TATLC Chapter 99 — Second Brother is Amazing

To welcome Zhang Rui, Lu Lin had Yun Niang make Dongpo pork.

The dish used half-fat, half-lean pork cut into perfect cubes, braised with yellow wine, rock sugar and soy sauce… The cooked Dongpo pork came out bright red and translucent, colored like agate, tender but not mushy, rich but not greasy, making it impossible to stop eating.

Since Chen Chun’er had been worried her son might not get enough to eat here, Lu Lin felt it was necessary to reassure her.

Zhang Rui’s father was a butcher, so his family wasn’t like ordinary villagers who rarely saw meat throughout the year. Still, the Dongpo pork completely captivated Zhang Rui. He had never tasted such delicious meat before, so much so that he ate three big bowls of rice in one go.

Chen Xiaomai was very curious about this newly arrived cousin. Seeing him eat three big bowls of rice at once, he clapped his hands.

“Cousin, you’re amazing! You ate so much. Brother Lin is picky about food and won’t even eat fatty meat.” Chen Xiaomai said, blinking his big eyes as he glanced at Lu Lin.

Lu Lin pursed his lips. This little brat is complaining about me being picky? If I weren’t picky, where would you all get such good food?

Seeing Chen Xiaomai clap, Zhang Rui felt a little embarrassed.

He scratched his head awkwardly. If someone else had said this, he would probably suspect they were being sarcastic, but since it was Xiaomai, he knew the kid probably didn’t mean any harm and was just envious that he could eat so much.

Lu Lin served Zhang Rui a big piece of meat and said with a smile, “A good appetite is a blessing. Eat more.”

Zhang Rui said sheepishly, “Lin-ge, I never knew meat could be made so delicious.”

Lu Lin chuckled inwardly. It’s just Dongpo pork. In my previous life, there were way more delicious foods.

“Since you like it, eat as much as you want. Don’t worry, we have plenty of rice.”

Earlier, when Chen Chun’er came over, she specifically mentioned that Zhang Rui had a big appetite. Lu Lin wanted to make sure the boy felt he could eat his fill. Zhang Rui nodded seriously. When he had traveled with a merchant group before, his companions disliked how much he ate. Although they never said it outright, they often whispered behind his back, calling him a glutton¹.

Zhang Rui thought to himself, If I could work here and eat meat like this from time to time, I wouldn’t even mind not getting paid.

Although he tried hard to control himself, he couldn’t help going back for more. In the end, he even mixed the leftover sauce with his rice and ate it all. If Lu Lin hadn’t stopped him, he would have licked the bowl clean.

This meal left Zhang Rui full of excitement, and he began to feel wholeheartedly loyal to Huaxia Trading Company.

Children always love following older kids around. As soon as Zhang Rui arrived, Chen Xiaomai latched onto him.

Zhang Rui had taken a liking to this little cousin who had faced many hardships and sometimes even shared snacks with him. The two got along very well.

“Cousin, do you have a sweetheart yet?” Chen Xiaomi asked, perched on a small stool as he watched Zhang Rui chop firewood.

Zhang Rui laughed awkwardly. “Not yet.”

Zhang Rui scratched his head. He felt there was no need to marry too early, but his parents seemed anxious about it. He had met a couple of potential matches before, but when they heard his father was a butcher, they were so scared their legs went weak. Naturally, nothing came of it.

Chen Xiaomai swung his legs and boasted proudly, “Cousin, do you know? Second Brother has a fiancée now.”

“Your second brother is amazing,” Zhang Rui complimented casually.

Zhang Rui had heard his mother mention Chen Xiaocai’s situation. It seemed that Chen Xiaocai was often seen with a young shuang’er, which led to some unpleasant rumors. Since Xiaocai and that Shuang’er had a good relationship anyway, they simply made it official.

Chen Xiaomai nodded, a hint of pride in his voice. “Yes, Second Brother is really capable. He is really good with the abacus.”

Zhang Rui asked in confusion, “Where exactly did your second brother go?” He had been here for several days but hadn’t even seen Chen Xiaocai’s face.

“He went somewhere else to do business. Brother Lin said he went to make money,” Chen Xiaomai replied.

“Can he actually make money?” Zhang Rui asked curiously.

Chen Xiaomi said matter-of-factly, “Of course he can! Brother Lin said Second Brother can make lots of money and his future is limitless. Every time he comes back, he brings me snacks.”

Zhang Rui felt a flash of envy. Everyone has dreams of getting rich. A few months ago, he went out with a caravan, but the goods they brought were confiscated by government officials halfway through. Not only did he not make any money, he lost some too. Losing money was bad enough, but when the villagers found out about this, he was laughed at.

Hearing Chen Xiaomai’s words, Zhang Rui gained some admiration for this cousin Chen Xiaocai whom he hadn’t really met.

After the weather gradually got warmer, the dolls in the store started to become hard to sell.

When the weather was cold, holding a doll was a great comfort, but as the weather slowly got warmer, the fluffy toys became burdensome.

