Looking at the small basket in her hand, the old lady of the Lu family said critically, "This basket is so small, what use is it!"
Wang was very unhappy with Lu Lin and found fault with everything he did. However, since Lu Lin had already married into the family, Wang couldn't interfere in his affairs despite her displeasure. Previously, Lu Lin had accused her of stealing money, and she had been scolded by her family, which made her more wary of him.
The village head also approached Wang, telling her to stop causing trouble. He said Chen Xiaomi was not someone to be trifled with, and since she hadn't brought anything with her when she married into the family, it was practically like she had been sold.
"I heard that Lu Lin asked Uncle Lin Wen to make them, and they cost five copper coins each."
Lin Wen is an old bamboo craftsman in the village. He is very skilled at weaving bamboo and can also make bamboo stools, bamboo chairs and many other bamboo baskets.
When Chen Xiaocai asked someone to pick wild berries, Lu Songshi, the son of the fourth son of the Lu family, was also there. The fourth son of the Lu family looked down on his nephew Lu Lin, and Lu Songshi also looked down on his cousin Lu Lin, who was covered in dirt.
After Lu Lin was married into another family, Lu Songshi felt even more that Lu Lin was incompetent. He thought Lu Lin was a perfectly good man, but he couldn't find a wife and could only marry into another family.
After Lu Lin's mother died, the chores of feeding pigs and chickens, cooking, and washing clothes fell on the shoulders of Tang Shi and Lu Songshi's mother, Lin Xiuer.
When Lu Lin's mother was alive, neither Tang nor Lin would lift a finger to feed the pigs. Now that Lu Lin's mother is dead, Lin and Tang are constantly shirking their responsibilities and causing chaos, which has made Lu Songshi's life less comfortable than before.
After Chen Xiaomi became successful, Old Mrs. Lu often spoke ill of Lu Lin at home, and Lu Songshi also began to regard Lu Lin as an enemy.
When Chen Xiaocai was looking for someone to pick wild berries, Lu Songshi was also there. When the baskets were being distributed, Lu Songshi took advantage of the chaos to grab a basket.
The other children picked wild berries and went to Lu Lin to exchange them for money, but Lu Songshi didn't go.
Lu Songshi always acted superior to Lu Lin, and he simply couldn't bring himself to pick wild berries and exchange them for copper coins.
He saw that the basket was exquisite, picked a basket full of wild berries, took it home, and kept the basket for himself.
Afterwards, Lu Songshi heard his playmates talking about how many copper coins Lu Lin had given him, and he felt extremely jealous. His friends had all agreed not to play with Chen Xiaomi, the younger brother of the fierce Shuang'er, but now all of them were trying to get close to Chen Xiaocai.
Lu Songshi felt that his playmates were really spineless; it was just a few copper coins, yet they all changed their minds.
Hearing his son's words, Lu An asked, somewhat puzzled, "What does Lu Lin need so many wild berries for?"
There were about ten children working for Lu Lin. He must have paid them nearly two hundred copper coins that day. What could a few little brats possibly do? Lu Lin really has become frivolous now that he has money. He treats money like it's nothing.
Lu An was lucky. Through his grandfather's connections, he found a job in town that paid two taels of silver a month, which was quite respectable. Because he worked in town, Lu An always felt different from the peasants in the countryside. He rarely went back to the village and did very little farm work.
Chen Xiaomi made several dozen taels of silver selling gloves, instantly outshining Lu An, which made Lu An feel very resentful.
...
The Chen family.
Chen Xiaomi frowned as she looked at the pile of wild berries and asked, "What do you need so many wild berries for?"
Spring is a beautiful season, and there are many delicious things to eat in the mountains. Chen Xiaomi has also eaten wild berries; they are sweet and sour, and taste great, but they are too small to be filling. When wild berries ripen, they usually ripen in clusters, and they rot in just a few days, so they can't be preserved, which is a bit of a pity.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's for making jam."
Chen Xiaomi asked curiously, "Jam, is it delicious?"
Lu Lin nodded. "It's delicious!"
Chen Xiaomi said happily, "I'll help."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Okay! You can help me start a fire then." Chen Xiaomi's cooking skills weren't great, but she could still manage to start a fire.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi washed a type of purple wild berry and put it in a bowl.
Lu Lin took some sugar from the convenience store and poured it into the plate containing the blueberries.
When Chen Xiaomi saw Lu Lin take out the candy, her eyes lit up. Candy was still a precious thing here, and Chen Xiaomi usually couldn't bear to buy it. Lu Lin had given Chen Xiaomi a bag of Ooh Ooh milk candy before, which made Chen Xiaomi very happy, and she ate it all in one go.
When Chen Xiaomi asked Lu Lin for more, Lu Lin said he didn't have any.
Chen Xiaomi felt that what Lu Lin said was definitely not true, but since Lu Lin wouldn't take out the item, there was nothing he could do.
Chen Xiaomi blinked and said, "What a big bag of candy!" Such a big bag of candy must cost quite a bit of money.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's alright."
Brown sugar wasn't worth much either; in my past life, it was sold by weight, and a big bag only cost five yuan.
Lu Lin poured the sugar-mixed wild berries into a pot, simmered them over low heat, stirring constantly until they thickened.
Seeing that it was almost done cooking, Lu Lin put the jam into a ceramic jar to cool.
While Lu Lin wasn't looking, Chen Xiaomi scooped up some brown sugar with her finger and put it in her mouth.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaomi and said helplessly, "You don't even get tired of eating this?"
"It's not cloying at all!" Chen Xiaomi thought Lu Lin was being pretentious again; he was complaining about being fed sweets.
"If you like it, take it and make some sugar water to drink," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi quickly reached out and hid the large bag of candy, afraid that Lu Lin would take it back.
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