Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it had been almost a month since Lu Chengyu and Li Fangyue got married. This past month had been quite chaotic for the Lu family.
Lin Xiu’er glanced at Tang and said, “Tomorrow is the return visit[mfn]回门 (huí mén)- first return of bride to her parental home[/mfn], right?”
Tang nodded. “That’s right.” Although she wasn’t very satisfied with Li Fangyue, she still took this return visit quite seriously.
Lin Xiu’er couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Will the Chief Clerk show up when they visit the Li family this time?”
Tang gritted her teeth and said, “He should probably show up.”
Tang was very dissatisfied with Li Fangyue, but thinking that they might see the Chief Clerk when they went back to the Li family this time, Tang still gritted her teeth and prepared quite generous return gifts.
“So much meat!” Lin Xiu’er felt upset looking at it all.
The family had spent a fortune on Lu Chengyu’s wedding, and lately, they’d been barely scraping by. Lin Xiu’er hadn’t tasted meat in days. Grandma Lu had become increasingly stingy, even reluctant to eat eggs and wanting to sell them for money instead. Seeing Tang pack so many lavish gifts, Lin Xiu’er couldn’t help but feel bitter.
Lin Xiu’er thought to herself, The old woman is way too biased. Lately, the family has been so tight that they want to split one copper coin into two, but Lu Chengyu’s food and expenses haven’t decreased at all.
“Isn’t it because the Chief Clerk might be there?” Tang said.
Lin Xiu’er said unhappily, “But he might not be there either, right? Didn’t he not come last time?”
Tang’s face darkened at the reminder. Last time the Chief Clerk didn’t come to the wedding banquet, Tang had lost a lot of face, and she felt somewhat unable to hold her head up in front of Lin Xiu’er. Tang thought that the Chief Clerk didn’t come because he didn’t want to come to the village, but this time going to town, they might run into him. “This time is different.”
Lin Xiu’er curled her lips and said, “What’s going on with the Li family anyway? Their daughter has been married over for so long, and they haven’t even come to check on her.”
Lu Chengyu rented an ox cart and took Li Fangyue to town.
After marrying into the family, Li Fangyue discovered that her mother-in-law was fierce and the grandmother was domineering. Life wasn’t as comfortable as she had imagined.
Because her dowry wasn’t generous enough, Li Fangyue felt somewhat guilty, so sometimes even when she was unhappy, she could only endure it. Thinking about how her sister relied on her beauty to live a life of luxury with maids surrounding her, while she herself married into the village to deal with the petty calculations of daily necessities, Li Fangyue often sighed deeply, secretly resenting that she was born at the wrong time and married poorly.
After Lu Lin’s family moved to town, they paid less attention to village matters, and the Lu family’s disputes didn’t affect him.
Chen Xiaocai and the others gradually adapted to life in town.
When Lu Lin entered the house, he saw Chen Xiaocai, Xiaomai, and Shen Chi making decorative knots[mfn]Làozi (络子) are traditional Chinese decorative knots. They can be purely ornamental ( like tassels on clothing or sword hilts) or functional (like fasteners for pouches or belts.) Think of those intricate, colorful knotted designs you might see hanging from bags, jewelry, or decorations during Chinese New Year. They’re made by weaving and tying silk or cotton cords into beautiful, symmetrical patterns. “Chinese knots” would be accurate but I don’t think it matches the setting.[/mfn]. Shen Chi was the one doing most of the work, Xiaocai helped occasionally, and Xiaomai was mostly just making a mess.
When Lu Lin was in elementary school, the girls at school were into making decorative knots, and many people secretly braided them during class.
Many girls would string crystal beads into the cords, but crystal beads were way too expensive in this era. Instead, Lu Lin had commissioned wooden pendants and beads from a local carpenter.
Shen Chi wasn’t interested in sewing, but he was quite interested in making these decorative knots. He even developed many new patterns by applying what he’d learned.
Lu Lin fully supported his hobby. He gave him some brightly colored strings to work with and had Shen Chi put the finished knots in the shop for consignment.
A more elaborate knot could sell for three or four wen. The profit was small, but if they sold a lot, it would still be pretty good.
For every decorative knot sold, Lu Lin gave Shen Chi one wen, and Grandma Shen felt very embarrassed about it, but Lu Lin insisted so she accepted it.
Grandma Shen was still very happy that her grandson could earn money.
Since Shen Chi earned money, he became even more interested in braiding decorative knots.
Meanwhile, Su He took some needles, thread, and cotton cloth back home.
Her house was relatively close to town, just half an hour’s walk away, so Su He often went to town to find work.
“Mom, did you buy any steamed buns?”
Su He tapped her son’s nose and said somewhat helplessly, “All you think about is eating?”
He Li saw the things in Su He’s hands and scratched his head, “Wife, where did all this cloth come from?”
“This is from the boss’s house. Manager Yun Niang said we can take the materials home to work on them and get paid by the piece. This way we don’t have to waste time walking back and forth every day, but I haven’t collected my wages for the past few days since they’re being held as collateral there.”
Like her, there were quite a few workers who took materials home to work on. Although their house was considered close to town, it was still very difficult on windy and rainy days.
He Li originally worked as a long-term laborer in town and earned thirty wen a day, but this year someone else took his job, and the family’s finances suddenly became tight.
Su He had always made embroidered goods to sell in town to supplement the household income, but recently embroidered goods weren’t selling very well either.
Some time ago, when Lu Lin had Yun Niang recruit embroiderers, other people didn’t trust the employer and declined, but Su He felt it was a good opportunity and joined. Working at the Chen family for a day earned her twenty-five wen, which wasn’t bad.
