After learning about Qin Yi’s situation, Lu Lin suggested he bring his family over so they could be taken care of more easily.
Qin Yi felt a bit embarrassed, but staying at the inn was really too expensive. Seeing Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi’s sincerity, he eventually agreed and brought his family along.
Even though he got twenty taels of silver from Lu Lin, that money was meant for his son’s medical treatment. The silver Qin Yi had on him was almost gone. The Lu family’s servant quarters had three rooms total. The Wan family lived in one room, Grandma Shen lived in another, leaving the last one for Qin Yi and his two sons.
Qin Yi didn’t even have a village house, so suddenly living in a big mansion in town, even if it was just the servant quarters, still made him feel uncomfortable and unable to relax properly.
Lu Lin went to ask Young Master Yang for help. Young Master Yang introduced the Qin family to a skilled doctor who charged reasonable fees. They spent eight taels of silver to bandage Qin Ming’s injuries and set his leg with splints.
Since Qin Ming had injured his leg and shouldn’t be moved around carelessly, Lu Lin told Qin Yi to let him stay and rest.
Qin Yi felt very embarrassed. He had learned from Wan Li that the mansion’s owner was away and had left the business and property for Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi to manage.
In his view, the couple were also working for someone else, so lending the mansion to strangers like this seemed inappropriate. However, he had no better options. Plus, Lu Lin said that with Qin Ming’s condition, if he was moved carelessly, his situation might get worse, so Qin Yi reluctantly agreed.
Qin Yi sold the black bear mainly to pay for his son’s medical treatment. Now that the treatment was done, he felt he had taken advantage of Lu Lin and wanted to return the silver to Lu Lin. After some back-and-forth, he accepted four taels of silver from him, matching the price the young master had offered..
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi circled around the huge bear in the kitchen.
“This is a bear!” He never expected that after transmigrating, he’d have a chance to eat bear paws. In his previous life, bear paws were extremely rare and expensive. Wild adult bear paws cost at least 3,000 yuan, and anything under 1,600 yuan on the market was from old farmed bears that couldn’t produce bile anymore.
In the early years before his transmigration, some restaurants still served this delicacy, but later bears became protected animals.
“Let’s take out the bear gallbladder first. It’s valuable. If we sell it to a pharmacy, we should be able to get seven or eight taels of silver.”
Lu Lin nodded and said, “Good idea.” Bear gallbladder had high medicinal value and would fetch a good price.Although the bear hide was somewhat damaged, it could be made into gloves. In winter, gloves made from bear hide could sell well since bear hide was relatively rare fur.
When Lu Lin bought the bear, he originally just wanted to help Qin Yi, but calculating everything, he felt he might have actually made a profit.
They skinned the bear and removed the paws.
The bear Qin Yi caught weighed over two hundred jin. After processing, there was still a lot of meat that they definitely couldn’t finish quickly. Lu Lin cured most of the bear meat.
Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin and asked, “Are you making honey glazed bear paws?”
Lu Lin nodded. “Yes!” The convenience store had several bottles of honey. Honey was very expensive here. Although the honey from the convenience store probably wasn’t very authentic, it still tasted good. Lu Lin had always been reluctant to take it out.
Chen Xiaomi licked his lips, his eyes sparkling brightly.
That evening, everyone gathered together for a bear meat feast.
The sweet honey glazed bear paws were very much to Chen Xiaomai’s taste. Chen Xiaomai ate until his mouth was greasy and his hands were dirty.
Lu Lin had invited the Qin father and son to dinner, but they probably didn’t have much appetite because they were too worried about Qin Lang. Lu Lin didn’t force them and just had Wan Li’s wife Yun Niang cook some easily digestible meat porridge to send over to the three of them.
“Lin-ge, thank you.” When Lu Lin came back from outside, Qin Lang came up to him.
Qin Lang had been anxious and restless following his father these past few days. After the doctor came to check, his younger brother’s condition noticeably started improving. Qin Lang finally relaxed and looked at Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi like they were his saviors.
Lu Lin ruffled Qin Lang’s hair and said, “It was nothing. You don’t need to be so polite. Is your brother doing better?”
Qin Lang nodded. “Much better.” He was a little angry at his brother’s recklessness, but seeing him so weak and sickly, he couldn’t stay mad for long.
“Lin-ge, if there’s anything you’d like to eat, just tell me. I’ll go hunt it for you in the mountains.”
Lu Lin looked at Qin Lang and said, “Hunt for me? You won’t charge money?”
Qin Lang said without hesitation, “Of course I won’t charge money. You’ve been so kind to my family, how could I take your money!”
Lu Lin: “…” Working for him for free? That didn’t sound bad!
He was actually short-staffed, and the Qin family might be just what he needed to solve his personnel shortage.
“Open a branch store?” Chen Xiaocai stared at Lu Lin in surprise.
Lu Lin nodded. “Exactly. Pretty much everyone who wants a bag here has already bought one, but the neighboring towns are full of wealthy people just waiting to spend.” The backpacks in the shop hadn’t been selling well lately, and their stock kept piling up. They had no choice but to expand their market.
Chen Xiaocai hesitated. “Lin-ge, do we even have the money to open another store…?”
Lu Lin shot him a look. “You little brat, don’t underestimate me.”
