Chapter 11: Autumn Harvest
Lu Lin had a hunch that Chen Xiao Mi and Chen Xiao Cai had sensed something, but they decided to not say anything, so he decided to play dumb and acted like everything was normal.
Now Lu Lin had taken on some new responsibilities such as collecting firewood. It was still autumn, but it was always nice to be well-prepared, the only heating ‘equipment’ was firewood after all.
Farm work was new to Lu Lin, but he was an adult, he picked it up pretty quickly. But he was still nowhere as good as Chen Xiao Mi when it came to farm work. Sometimes Lu Lin would just exclaim in his heart when he saw the way Chen Xiao Mi cut firewood, Chen Xiao Mi would wield a hacking knife vigorously and fill the basket in no time with firewood. Chen Xiao Mi looked just like a high school student, but Lu Lin started to admire this Bio even more.
The Chen Brothers had been enjoying Chen Xiao Mi’s assistance, but what they didn’t know was the Lus were also coveting Lu Lin’s assistance.
The Lus planned to marry Lu Lin into the Chen Family after the autumn harvest, but they had to move up the date because Lu Lin tried to commit suicide and he became all weak and sickly.
The Lus didn’t want to spend any more money on Lu Lin after they sent for a doctor with one tael of silver, so they had sent Lu Lin to Chen Xiao Mi earlier than planned.
Lu Lin’s First Uncle was the father of the eldest grandson Lu Cheng Yu in Lu family, and he had a good opinion of himself for the eldest grandson had been attending school, so he always despised farm work.
This uncle had a daughter named Lu Tong, this Lu Tong had been counting on her brother’s future political career, so she had been too proud to do any farm work, she always thought she was going to marry rich one day.
Lu Lin’s Third Aunt was called Lu Lan, she was married and she would only visit her maiden family when she needed to seek gratuitous financial help. And now of course she was not going to visit them in case they asked her to help out on farm work.
Lu Lin’s Fourth Uncle was the youngest, and his grandparents doted on this son, his grandfather had pulled a few strings and found a job for him in the city, the Fourth Uncle had two taels of silver per month without doing any far work, so he chose to hide in the city and stay away from the farm work as well.
The change of seasons waited for no man, Lu Lin’s grandfather forced his wife, his first son and Lu Tong to do farm work with him.
It had been so long since Lu Lin’s First Uncle did any farm work, he cried bitterness without ceasing as soon as he set foot on the field. His daughter Lu Tong missed the good old days when they could boss Lu Lin around.
Lu Tong and her father both tried to shirk responsibilities, they didn’t actually do much. The four of them always ended up doing less work than two people in other families.
Lu Lin’s grandfather was at his wits’ end, he was at a loss what to do. Lu Tong suggested asking Lu Lin to come back home and help out now that Chen Xiao Mi didn’t have any field.
The more Lu Tong talked about Lu Lin, the more she wished Lu Lin were here, Lu Lin would listen to anyone and he would even work overnight in the field if he were asked to.
The villagers all thought Lu Lin might not going to make it since he tried to commit suicide, but to everyone’s surprise, Lu Lin had been doing well and he had even ventured into the mountains with Chen Xiao Mi.
Chen Xiao Mi’s house was out-of-the-way, but some villagers had seen him and Lu Lin walking into the mountains. Lu Tong and her mother regretted for sending him to Chen Xiao Mi’s house before the Autumn Harvest so much, they could have had kept him for a few more days and squeezed him even more.
They had thought about hiring a seasonal laborer, but they hesitated on the requirement, “Thirty coins and two meals per day”!
Lu Lin’s grandfather listened to Lu Tong, puffing on his pipe, thinking whether it was possible to ask Lu Lin to come back and help.
Chen Xiao Mi had made it very clear when they received the betrothal present from him, Lu Lin would no longer be a Lu after they take the silver, and all the Lus readily consented that. It basically meant they had sold Lu Lin to Chen Xiao Mi, and the price was ten taels of silver.
“Tong is right, it doesn’t make sense that he spends his day at leisure when we are all toiling in the field!” Lu Lin’s grandmother Wang echoed.
Lu Lin’s grandfather cast a glimpse at his wife and said, “But… but we agreed on marrying him into the Chens.”
Lu Lin’s grandmother gnashed her teeth, “But he is born and raised in our family, it’s time for him to repay us!”
“Who is going to Chen Xiao Mi’s and ask Lu Lin to come back?” the grandfather frowned.
Lu Lin’s grandmother lowered her head in fear, she dared not mess with Chen Xiao Mi, and neither did grandfather.
Lu Lin’s grandfather thought for a while, he was unwilling to give up on Lu Lin’s help even though he had agreed on ‘selling Lu Lin to Chen Xiao Mi’, so he asked Lu Tong to take charge of this matter.
Lu Tong did some calculating in the heart, she decided to go to Chen Xiao Mi’s and ask Lu Lin to come back for she missed the days when she could slack off.