TATLC Chapter 41 — Making Jam

Grandma Lu looked at the small basket beside her and said with disdain, “This basket is so small, what’s the point of it?”

Wang held a deep grudge against Lu Lin, and no matter what he did, it rubbed her the wrong way. But since Lu Lin had already married out as a son-in-law, even though she felt annoyed, she couldn’t interfere with Lu Lin’s affairs. After being accused by Lu Lin of stealing money and getting scolded by the family, Wang became more wary of him.

The village chief had also talked to Wang, telling her not to cause trouble anymore. Chen Xiaomi wasn’t someone to mess with, and Lu Lin had married out without bringing anything, which was basically like selling him off.

“I heard Lu Lin asked Uncle Lin Wen to make them, five wen each.”

Lin Wen was the village’s old bamboo craftsman. His bamboo weaving skills were excellent, and he could also make bamboo stools and chairs. Many villagers had ordered woven baskets from him.

When Chen Xiaocai was looking for children to pick wild berries, Lu Songshi, the son of Lu Lin’s Fourth Uncle, was also there. Fourth Uncle Lu looked down on his nephew Lu Lin, and Lu Songshi shared the same disdain for his shabby cousin.

After Lu Lin married out, Lu Songshi felt even more that Lu Lin was useless. A perfectly good man who couldn’t find a wife and could only marry into someone else’s family.

After Lu Lin’s mother died, the work of feeding pigs and chickens, cooking and washing clothes fell to Tang and Lu Songshi’s mother Lin Xiu’er.

When Lu Lin’s mother was alive, Tang and Lin never touched these chores. Now that Lu Lin’s mother was dead, Lin and Tang kept pushing the work onto each other, often causing such a ruckus that Lu Songshi’s life wasn’t as comfortable as before.

After Chen Xiaomi became successful, Grandma Lu often spoke badly of Lu Lin at home, and Lu Songshi also came to see Lu Lin as an enemy.

When Chen Xiaocai was looking for people to pick wild berries, Lu Songshi was there too. When the baskets were being distributed, Lu Songshi took advantage of the commotion to grab one.

While other children picked wild berries and went to Lu Lin to exchange them for money, Lu Songshi didn’t go.

He always acted superior in front of Lu Lin. He couldn’t bring himself to pick wild berries and exchange them with Lu Lin for copper coins.

He saw that the basket was well-made, so after picking a basket of wild berries and taking it home, he kept the basket for himself.

Later, when Lu Songshi heard his friends boasting about how much Lu Lin had paid them, he felt sour inside. His friends had all agreed not to play with Chen Xiaocai, the brother of that fierce Shuang’er, but now they were all trying to get close to that brat.

Lu Songshi felt his playmates really had no backbone. It was just a few copper coins, yet they all changed their minds.

Lu An listened to his son’s words and frowned in confusion, “What does Lu Lin want so many wild berries for?”

With more than ten children working for Lu Lin, he should have paid out almost two hundred wen that day. What could a bunch of little kids do? Lu Lin really treat money like it was worth nothing.

Lu An was quite lucky. Through connections with Old Man Lu, he found work in town earning two taels of silver a month, which was quite respectable. Because he worked in town, Lu An always felt he was different from the villagers. He rarely returned to the village and seldom did farm work.

When Chen Xiaomi made dozens of taels of silver selling gloves, it immediately overshadowed him. The thought left a sour taste in Lu An’s mouth.

…

At Chen Xiaomi’s.

Chen Xiaomi frowned at the mountain of wild berries piled up before him. “What do we need so many for?”

Spring was a beautiful season, and the mountains were full of delicious treats. Chen Xiaomi had also eaten the wild berries from the mountains. They were sweet and sour and tasted good, but they were too small to be filling. When wild berries ripened, they basically all ripened together and would rot within a few days. They couldn’t be preserved, which was quite a pity.

Lu Lin smiled and said, “To make jam.”

Chen Xiaomi’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Jam? Is it tasty?”

Lu Lin nodded, “It’s delicious!”

A spark of excitement flashed in Chen Xiaomi’s eyes. “I’ll help you.”

Lu Lin nodded, “Sure! You can help me light the fire later.” Chen Xiaomi’s cooking skills weren’t great, but he could manage to keep a fire going.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi washed a type of purple wild berry clean and put them in a bowl.

Lu Lin took some sugar from the convenience store and poured it into the plate with the berries.

When Chen Xiaomi saw Lu Lin bring out sugar, his eyes immediately lit up. Sugar was still a precious thing here. Chen Xiaomi usually couldn’t bear to buy it. Lu Lin had previously given Chen Xiaomi a pack of milk candies, which made him so happy he ate them all at once.

When he asked for more, Lu Lin said there weren’t any left.

Chen Xiaomi didn’t believe him, but there was nothing he could do if Lu Lin refused to share.

Chen Xiaomi blinked. “That’s such a big bag of sugar!” Such a big bag of sugar would probably cost a lot of money to buy.

Lu Lin chuckled. “It’s not that much.”

Brown sugar wasn’t worth much. In his previous life, it was sold by the pound, and a big bag only cost five yuan.

Lu Lin poured the wild berries mixed with sugar into the pot, cooked them over low heat, stirring constantly until they became thick.

Seeing it was cooked enough, Lu Lin transferred the jam into a ceramic jar on the side to cool.

When Lu Lin wasn’t paying attention, Chen Xiaomi used his finger to scoop up some brown sugar and put it in his mouth.

Lu Lin shot him a helpless glance. “Just eating it plain like that, isn’t it too sweet?”

“Not at all!” Chen Xiaomi thought Lu Lin was being fussy again. Who in their right mind would complain about sugar being too sweet?

“If you like it that much, take some to make sugar water later,” Lu Lin offered.

Without hesitation, Chen Xiaomi snatched the entire bag and tucked it away, as if afraid Lu Lin might change his mind and take it back.