TATLC Chapter 53

Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi returned home to find that Chen Xiaocai had already prepared dinner.

Before, when Chen Xiaomi went out hunting, Chen Xiaocai would cook by himself, but his skills weren’t very good. After Lu Lin married into the family, cooking duties were mostly handled by Lu Lin. However, occasionally when Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi were too busy, Xiaocai would prepare the meals first.

When Lu Lin cooked, Chen Xiaocai sometimes helped tend the fire. After spending time with Lu Lin, Chen Xiaocai’s cooking skills improved considerably.

“Da-ge, why are you two so late today?” Chen Xiaocai asked.

Chen Xiaomi explained their encounter with the Qin brothers.

Chen Xiaocai sighed with sympathy, “Mountain dwellers have it hard.”

Before Chen Xiaomi killed the tiger and bought their house, he lived in the mountains with Xiaocai and Xiaomai for a while. During that time, the three brothers lived in extreme poverty. Hearing about the Qin family’s situation, Chen Xiaocai couldn’t help but feel a sense of empathy.

“Anything new in the village?” Lately, Chen Xiaocai had become quite popular among the village children, making him a reliable source of gossip. Whenever Lu Lin wanted to know something, he’d send Chen Xiaocai to gather information.

“The Lu family is selling land. Ten taels of silver per mu for their lower-grade fields. Nobody’s taken the offer yet. Everyone says the Lu family is trying to rob people,” Chen Xiaocai reported.

“The Lu family wanting ten taels per mu for those two mu of lower-grade fields is way too expensive,” Chen Xiaomi said.

Land prices were unstable. During major famines when farmers had nothing to eat, people would do anything to survive. Even exchanging children was possible, let alone selling land at cheap prices. That’s when land seizures happen most easily.

During severe famines, land prices were extremely low. Just two or three taels could buy one mu. But normally, lower-grade fields cost about seven or eight taels per mu, medium-grade fields about eleven or twelve taels, and high-grade fields around fifteen taels. The Lu family asking medium-grade prices for lower-grade fields was a bit high, but with many villagers looking for land, it was still a good opportunity.

“Too bad it’s the Lu family’s land,” Chen Xiaomi shook his head regretfully.

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaomi thoughtfully.

The next day, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi brought some white rice and cured meat up the mountain, which deeply moved the two Qin brothers.

Qin Yi’s condition had improved slightly, and he had regained consciousness.

When Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi arrived, Qin Yi was sitting up in bed and thanked them sincerely.

Lu Lin admired the mountain dwellers’ strong constitution. Back in his old world, injuries like this wouldn’t have healed so easily.

He guessed Qin Yi had already heard about the three taels of silver. The man seemed embarrassed when he met them and insisted that once he recovered, he’d repay them properly.

Qin Yi even called his two children over, wanting them to kowtow to Lu Lin, almost scaring him out of his wits.

As someone who had transmigrated from a peaceful era, Lu Lin wasn’t some selfless saint, but he couldn’t stand by and watch people starve to death before his eyes.

After leaving Qin Yi’s place, Lu Lin quietly sighed in relief.

When Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi returned home, they saw Chen Xiaocai sitting at the doorway with a worried expression.

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai and asked, “Did something happen?”

“The Lu family came by,” Chen Xiaocai said.

Lu Lin sighed. The Lu family never came without a reason, and their visit probably meant nothing good.

“What did they say?” Chen Xiaomi asked.

Chen Xiaocai pursed his lips and said, “They said that good things should be kept within the family[mfn]肥水不流外人田 (féi shuǐ bù liú wài rén tián) – lit. don’t let one’s own fertile water flow into others’ field / fig. keep the goodies within the family (proverb)[/mfn]. They feel sorry for us having no land, so they wanted to sell their land to us.”

Chen Xiaomi asked with interest, “Did they mention a price?”

“Twelve taels of silver per mu.” Chen Xiaocai rolled his eyes. “And it’s just two mu of lower-grade fields!”

Normally, village land would never lack buyers, but the Lu family’s asking price was too high. Lower-grade fields, even during price increases, were worth at most eight taels per mu. The current market price should be around six or seven taels. The Lu family had quoted the villagers ten taels per mu, but had raised the price by two taels when offering to them.

Lu Lin shook his head and said, “Just ignore them.”

Chen Xiaocai nodded, “Okay.”

At the Lu family home.

“Lu Lin doesn’t want to buy the land?” Wang asked.

Tang shook her head, “It looks like he’s not interested.”

Lu Lin and Lu Chengyu were born around the same time, and villagers often compared the two. Until now, Lu Chengyu had always completely outshone Lu Lin.

In Tang’s opinion, Lu Lin wasn’t even worthy of holding her son’s shoes. However, now her son had repeatedly failed in his examinations, while Lu Lin, after marrying into Chen Xiaomi’s family, was living an increasingly better life. She heard he was making good money, which made Tang quite resentful.

Wang grumbled, “Isn’t Chen Xiaomi supposed to be rich? How can they not afford two mu of land?”

“Maybe those were just rumors. They’re probably not that rich,” Tang said.

Wang agreed readily, “Exactly! That ungrateful Lu Lin looks poor as dirt. How could he have much money? I think they’re just pretending.”

The Lu family couldn’t sell their land, and with a wedding approaching, they were forced to lower the price. Finally, the two mu of land sold for eight taels of silver per mu. The buyer was Grandma Shen, who had previously done business with Lu Lin.

Grandma Shen’s immediate payment of sixteen taels of silver sparked widespread gossip in the village.