If she worked harder these next few days and got paid by the piece, she should be able to earn even more.
“The finished product you’re working on must be those book bags sold at Huaxia Trading Company. Those things sell for a ridiculously high price, but there are still many people buying them!” He Li said.
Su He nodded and said, “Exactly! There are still so many rich people! I heard that people from neighboring towns also come to buy them, and peddlers specifically come to stock up on them.”
“Those school bags are useful, but they’re just too expensive. I wonder who came up with the idea.” He Li scratched his head.
Su He thought to herself, Making those bags involves a lot of steps. Sometimes, a single bag uses several different colored fabrics stitched together, so it’s not easy to make. The master probably spent quite a bit of silver just on dyeing alone But none of this was her concern. She just needed to work hard and earn money.
—
At the Chen’s.
Wan Xiaofan ran in and respectfully said, “Lin-ge, Young Master Yang is here.”
Lu Lin nodded and said, “Got it.”
When Wan Xiaofan first came, he was somewhat timid and cowering, but during this time he had improved a lot. He was not as timid as before, and occasionally he could even play with Xiaomai.
“Yang-shaoye[mfn]少爷 (shào ye) – son of the boss / young master of the house / your son (honorific)[/mfn]!” Lu Lin couldn’t help but feel moved in his heart.
Lu Lin walked to the guest hall to welcome Yang Hengzhi.
Yang Hengzhi looked at Lu Lin and said, “Your business is becoming more and more prosperous.”
Lu Lin told his family that both the shop and the separate residence were rented, and he was just helping someone manage them. However, Yang Hengzhi had old connections with the original owner of the shop, so he knew the real situation.
Lu Lin smiled awkwardly and said, “It’s just a small business, just enough to get by.” He had already earned quite a bit, but to these wealthy people, what he made was just pocket change. The Yang family owned several shops and hundreds of acres of farmland at home, with many villagers renting Yang family land to farm.
“Small business? Those bags from your shop have been selling really well lately. Almost every student at the academy uses bags from your store. We heard your shop is planning to launch some kind of handbags,” Yang Hengzhi asked.
Lu Lin nodded and said, “Yes, we do have that plan. You’re really well-informed.”
Lu Lin took out two handbags. The handbags were designed to target the high-end market, so they were made very exquisitely, with beautiful patterns specially embroidered by skilled embroiderers.
Yang Hengzhi smiled and said, “They’re really beautiful. Can you sell them to me?”
Lu Lin smiled awkwardly and said, “These are samples, so technically we’re not selling them yet. But since you asked, just take them.”
Yang Hengzhi smiled and said, “You’re really a straightforward person!”
Yang Hengzhi was quite curious about Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi. He and Chen Xiaomi were old acquaintances, and not long ago, Chen Xiaomi was still living in poverty. In such a short time, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi had actually managed to buy both a house and a shop.
When Chen Xiaomi came back from outside, he heard that Yang Hengzhi had visited.
“What did Young Master Yang come here for?”
“He somehow heard the news and knew we were making handbags, so he came to ask about it.” In this era, poor people were very poor, but rich people lived quite carefree lives. Many wealthy people in town kept three or four wives and concubines[mfn]sān qī sì qiè (三妻四妾, lit. “three wives and four concubines”) refers to the historical Chinese practice of wealthy or noble men having multiple spouses.[/mfn], and would often go to pleasure houses for entertainment, living lives of wine and luxury.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, “I see, it must have been those embroiderers who leaked the information.”
“Probably.” Lu Lin had separated the embroiderers and had them work on different parts individually. People in this era were actually quite smart, and by looking at what was sold in the shop, they could roughly guess how the complete item was made.
Chen Xiaomi rolled his eyes and said, “I didn’t expect the book bags to sell so well.”
A few days ago, the book bags weren’t selling very well, and Chen Xiaomi was worried they made too many. But a couple of days ago, a wealthy merchant from another town came and bought dozens of bags by himself, instantly clearing out all the bags in the shop. The shop suddenly ran out of stock.
Lu Lin nodded, “There are still many rich people around.”
Although Lu Lin came from modern times, in his previous life he was just an ordinary citizen, so he was still somewhat surprised to suddenly see ancient wealthy people buying in bulk.
Chen Xiaomi worked the abacus, calculating their recent income, feeling quite satisfied.
The alcohol business always had to be done secretly, which made Chen Xiaomi feel uneasy. Even for sweet potato wine, he had to use the convenience store to ensure the sweet potatoes wouldn’t spoil. But the bags were different. As long as these bags could keep selling, they would bring them income continuously.
“I saw Lu Chengyu the other day,” Chen Xiaomi mentioned suddenly. “He was out with some classmates. I don’t know if he saw me.”
Lu Lin blinked, “He’s already back at the academy?”
Their shop was close to the academy, surrounded by food stalls, and many students would come out to stroll around in their free time.
In this era, schools weren’t managed very strictly. Lu Chengyu had just gotten married, so coming back to the academy a bit later probably wouldn’t matter.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, “Probably.”
“This guy just got married!” But in other words, Lu Chengyu’s newly married wife didn’t seem to have much charm if she couldn’t even keep Lu Chengyu at home.
Chen Xiaomi curled his lips and said, “Maybe he just doesn’t want to stay in the village.”
Lu Lin thought about it and said, “That’s true!” The Lu family now only had Lu Chengyu’s father and Lu An as able-bodied workers. Lu An had to work for wages, and although Lu Chengyu was a scholar, when there was no one around, they might have to count on him to do physical work.
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