Chapter 98: Cousin Rui

Everything went very smoothly for Sino Commercial House after signing the Renouncement Letter.

Chen Xiao Mi was busy with business and gradually forgot about the Chen family.

"Brother Xiao Mi, you Aunt is here," Qin Ming quickly walked in and reported.

Qin Ming had long recovered and he was always so energetic and vigorous.

Qin Ming was very envious of his brother Qin Lang's work, but he was still a little young and Lu Lin didn't assign him any work. Qin Ming wanted to follow Qin Lang whenever Qin Lang went for a delivery trip, but they all thought it was too challenging for a boy like him.

Qin Ming now only wished that he would grow up soon.

"Please invite her in," Chen Xiao Mi said.

Previously, Chen Chun'er borrowed 5 cents from him and Chen Xiao Mi wanted to give her more, but she didn't accept it.

Chen Chun'er walked in with a basket in hand.

Lu Lin glanced at the things in the basket and said, " Aunt, we are so happy to see you, no need to bring anything for us, families don't stand on ceremony with each other."

There was a chunk of meat in Chen Chun'er's basket. It was more than 5 kilos. It was a lavish gift for the villagers to bring.

However, Chen Xiao Mi's life was good, he didn't value meat as much as he used to.

Chen Chun'er smiled and said, "Your uncle is a butcher, this is very fresh, so I just brought this for you."

"Aunt, thank you so much for this," Chen Xiao Mi said hurriedly.

Chen Xiao Mi noticed Chen Chun'er's slightly embarrassed expression and guessed that Aunt must have some favor to ask. " Aunt, Can I help you with anything?"

"Xiao Mi, I heard that you're in charge of this store now?"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yeah! Me and Lu Lin are managing the store."

"This store is huge, are you guys constantly hiring?" asked Chen Chun'er.

Seeing how nervous Aunt was, Chen Xiao Mi now was certain what was going on, and he decided to do his Aunt a special favor. "There are still a few vacancies, I can't seem to find the right people, do you have some recommendations, Aunt?"

As a matter of fact, they had been delivering goods to Willow Town, they needed a group of trustworthy people for the job. Sometimes, Lu Lin had to do that job himself due to the lack of manpower.

Chen Chun'er was overjoyed and said, " Your cousin Rui. He's almost sixteen. Although he's a little simple, he has a lot of strength. Maybe I'll bring him here next time so you can have a look at him and decide whether he suits that job."

Chen Xiao Mi was confused, "Isn't Cousin Rui supposed to help out uncle in butchering?"

As far as he knew, the butcher Chen Chun'er married was called Fast Blade Zhang, he was the most famous butcher in the neighboring villages.

Even though no butcher took pride in his occupation, they could make a decent amount of money. Aunt had a son and a daughter, the son Zhang Rui was supposed to become a butcher like his father.

Chen Chun'er sighed and said, "This son of mine... is afraid of blood. His father has been very patient with him in teaching, but he couldn't handle it. Recently, he went to other towns to do business, then he came back home penniless."

When it came to her son, Chen Chun'er couldn't help but sigh. It wasn't that her son had been idling about all day long, but he still hadn't found a job that he liked.

When he and his friends were doing business in other towns, some scoundrel had withhold their goods, they all suffered great loss.

Chen Xiao Mi widened his eyes in shock. The son of the butcher's was afraid of blood.

"Rui is sixteen already. We are so anxious to find him a job."

In the past few years, there had been many battles over the years. Butcher Zhang and Chen Chun'er had been worried about their son, they desperately wanted to find a good job for their son.

It was not good for a young man like Zhang Rui who had reached marriageable age to stay home and not do anything! He would have a better chance on finding a good girl if he had a decent job.

The last time Chen Chun'er came to the Sino Commercial House, she was amazed by how spacious and well-decorated it was, so she couldn't help but wish her son could work here. After pondering for a while, she decided to ask her nephew whether they were hiring.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "Okay, Aunt, if my cousin is willing to give it a try, just let him come. At the first few months, it's just one tael of silver. If he does a good job, I can give him a raise any time."

