Life here in Lu Lin was the same as before, but a few scholars in the village ushered in a big event—the spring exam.
During this period of time, the topic of many people in the village turned to the spring examination.
There are people in the family who go to school, and what they do recently, they will try to keep the movement as small as possible, just to provide a good learning environment for those who are preparing for the big exam at home.
The people in the village were affected by this ethos, and all the talk in the whole village was about reading for a while.
"Brother Lin, many people have gone to the Lu family to propose marriage recently!" Chen Xiaocai said.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaocai, "Who are you proposing marriage to?"
"Lu Tong! There are also marriage proposals for Lu Chengyu, but Tang said that Lu Chengyu should concentrate on preparing for the exam and not be distracted by it. Therefore, most of them are marriage proposals for Lu Tong. Everyone said that Lu Chengyu has a high vision. No, the women in the village look down on her, and after becoming a scholar, she will marry the young lady of the town."
Lu Lin glanced at the beaming Chen Xiaocai, and thought to himself: Chen Xiaocai has really changed a lot. Before, he looked very dull, but recently he seems to be a lot more cheerful. It should be because he played with the children in the village. One piece went.
"Did Zhang Dahu tell you?" Lu Linwen asked.
"Dahu said, there are others."
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaocai, smiled, and said, "You are very popular!"
Chen Xiaocai scratched her head, blushing a little and said, "Not at all."
In fact, he didn't quite understand. In the past, the children of the same age in the village avoided him. Now many people are willing to play with him. If there is anything, they will tell him. .
Zhang Dahu and others couldn’t forget the glutinous rice balls they had at his house, and they kept pestering him, asking him when he would have work. There weren't many wild fruits in the forest, and Chen Xiaocai didn't receive a mission from Lu Lin, so he couldn't tell.
"The last time I ate glutinous rice balls, I made those guys hungry."
Chen Xiaomi curled her lips while listening, and said sullenly: "Those boys may have eaten it."
There are three big bowls of glutinous rice balls, and there is nothing left for him. If he hadn't eaten a little beforehand, there would be nothing left.
Most of the families in the village struggled all year round. Glutinous rice is expensive, and eating a meal is a luxury for many families. Chen Xiaomi has made a lot of money recently, and it is not Very distressed.
"Since someone proposed marriage, has Lu Tong made a decision?" Lu Lin asked curiously.
Chen Xiaocai shook his head and said, "No, the Lu family asked for a dowry of twenty taels of silver, which scared many people away."
"Twenty taels of silver!" Lu Lin rolled his eyes and muttered with interest.
Lu Lin thought to himself: The betrothal gifts in the previous life have crushed many families, and the betrothal gifts here are also very frustrating! According to Tang's interest, if the twenty taels were collected, I am afraid that Lu Tong would not be allowed to bring back much dowry.
Chen Xiaocai blinked, and said, "Twenty taels of silver, many people in the village were scared away."
The living standard of the Chen family has improved a lot during this period of time. However, Chen Xiaocai didn't know much about the fact that Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi made a lot of money selling wine and jam. A few years ago, twenty taels of silver was still a lot of money to Chen Xiaocai.
"Twenty taels!" Chen Xiaomi blinked.
When he bought Lu Lin back then, it was nothing more than ten taels of silver. The money to buy Lu Tong can actually buy two Lu Lins.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiaomi and him, tilted his head and smiled.
"Tang's offer such a high price for the betrothal gift, I'm not afraid to treat Lu Tong as an old lady." Chen Xiaomi couldn't help but shook his head.
"Tang isn't in a hurry, it shouldn't matter if you think about it." Lu Lin shrugged.
Tang should be full of confidence in Lu Chengyu. If Lu Chengyu really becomes a scholar, then Lu Tong's marriage and so on will be fine. However, if Lu Chengyu misses this time, it will be more troublesome. At Lu Tong's age, it's already a little dangerous here. If you wait any longer, you should pay taxes.
In this place, gossip can kill people, and the conditions of the Lu family are still very good. There are so many lands in the family, and three taels of silver may be enough for the Lu family. Tax, it is easy to be laughed at when it is spread.
Chen Xiaocai tilted his head, and said, "I heard that many people in the village like Lu Tong very much. Lu Tong looks good."
Lu Lin stroked his chin. If a girl in the country is to say whether she is good-looking, three or seven points depend on her appearance.
The family background of the Lu family is not bad. Lu Tong has always dressed decently. The other girls in the village have to go to work in the fields, and their skin is dark and tan. Lu Tong has been wearing a girl for a long time. In this way, compared with girls of the same age in the countryside, Lu Tong can indeed be regarded as pretty.
When rural people get married, they value more on the girl's temper and character, whether she can work, whether she looks good or not, are secondary. However, young boys should all like good colors. If parents love the boy, they will always help plan it. However, twenty taels of silver is still a bit high for the villagers. It is a great burden.
"Forget it, this is something Tang needs to worry about, it has nothing to do with us." Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Yes."