Seeing that the toys weren’t selling well, Lu Lin was thinking about whether to sell some other things.

Chen Xiaomi tapped the abacus and said, “Our recent earnings have dropped quite a bit.”

Lu Lin nodded and said, “I noticed.”

Chen Xiaomi sighed. “Business is really hard to do!” Things that sold so well before seemed outdated now. People always chase after what’s new. Once the novelty wears off, they lose interest. People are so hard to please.

“Don’t worry, we can clear out the grain from the cellar.”

In autumn, when crops in the fields were harvested, grain prices were relatively low. By spring, when supplies ran short, the prices would rise again.

Lu Lin had dug a large cellar near their house and stored plenty of grain bought in autumn. In spring, he gradually sold it out and made about ten taels of silver. It wasn’t much, but even mosquito meat is still meat. For some farmers, this much silver was also already their income for a year.

Lu Lin realized that once you had some money, making more became easier.

Chen Xiaocai was facing the same slump in doll sales.

In Liu Town, Chen Xiaocai tilted his head and said, “Lately, dolls don’t seem to sell very well.”

Shen Chi nodded. “There’s nothing we can do about this. Besides, nothing can sell well forever.”

Just like farming, they couldn’t expect a bumper harvest every year. In times of drought or flood, being able to recover their investment is already an achievement.

Recently, counterfeit dolls had started appearing on the market, and they came out in batches. AAlthough other shops sold them cheaper, their own store had already built a reputation. Honestly, their dolls still sold better than others. It seemed like business was slow everywhere.

That fake Huaxia shop that had previously outbid them for the shop rental seemed to be having trouble staying open recently.

The shop owner was probably too eager for quick success. The dolls they made were rather ugly. With so many affordable alternatives available, that counterfeit store didn’t have any advantage. Rumor had it they were losing money and on the verge of closing down.

“Although things aren’t selling well, we still have an income of fifty or sixty taels a month.” When Chen Xiaocai first took over the store, holding just over ten taels would make him nervous. But recently, he had grown more experienced. Even holding a hundred taels of silver, he could remain calm.

Shen Chi hugged a doll and said, “Now that it’s summer, we really should be selling fans.”

Chen Xiaocai shook his head. The leftover fans from last year had already been brought out. Since they were last year’s old styles, he sold them at half price according to Lu Lin’s suggestion. However, even so, not many people bought them. Maybe, as Lu Lin said, the market was saturated. Most people who wanted fans had already bought them.

Although business had slowed down a bit, they could still recover their initial investment.

Chen Xiaocai puffed out his cheeks and said, “Brother Lin said last time he came that business always has profits and losses, and we should treat it with a normal attitude.”

Shen Chi blinked. “Brother Lin is really open-minded!”

Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, “Maybe.”

But privately, Chen Xiaocai thought that Lu Lin probably wasn’t being open-minded at all. Lu Lin had made enough money early on, so he didn’t care. Not to mention anything else, just the sales from those few store treasures brought in enough silver to last a long time.

Chen Xiaomai, dressed in fine clothes, sat in the shop keeping an eye on things.

Though it was called “keeping watch,” his role was mostly to sit there like a mascot.

Lu Lin didn’t expect Xiaomai to be able to handle things independently like Chen Xiaocai, but he still hoped Xiaomai could take on small tasks within his ability.

As the family business grew bigger, Lu Lin felt it wasn’t good to always keep Chen Xiaomai out of it.

By staying in the store and being exposed to everything, he could learn some things. For example, he could pretty much name the prices of most items. Although he struggled to calculate the total when customers bought many things at once, he could still quickly find whatever they needed.

Chen Xiaomai was quite cute. When female customers came to the store, they would sometimes playfully tease him a little.

“You want to go to the village?” Chen Xiaomi asked.

Lu Lin nodded. “Yes.” A couple days ago, when Chen Xiaomai was watching the store, he met Zhang Dahu, the village kids’ leader. Zhang Dahu mentioned that wild berries on the mountain had ripened in large patches and were delicious. He asked if Xiaomai wanted to go pick some. He also asked Xiaomai to check if Lu Lin would be interested in buying them.

Lu Lin suspected that Zhang Dahu’s invitation to Xiaomai was just an excuse. What he really wanted was to find out if Lu Lin would purchase the berries.

Back then, when Lu Lin had organized village children to gather wild berries, Zhang Dahu had collected the most and earned the most coins.

After hearing the story, Chen Xiaomi shook his head. Xiaomai was so easily swayed. Just a few words from that kid and he was already thinking about going to the village.

“Children are naturally playful. Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since we went back to the village,” Lu Lin said.

“Why don’t you go with Xiaomai then?”

“Okay.” Lu Lin was already thinking that since shop business was slow lately, maybe he could make and sell some jam. With the convenience store, storage wouldn’t be a problem either.

Chen Xiaomi sighed. “Too bad we sold the house.”

Lu Lin felt a bit embarrassed. “Granny Shen gave me the key to her house. I can use her place directly.” He figured that if he went to the village to buy things, many people would probably be willing to help.

Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, “Alright.”