TATLC Chapter 16 – Earning Seven Taels

Chen Xiaocai woke up to find hot food warming in the pot. He took a bite of the egg pancake and was immediately stunned.

His big brother’s pancakes were always dry and tough. In comparison, this was far superior. Once again, Chen Xiaocai was impressed by Lu Lin’s cooking skills.

Chen Xiaomai opened his mouth and tugged at Chen Xiaocai’s pants.

Chen Xiaocai looked at his little brother and split half of his pancake to give to Chen Xiaomai.

Chen Xiaomai took the pancake, gobbled it down quickly, and then stared expectantly at Chen Xiaocai. He obviously wanted more…

Chen Xiaocai sighed and shared a bit more of his remaining half with his brother.

Looking at Chen Xiaomai, Chen Xiaocai thought his brother seemed to have gained a little weight.

Chen Xiaocai pursed his lips slightly, feeling a bit strange. He realized that since Lu Lin came to their home, the family’s meals had improved considerably.

He took another bite of the pancake. There must be eggs in it.

Chen Xiaocai had always thought Lu Lin was wasteful and worried he would empty their home of food, but the reality was different. Their food supply only seemed to be more, the more they ate. Under these circumstances, Chen Xiaocai couldn’t criticize Lu Lin for being wasteful anymore.

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Lu Lin tilted his head slightly, as he looked at Chen Xiaomi with admiration. His stamina is insane! Compared to him, I really seem like a weakling!

After walking for over half an hour, Lu Lin felt almost exhausted when they finally reached their destination.

Already familiar with the place, Chen Xiaomi walked to the back door of a large house and knocked.

The servant inside recognized Chen Xiaomi, and shortly after, a man who looked like a steward came out.

On the way there, Lu Lin had already heard from Chen Xiaomi that this was Landlord Yang’s home, where he often sold his wild game.

At first, Chen Xiaomi sold his wild game at a stall in town, which not only cost five wen for the spot but also meant his prices were often pushed down.

Once, a wealthy family that was hosting a banquet bought all his game. Afterward, the steward told Chen Xiaomi that in the future, he could bring any good game directly to them, and they wouldn’t pay less than market price. Since then, whenever Chen Xiaomi came to town, he delivered his goods straight to the Yang family, saving both time and stall fees.

Over time, Chen Xiaomi and the steward grew familiar with each other.

The steward looked at the pork and wild pheasants Chen Xiaomi brought with a smile, barely haggling over the price.

For about a hundred jin¹ of pork, he gave one tael of silver, and for several wild pheasants, a hundred wen.

“Xiaomi-ge, you’re hunting skills keeps getting better!”

Chen Xiaomi smiled and said, “I got lucky. I’d like to see the young master. I have something rare that I want to show him.”

The steward looked at Chen Xiaomi with surprise. “Oh?”

The steward secretly doubted that Chen Xiaomi could have anything truly rare and seemed skeptical.

Seeing the steward’s expression, Chen Xiaomi pulled him aside and secretly showed him the item.

The steward’s eyes brightened. “I’ll go find the young master right away.”

Villagers in the countryside only thought about having enough food and clothing, while the wealthy in town thought about how to stand out among their peers, or how to spend a night with the most beautiful courtesans… Glass marbles were extremely rare treasures in this era.

Chen Xiaomi walked out with seven taels of silver, one from selling pork and six from selling the glass marbles.

Chen Xiaomi told the young master that he found the beads deep in the mountains. The young master was delighted, thinking they might be natural treasures, and told Chen Xiaomi to bring more if he found them, offering three taels of silver per marble.

Lu Lin had been waiting outside for Chen Xiaomi and immediately went up to him when he came out.

“Did you sell them?” Lu Lin asked.

Chen Xiaomi nodded. “Yes, I got six taels for the marbles, plus one tael for the wild boar, making it seven taels total. The young master said he wants to buy more if we find any.”

Chen Xiaomi’s cheeks were flushed with excitement.

Lu Lin sighed in his heart. Who knew glass marbles would be so valuable here? One marble’s worth three whole pigs.

In his previous life, he could buy a whole bag of them for just two yuan.

Chen Xiaomi sighed, “Those beads! To farmers who can’t eat or wear them, they’re worthless. But to these rich young masters in town, they’re rare treasures. It’s a shame this is just a small town. If we sold it somewhere bigger, we might’ve gotten over ten taels.”

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi and felt that his partner was really brilliant. He had far more insight than the average villager.

Although the convenience store still had a few marbles, Lu Lin didn’t want to bring them out yet. Too many items would arouse suspicion, and besides, rarity increased value. Taking out too many at once wouldn’t necessarily fetch the same price.

Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin and said, “Now that we’ve sold everything, let’s buy some things.”

Chen Xiaomi was thinking they should get some cloth. When Lu Lin had been sent to him, he didn’t even have a decent set of clothes. His two younger brothers hadn’t worn new clothes for a long time either. They only wore his old clothes that had been altered and patched repeatedly.

Recently, Lu Lin had been wearing Chen Xiaomi’s clothes. Although Chen Xiaomi was strong, he was shorter than Lu Lin, so his clothes were a bit tight and uncomfortable for Lu Lin.

Lu Lin nodded. “Okay.”