TATLC Chapter 77

A few days after the engagement was settled, Shen Chi and Granny Shen returned to town.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiaocai sat facing each other. Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai and asked, “What do you think?”

“I’ll take Shen Chi to Liu Town,” Chen Xiaocai said without hesitation.

Some time ago, Chen Xiaocai came back from Liu Town to work as a shopkeeper here, but he was constantly bothered by all the village aunties and relatives. He felt that being busy with business was fine, but it was best not to run into acquaintances. The village acquaintances were really too annoying. Because they were acquaintances, he couldn’t speak harshly to them, but once he said a few harsh words, a bunch of people would use their elder status to pressure him. Their spit could drown a person.

Lu Lin nodded and said, “That’s probably for the best.”

The fighting power of all those gossiping aunties and relatives in this world was truly formidable.

Many villagers had previously proposed matches for Chen Xiaocai. Now that he was engaged to Shen Chi, it was inevitable that some would feel jealous about it.

Before, when they were not engaged, Lu Lin didn’t feel comfortable letting a young Shuang’er like Shen Chi run around everywhere with Chen Xiaocai. But now that Shen Chi and Chen Xiaomi were engaged, But since they were now engaged, it didn’t matter anymore. Shen Chi also knew how to do calculations, so he could help Chen Xiaocai keep an eye on things. With Shen Chi’s help, Xiaocai should be able to relax a bit too.

Shen Chi was also very willing to go to Liu Town. Shen Chi had heard Chen Xiaocai talk about many interesting things he’d seen in Liu Town.

Before, when Chen Xiaocai went to Liu Town alone, Shen Chi had been quite worried.

Lu Lin saw Chen Xiaomi and Shen Chi off to the carriage. “Uncle Qin, please help me keep an eye on these two little rascals!”

Qin Yi smiled and said, “Lin-shao[mfn]”少 (shào)” is used here as a term for a young master or the son of a wealthy family[/mfn], don’t worry. I’ll make sure they’re safe.”

Lu Lin watched the two leave, he felt a sense of pride, like a parent watching his children grow up.

While life was getting better and better for Lu Lin, something happened in the Lu family that shook everyone. Lu An lost his job in town.

“Husband, that head shopkeeper is really unfair!”

How could he just fire him like that? It’s too much.

With Lu An’s job gone, Wang acted as if a piece of her heart had been torn out. She was completely devastated.

Old Man Lu sat on the kang, smoking with a worried expression on his face.

They had over twenty mu of land, which was enough to feed the whole family, but if they wanted to support their eldest grandson’s studies, it would be a bit tight.

The family was about to have another mouth to feed, and without the fourth son’s wages, life was going to be difficult.

“Laosi[mfn]”老四 (lǎo sì)” means “Fourth Son” or “Fourth Child”[/mfn], did Boss Zhang just dismiss you directly without giving any explanation?” the old master asked.

Lu An replied angrily, “He just wanted to get rid of me to make room for his concubine’s younger brother. What explanation would he give!”

The old master frowned. “If that’s the case, then I need to go have a talk with him.”

Grandma Lu excitedly agreed, “Yes, we need to talk to him. We can’t just let this go. He married a concubine and then fired our son. What kind of logic is that? This is too unreasonable.”

Lu An looked troubled. “Dad, don’t go. Boss Zhang has been so influenced by his concubine’s pillow talk that he can’t think straight. How could he listen to what an old friend like you has to say? It would be useless for you to go, and besides, doesn’t he have money? He probably looks down on us villagers. Dad, don’t embarrass yourself.”

The old woman insisted, “That’s not how it should be.”

“Mom,” Lu An complained.

Li Fangyue gently rubbed her belly, feeling a little worried. The crops weren’t ready for harvest yet, and the family relied heavily on Lu An’s income. With him out of work, their expenses would become even harder to manage.

She looked at Lu An and vaguely felt that Lu An wasn’t telling the whole truth. As his wife, Li Fangyue always felt that Lu An’s emotions had been a bit off recently. He had probably been caught doing something wrong, which was why he was sent back.

Although Lu An tried to persuade his father not to make trouble, Old Man Lu still went to find Boss Zhang to “demand an explanation” the next day.

Old Man Lu went there full of anger and came back with his face red from shame.

“Husband, how did it go?” Wang asked eagerly.

“That worthless son,” Old Man Lu cursed.

“Old man, what’s wrong with you?” the old woman asked, growing uneasy at the look on his face.

“That bastard completely embarrassed me,” the old man fumed.

Grandma Lu was confused by his outburst.

Old Man Lu called Lu An over alone. Lu An probably knew things had gone badly, but he didn’t seem to care anymore.

“Laosi, did you take money from people?” the old man demanded angrily.

He had originally gone to find Boss Zhang full of righteous anger. He thought he had the moral high ground, but Boss Zhang told him that he didn’t fire Lu An because of his concubine, but because his son had been forcing the workers below him to give him gift money.

Anyone who didn’t give him money would be assigned all the dirty and tiring work, which made the workers under him full of resentment.

