TATLC Chapter 88 — Imperial Examinations and Dolls

Winter passed and spring arrived. Time slipped by quietly without anyone noticing.

After the Spring Festival, Chen Xiaocai kept clamoring to return to Liu Town to prepare for reopening the shop.

The shop in Lin Town had stayed open the whole time. During the period leading up to the New Year, business was incredibly hot, making Chen Xiaocai’s eyes burn with envy.

During the New Year celebrations, Chen Xiaomi called Chen Xiaocai into their room and told him that both the Lin Town and Liu Town shops actually belonged to them. There was no big boss behind everything.

Lu Lin had initially thought Chen Xiaocai was too young and didn’t dare tell him about this. However, felt that since his brother was now engaged and had been managing the store for so long, things were different now, and they should be honest with him.

Chen Xiaocai had vaguely guessed some of this, but having his suspicions confirmed still left him feeling dizzy and confused.

Chen Xiaomi told him that in a couple of years, when he and Shen Chi officially got married, he would transfer the house and shop in Liu Town to them.

Chen Xiaocai didn’t expect his big brother to suddenly bring this up. He flushed bright red and he kept declining the offer.

Having come from a life of hardship, Chen Xiaocai felt an urgent need to make money. Shen Chi felt the same way. Shen Chi and his grandmother had spent the winter in town, where conditions were much more comfortable. However, Shen Chi always worried that idling in town without work would gradually drain their resources. So, when Chen Xiaocai said he wanted to reopen early, it perfectly matched Shen Chi’s thoughts.

Although Chen Xiaomi felt reluctant to see Chen Xiaocai leave, he still let him go.

When Chen Xiaocai arrived at the Liu Town shop, he immediately got busy and worked with great enthusiasm.

Shen Chi watched him and asked with some confusion, “Xiaocai, are you very happy?”

Looking at Chen Xiaocai’s expression, Shen Chi thought he seemed unusually excited.

Chen Xiaocai smiled and said, “It’s nothing. I’m just happy that we’re reopening soon and will be earning money again.”

He originally thought the shop belonged to someone else and they were just working for the owner. He had always been diligent, but now that he knew the shop was actually theirs, his feelings about it were completely different.

As the shopkeeper, Chen Xiaocai naturally knew how much income the shop generated. After making a rough estimate, he realized his big brother probably had several hundred taels of silver on hand. The thought gave him a somewhat surreal feeling.

Shen Chi nodded and said, “Right, the sooner we reopen, the sooner we can make money.”

During the New Year, Lu Lin prepared many delicious foods. Shen Chi felt that since he wasn’t working, he shouldn’t eat too much good food, but the dishes Lu Lin made were too delicious, especially that hot pot. The first time he tried it, his mouth felt like it was on fire, but the more he ate, the more he wanted to eat. Before he knew it, he always ended up eating until his belly was round.

Shen Chi kept thinking he should eat less next time, but he could never control himself.

Eating hot pot around the stove in winter and working up a sweat was incredibly satisfying. Shen Chi vaguely felt like he had gained weight.

Thinking of his grandmother’s worried expression, Shen Chi felt a bit embarrassed.

Shen Chi scratched his head and thought, I should eat less from now on. It wouldn’t be good if I got too fat.

Chen Xiaocai glanced at the daydreaming Shen Chi and said, “Ah Chi, what are you thinking about?”

Shen Chi’s face turned red. He shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

As soon as Chen Xiaocai’s shop opened, it welcomed a wave of enthusiasm. The Lin Town shop had stayed open continuously, so business there had remained relatively stable. Liu Town was different. After Chen Xiaomi closed that shop, the locals had nowhere to buy his goods. Now that the shop was open again, customers swarmed in.

Chen Xiaocai didn’t expect such a successful reopening and couldn’t help but feel extremely excited. The two of them worked busily all day. It wasn’t until evening that the stream of customers buying dolls finally slowed down.

At the Lu’s

Tang looked at the baby girl in Li Fangyue’s arms and said impatiently, “Why is this child always crying?”

