Chapter 74: What is Said in Fun is Fulfilled in Earnest

In Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi's room.

"What are you thinking about?" Chen Xiao Mi asked Lu Lin who was in a daze.

The 'Full-moon Shaped Fan' trend now was not as heated as when it was first launched, other stores in town started to copy them already. Lu Lin had launched folding cloth fans to boost the business and it worked, they had attracted more customers.

Folding cloth fans just functioned as Full-moon Shaped Fans, but many ladies and young masters liked to catch up with the trend, so the fact that they owned more than one Full-moon Shaped Fans didn't stop them from buying more Folding cloth fans.

Many people didn't buy fans to avoid the heat, but to show off.

"I'm just thinking that gossip is scary!" Lu Lin sighed.

After Shen Chi came back from the Big Stone Village, he had been in a bad mood. However, Lu Lin had to deal with many things, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

Chen Xiao Cai found him in a sneaky way the night before, he said that Shen Chi looked so down since he came back from their hometown. Cai said Chi must have encountered something in the village and Cai begged Lu Lin to go back to the village to investigate.

Although Lu Lin was a little busy, he felt that it was rare for Chen Xiao Cai to ask him for help. He should still help, so he went back to the village to check.

When Lu Lin went back to the village, he found out that there were some unpleasant rumors in the village which were spread by people who had proposed marriage to Chen Xiao Cai.

They said now that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi worked in town, so they had high standards for Chen Xiao Cai's future partner and they started to think they were too good to be betrothed to the villagers.

It was also said that Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi had something going on already, and that was why Lu Lin had turned them all down.

They slandered Shen Chi so much so that Lu Lin felt so sorry for the poor kid, they said Shen Chi had been seducing Xiao Cai.

Chen Xiao Cai was used to the villagers' unfriendliness since he was born, besides, they lived in town now, so how the villagers talked about him didn't matter to him. However, Shen Chi was different, he was young and innocent. Lu Lin felt that Shen Chi's feeling was hurt.

After all, Shen Chi was still a child. Of course he would feel uncomfortable when the entire village attacked him out of nowhere.

Hearing Lu Lin's explanation, Chen Xiao Mi said discontentedly, "How can they ruin Chi's name like that, hmm, can you imagine how hard it's going to be for Chi to find someone in the future after this farce? "

"Really?" asked Lu Lin.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Of course."

It had always been hard for Bios to find a good husband. Chen Xiao Mi planned to be single his entire life until the government enforced that 'singles' tax' policy.

"The Shen family is a decent family! Granny Shen has some savings for Shen Chi, she has some farmland for him too, it's just Chi has lost his parents already, they don't have a reliable extended family either."

People in this time and space all believed in 'the more family members, the more blessings', even though sometimes more family members meant more drama. But people just loved to be betrothed with someone who had a big family.

"If Shen Chi marries into someone's family, the farmland will become his husband's property after, heaven forbid, Granny Shen passes away. In this time and space, husband is the heaven in the family. If Shen Chi marries someone into his family, I don't think he can find someone reliable."

Lu Lin teased Mi, "Can't find someone reliable? Hmm, I married into your family, and you are not reliable?"

Chen Xiao Mi blushed, "Not everyone is as lucky as you."

Lu Lin rubbed his chin and grinned.

Chen Xiao Mi suddenly remembered something. There used to be a pretty girl in Big Stone Village, a hooligan asked his mother to propose a marriage to the girl's family, and the girl's family refused them. In the end, the hooligan cooked up a story between the girl and a peddler and spread it around in an act of revenge.

That girl liked to dress up from time to time, so she often asked the peddler to bring her the latest accessories, but they were innocent.

It was obvious that the hooligan was slandering the girl, but there were so many rumors that the villagers actually thought that the girl was really indiscreet about her private life. And the young lady drowned herself in the lake.

After the young lady finished her life, some people in the village were bitterly remorseful, but it made no difference to the matter. The dead people couldn't come back.

Lu Lin could not help sighing after Chen Xiao Mi told him that story. Although he inherited the memory of the host, he still couldn't understand the mentality of people in this time and space very well.

"How should we deal with this matter?" Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi and asked.

Chen Xiao Mi thought for a moment and said, "If the feeling between Shen Chi and Cai are mutual, I will talk to Granny Shen a."

"Is it too early? They are both kids." asked Lu Lin.

Chen Xiao Mi gritted his teeth and said, "It's just proposing a marriage. We can talk about their wedding when they grow older. If the marriage is settled, no one will say anything if they get closer."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Alright."

Although Lu Lin didn't think that Shen Chi would be so bad that he would drown himself in the lake, he was still worried sick about Shen Chi.

Child marriages were common in this time and space, Lu Lin thought it was a good idea to settle it down between the two kids for the sake of their reputation. Shen Chi could learn to manage the store as well, but he figured he needed to ask Cai about his opinion first.

......

"To propose a marriage?" Chen Xiao Cai looked at Lu Lin in surprise.

Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah! Actually, you haven't fully grown up yet, so this is no rush. However, the rumors in the village are now becoming disgusting, if we don't take some action, the rumors might become more and more intense."

Chen Xiao Cai frowned and said, "It's good to settle it early. Chi is great."

Lu Lin tilted his head and looked at Chen Xiao Cai. "Shen Chi is a Bio. Think about it clearly." Men in this time and space usually preferred women. Lu Lin didn't know how serious Chen Xiao Cai was.

Chen Xiao Cai tilted his head and said, "Bio is good. Big brother is Bio. Don't you like my big brother, Lin Gege?"

