Chapter 97: Chen Jing is Forced to do Farm Work

In Lu family.

Lu An suddenly said at the dining table, "Mother, I saw Chen Jing in the field. The Chen family probably won't support Chen Jing's study anymore."

Grandma Lu heard Lu An's words and said, "I'm not surprised! Chen Jing had caused such a huge disaster this time. The Chen family had sold five mus of farmland for him. They probably don't have any money left."

The Chen family originally had 20 mus of land, now they only had 15 mus, their income would be greatly affected.

Lu An nodded, "So true!"

Lu Cheng Yu glanced at Lu An and vaguely felt that Lu An mentioned Chen Jing's matter to warn him, he was actually saying they should stop supporting him to save some money as well.

Lu Cheng Yu felt that he was different from Chen Jing. Chen Jing was ignorant and incompetent while all he needed was some luck.

Lu Cheng Yu's face darkened, and his heart became more prejudiced against Lu An. During this period of time, there had been constant conflicts between him and Lu An.

"Chen Xiao Mi must have embezzled the money in the store. Otherwise, how could he possibly take out thirty taels of silver at once?" Grandma Lu said sullenly.

When Lu An heard this, his eyes narrowed. In Sino Commercial House, there should be hundreds of silvers turnover every month. The Big Boss was nowhere to be seen, so it was not hard to embezzle some money. "I'm thinking the same thing. He can easily embezzle a few dozen taels in a month."

Grandma Lu looked at Lu An with disbelief and said, "Is that so? A few dozen taels in a month? He should have about two hundred taels in a year! They are so rich!"

Grandma Lu thought to herself, 'Lu Lin is useless! How can he let Chen Xiao Mi give Chen Jing 30 taels of silver! Lu Lin should have stopped Chen Xiao Mi from doing so.'

......

Not long after the Spring Imperial Examination Test, Lu Tong returned to the Lu family.

"Why are you back again?" Lu Tong always went home empty-handed, and Tang was a little impatient.

"Mom, I'm your daughter after all! How can you dislike me so much," Lu Tong said unhappily.

Tang asked sullenly, "Did you argue with your husband again?"

Lu Tong nodded and said, "Yes."

During this period of time, everyone was busy with sowing seeds in the field, so Lu Tong's mother-in-law asked her to do some farm work. When Lu Tong was at Lu Family, she rarely did any house chores, let alone farm work. Her mother-in-law had even asked her to fertilize the land.

Tang used to be nice to Lu Tong because Lu Tong knew Li Fang Yue's sister was just a concubine. But now it was no longer a secret, Tang just couldn't be bothered to be nice to her daughter any more. As a matter of fact, Tang had some resentment towards Lu Tong.

"Tong! Why are you always arguing with your husband and mother-in-law? You're already married, you have to respect your mother-in-law and your husband, you also need to assist your husband in teaching his son" Tang said.

Lu Tong pouted and said, "His son is so spoiled, I have no interest in teaching him."

Tang sighed and said, "If you don't like him, you can have your own baby."

Lu Tong's face darkened as she heard that. The boy at home said that he was afraid of darkness and always slept with her husband. Lu Tong was sleeping alone most days. However, this was a private matter. Lu Tong felt hesitant to tell her mother. She felt even if she did, her mother would only scold her.

"Mom! Did Chen Jing owe usury? Is it true that Chen Xiao Mi gave him 30 taels!" Lu Tong asked.

Tang nodded and said, "Yes! It's more than 30 taels, he has sold his house. Chen Xiao Mi must have embezzled the turnover in the store. The boss of Sino Commercial House is really a push-over. How come he still keeps Chen Xiao Mi?"

"I heard that the boss of Sino Commercial House has been on a business trip, so he probably doesn't know," Lu Tong said.

Tang pouted and said, "A push-over!"

......

Zhang Jin was busy in the field while his wife Liu Yue helped by his side.

During this period of time, Liu Yue had also saved some silver from selling embroidery products to Sino Commercial House. Zhang Jin had bought 2 mus of farmland for 14 taels from the Chen Family.

They were both thrilled for the 2 mus of farmland.

The other three mus of land from the Chen family were sold to three different families, and they all had been selling embroidery products to Sino Commercial House.

"I didn't expect Chen Jing to cause such a disaster this time."

Liu Yue nodded, "Yeah!"

Zhang Jin shook his head. He used to think Chen Jing was an honest man.

He was shocked when he heard that Chen Jing owed more than 100 tales of silver to the hooligans who practiced usury. The Chen family was reduced to sell farmland to repay Chen Jing's debt.

Liu Yue then said, "Chen Xiao Mi is so rich though! To think that he had given them 30 tales of silver and a house!"

Zhang Jin nodded and said, "Yeah!" Zhang Jin also attended the Chen Clan Gathering. He was there when Chen Xiao Mi took out 30 taels of silver after signed the Renouncement Letter, Chen Xiao Mi was clearly well-prepared.

"How much money do you think Chen Xiao Mi has?" Liu Yue was curious.

Zhang Jin shook his head, "I'm not sure."

Zhang Jin felt that Chen Xiao Mi was a little strange. If he was really that rich, then he shouldn't have sold his house! Once this house was sold, it would be difficult to buy it back. If he was not rich, how come he could give Grandma Chen right away.

Liu Yue hesitated for a moment and said, "I heard that Chen Xiao Mi has embezzled the turnover in the store."

