TATLC Chapter 46 — The Spring Exam Approaches

Lu Lin’s days went on as usual, but for the few scholars in the village, a major event was approaching – the spring examination.

Lately, conversations among the villagers had shifted to focus on the exams.

Families with students tried to keep things quiet lately, doing everything they could to provide a good study environment for those preparing for the big test.

The villagers got caught up in this atmosphere, and for a while, all anyone talked about was education.

“Lin-ge, a lot of people have been going to the Lu family to propose marriage lately!” Chen Xiaocai said.

Lu Lin glanced at him. “Propose to who?”

“Lu Tong! Some people also proposed to Lu Chengyu, but Tang said Lu Chengyu needs to focus on preparing for the exam and can’t get distracted by this stuff. So most of them were for Lu Tong. Everyone says Lu Chengyu has really high standards and doesn’t like any of the village girls. He wants to wait until he becomes a Xiucai, then marry a young lady from town.”

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai, who seemed excited, and thought, This kid has really changed a lot. Before, he looked gloomy all the time, but lately he seems much more cheerful. He must be playing with the other village kids.

“Zhang Dahu told you this?” Lu Lin asked.

“Dahu mentioned it, but so did others.”

Lu Lin chuckled. “You’re pretty popular!”

Chen Xiaocai scratched his head and blushed a little. “Not really.”

He didn’t really understand it either. Before, the kids his age in the village all avoided him, but now many people wanted to play with him and share gossip. Of course, it might just be because of the copper coins and tangyuan.

Zhang Dahu and the others couldn’t forget the tangyuan they ate at his house and kept pestering him, asking when there would be work to do. They even said they’d skip the pay if they could just get another good meal. But lately there weren’t many wild fruits in the forest, and Chen Xiaocai didn’t receive any tasks from Lu Lin, so he couldn’t say anything.

“After eating those glutinous rice balls last time, those guys have been craving them like crazy.”

Chen Xiaomi listened from the side and pouted, grumbling, “Those brats can really eat.”

Three big bowls of tangyuan, and they didn’t leave him any. If he hadn’t eaten some beforehand, he wouldn’t have gotten anything.

Most families in the village struggled all year long. Glutinous rice was expensive, so eating it was pretty luxurious for many families. Chen Xiaomi had been making a lot of money lately, so he didn’t really mind.

“Since people are proposing, has Lu Tong’s marriage been settled?” Lu Lin asked curiously.

Chen Xiaocai shook his head. “No, the Lu family wants twenty taels of silver as bride price, which scared a lot of people away.”

“Twenty taels!” Lu Lin’s eyes sparkled with amusement as he murmured the amount.

In my previous life, bride prices crushed many families, and things aren’t much better here! Given Tang’s personality, even if she got that much, she probably won’t let Lu Tong take much dowry with her.

Chen Xiaocai blinked. “Twenty taels! That scared off most of the villagers.”

The Chen family’s standard of living had improved a lot recently, but Chen Xiaocai didn’t know much about the money Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi made selling wine and jam. His impression of money still came from a few years ago, so twenty taels of silver was still a fortune in his mind.

“Twenty taels!” Chen Xiaomi blinked.

When he bought Lu Lin, it only cost ten taels of silver. Lu Tong’s price could practically buy two Lu Lins!

Lu Lin saw Chen Xiaomi looking at him and turned his head with a smile.

“Tang set such a high bride price, isn’t she afraid Lu Tong will become an old maid?” Chen Xiaomi couldn’t help shaking his head.

“Tang doesn’t seem worried, so it’s probably fine,” Lu Lin shrugged.

Tang must be confident about Lu Chengyu. If he really did become a Xiucai, then waiting a bit longer for Lu Tong’s marriage wouldn’t matter. But if Lu Chengyu failed this time, that would be more troublesome. Lu Tong’s age was already pushing it, and if she waited longer, she’d have to pay taxes.

In this place, gossip could ruin lives. The Lu family’s conditions were still pretty good, with so much land. Three taels of silver might be manageable for the Lu family if they squeezed. But if word got out that they had to pay taxes because they couldn’t marry off their daughter? That would make them a laughingstock.

Chen Xiaocai tilted his head. “I heard many villagers really like Lu Tong. She is pretty.”

Lu Lin rubbed his chin. For village girls, looks were three parts appearance and seven parts dressing up.

The Lu family’s situation was decent, so Lu Tong always dressed well. Other village girls had to work in the fields and got tanned, but Lu Tong had been acting like a young lady for a long time and kept her skin in good condition. Compared to other girls her age in the village, Lu Tong could indeed be considered quite attractive.

But when it came to marriage, villagers cared more about the girl’s temper, character, and whether she could work. Looks came second. But young men naturally preferred pretty girls, and if parents loved their sons, they’d try to help. However, twenty taels of silver was still too much and a huge burden for many village families.

“Forget it, this is something Tang needs to worry about. It has nothing to do with us,” Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiaocai nodded. “True.”

…

In spring, everything came back to life, and the farmers threw themselves into the busy farming season. Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin had no land, so they could only head to the mountains.

