TATLC Chapter 35 — The Glove Craze

The news that Chen Xiaomi made dozens of taels in one go spread throughout the village, making quite a few people green with envy.

Villagers who lived off farming the land only made about seven or eight taels of silver per acre in a whole year.

Chen Xiaomi just sold some gloves and earned what the villagers made from years of hard work.

Fox fur gloves soon became a status symbol among the wealthy young masters in town. Having a pair of fox fur gloves made someone stand out among all the students.

Those who couldn’t buy fox fur gloves bought other styles instead. If they couldn’t get fox fur gloves, they could still get fox fur. These people bought fox fur and had someone else make gloves for them, quickly becoming owners of fox fur gloves too.

This glove craze that swept through town drove up fur prices quite a bit.

Soon gloves became popular everywhere. Those with less money who couldn’t get fox fur gloves could still easily afford rabbit fur gloves, and glove prices quickly dropped. Some people with copycat ideas could sell their gloves too, but they couldn’t get good prices.

Chen Xiaomi hadn’t gone to the market these past few days, but news of villagers taking gloves to sell still reached his ears.

Hearing that those people’s gloves didn’t sell for much, Chen Xiaomi felt a petty sense of satisfaction.

Chen Xiaomi lay in bed, looking at Lu Lin, and said, “You were right! Glove prices really did drop a lot.”

After he sold gloves at the market once, everyone quickly thought there was money to be made and went to buy fur, which drove fur prices up a bit. When they went to sell gloves in town again, there were already many more gloves available. Those who got there first still made some profit, but those who came later were lucky if they could just break even.

Lu Lin smiled and said, “It’s not anything particularly complicated. What sells is just the novelty.”

Gloves weren’t hard to make, and by now, the market likely had even more exquisite designs. Grandma Shen’s skills were good, but it couldn’t compare to the skilled embroiderers employed by wealthy households. Plus, these embroiderers had much broader knowledge than Grandma Shen.

Chen Xiaomi tilted his head. “On market day, that guy Chen Laoda came back and bought animal pelts from hunters in the neighboring village to make gloves, but now they’re stuck on his hands.” Animal pelts weren’t cheap, and with the goods stuck in his hands, he’d probably lose money. “What an idiot.”

Lu Lin still knew Chen Laoda somewhat. After Lu Lin married into the family, he’d seen Chen Laoda a few times. When Chen Laoda saw him outside, he was always full of contempt and disgust, as if Lu Lin had stolen money from the Chen family.

Lately, Lu Lin had grown closer to Chen Xiaocai. The boy once mentioned that once when Chen Xiaomi was delayed in the mountains overnight, Chen Laoda thought Chen Xiaomi was dead and ran to their house wanting to take over Chen Xiaomi’s things. Later when Chen Xiaomi returned, he gave their uncle a beating.

Although Chen Xiaomi had split off from the family, Lu Lin figured Chen Laoda still thought Xiaomi’s belongings all belonged to the Chen family. When Chen Xiaomi spent ten taels of silver, it was like spending the Chen family’s money. This explained why Chen Laoda always looked at him with such disdain every time they met.

Surprised, Lu Lin asked, “How do you know about Chen Laoda’s situation?”

“Zhang Dazhu told me.”

“He came by again recently to deliver firewood.” Lu Lin stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Chen Xiaomi tilted his head. “Speaking of which, more villagers seem to be coming to talk to me lately.”

“That’s a good thing!”

Chen Xiaomi disagreed, “What’s good about it! It’s so annoying. Someone asked if I wanted to buy pickled vegetables, and others asked if I needed help making clothes and could find them next time.”

Lu Lin narrowed his eyes. “Looks like people found out about our cooperation with Grandma Shen!”

“Probably.” Chen Xiaomi scratched his head and said, “There are too many gossips in the village. Nothing can be kept secret.”

Chen Xiaocai often took Chen Xiaomai to run to Grandma Shen’s place, which naturally drew attention. Grandma Shen had probably been seen making gloves before, but at that time, the villagers who saw it didn’t know what the gloves were for. When they asked Grandma Shen, she was vague about it, only saying someone else wanted them, so those people didn’t ask more.

But now that Xiaocai had made a fortune selling those “mysterious” gloves, those people finally understood.

…

At the Lu house.

Wang frowned and cursed, pointing at the sky and scolding the earth, complaining that heaven was unfair to let someone like Chen Xiaomi get rich.

“Mom, did he really make dozens of taels?” Lu Tong had also wanted to go to the market, but without a cart and not wanting to walk, she didn’t go.

Wang nodded, “Just those few pairs of fox fur ones sold for over ten taels, and with all the others, it must have been thirty or forty taels.”

Lu Tong gasped. “That much?!”

The Lu family had a lot of land and was quite well-off, but they also had many people and had to support the eldest grandson’s studies. Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones all cost money. To leave a good impression on influential people, they had to give gifts during festivals and holidays. Among classmates, there were occasional small gatherings, and social connections had to be maintained. After a whole year, dozens of taels of silver weren’t enough.

Lu Tong had secretly saved some private money, but only two taels. Thinking about how Chen Xiaomi made dozens of taels from one market trip, Lu Tong was seething with envy.

When villagers married, the bride price was usually just three or five taels of silver. Chen Xiaomi had previously spent ten taels to find someone to marry into his family, which was already a huge expense. Who would have thought Chen Xiaomi could suddenly make dozens of taels in one go.