A few days had passed since Chen Jing's incident, and things were relatively calm at Huaxia Trading Company. Chen Xiaomi was busy managing her business and gradually forgot about the Chen family's affairs.
"Brother Xiaomi, your aunt is here." Qin Ming walked in quickly and reported. Qin Ming had recovered long ago and was now lively and energetic.
Qin Ming was very envious of his older brother Qin Lang's job. However, he was still too young, and Lu Lin hadn't assigned him any work. Qin Ming wanted to go with him to deliver goods, but the people in the delivery team thought he was too young and wouldn't be able to help, and might even be a hindrance, so they wouldn't let him go.
Helpless, Qin Ming could only hope that he would grow up quickly.
"Please come in quickly," Chen Xiaomi said.
Chen Chun'er had borrowed five coins from him for travel expenses. Chen Xiaomi originally wanted to give her more, but her aunt refused to accept it.
Chen Chun'er walked in carrying a basket.
Lu Lin glanced at the contents of the basket and said with a hint of helplessness, "Auntie, you've come all this way, why did you bring things?"
Chen Chun'er had a large piece of meat in her basket, weighing at least ten kilograms. In the countryside, it was considered very generous for a family to bring such a large piece of meat when visiting relatives.
However, Chen Xiaomi is living a good life now, so she doesn't crave meat much anymore.
Chen Chun'er smiled and said, "Your uncle is a butcher, so he doesn't need any meat. I brought you some."
"You're too kind, Auntie," Chen Xiaomi quickly replied.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Chen Chun'er's slightly embarrassed expression, guessing that her aunt probably needed his help. "Aunt, is there something you need?"
"Xiao Mi, I heard that you're in charge of this shop now?"
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Yes! I'm in charge of almost everything."
"Your shop is quite big, are you short of staff?" Chen Chun'er asked.
Seeing her aunt's nervous expression, Chen Xiaomi had a pretty good idea of what was going on. "We're still short a few people, but we don't have any suitable ones. Do you have anyone you can recommend?"
Every so often, Linzhen needs to deliver goods to Liuzhen. Sometimes there isn't enough manpower, so Lu Lin has to go instead. Chen Xiaomi has wanted to hire someone for a long time, but there isn't a suitable one. As the business of the trading company grows bigger and bigger, the shortage of personnel is also increasing.
Chen Chun'er was delighted and said, "Look at your cousin, he's almost sixteen. Although he's a bit simple-minded, he's still quite strong. If you like him, give him a meal."
Chen Xiaomi asked, somewhat confused, "Doesn't he go with his uncle to slaughter pigs?"
As far as he knew, the butcher Chen Chun'er married was called Zhang Laoda, also known as Quick-Knife Zhang. His skill in slaughtering pigs was superb and he was famous for miles around.
Although butchers have a bad reputation, they make money quickly. Zhang Rui's aunt had a son and a daughter, and he should have followed in her footsteps.
Chen Chun'er sighed and said, "This kid... is afraid of blood. His father has taught him many times, but he just can't learn. A while ago, he went out to do business with someone, and not only did he not make any money, he also lost it all."
When Chen Chun'er mentioned her son, she couldn't help but sigh. It wasn't that her son was unambitious, but he just seemed to lack a bit of luck.
The goods they had previously transported for trade were seized, resulting in significant losses for the traders, who all seemed somewhat discouraged.
Chen Xiaomi stared wide-eyed in surprise. The butcher's son was afraid of blood? This was going to be hilarious.
“Arui is getting older and older, he can’t just sit around doing nothing.”
In the past few years, due to continuous wars, the lives of ordinary people were difficult, and Zhang the butcher's life was also difficult. Recently, things have only just started to improve. Her husband is still able to work, so their son won't go hungry. However, it's not good for such a young man to stay at home doing nothing. He's about to get married, and it's already hard to find a wife because his family is a butcher family. If he doesn't have a proper job, no good family's daughter will be willing to marry into the family.
Chen Chun'er visited the Huaxia store last time and found it very spacious and well-decorated, which made her interested in buying one. After thinking it over, she went to ask for permission to open the store.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "That's fine. If my cousin wants to come, let him come. At the beginning, he'll only get one tael of silver a month. If he does well, he can get a little more."
Qin Yi earns two taels a month, but he has martial arts skills, and he's already an old man. Since Zhang Rui just arrived, it's not appropriate to immediately raise his salary to Qin Yi's level.
Chen Chun'er immediately said, "One tael of silver is a bit too much." Chen Chun'er hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, it would be better if the silver was less and meals were included. Your cousin has quite a big appetite."
Chen Xiaomi smiled and said, "It's alright."
Chen Xiaomi has earned a lot of money, so she doesn't care much about food. Chen Xiaomi thinks that she has a big appetite, and Zhang Rui's appetite can't be that big.
Lu Lin knew Chen Chun'er had come to introduce her son to work, but he didn't pay much attention. His business was expanding, and he needed more and more people. Judging from Xiao Mi's words, Chen Chun'er seemed like a good person, and her son probably wasn't too bad either. "Your cousin is squeamish about blood," Lu Lin said, somewhat surprised.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Yes!"
Lu Lin pursed his lips, thinking to himself: "The butcher's son is afraid of blood. This is really strange." However, there's nothing that can be done about many things. In Lu Lin's previous life, a family had painstakingly raised a top student to medical school, only to discover at the last minute that he was afraid of blood and had no choice but to drop out.
