Chapter 41: Making Jam

Grandma Lu looked at the small basket and nitpicked, "Why would anyone want small baskets like this?"

Grandma Lu didn't like Lu Lin so she criticized unfairly on the things that Lu Lin did, but there was nothing she could do about it because Lu Lin now was married. She dared not provoke Lu Lin since the episode where Lu Lin said he caught her stealing.

The Village Head had warned Grandma Lu about the drama she had been making, Chen Xiao Mi was not someone she could mess with, plus they had basically sold Lu Lin to Chen Xiao Mi already.

"I heard Lu Lin paid Craftsman Lin Wen for the baskets, 5 cents each." Replied Lu Song Shi.

Lin Wen was a craftsman who made articles from bamboo strips, bamboo baskets, bamboo chairs, bamboo couch, just to name a few.

Lu Song Shi was Lu Lin's Fourth Uncle Lu An's son, Lu Song Shi was among the kids who helped to pick berries this day. Neither Lu An nor Lu Song Shi had regard for the host Lu Lin. Lu Song Shi despised Lu Lin even more when he heard Lu Lin was going to marry the Bio Chen Xiao Mi, a man marrying off to a Bio's family? Ridiculous!

Both Lu Tong and Lu Song Shi's mother used to abuse the host Lu Lin's mother when she was alive, they wouldn't life a finger in the kitchen. The two liked to shift responsibility onto each other since Lu Lin's mother's death.

Their drama always threw the house into turmoil, and Grandma Lu had blamed that all on Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, therefore, Lu Song Shi had been hating on Lu Lin.

Lu Song Shi was with the kids when Chen Xiao Cai asked them to pick a basket and fill it with berries, he got a basket, but he didn't go to Chen Xiao Mi's house to exchange money.

Lu Song Shi turned up his nose at Lu Lin, he was too proud to get 3 cents from Lu Lin. But he liked this exquisite basket and had taken it back home with him.

Lu Song Shi turned green with envy when the other kids were asking each other how many cents they had made, he remembered they all had agreed on bullying and not playing with Chen Xiao Cai before, but now that Chen Xiao Cai had won everybody's heart.

Lu Song Shi called his friends cowards in the heart, they had betrayed their promise for money!

Lu An, Lu Lin's Fourth Uncle, asked, "Why does Lu Lin want so many berries? Lu Lin must have paid the kids over 200 cents altogether, how can he squander money like this?"

Lu Song Shi had no idea.

Lu An was the lucky son in the family who was now working in town, thanks to Grandpa Lu's old connection. Lu An made 2 taels silver per month, hence he had a very good opinion of himself, he refused to do any farm work because he always thought he was different than the peasants in Big Stone Village.

But Lu An was outshined by Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, the couple made 50 taels of silver from selling gloves within one day and Lu An was not happy about that.

In Chen Xiao Mi's house.

Chen Xiao Mi's eyebrows knitted as he saw three piles of berries, "What are you going to do with this berry mountain?"

Spring was the most beautiful season, you could just have a feast in the mountain, Chen Xiao Mi liked the berries too when he was a kid. But they would rot within days.

Lu Lin smiled, "We can make jam."

"Jam? What's that? Is it yummy?" Chen Xiao Mi had never heard of the word before.

Lu Lin nodded, "Yummy!"

"Ha, let me help." Chen Xiao Mi was excited.

Lu Lin nodded, "Great, you can help me to wash them and make fire."

The two washed the purple berries together and Chen Xiao Mi made a fire.

Lu Lin took some sugar from his store. Sugar was rare in that time and space, Chen Xiao Mi couldn't afford to have sugar regularly before Lu Lin married him. Lu Lin once gave Chen Xiao Mi some toffee candies, Chen Xiao Mi literally jumped for joy after the first taste. He kept asking for more, but Lu Lin refused to give him any more.

"That's a giant packet of sugar!" Chen Xiao Mi exclaimed. 'Very expensive!'

Lu Lin smiled.

Sugar was a dime a dozen in modern society, that packet of sugar was worth like a dollar.

Lu Lin mixed the berries and the sugar into a pot, then he stirred the pot on the stove until the mixture became fairly smooth and creamy. Then Lu Lin put the mixture in a clean jar to cool it down.

Chen Xiao Mi dipped a finger into the sugar and licked his finger, "So sweet!"

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi with affection, "Isn't is too cloying?"

"No, not at all!" Chen Xiao Mi surely had a sweet tooth.

"Why not mix some sugar with water now that you like sugar so much?"

Hearing that, Chen Xiao Mi grabbed the rest of the sugar in case Lu Lin changed his mind the next second.