After losing his job, Lu An had no choice but to stay home and do chores.
Lu Ming, the eldest son of the Lu family, felt that his younger brother had lost his job and brought shame to the family, so he dumped all the wood chopping and water fetching work on Lu An.
When Lu An was in town, he managed dozens of workers under him.
His subordinates all respected him and flattered him, which made Lu An feel proud and developed quite an attitude.
Even though he lost his job, that mindset didn’t change overnight. When Lu Ming tried to boss him around, Lu An couldn’t be bothered to pay attention. The two brothers constantly blamed each other and argued nonstop.
To sum it up, Lu An had taken bribes, lost his job, and secretly spent all the money. He was in the wrong from the start, so when the two brothers fought, it was mostly the eldest Lu Ming who had the upper hand.
Lu An was used to living freely in town, but after returning home, he was constantly ordered around to do this and that, which left him feeling bitter.
What made it worse was that their parents always took Lu Ming’s side, which frustrated Lu An even more.
Lu An lay on his bed and grumbled, “Eldest Brother is really too much.”
Lin Xiu’er also held some resentment toward Lu An. She hadn’t seen a single coin of the money he had pocketed. But as angry as she was, he was still her husband, so there wasn’t much she could do.
“A couple of days ago, Lu Tong came back and took twenty steamed buns from home,” Lin Xiu’er said.
Lu An frowned. “What’s wrong with sister-in-law? A married daughter is like spilled water. How can she keep taking from the family like this when things are already so bad at home?”
When Lu Tong got married, the eldest brother’s family got twenty taels of silver, but he hadn’t seen a single tael of it.
Lin Xiu’er frowned and said, “Lu Tong’s husband’s family isn’t poor either. What’s the point of always coming home to mooch off us?”
What Lin Xiu’er didn’t know was that Tang spoiled her daughter not because she felt sorry for her, but because Lu Tong had dirt on Li Fangyue. If Tang refused her, Lu Tong would threaten to tell Grandma Lu about her sister-in-law’s affairs. Tang was nearly driven to death by this daughter of hers.
Grandma Lu didn’t know the inside story, and she was also very resentful about Lu Tong constantly running back to her parents’ home.
“The eldest brother raised a daughter like this, yet he has the nerve to boss me around every day. It’s ridiculous.”
While the Lu family was in chaos, Lu Lin also ran into some trouble.
Chen Xiaocai traveled alone by cart from Liu Town back to Lin Town.
“What do you mean they won’t rent to us?” Lu Lin asked.
Chen Xiaocai replied gloomily, “The owner said the shop is reserved for another purpose and won’t be leased to us.”
Lu Lin frowned. The shop he had rented in Liu Town had been agreed upon properly at the time. How could they go back on their word so quickly?
“We have a contract. Did he say how he would compensate us?” Lu Lin asked.
Chen Xiaocai replied angrily, “He said he’d refund the remaining rent after deducting the past few months’ payment. But he’s only giving us three days to move out, or he’ll throw all our stuff into the street. If it weren’t for Uncle Qin stepping in, I think he would’ve done it right then and there.”
“Thank goodness for Uncle Qin,” Lu Lin said.
“Yes, if Uncle Qin hadn’t intimidated them, who knows what would have happened.” Qin Yi had seen blood before, and when he got angry, his murderous aura was very heavy. Even Chen Xiaocai had been a little scared during the conflict.
Lu Lin nodded. “That boss is really dishonest.”
Not only did the man want to keep the past few months’ rent, but Lu Lin had also spent a fair amount renovating the place after moving in. What’s more, being forced to move out so abruptly would definitely hurt their business.
Lu Lin took a deep breath. “There’s no time to waste. I’ll go with you to check it out.”
Chen Xiaomi came out. “Is someone causing trouble? Want me to go teach that scoundrel a lesson?”
Lu Lin glanced at him. “Forget it, you should rest well. I can handle it.”
Chen Xiaomi grumbled, “Fine.”
Lu Lin gritted his teeth. Part of the blame was on him. Since the other party didn’t want to rent the house to him anymore, they just needed to return the rent.
At first, Lu Lin had thought the shop owner was reasonable, but now he knew better. Their shop wasn’t in a prime location, but after Lu Lin set up business there, he had built up a solid reputation. Reputation might be intangible, but it held real value.
Lu Lin went to Liu Town and talked with the boss, then cleared out all their things.
Seeing how eager the owner was to see them gone, Lu Lin guessed the man had probably found a better offer. Lu Lin argued with the boss for a while and finally got back eighteen taels of silver, which was still a loss.
The whole situation left a bitter taste in his mouth, but when he thought about how the shop had already earned him over two hundred taels, he felt a bit better.
“Lin-ge, what do we do now?” Chen Xiaocai asked.
Lu Lin looked at him. “Let’s take everything to the inn first.”
“Okay!”
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaocai moved all their things to the inn. Then, Lu Lin took Chen Xiaocai around Liu Town for a while, then Lu Lin bought another shop.
Since they were in a hurry and there weren’t many shops for sale in town, the new place was in a more remote location than the one they had rented before.
Although it was a bit out of the way, the shop was spacious. There were also several rooms in the back, plus a well. Having learned from the previous experience, Lu Lin directly bought both the shop and the residence this time.
This shop and house were much smaller than what Lu Lin had bought in Lin Town, and far less exquisite and elegant, costing only one hundred and forty taels.