For opening a branch store in a neighboring town, Lu Lin didn’t plan to buy another shop but to rent one instead. Renting was much cheaper than buying. He’d rent for two years first, and if business picked up, he could consider buying the shop.
He turned to Chen Xiaocai. “I’ve decided to entrust this glorious and challenging task to you.”
Chen Xiaocai’s eyes widened in shock. “Me?!”
Lu Lin nodded. “Yes, you.”
Chen Xiaocai hesitated. “Am I… capable enough?”
Lu Lin shrugged. “Haven’t you been helping out in the shop lately?”
Recently, Chen Xiaomi had been bored and started teaching Chen Xiaocai, Shen Chi, Xiaomai, and Xiaofan arithmetic.
Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi were both very eager to learn and did well. Wan Xiaofan was quiet and seemed a bit slow, but actually his mind seemed quite sharp. Although he didn’t say much, he probably understood everything in his heart. However, this child was a bit young and didn’t grasp things as well as Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi.
Xiaomai, however, was a different story. No matter how much effort Chen Xiaomi put into teaching him, the lessons just went in one ear and out the other. But given Xiaomai’s special circumstances, they couldn’t push him too hard.
Chen Xiaocai blinked and said, “Well… that’s true.” But he was just helping watch the store.
“Don’t you have confidence in yourself? Or do you want to stay home eating for free your whole life?”
“No way! I want to take care of big brother and Xiaomai.” Chen Xiaocai lifted his chin and shouted, suddenly remembering his past ambitions. Back when he saw his big brother working himself to the bone and Xiaomai always crying from hunger, he had sworn to grow up quickly so he could support his family.
Lu Lin chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not making you run the shop alone.”
After all, Chen Xiaocai was just a ten-year-old child. But then again, people here matured earlier. Some kids his age were already quite responsible, and many married by thirteen or fourteen. Chen Xiaocai often acted like a little adult anyway.
After sweet-talking and coaxing Chen Xiaocai, Lu Lin went to find Qin Yi.
Qin Yi was an honest man. After arriving, he felt uncomfortable eating and living for free, so he insisted on helping out every day. As a mountain hunter capable of taking down bears, his skills might not match Chen Xiaomi’s, but he was certainly no weakling.
Although Qin Lang was still a bit young, young people were promising! Judging by his sturdy build, it wouldn’t take more than a couple of years for him to become formidable too.
“Dad, what did Lin-ge talk to you about?” Qin Lang asked.
Qin Yi scratched his head. “What he said was a bit strange.”
Lu Lin told him that the big boss behind everything recently wanted him to open a branch store in a neighboring town, and Qin Yi would be needed as security. Lu Lin promised to give him one and a half taels of silver per month as wages. Although hunting brought in more money, the risk was too great. The job Lu Lin introduced was different. It was more stable.
Besides, Qin Yi could feel his body already starting to decline. He was still fine now, but in a few more years, hunting would probably become too much for him.
If anything happened to him, both his sons were still young and probably wouldn’t be able to survive.
If he had a a steady job, at least supporting himself and his two boys shouldn’t be a problem.
Qin Yi simply explained the situation to Qin Lang, who beamed. “Dad, this is a good thing!”
Lu Lin told him that he needed someone to run errands and asked if he was willing to do it. If he was willing, he’d get six hundred wen per month. As he grew older and took on more tasks, his pay could increase. The coins were one thing, but Lu Lin also said two meals a day would be provided. The Lu family’s food was really good. Even the porridge made for servants was sweet and delicious.
The living conditions were also very good. Although they lived in servant quarters, the rooms in rich people’s houses were far better than village houses, and incomparably better than living in the mountains.
Qin Yi looked at Qin Lang in surprise. “Lu Lin wants to hire you too?”
Qin Yi was quite surprised that Lu Lin wanted to hire his son too. Although Qin Lang was only eleven years old, his son was tall and strong. If someone said he was twelve or thirteen, no one would doubt it. For running errands, he was definitely old enough.
Qin Lang nodded. “Yes! Lu-ge said there’s a lot of work, and if I do well, there will be bonuses too.”
He scratched his head. He wasn’t really hoping for bonuses. He just didn’t want to eat and live for free at Lu Lin’s place, which made him feel embarrassed. Besides, his younger brother still needed to recover here.
Qin Lang thought Lu Lin was quite strange. Manager Wan said Lu Lin was someone working under the boss, but Qin Lang felt like Lu Lin was the boss himself. At least, he seemed to have the final say on wages and hiring.
Qin Yi nodded. “Lu Lin said that in a few days, he needs to make a trip to the neighboring town, and I’ll probably go with him.”
Having spent his life as a hunter, Qin Yi wasn’t entirely used to being hired as a guard, but he could adapt.
Qin Lang nodded. “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll take care of little brother.”
Qin Yi ruffled his son’s hair. “Make sure you look after him properly.”
“I will,” Qin Lang promised.
Raine: Qin Lang (秦朗) and Qin Ming (秦明) have very similar names, and I’m translating this at 2 a.m., and my brain is not braining and my eyes are already blurry right now lol. So if you see any mistakes or if I accidentally mixed them up and it made any scene awkward or contradictory, please point them out.
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