Zhang Family
Butcher Zhang glanced at Chen Chun'er, who had returned home, and asked, "Has the matter been settled?"
Chen Chun'er nodded and said, "It's settled. One tael of silver a month, plus meals."
"That's not bad either." Butcher Zhang looked at his son sitting at the table eating, a hint of worry creeping into his eyes.
This pig-slaughtering skill is passed down through generations. Although it's not exactly respectable, Zhang the butcher still hopes his son can follow in his footsteps if possible. Unfortunately, his son is quite strong, but he gets flustered and short of breath whenever he sees a large pool of blood.
Zhang the butcher thought his son was weak at the sight of blood, lacked any ambition, and wasn't like a man, so he tied his son to a tree to watch him slaughter pigs.
Butcher Zhang thought that once he got through this ordeal, he wouldn't be afraid anymore. Little did he know that his son was terrified and became even more dizzy. When Chen Chun'er saw her son's miserable state, she had a fight with Butcher Zhang. Butcher Zhang himself regretted it, and in the end, the matter of Zhang Rui learning to slaughter pigs was left unresolved.
Zhang Rui held a bowl of rice, munching away without saying a word, but her face was flushed.
Chen Chun'er glanced at Zhang Rui and said, "Arui, you'll be coming with me to report to Huaxia Trading Company tomorrow."
“Okay, but will Mom provide meals?” Zhang Rui asked.
Chen Chun'er glanced at Zhang Rui and said helplessly, "Don't worry, I've made it clear, I won't shortchange you on food."
"When you get there, it's not like home. Don't just think about eating; be more diligent," Zhang the butcher instructed.
Zhang Rui nodded and said, "Understood."
Zhang the butcher took a sip of wine, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Has your nephew's loan issue been resolved?"
Chen Chun'er nodded and said, "It's resolved."
"It's good that it's resolved. If it hadn't been resolved, my son might have gone to work over there and gotten entangled with them."
Zhang the butcher was a pig slaughterer, and the villagers disliked him because of his tough fate, so no one wanted to marry him. Back then, Zhang the butcher spent more than twenty taels of silver to marry Chen Chun'er. In fact, when Chen Chun'er first married into the family, Zhang the butcher still maintained contact with the Chen family because of Chen Chun'er.
As a result, he sent meat over several times, but there was no return gift. Once, when he went to the outhouse, he overheard his father-in-law and brother-in-law talking about how he had a lot of blood and evil energy, and they were afraid that if they ate at the same table with him, they would get bad luck.
Zhang the butcher was furious and stopped having much contact with him after that.
When Chen Jing got into trouble, the Chen family came knocking on his door, demanding ten taels of silver right off the bat. Butcher Zhang only had a dozen taels of silver, which he needed to save for Zhang Rui's wedding, so naturally he was unwilling. Butcher Zhang hardened his heart and scared away all the people from the Chen family who came.
The next day, Zhang Rui came to report for duty. Zhang Rui had an honest appearance, big and bright eyes, and looked very energetic.
Although Zhang Rui's village was far from the trading company, he had heard of Huaxia Trading Company's reputation. He heard from the villagers that Huaxia Trading Company was a shady business, with extremely expensive items, practically a money-grabbing place.
Although the items in the store are expensive, the owner is a very clever person. The items in the store cannot be bought anywhere else. So, although the store is a bit of a rip-off, it still has quite a few customers and must be making a lot of money.
Chen Chun'er took Zhang Rui to Huaxia Trading Company early in the morning, and it was almost noon when they arrived.
"Ah Lin, this is my son, A Rui. I'm entrusting him to your care from now on," Chen Chun'er said sincerely.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "Auntie, you flatter me."
Zhang Rui looked at Lu Lin with curiosity and asked with some confusion, "Brother Lin, I heard that there's a big boss in this shop. Doesn't he care about what's going on in the shop?"
Knowing that Huaxia Store was related to his cousin Chen Xiaomi, Zhang Rui paid close attention to Huaxia Trading Company's affairs. However, the villagers in Zhang Rui's village didn't know much about it.
When Chen Jing got into trouble, Chen Chun'er didn't want to get involved but was also a little worried, so she asked Zhang Rui to sneak into Dashi Village to find out what was going on. When Zhang Rui went there, the whole village was talking about the Chen family.
Many people sighed at the terrible trouble Chen Jing had caused, while many others envied Chen Xiaomi's wealth and power.
Zhang Rui was full of admiration for his cousin who suddenly took out thirty taels of silver. His father earned a lot of money, but the family only had a little over ten taels of silver.
Zhang Rui learned by chance that many villagers were saying behind Chen Xiaomi's back that she had taken kickbacks, which was why she was financially well-off.
Chen Chun'er smacked Zhang Rui and said, "You brat, why are you asking so many questions?"
Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's alright. Actually, the big boss has important things to do, so he doesn't come often. We just need to hand over the account books and the store's profits to him regularly."
Zhang Rui nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Looking at Zhang Rui's expression, Lu Lin vaguely felt that Zhang Rui might have heard something.
Lu Lin had already heard the rumors about him taking kickbacks. Previously, Lu An had been fired for taking kickbacks. Lu Lin figured that the rumors were spreading so widely because someone disliked him and hoped that the rumors would reach the ears of the "big boss" so that he would be fired.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