Once the property was purchased, Lu Lin called Chen Xiaocai and the others to move their things into the new shop.
Chen Xiaocai followed Lu Lin and said, “Lin-ge, the owner of this shop won’t change his mind and kick us out again, will he?”
Lu Lin shook his head. “Don’t worry, he won’t.” This time, to avoid future trouble, he had bought the property outright.
The new Huaxia Trading Company opened in Liu Town, but business was far from satisfactory. Chen Xiaocai was very disappointed.
Lu Lin went to look at their original shop and couldn’t help feeling angry.
When they changed locations, Lu Lin had already taken down the signboard, but now the shop still had the Huaxia Trading Company sign hanging there. Not only that, the shop was currently selling fans and bags, which were obviously knockoffs, and the prices were much lower than theirs.
“Lin-ge, we have no business at all. Some people even asked me if our shop had opened a branch, since the branch prices are so much cheaper, while ours are so high.”
Lu Lin threw him a glance. “Don’t pay attention to them. We’re targeting the high-end market, and it’s all about timing. The money we made earlier is enough to cover us for now…”
Now that the season was about to change, once autumn arrived, even if fans were sold cheaply, no one would want them.
Chen Xiaocai nodded. He had been a shopkeeper for a while now and clearly knew how much silver had passed through his hands. He also had a rough idea of how profitable their previous business had been. Now that the methods for making these things had spread and prices had come down, there was nothing they could do about it.
Chen Xiaocai looked at Lu Lin. “Lin-ge, having no business every day is still a problem!”
Lu Lin ruffled Chen Xiaomi’s hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll still pay your wages. But if we can’t sell anything, there won’t be any bonuses.”
Chen Xiaomi pouted and glared at Lu Lin. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
Lu Lin rubbed his head again. “In business, there are always profits and losses. The important thing is to keep a broad mind.”
Chen Xiaocai: “…”
“Fans probably won’t sell much longer. I need to go back and think about what other goods to sell in a few days,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaocai said gloomily, “That shop owner is really shameless. He didn’t even change the store name and is copying us by calling it Huaxia Trading Company.”
Lu Lin couldn’t help but feel disgusted. “Yeah.” This place had no trademark protection laws, and there were no penalties for stealing shop names.
“Lin-ge, what does Huaxia actually mean?” Chen Xiaocai asked.
Lu Lin: “…” Well, “Huaxia is a very magical place where you can find everything, so it’s called Huaxia Trading Company.”
“Lin-ge, where did you hear about this? How come I’ve never heard of it?” Chen Xiaocai asked, puzzled.
Lu Lin simply replied, “I read it in a book.”
The house Lu Lin originally rented had a backyard but no kitchen. Chen Xiaocai and the others usually didn’t cook much and just bought some buns and steamed bread in town.
This time, Lu Lin brought over a good amount of rice, flour, oil, and other supplies to pile up in the kitchen. He told Shen Chi to cook more nutritious meals regularly, emphasizing that money wasn’t an issue.
By the time Lu Lin finished handling things in Liu Town, almost half a month had passed.
Chen Xiaomi finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lu Lin return.
“Are things over there all settled?” Chen Xiaomi asked.
Lu Lin nodded. “Yes. I bought a shop, so we don’t have to worry about the landlord changing their mind and kicking us out again.”
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and said, “You bought another house?” He tilted his head, thinking Lu Lin was really strange. What did he need so many houses for?
Lu Lin looked back at him. “Properties are good investments. If the situation stays stable, house prices should keep going up.”
Chen Xiaomi thought, But that’s only if the situation stays stable!
When Chen Xiaomi heard that a knockoff shop had appeared in Liu Town, she couldn’t help feeling annoyed. “Those bastards.”
Lu Lin comforted him. “Don’t be upset. They started late, and their imitation costs are high. Even if they sell a lot, they still won’t make as much as we do.”
“What kind of person is that fake store owner?”
“He seems to be called Xia Haisheng. I heard he’s the second young master of the Xia family. The Xia family started in the cloth business and their business is huge. Xia Haisheng is second in line and a concubine’s son. He has an older brother named Xia Yunhe who is said to be very business-minded and runs a thriving business.”
“Xia Haisheng is different. According to rumors, he likes to bully men and harassing women and has a very bad reputation. But Old Master Xia dotes on him very much and always gives him money to do business, hoping he can achieve something. But Xia Haisheng spends most of the money on eating, drinking, whoring, using only what’s left for business. He often loses everything.”
“He probably saw that our Huaxia Trading Company was doing well, so he set his sights on our business.”
Chen Xiaomi frowned. “This kind of shameless guy deserves to lose money.”
“That Young Master Xia seems to have plenty of money to throw around,” Lu Lin said with some admiration. Huaxia Trading Company had been operating in Liu Town for some time and had some respectable customers. Someone secretly told Chen Xiaocai that this Xia Haisheng had paid forty taels of silver to rent their original shop.
Chen Xiaomi looked puzzled. “How can he afford such high rent? Isn’t he afraid of losing money?” From what he knew, the knockoff business wasn’t easy either. He wasn’t the only one copying their products. Lu Lin’s profit came from being first to market. Take the school bags for example, almost everyone in the academy had one now, so they couldn’t sell many recently.
Lu Lin shook his head. “I don’t know, but whether he loses money or not isn’t our concern.”
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