“She’s crying because she isn’t getting enough to eat.”

Tang shot Li Fangyue an annoyed look. “After all the nourishing food you’ve eaten, and you still have no milk? It’s like it all went to waste.”

Li Fangyue felt depressed being scolded. She didn’t know what was wrong either. She just couldn’t produce milk, so she could only let the baby go hungry. Lin Xiu’er should have been able to help nurse the baby, but every time she brought it up, she was brushed off with excuses. Lin Xiu’er said she still needed to feed her son and didn’t have enough milk to spare.

Li Fangyue could only carry the baby out and beg others to feed her. Occasionally she would secretly cook some millet porridge to get by. Even so, whenever the Grandma Lu saw this, she would always scold her for being wasteful and complain that she gave birth to a girl who was too delicate and fussy.

Shuang’ers don’t produce breast milk. After some Shuang’er gave birth, they had no choice but to seek out wet nurses to help feed their babies. Tang was quite curious about how Chen Xiaomi was raising his child.

From those who frequently went to town, Tang learned that Chen Xiaomi had hired a wet nurse. Even that wasn’t enough, so he bought three nanny goats at once.

One nanny goat cost several hundred wen, so three would cost at least over one tael of silver.

Tang thought Chen Xiaomi was being too arrogant. Even if Chen Xiaomi had saved the life of the boss of that house in town, raising goats in the house and taking in a group of strange people would surely make the real owner angry when he returned.

After spring began, the Lu family grew busier. Tang urged Li Fangyue to use her connections to pull some strings, but Li Fangyue felt uneasy. Her second brother Li Hong was also a scholar who hadn’t passed the imperial examination yet.

Her father had already asked her elder sister for help, but her sister had said that the imperial examinations were strictly monitored by the court. Anyone caught cheating would be executed. Besides, the exams were supervised by officials sent from above, so even having connections with the county magistrate wouldn’t help, let alone when her brother-in-law was only a minor official.

If it were really possible to use connections to pass the exams, there were plenty of wealthy young men in town who would have taken advantage long before Lu Chengyu. The Lu family was considered well-off in the village, but they were nothing compared to the wealthy families in town.

Although Li Fangyue thought this way, she didn’t dare say it out loud. The Lu family had spent a lot of money to marry her specifically for Lu Chengyu’s career prospects. In the current situation, if they found out she was actually useless, she had no idea how she would survive in the future. All she could do was hope tha Lu Chengyu had the ability to pass the exams on his own.

Li Fangyue was filled with regret. Back then, she had only looked at Lu Chengyu’s willingness to pay a bride price and his handsome appearance before marrying him. She hadn’t expected married life to be like this.

The grandmother was domineering, her mother-in-law wasn’t kind either, and the uncle and aunt constantly caused trouble for her.

After spring arrived, several new shops selling dolls opened in town. However, Lu Lin’s shop still had the most varieties of dolls, the most unique styles, and sold the best-quality products.

Although Lu Lin always felt the shop should take a high-end route, he would occasionally hold discount and promotional activities. This made business in the shop even better.

After a winter, Yuanbao could already wiggle his arms and legs.

Lu Lin always felt his baby was stronger than other children of the same age. His kicks and movements were especially powerful.

Yuanbao couldn’t crawl yet, but occasionally when lying on his stomach, he could lift his head for a short while. Lu Lin felt that when his son lifted his head, his gaze looked particularly sharp, with a somewhat piercing look. However, because he was wearing a diaper, no matter how sharp his gaze was, it didn’t have much intimidating power.

After Lu Lin’s shop business got on track, it remained very stable.

Little by little, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi’s savings grew to 1,300 taels. Lu Lin finally experienced the benefits of being an “educated person.”

Chen Xiaomi carefully stored the silver away. “We still don’t have enough silver.”

Lu Lin rested his chin in his hand and said, “Yeah, we’re still short if we want to buy an official position.” Although it was possible to buy official positions in this era, most were in barbarian lands or chaotic places, and required a lot of silver. Otherwise it would be chaos. If official positions could be bought casually, where would the dignity of all the scholars go?