…
In spring, all kinds of wastes are waiting to be done, and the farmers are busy in farming. Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin have no land, so they can only rush to the mountains.
Although there is no land, Chen Xiaocai is not free. He takes wheat all day long, digs wild vegetables, digs bugs, and feeds chickens and geese.
The chickens and geese at home have already started laying eggs, and besides the daily food, there are still leftovers.
Seeing Chen Xiaocai working so hard, Lu Lin occasionally felt a little sorry, but only occasionally.
With Chen Xiaomi going to the mountains to hunt from time to time, there was no shortage of meat at home. Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi planted some vegetables and radishes in front of and behind the house, which almost solved half of the food ration problem.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi drove the mule cart to the city.
Shopkeeper Wang was very happy to see the two of them. For every bottle of jam sold, 200 coins went into Shopkeeper Wang’s pocket. Yes, and more importantly, driven by the jam business, the business in the store has also increased a lot.
"This is the last batch of jam, a total of twenty bottles." Lu Rong said. "In addition, here are forty jars of wine."
Shopkeeper Wang took a look at the wine and said in confusion, "It's all second-class wine!"
Lu Rong said apologetically: "Because the raw materials of the first type of wine are more precious, and now they are basically gone."
Shopkeeper Wang nodded, expressing his understanding. Forty jars of sweet potato wine, plus jam, Shopkeeper Wang paid Lu Lin thirty-two taels of silver.
"Brother Lu, you've made a lot of money recently!" Shopkeeper Wang said with a smile.
Lu Lin smiled wryly, and said: "How can it compare to Shopkeeper Wang! This store is full of guests, and the jam seems to make money, but the cost is also very high, and sometimes I don't dare to do too much. After a long time, it will be broken all at once.”
Shopkeeper Wang smiled irrefutably, and said, "Brother Lu, if you have any good things in the future, please remember to send them to me!"
"sure."
Lu Lin smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, I see that the business in the store seems to be good! Everyone is buying cakes?"
Shopkeeper Wang smiled and said, "It's the No. 1 Scholar Cake. Isn't this a spring test? Everyone wants to win a prize."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "So that's the case!"
Lu Lin thought to himself: This imperial examination was really a big deal in ancient times! In this season, there are things related to scientific research everywhere.
However, it was the same in the previous life. When it was time for the college entrance examination, many places were closed to traffic, and many parents would go to temples to burn incense and worship Buddha for their children.
"Brother Lu, do you want to take some back?"
Lu Lin rolled his eyes, no one in his family took the exam, so it seems useless to eat this, but this No. 1 Scholar Cake looks delicious, buy some for Mai Mai to take back, Mai Mai must be happy, both of them The kid has been working really hard recently.
Lu Lin followed Shopkeeper Wang's advice and packed some pastries to go back.
After leaving the restaurant, Lu Lin went to the street to buy buns and steamed buns...
…
On the way back, Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin and asked, "Is this sweet potato almost gone?"
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes." Originally, the canteen was almost full of sweet potatoes, but as the sweet potatoes were continuously turned into sweet potato wine, the sweet potatoes in the canteen were quickly consumed, and now only A bunch of sporadic ones.
"However, it should be about the same." The sweet potato wine has sold more than 300 jars one after another.
There are almost three hundred taels of silver in the clay pot in the canteen.
"Is the original wine a lot less?" Chen Xiaomi asked.
Lu Lin nodded, and said, "It's almost a quarter less." The wine was sold case by case, and the wine went down very quickly.
Chen Xiaomi blinked and said, "Why are there so many wines, but so many spicy noodles?"
Lu Lin said helplessly: "Because when we visit relatives and friends in that place, we give wine instead of spicy sticks."
Sitting on the mule cart, Chen Xiaomi swayed her legs and said, "The people there are really strange, I think it would be better to give you spicy sticks."
Lu Lin: "..." His wife's idea of giving spicy sticks is really creative!
"How much money do you have now?" Chen Xiaomi asked. Ever since the pot was handed over to Lu Lin for safekeeping, Chen Xiaomi seldom asked. Whenever he wanted to know how much silver was in the pot, he would ask Lu Lin.
"About three hundred and ten taels." Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi's eyes widened, and he said, "That's a lot!" Chen Xiaomi thought to himself, "Unfortunately, no one sells land now. Otherwise, with so much money, he can just buy a few dozen acres of land and start being a landlord." . However, if he really bought the land, it would be too ostentatious.
Chen Xiaomi knew very well that many people in the village knew that he had made money, but no one in the village knew how much money he had made.
As soon as Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi came back, Chen Xiaomai clung to Lu Lin affectionately.
Every time Lu Lin went out, he would bring something to eat for Chen Maimai and Xiaocai when he came back. When Chen Maimai saw Lu Lin, it was like seeing food.
Lu Lin handed the sugar cake to Chen Mai. Chen Mai took a sip and gnawed a big piece. Lu Lin rolled his eyes and thought to himself: This is the No. However, whether it is the number one scholar cake or the second place cake, they are all for eating.