Even though they had no land, Chen Xiaocai wasn’t idle either. He spent his days with Xiaomai, digging wild vegetables, digging for bugs, and feeding the chickens and geese.

The chickens and geese at home had already started laying eggs. Besides what they ate daily, there were still extras left over.

Seeing Chen Xiaocai working so hard, Lu Lin occasionally felt a bit guilty, though only occasionally.

With Chen Xiaomi going into the mountains to hunt from time to time, their home never lacked meat. They planted some vegetables and radishes in front of and behind the house, which could solve about half of their food problems.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi drove the mule cart into town.

Manager Wang was delighted to see them. For every jar of jam sold, he earned two hundred wen, which was practically pure profit. Recently, he had made quite a bit, and while the commission was nice, the real benefit was how the jam had boosted his store’s overall business.

“This is the last batch of jam, twenty jars in total,” Lu Lin said. “Also, here are forty jars of wine.”

Manager Wang looked at the wine and said with some confusion, “They’re all second-grade wine!”

Lu Lin said apologetically, “The ingredients for the first type of wine are rare, and we’ve pretty much run out.”

Nodding in understanding, Manager Wang handed over thirty-two taels of silver for the sweet potato wine and jam.

“Lu Xiao-ge, you must be making quite a profit lately!” Manager Wang said with a smile.

Lu Lin chuckled wryly. “How can I compare to Manager Wang! Your shop is packed with customers. The jam looks profitable, but the costs are also very high. Besides, sometimes we don’t dare make too much because if it sits too long, it spoils quickly.”

Manager Wang gave a noncommittal laugh. “Well, if you ever come across any other good products in the future, remember to bring them to me!”

“Of course, of course.”

Lu Lin smiled and said, “I see the business in your shop seems pretty good! Is everyone buying cakes?”

Shopkeeper Wang beamed. “They’re Top Scholar¹ Cakes. The spring examinations are coming up, so everyone wants to get some good luck.”

Lu Lin nodded and said, “I see!”

Imperial examinations really were a big deal in ancient times! At this time of year, everything everywhere was related to the exams.

But it was the same in his previous life. During college entrance exam season, roads would close near schools, and many parents would run to temples to burn incense and pray to Buddha for their children’s success.

“Lu Xiao-ge, would you like to take some back?”

Lu Lin rolled his eyes. No one in his family was taking exams, so eating these seemed pretty useless. But these Top Scholar Cakes looked delicious. If he bought some to take back for Xiaomai, he would definitely be happy. The two little ones had been working pretty hard lately too.

Lu Lin followed Manager Wang’s suggestion and packed some cakes to take back.

After leaving the restaurant, Lu Lin went to the street to buy steamed buns and bread.

…

On their way back, Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin and asked, “Are we almost out of sweet potatoes?”

Lu Lin nodded. “Yes.” Originally, the convenience store had been almost completely filled with sweet potatoes, but as the sweet potatoes were continuously brewed into sweet potato wine, the sweet potatoes in the convenience store were rapidly consumed. Now only a scattered pile remained.

“But it’s about time anyway.” They’d already sold over three hundred jars of sweet potato wine.

The clay jar in the convenience store now had about three hundred taels of silver.

“Is there also a lot less of the original wine?” Chen Xiaomi asked.

Lu Lin nodded and said, “Yes, almost a quarter is gone.” Taking out case after case of alcohol to sell, the wine was disappearing quite quickly too.

Chen Xiaomi blinked. “Why is there so much wine but so little spicy strips?”

Lu Lin sighed. “Because in our place, when people visit relatives and friends, they give wine, not spicy strips.”

Chen Xiaomi sat on the mule cart swinging his legs and said, “The people in your place are really strange. I think giving spicy strips would be better.”

Lu Lin thought, “…” Giving spicy strips? His husband’s creativity never failed to amaze him.

“How much silver do we have now?” Chen Xiaomi asked. Ever since he had handed the clay jar over to Lu Lin for safekeeping, he rarely asked about it. When he wanted to know how much silver was in the jar, he would just ask Lu Lin.

“About three hundred and ten taels,” Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiaomi’s eyes widened. “That much already!”

He thought, Too bad no one was selling land right now. Otherwise, with this much silver, we can casually buy dozens of mu of land and start being a landlord. But if we really bought land, that would be too conspicuous.

Chen Xiaomi knew full well that while the villagers were aware he’d made money, the villagers didn’t know exactly how much money he had made.

As soon as Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi returned, Chen Xiaomai affectionately rushed over to cling to Lu Lin.

Every time Lu Lin went out, he would bring back some food for Chen Xiaomai and Xiaocai. To Xiaomai, Lu Lin’s return meant snacks.

Lu Lin handed him the cake². Xiaomai immediately took a huge bite with an “Awoo!”

Lu Lin rolled his eyes and thought, This is Top Scholar Cake! Shouldn’t you eat it more… elegantly? But whether it was Top Scholar Cake or Second Place Cake, they were all meant to be eaten.