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and noticed he was still quite fixated on the idea of buying an official position.

“Buying an official position still needs to be considered carefully.”

Lu Lin nodded. We should take it slow. Xiaomi and I are still young—we have plenty of time. In my previous life, I was still fooling around in school at this age. Now, I already have a husband, a child, a house, and a shop. I’m practically halfway to winning at life already. He felt quite satisfied with how things were going.

After the weather warmed up, the town became lively again, and the school reopened.

The spring imperial exams once again became a hot topic in every street and alley.

Lu Lin introduced rooster dolls in his shop. He already had many plush toys, but the rooster was a recent idea.

As the saying goes, “When the rooster crows, the world becomes bright.” The rooster’s crow announces dawn and the arrival of light. Roosters symbolize success in the imperial examinations.

Although Lu Lin found it a bit odd that people here regarded roosters as auspicious symbols for exam success, he still made a large batch of the dolls. As soon as they hit the shelves, they sold out immediately.

Many students and their families liked to buy a rooster doll to worship at home. Lu Lin once again experienced the ancient people’s crazy obsession with the imperial examinations.

Yang Hengzhi walked over to Lu Lin and said, “Lin-shao, business is booming, I see.”

Lu Lin quickly clasped his hands and replied, “Thanks to your support.”

“Lin-shao, your business sense is truly impressive.””

However, some people felt that placing hopes for success on a doll was frivolous. But, from what Yang Hengzhi knew, some people who publicly dismissed the rooster dolls secretly sent family members to buy them.

The popularity of rooster dolls in the shop was beyond Lu Lin’s expectations. It sold so well that Lu Lin was recently considering changing the shop’s treasure to a large rooster. He already had the two female workers at home start making it.

“The imperial examinations are a big deal. We must keep up with the times.”

Yang Hengzhi smiled and said, “You’re very thoughtful.”

The shop’s treasure, a large rooster, was immediately targeted by several wealthy landlords as soon as it appeared.

On the day the large rooster doll was displayed, a landlord offered thirty taels to buy it.

Not long after they opened, one of the shop’s treasures had already been sold for thirty taels.

After that, other prized pieces on display also attracted interest, but those interested usually only offered around ten taels. Previously, a large tiger doll was bought for thirty taels by a landlord who was obsessed with tigers, but that doll had been hanging for over half a month before it was sold.

The rooster doll was different. It attracted a buyer as soon as it was displayed.

Several landlords who rushed over even started bidding against each other.

Lu Lin could only sigh at the dedication of parents. When their sons or grandsons were preparing for exams, the elders couldn’t help much, so they could only try these alternative methods.

After the large rooster appeared in the shop, its value kept rising. Finally, it was bought by a wealthy landlord for fifty taels of silver.

Getting fifty taels of silver at once made Lu Lin quite excited.

“Rich people are really strange!” Chen Xiaomi held the fifty taels, still unable to understand the thinking of these townspeople.

Lu Lin smiled and said, “Who cares what they think? As long as they’re willing to spend money, that’s enough.”

Chen Xiaomi, “…” Put that way, it seemed right.

“Lu Chengyu is taking the imperial examination again!” Chen Xiaomi said.

Lu Lin nodded and said, “Yeah.”

Chen Xiaomi curled his lips and said, “Chen Jing won’t pass. As for Lu Chengyu, there’s still a possibility.”

Lu Lin rolled his eyes and said, “That’s hard to say.”

Yang Hengzhi, the young master of the Yang family, only managed to become a Xiucai a couple of years ago. He had private tutors teaching him from a young age, and even so, it took until recent years for him to succeed.

Chen Xiaomi propped his chin and said, “Tang made a guarantee last year that Lu Chengyu would pass this year. If he doesn’t, that girl from the Li family will have a hard time.”

Lu Lin rolled his eyes. He had recently asked Yang Hengzhi, who told him that the magistrate and the chief clerk didn’t get along well. Even if they had a good relationship, it would be nearly impossible to influence the imperial exams, as the exams were managed by officials from the prefectural level.