Lu Lin narrowed his eyes, "You little brat, I'm asking you a question, no the other way round! But all right, I know you are serious about Chi now."

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Cai and smiled in a doting way.

After asking Chen Xiao Cai's opinion, Lu Lin went to talk to Granny Shen.

Granny Shen looked at Lu Lin and asked, "Do you want Chi and Cai to get married in the future?"

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Well, I think the two of them make a cute couple. I know Chi very well, such a good kid, so I want to snatch him for Cai in case someone else steals Chi's heart..."

Granny Shen was naturally happy when she heard Lu Lin praise her grandson.

"Have you talked to Cai? Is he thinking the same way?" Granny Shen hoped that Chi and Cai could settle down as a couple as well, she knew Cai and trusted Cai. A lot of men who married Bios didn't really marry them because of love, they just wanted to marry someone to avoid tax or to have someone to work for their family.

Lu Lin smiled and said, "Of course he is! If he doesn't agree, no way will I even propose this to you. The two of them got along so well.

Granny Shen said awkwardly, "That's silly of me." Lu Lin was willing to propose a marriage, Granny Shen was very happy. She was getting older and she had been worried what would become of Chi if she was gone.

She trusted Lu Lin and the Chen brothers, if Shen Chi was married to Chen Xiao Cai, he would lead a comfortable life, but...

" Lin, are you proposing because you have heard of some rumors in the village?" Granny Shen knew that Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin had turned down a lot of women who proposed on their daughters' behalf, saying that Cai was too young, she couldn't help but wonder what changed their mind.

Lu Lin frowned and said, "Yes, I heard a little. But I know Cai has always liked Chi, but he is too shy to say anything. I thought that they were still young, so there was no need to rush it. However, since there were rumors in the village, it would be good to settle it down early.

Granny Shen nodded and finally said, "That makes sense."

Granny Shen thought to herself: It's hard for a Bio like Chi to find an ideal husband, now the rumors only have made it harder. Since Lu Lin took the initiative to propose a marriage, there's no need for me to put on airs.

Granny Shen called Shen Chi to her side and mentioned the engagement, which made Shen Chi blush immediately.

......

The next day, Granny Shen took Shen Chi back to the village.

And they got busy once they were back.

When rich people got married, they followed Three Letters and Six Etiquettes (T/N: Betrothal Letter, Gift Letter, Wedding Letter and Proposal, Birth Date Matching, Worship Ancestors, Presenting the Wedding Gifts, Arranging the Marriage, The Wedding Ceremony). The village people only followed a simplified version of those formalities.

Granny Shen suddenly returned to the village, provoking an uproar from the villagers.

Everyone knew that Granny Shen was working in Sino Commercial House, so she only came back occasionally for her farmland. This time, Granny Shen came back again only two days after her last trip, the villagers were so curious.

Some jealous people would just run their mouths, saying that Granny Shen was fired by the boss and she had to come back.

Chen Xiao Mi knew the villagers would talk, so he assured Granny Shen that he would send a matchmaker and talk about matters like Betrothal Letter and Presenting the Wedding Gifts.

The two sides discussed it and felt that there was no need to be too extravagant about the engagement. They decided to just invite some family and friends over for a meal.

Although everything was simple, it still had to be prepared.

Because Granny Shen had been in town during this period of time, her house was a little messy, her furniture was a little dusty, the yard needed to be weed. She decided to not put in extra furniture because they would live in town anyways, but she would give the house a proper cleaning.

"Granny Shen, you're back!" Zhang Jin's wife Liu Yue greeted her with a smile.

Granny Shen looked at Liu Yue and said, "Yeah! Liu Yue, how are you?"

Liu Yue looked at Granny Shen with an apologetic expression. Her husband's aunt, Zhang Xiuhe, went to town to ask Lu Lin to fire Granny Shen and hire her instead in the name of her father-in-law, Zhang Cheng the Village Head. Lu Lin turned her down, Zhang Xiuhe made a scene in their house and insisted that Lu Lin dispersed Zhang Cheng and Zhang Cheng should confronted Lu Lin in the store.

Although Liu Yue's father-in-law always took his sister's side, he didn't listen to her that time because Lu Lin had been doing so well in town, so it was not good for him to make a scene in the store.

Lu Lin didn't tell Granny Shen about Zhang Xiuhe, but it was impossible to hide anything in the village. There were many villagers who sold embroidery products to the commercial house, some of them told Granny Shen about Zhang Xiuhe, they reminded Granny Shen to watch out for that snake.

Zhang Xiuhe was wild with joy when Granny Shen came back to the village. She guessed that the owner of the commercial house finally decided to fire Granny Shen.

The more Zhang Xiuhe thought about it, the more convinced she was, and she had been spreading the fake news Some villagers thought that Zhang Xiuhe heard the inside information from the Village Head, so they believed her.

Zhang Xiuhe not only liked to take advantage the villagers, but also liked to take advantage of Liu Yue, so Liu Yue actually didn't like this aunt.

Liu Yue looked at Granny Shen and asked awkwardly, "Granny, are you planning to stay for longer this time?"

Granny Shen glanced at Liu Yue and said, "I'm staying for about two days or so, need to head back to town for work. However, work is not that busy, I can stay longer this time if I want to."

Liu Yue smiled and murmured, "What aunt said is fake news. " Then Liu Yue said in a apologetic tone, "I'm really sorry about my Second Aunt."

Granny Shen said casually, "It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it, Yue."

Granny Shen didn't like Zhang Xiuhe, but she had a good impression of Liu Yue.

Liu Yue now was relieved that Granny Shen still had her job, she was glad what Zhang Xiuhe said to Lu Lin didn't affect her job.