Lu An frowned and said, “Dad, don’t listen to Boss Zhang’s nonsense. He just didn’t want me anymore, so he’s making up excuses.”

The old man cut him off angrily, “You still have the nerve to say that! If you hadn’t taken people’s money and been caught, how would you have been fired?”

Lu An’s face darkened. “It’s not like I’m the only one taking money. Everyone does it.”

Now that Boss Zhang had replaced him with his brother-in-law, he refused to believe that guy wouldn’t take bribes too. That guy looked shady and probably even greedier than him.

Grandma Lu frowned. “Laosi, where’s the money you took? What did you do with it?” She had always thought Lu An was honest, dutifully handing over his wages every month. Sometimes she even felt guilty and only took half. She never expected he had extra income on the side.

Lu An replied flatly, “I spent it.”

The old man grew agitated. “Spent it? On what?”

“I work in town. I have to eat too, you know.”

Old Man Lu said with a dark face, “Boss Zhang already paid you enough. How could you be so greedy?”

He went to confront Boss Zhang earlier, only to be scolded himself. The embarrassment still stung.

Lu An argued passionately, “Boss Zhang paid well, but wasn’t I forced to hand over my wages every month? If you hadn’t pressured me every time, I wouldn’t have needed to take money from others. Cheng Yu spent so much silver marrying a wife and you didn’t say anything about him, but you only know how to scold me. You’re too biased.”

The old man trembled with rage. “You, how dare you speak to me like that! You’re going to be the death of me.”

He felt he had been good enough to his youngest son, but he never expected his youngest son to think this way.

The news of Lu An losing his job quickly spread through the village.

“How did Lu An suddenly get fired?”

“I thought Chen Xiaomi would be the one to get fired. Chen Xiaomi has been pregnant for several months now and probably can’t work. I never expected Lu An to be fired first.”

“According to the old woman in the Lu Family, it’s because the boss married a new concubine and wanted to give Lu An’s job to his brother-in-law. So I guess connections are no match for pillow talk. These town bosses aren’t very decent.”

“I think Chen Xiaomi’s boss seems pretty decent.”

“Speaking of which, not many people have actually seen that boss.”

“I heard that boss does big business and doesn’t really manage the shop.”

Grandma Lu was too embarrassed to tell people that Lu An lost his job because he took bribes, so she used Lu An’s excuse. Since the villagers didn’t know much about what went on in town, they believed her when she told them that.

The news of Lu An losing his job also reached Lu Lin’s ears.

Lu Lin’s status in the eyes of the villagers had been steadily rising. Whenever they came to deliver goods, they would always chat with Lu Lin, and that’s how he heard about Lu An.

“Lu An has no work now. The Lu family is probably going to be lively again,” Chen Xiaomi said.

Lu Lin nodded. “Exactly. But maybe it’s for the best. Now he can finally work in the fields.” The Lu family had a lot of land but not many people to work it.

When Lu An worked in town, he only had to manage the people under him. But if he had to farm, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy.

“Yes, autumn is coming soon.” Although the weather hadn’t gotten much cooler, it really seemed like autumn was approaching.

“How did Lu An suddenly get fired?”

“Grandma said it was because the boss married a new concubine and Lu An’s position was taken by the new brother-in-law, but her words aren’t very reliable,” Lu Lin shook his head.

Lu Lin narrowed his eyes. Originally, the boss had seemed more inclined to give the position to Lu Lin’s father. But Grandma Lu felt sorry for her youngest son and made his cheap father give up the position.

Some people believed the old woman’s words, others didn’t.

When Lu An was still in his position, the workers under him had shown him respect and tolerated his behavior because they were afraid he’d make trouble for them or cost them their jobs. But now that he’d been fired, those same workers were eager to curry favor with the new manager, so they spilled everything about Lu An.

At first, Lu An had only accepted small bribes from those under him, but over the years, he’d taken more and more. Even if Boss Zhang’s brother-in-law hadn’t targeted Lu An’s position, Lu An would likely have been replaced sooner or later.

Chen Jing wasn’t good at studying, but he had plenty of shady friends. It didn’t take much asking around for him to find out the truth.

Once Chen Jing learned that Lu An was fired because he had been exploiting the workers below him, he went home and told his family. Grandma Chen spread the word around the village, and soon everyone knew Lu An had been fired for corruption. The Lu family became the butt of jokes again.

The incident affected Lu Chengyu to some extent as well. First, his grandmother was rumored to have stolen money, and now his uncle was exposed for taking bribes.

Lu Chengyu lost face at the academy and came home to take his anger out on Lu An, scolding him for being money-crazy and doing such things.

But Lu An wasn’t one to take insults lying down. When Lu Cheng Yu pointed at his nose and cursed him, he fired back, calling Lu Cheng Yu a useless good-for-nothing who’d been studying for years but was still just a Tongsheng. He mocked him for putting on airs, relying on family connections to get ahead, and wasting the family’s money on a worthless, high-maintenance wife.

Old Man Lu watched his eldest grandson and youngest son fight and felt a terrible headache.

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