TATLC Chapter 07 – Money-Losing Thing

Lu Lin had been here for two days and had roughly figured out the daily routines of the three Chen brothers.

Chen Xiaomi left early and returned late, responsible for hunting to support the family. Chen Xiaocai sometimes took Chen Xiaomai out to gather firewood, dig up wild vegetables, feed the chickens… and other times, he left Chen Xiaomai at home.

Watching the three Chen brothers busy from dawn till dusk, Lu Lin, who had been lying around for a long time, felt somewhat guilty. Even these children knew how to support a family, while he, a grown man, was just lying on a wooden plank sleeping.

Lu Lin felt he needed to earn more money. The quilts in the house were too thin, and if things kept going like this, he’d freeze to death.

Chen Xiaocai returned home carrying a load of firewood and immediately smelled a delicious aroma.

He sniffed the air curiously.

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaocai and said, “You’re back. I made fried eggs.”

Chen Xiaocai asked suspiciously, “Fried eggs? Where did you get eggs from?” They had five chickens at home, but they were all still small and couldn’t lay eggs yet.

Lu Lin replied casually, “I came across a nest of wild eggs and picked them up.”

Chen Xiaocai was surprised by Lu Lin’s good luck but didn’t question it further. Having food to eat was always good.

Chen Xiaocai looked at the fried eggs on the plate, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Lu Lin and said, “You take a bite first.”

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai and thought to himself: This kid is quite generous! He’s actually letting me eat the eggs.

Lu Lin’s convenience store had two large baskets of eggs, each containing about four hundred. In his previous life, as rural family conditions improved, many people went out to work and chose to buy eggs rather than raise chickens themselves.

The eggs sold in the convenience store were naturally from factory-farmed chickens, which were less nutritious than free-range eggs, but still, eggs were eggs. Having something to eat was better than having nothing.

Before Chen Xiaocai came back, Lu Lin had already eaten two eggs and secretly cooked a bowl of rice porridge using rice from the convenience store. The feeling of being full was quite nice.

Lu Lin took a bite, and Chen Xiaocai immediately snatched the bowl back.

Lu Lin suddenly realized Chen Xiaocai’s purpose. He must have been worried about being poisoned, so he had Lu Lin eat first to confirm it was safe before eating himself.

Lu Lin felt helpless. This little brat’s got trust issues.

Chen Xiaocai looked up, glanced at Lu Lin, and asked, “Did you use oil?”

Lu Lin nodded and said, “Yes.”

Chen Xiaocai grumbled irritably, “Money-losing thing.”

Lu Lin: “…” He couldn’t believe he was being scolded as wasteful by a child.

Lu Lin suddenly remembered that in modern times, women constantly complained about dieting and avoided fried foods like the plague, but in ancient times, oil was a rare commodity, generally only extracted from animal fat. Many people here couldn’t afford to use oil at all. The Chen family’s oil was probably rendered from pork fat.

Lu Lin’s eyes shifted as he thought about it. His convenience store had more than a dozen buckets of salad oil. In the village, many families used to trade grain for oil, but after conditions improved, many stopped farming and had to buy oil instead. The cooks from the factory would buy several buckets at once.

With more than a dozen buckets of salad oil, if he brought them out, they could last for quite a long time.

Lu Lin suddenly felt extremely wealthy, but unfortunately, many items weren’t suitable to reveal just yet.

Chen Xiaocai carefully ate one fried egg and gave one to Chen Xiaomai. Although both brothers seemed unsatisfied, they tacitly stopped eating.

Chen Xiaocai hid the remaining two fried eggs.

Were they saving those for Chen Xiaomi?

In the village, the reputation of the three Chen brothers was worse than the last. The youngest was a fool, the second was an accomplice to evil, and the eldest was a madman… But in reality, the Chen brothers’ relationship was quite good! Lu Lin felt a sense of warmth.

“Da-ge, that guy’s fried eggs were really delicious! But he used some oil. He really doesn’t know how to manage a household,” Chen Xiaocai complained.

Chen Xiaomi had quite an appetite and accidentally ate both fried eggs.

Chen Xiaomi wasn’t picky about food and could enjoy eating brown rice buns with relish, but he also appreciated good food.

The fried eggs that Lu Lin made were crispy on the outside and tender inside, very delicious. Chen Xiaomi ate them with great pleasure and finished them before he knew it.

“It’s fine, it’s just oil. We can catch a few more animals and render some more,” he said.

Chen Xiaocai glanced at Chen Xiaomi and asked, “Da-ge, didn’t you catch any game today?”

Chen Xiaomi replied with some concern, “It’s not easy to catch anything. Winter may come early this year.”

Chen Xiaocai blinked and said, “Since that guy is awake now, let him work.”

Chen Xiaomi thought for a moment and said, “That’s a good idea.” He thought to himself: Lu Lin is a man after all. Even if he can’t catch game, he should at least be able to help gather food in the mountains.