Zhang Jin glanced at Liu Yue and thought to himself, 'Embezzlement is a despicable act just like taking bribes. Lu An has even lost his job due to taking bribes."

"Where did you hear the news?" asked Zhang Jin.

Liu Yue shook her head. "Just the villagers, a lot of them are talking about this."

However, it seemed to be Grandma Lu who first said that. It seemed like Lu Lin was the one who was actually managing the Sino Commercial House. A lof of people from Big Gulf Village had put the sweet potato chips in the store for sale, so Lu Lin must have made a lot of money.

Zhang Jin deep down trusted Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin, "Sino Commercial House is very successful, the store is always thronged with customers. They will lead a good life just from working hard."

Sino Commercial House had sold a few lifesize dolls. That was colossal profits! Each one was worth dozens of taels. The store must have already made nearly a hundred taels from selling those dolls alone."

.........

Chen Xiao Cai who was in Willow Town only heard about Chen Jing's scandal ten days after.

Qin Lang, who was in charge of carrying the delivery, knew it, but Chen Xiao Mi told Qin Lang not to mention a word to Chen Xiao Cai.

After Chen Xiao Cai heard the news from someone else, he was a little agitated and he insisted that he should go back home and talk to his brother.

Shen Chi said that he could manage the store while Xiao Cai was away.

Chen Xiao Cai trusted Shen Chi and went back to Forest Town right away.

Chen Xiao Mi was surprised when he saw Chen Xiao Cai who was travel-stained. "You're back, Cai! What a nice surprise!"

Chen Xiao Cai hugged Chen Xiao Mi and followed him into the house.

"Big Brother, was Chen Jing in trouble?"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yeah! He owed those hooligans100 taels of silver. The Chen family scraped so hard to pay his debt."

The Chen family sold five mus of land in a hurry for only thirty-five taels of silver. Chen Xiao Mi had given them forty-seven taels in total. Grandma Lu has contributed twenty taels. It seemed that they have borrowed here and there as well.

Chen Xiao Cai said unhappily, "Big Brother, it was Chen Jing who caused trouble. Why do you have to pay for him?"

Chen Xiao Mi sighed and said, "Because we might not be able to hide the fact that we own the commercial house. So, we need to sign the Renouncement Letter and save any potential trouble."

Chen Xiao Mi hoped he could hide the truth about the commercial house for as long as possible.

Chen Xiao Cai lowered his head and he understood where his brother came from, but he still felt indignant. "They're getting cheaper."

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "You've let them off lightly this time!"

"Big Brother, as long as we don't mention it to anyone, no one will know that this commercial house is ours," Chen Xiao Cai said.

Chen Xiao Mi shook his head and said, "They can always investigate."

When the store was transferred in this time and space, the new owner was supposed to go to the Prefecture Yamen to do a notary. Only after paying the transfer tax would the store be protected by the government.

When Chen Xiao Mi bought the commercial house, he didn't attract the Secretary-General's attention. However, the commercial house was becoming more and more famous. He was worried the Secretary-General might be interested in this commercial house soon. No way could he hide it any longer if that was the case.

If Li Ru had been found favor with the Secretary-General, chances were they had already found out the truth. Fortunately, the new concubine of Secretary-General was pregnant and attracted his attention.

Chen Xiao Mi pondered. Recently, his business had become bigger and bigger, but the "Big Boss" of the shop had never showed up.

Chen Xiao Cai lowered his head, how he wished he and his brothers had nothing to do with the Chens in the first place.

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Chen Xiao Cai and said, "You don't have to worry about anything else. Just manage the shop for us."

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "I got it, thank you, Big Brother."

Chen Xiao Cai looked at the Yuan Bao in the cradle and said, "Big Brother, look at Yuan Bao, he is so chubby now!"

Chen Xiao Mi smiled and said, "This little one surely has a good appetite."

Yuan Bao tended to cry a lot at night, both Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin were so worried for him.

There were a few feeding bottles in Lu Lin's convenience store, he tried to pacify Yuan Bao with one the other night and it worked miracle. He slept like a little angel that night.

Lu Lin soon found out that as long as he pacified Yuan Bao with a feeding bottle, Yuan Bao would be able to sleep the whole night until dawn.

Lu Lin would stuff a feeding bottle to Yuan Bao's mouth before sleep, and Yuan Bao would drink a whole bottle of milk in his sleep. Yuan Bao grew very quickly thanks to such nourishment.

Chen Xiao Cai returned to Willow Town this day.

Shen Chi looked at Chen Xiao Cai with concern, "You're back. What did Big Brother say? Is everything all right?"

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and comforted Shen Chi, "Everything is fine. Big Brother wants us to manage the store and think nothing else. He has signed the Renouncement Letter for me and Cai, the Chen family has nothing to do with us anymore."

Chen Xiao Cai then curled his lips. He was annoyed by Chen Jing, this Cousin Jing always thought himself superior to them just because he was the only kid in the family who went to school. And Grandma Lu doted on him the most.

However, he didn't believe that was the case anymore. He thought Chen Jing must be out of favor with Grandma Lu now. Then he shook his head, it was none of his business now.

"Big Brother has sold the house in the village."

Seeing that Chen Xiao Cai was feeling a little down, Shen Chi said, "It's fine if the house is sold. My grandma has a house. You can live with us if you go to the village again."

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "I know, Chi. Thank you."

Chen Xiao Cai thought to himself, 'Brother and brother-in-law must have a good reason to sell that those, we don't plan to go back to the village anyways. It's fine. I should stop thinking about that."