Many people thought eight taels per mu was still too expensive, while others felt that with the current land shortage, being able to buy any land was good even at a higher price.

Most people sighed that the Lu family was marrying their son to a young lady from a wealthy household, so their display of extravagance was extraordinary, even requiring them to sell land.

Chen Xiaocai looked at the land deed in his hand and asked, “You bought the Lu family’s land?”

Lu Lin shook his head, “Not exactly.”

He didn’t dare directly acquire the Lu family’s land. Instead, he had lent money to Grandma Shen so she could buy the Lu family’s land. After that, Lu Lin purchased Grandma Shen’s own land, which was, in a roundabout way, like indirectly buying the Lu family’s land.

Chen Xiaocai looked at Lu Lin with confusion, “What made you decide to buy land?”

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaomi and said, “Didn’t you want some? Besides, we’re not short on money.”

Whenever land was mentioned, Chen Xiaocai’s eyes would light up. Although Chen Xiaomi concealed it better than Chen Xiaocai, Lu Lin could tell that Chen Xiaomi wanted land too. In this world, land held an extraordinary position in people’s hearts.

Chen Xiaomi blinked and said, “Having land is always a good thing.”

Lu Lin nodded, “Just two mu of land should be manageable.”

Chen Xiaomi glanced sideways at Lu Lin and said, “You used to take care of five or six mu by yourself.”

Lu Lin knew Chen Xiaomi was referring to the original owner of his body, and he felt somewhat embarrassed.

Although he inherited the original owner’s memories, he didn’t inherit his hardworking spirit.

As the saying goes, it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Everyone tends to be lazy by nature.

Lu Lin didn’t publicize his purchase of Grandma Shen’s land. Since Grandma Shen had already planted crops on her land, they agreed to complete the land transfer after she harvested those crops. Grandma Shen felt she was taking advantage of Lu Lin, but Lu Lin didn’t mind. He actually felt a bit guilty for using Grandma Shen as a shield in the first place.

After some persuasion, Grandma Shen agreed to the arrangement.

While the Lu family was busy preparing for the wedding, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi discussed buying a shop in town.

Lu Lin now had over three hundred taels of silver, and with so much money, it was best to invest in some property.

After walking around the street, Chen Xiaomi said, “There are three shops for sale now. Which one should we buy?”

The cheapest shop cost only fifty taels, but it was just a small shop with a poor location. The more expensive one was two hundred and fifty taels, with not only a good location but also a small two-section courtyard[mfn]If you’re like me who got confused what this meant: 两进的小院子 (liǎng jìn de xiǎo yuànzi) typically means a two-section courtyard. A 两进 structure implies that there are two distinct courtyards arranged one behind the other. You would enter the first courtyard, and then pass through another gate or doorway to access the second, inner courtyard.[/mfn]. The courtyard had a main hall, side wings, and several servants’ rooms, fully equipped with necessary facilities.

Chen Xiaomi had seen that house. It was spacious and clean, and everything about it seemed perfect.

Lu Lin blinked and said, “Since we’re not really short on money, let’s go all the way and buy the two hundred and fifty tael one.”

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and pursed his lips. Lu Lin’s choice was within his expectations. When they were looking at the businesses, Lu Lin had already expressed great interest in that courtyard.

The owner of the two hundred and fifty tael courtyard was a large landowner whose eldest son had passed the imperial examination and become a Jinshi this year. The family needed to follow him to his new post, which was why they were selling the shop and courtyard at a low price. Such an opportunity wouldn’t normally come around.

Two hundred and fifty taels was no small sum. Although many people in town had money, most of their wealth was tied up in fixed assets. Coming up with so much silver at once was difficult for most, which was why the property had been on the market for so long without selling.

“That house is quite close to the academy,” Lu Lin pointed out.

Chen Xiaomi snorted lightly, “What good is being close?” He had previously tried to send Xiaocai to the academy, but the instructors had rejected him because of Chen Xiaomi’s background, something he still resented.

“Student business is quite profitable.” While other members of the Lu family lived frugally, they treated their scholars well. Many families placed their hopes for prosperity on their students.

Chen Xiaomi puffed his cheeks and asked, “If we open a shop, what kind of shop are you planning to open?”

Lu Lin smiled and said, “We could open a stationery shop.”

Chen Xiaomi blinked, “Selling writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones?”

Chen Xiaomi thought, Those are all precious items! Chen Jing had previously bought an inkstone that cost two taels of silver. Chen Xiaomi had seen that inkstone but never touched it. If he broke something so valuable, his grandmother would certainly make his life miserable.

Lu Lin shook his head, “How much could we earn from that?” There were already shops selling writing supplies in town with established supply channels. If they tried to compete, not only would it be difficult to make money, but they might also offend people.

Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin, “If not writing supplies, then what?”

Lu Lin gleamed with inspiration, “We could consider selling bags.” In his previous life, those designer bags easily sold for tens of thousands. If he created school bags, they should also have a market.

Chen Xiaomi puffed his cheeks again, “Selling bags? Would anyone buy them?”

Lu Lin shook his head, “I don’t know, but they should.”

Chen Xiaomi pursed his lips, looking somewhat distrustful, “Can you make bags?”

Lu Lin blinked, “Me? I can’t, but I can teach others how to make them.”

Chen Xiaomi gave Lu Lin a doubtful look. Lu Lin smiled and said, “Let’s just give it a try.”

Chen Xiaomi nodded, “Okay.”

Most of the family’s three hundred taels were earned by Lu Lin. Even if they lost it all, they could always start over. With so much silver, it shouldn’t be that easy to lose it all anyway.

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