TATLC Chapter 34 — Making a Fortune

After the market fair, the village exploded with gossip again.

“Did you hear? The three Chen brothers sold those gloves in town and made dozens of taels of silver!”

“These town people are so strange! What’s the point of gloves? So many people bought them, and those fox fur gloves that cost two taels each, so many people fought to buy them.”

“Chen Xiaomi really made a fortune this time!”

“He made dozens of taels for sure.”

“One pair of gloves only uses a little bit of fox fur, but they sell for so much.”

“I heard Grandma Shen helped make those gloves.”

“And their clothes, wasn’t it Lu Lin who asked Grandma Shen to make those too?”

“These gloves sell so well, I wonder how much money Lu Lin gave Grandma Shen.”

“If she’s just helping out, probably not much. But still, there’s no other work right now, so at least she has some income. Grandma Shen’s family even got a new kang bed built.”

The kang in Grandma Shen’s house was built by Zhang Dazhu’s crew. Lu Lin mentioned it to him, and they fixed it for Grandma Shen at a half-price discount.

…

Before, the villagers all thought Lu Lin was wronged by marrying into Chen Xiaomi’s family. Now they all thought Lu Lin had struck a great deal, marrying into Chen Xiaomi’s family and living the good life.

The villagers’ psychology was very subtle. Before, when Chen Xiaomi was capable but had no money, everyone thought he was scary. But now that Chen Xiaomi had money, everyone was still afraid, but mixed in with that fear was some respect. Seeing Zhang Dazhu, Grandma Shen and others making money with Chen Xiaomi, they felt envious too.

Watching Chen Xiaomi make more and more money, besides looking down on his character, everyone also admired his abilities.

Chen Xiaomi sat on the kang, holding a clay jar and counting the silver over and over again.

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi and said helplessly, “Eighty-three taels and five hundred thirty-six wen. Haven’t you counted it many times already?”

Chen Xiaomi smiled and said, “I’m just afraid I counted wrong.”

Lu Lin was speechless. Even if you’re afraid of counting wrong, you don’t need to count it over and over like this!

“I never thought we’d have this much money.” Chen Xiaomi said excitedly.

Lu Lin narrowed his eyes and said, “This isn’t much. If we had twice this amount, we could buy a house in town.”

Chen Xiaomi blinked and said, “In town…?” Villagers naturally felt awe toward town residents, and Chen Xiaomi was no exception.

“If we go to town, what will we eat?” Although he didn’t have much land here, he could still grow some vegetables and radishes around the house, which was at least some food.

“If we go to town, there’s no place to hunt.” If they went to town without a proper livelihood, they’d just be eating through their savings every day, and life wouldn’t be easy.

Lu Lin chuckled, “I was just talking casually. Of course, we need to think it through carefully.”

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and thought to himself, Lu Lin really must have been a rich young master in his past life! Just one casual idea from him earned us so much money. I could never have made this much on my own.

Chen Xiaomi hugged the clay jar and thought secretly, Back then, even ten taels was a huge expense for me. I hesitated for so long before deciding to buy Lu Lin. Who would have thought I’d end up with a scholar? What a great deal!

“I think if we have silver, we should still buy land. It’s just a pity that every household depends on their fields to make a living. Without some special circumstances, no family would be willing to sell.” Chen Xiaomi said.

Lu Lin frowned. “If we can’t buy it, then forget it. Farming is too much work anyway.”

Chen Xiaomi shot him a look, convinced Lu Lin was a hopeless was a hopeless young master. Who dislikes land just because farming is hard?

Lu Lin saw Chen Xiaomi’s expression, blinked, and said, “Well, having land would be nice too. If no one farms it, we can rent it out.”

Chen Xiaomi’s lip twitched. Completely hopeless.

…

At the Shen house, Grandma Shen held the silver with tears welling up in her eyes.

“Grandma, this is the silver Xiaocai brought over!” Shen Chi asked.

Grandma Shen’s emotions stirred as she said, “Yes! He said it’s profit from selling the gloves. This is too generous.”

Two taels of silver was enough to buy two pigs. With this much silver, she didn’t have to worry about getting through the winter.

She originally didn’t want to accept it. When she made the gloves before, Lu Lin had already paid her wages, two wen per pair of gloves. She had also earned about three hundred wen, and Lu Lin had even given her two pairs of gloves.

However, when Chen Xiaocai came, he said his big brother told him that there would be many more opportunities to work together in the future. If she didn’t accept this, it would be awkward to continue working together later. She had already earned quite a bit of money from the Lu family, so naturally she hoped to continue working together in the future.

Shen Chi wore his gloves and said, “Grandma, I heard Xiaocai say that pile of gloves sold for dozens of taels.”

Although people say wealth shouldn’t be flaunted, many villagers saw Chen Xiaomi setting up a stall to sell gloves in town. Some nosy people watched for a long time, and in the end, they could roughly calculate how much he made. So Lu Lin told Chen Xiaocai that if Grandma Shen really didn’t want to accept it, he could drop some hints.

Grandma Shen was stunned. “I never thought they could make so much silver.”

When Lu Lin had asked her to cut up perfectly good pelts and make it into that strange shape, Grandma Shen had felt uncertain about it.

Although it wouldn’t be Grandma Shen’s fault if the gloves didn’t sell, her heart had been hanging in suspense. Hearing that the gloves sold really well, she finally felt relieved.