-scenes boss" of the shop had not shown up for a long time, and the villagers were probably starting to get suspicious.
Chen Xiaocai lowered her head, secretly thinking that having such a troublesome relative made even running a business a nightmare. Chen Xiaomi glanced at Chen Xiaocai and said, "You don't need to worry about that, just focus on running the shop well."
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said sullenly, "I understand."
Chen Xiaocai looked at Yuanbao in the cradle and said, "Big brother, Yuanbao is getting fatter and fatter!"
Chen Xiaomi smiled and said, "This guy has a good appetite."
In Lu Lin's convenience store, there are several baby bottles. Yuanbao cries every night if he doesn't have anything to eat, and Lu Lin is woken up several times a night by him.
On one occasion, Lu Lin gave him a baby bottle, and he didn't fuss all night.
Later, Lu Lin discovered that as long as Yuanbao had a bottle to hold, he could sleep soundly through the night until dawn.
After discovering this, Lu Lin would give Yuanbao a baby bottle every night, and Yuanbao would unknowingly drink a bottle of milk in his sleep. With such nourishment, Yuanbao grew very fast.
Chen Xiaocai came back and returned to Liuzhen.
Chen Chi looked at Chen Xiaocai with some concern and asked with care, "You're back. What did your brother say?"
Chen Xiaocai rolled her eyes and said, "My elder brother told me to take good care of the shop. From now on, the Chen family and I will have absolutely no connection."
Chen Xiaocai pursed his lips. He didn't like his cousin Chen Jing because this guy had studied and always acted superior to them. He had spent so much money on education but hadn't achieved anything. Yet, the old lady liked him the most and gave him whatever he wanted.
However, now... he simply doesn't believe that after this incident, the old lady would still favor him so much. Of course, all of this is none of his business anymore.
"The house in the countryside is gone."
Seeing that Chen Xiaocai was in low spirits, Chen Chi said, "It's okay if the house in the countryside is gone. I still have my own. You can stay at my house if you go to the countryside."
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "I know."
Chen Xiaocai thought to himself: Many people in the village don't like him. It's good that he sold the house. Out of sight, out of mind. Chen Xiaocai knew his family's current financial situation and didn't really care about the house.
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