Qin Yi's salary was two taels, but Qin Yi was great at martial arts. Besides, Qin Yi was very experienced, he was like the team leader whenever they delivered goods to Willow Town.

Chen Chun'er immediately said, "One tael of silver is too much for him," Chen Chun'er hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, you can pay him less.. Your cousin has a huge appetite, he eats like a horse."

Chen Xiao Mi smiled and said, "This is fine. I will pay him his wage and I will also let him have three good meals every day."

Chen Xiao Mi had earned a lot of money, he didn't care how much money they spent on food. He was like Lu Lin now, he believed the workers would work harder and happier if they had good food.

Lu Lin was glad to hear that Chen Chun'er was here to look for a job for her son. The store was growing bigger and bigger, so they were constantly hiring. From what Xiao Mi told him, Lu Lin really liked this Aunt Chen Chun'er and her family.

"Your cousin is afraid of blood, that's kind of funny, isn't it?" Lu Lin grinned.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yeah!"

Lu Lin curled his lips and thought to himself, 'Blood phobia is a real thing.' He had a neighbor in his hometown who was admitted to the best medical school, but he had to quit because he had blood phobia.

......

In Butcher Zhang's house.

Butcher Zhang glanced at Chen Chun'er who had just returned home, and asked, "How did it go?"

Chen Chun'er nodded and said, "It's settled. One tale of silver per month."

"That's great," Butcher Zhang looked at his son who was sitting by the table and smiled.

Their family had been doing butchering for generations, it was not a respectable occupation, but it provided a comfortable life for them. Butcher Zhang hoped that his son would be able to follow his footsteps and become a butcher. However, his son would feel dizzy and out of breath every time he tried to teach him how to butcher a pig.

In the past, Butcher Zhang had done something extreme to force his son to learn butchering, he once tied Zhang Rui to a tree and made him watch how he butchered a pig. To his surprise, Zhang Rui fainted after a few screams.

When Zhang Chun'er saw her son's miserable state, she had a fight with her husband. Butcher Zhang himself regretted it very much as well. In the end, they all agreed that Zhang Rui was not cut out for being a butcher, so they had been trying to find a suitable job for him.

Zhang Rui who had also heard the good news didn't say anything but his face turned red.

Chen Chun'er glanced at Zhang Rui and said, "Rui, I'll take you to Sino Commercial House tomorrow."

"Great, but Mother, is it free board?" Zhang Rui asked.

Chen Chun'er glanced at Zhang Rui and said helplessly, "Don't worry, I've already asked them, they will provide you with three meals per day."

"Rui, me and your mother dote on you, but you need to keep this in mind, you are in the commercial house to work, no one is going to dote on you in your work place, you need to work hard," Butcher Zhang said earnestly.

Zhang Rui nodded, "Don't worry, father, I know what to do!"

Butcher Zhang took a sip of wine with satisfaction. Then he hesitated for a moment before asking Zhang Chun'er, "Your nephew Jing is out of debt now, right?"

Chen Chun'er nodded and said, "It's all settled."

"It's good that it's settled, otherwise who knows what Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen will do to force Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin give them more money!"

When Butcher Zhang was young, he had a hard time finding a girl willing to marry him. They all found him too ferocious dur to his occupation. Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen married Chun'er to him when they heard he could offer 20 taels of silver as betrothal present. Actually, Butcher Zhang respected Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen when he and Chen Chun'er got married, he always visited them because he thought that would make Chen Chun'er happy.

He would always carry a basket full of meat whenever he visited them, but never had Grandma Chen nor Grandpa Chen showed any appreciation. There was one time when he visited them he happened to overhear Grandpa Chen told a friend that he considered it bad luck to have dinner with Butcher Zhang at the same table.

In a towering rage, Butcher Zhang left their house and he hadn't visited them even once since that.

The last time he saw then was when they came to look for Chun'er for Chen Jing's debt. They had the nerve to ask for 10 taels of silver. Butcher Zhang and Chun'er only had a total of 10 taels of silver, and they were saving it for Zhang Rui and their daughter. Naturally, they were unwilling to give even one tale to Chen Jing. Butcher Zhang cudgeled his brains and came up with the idea of butchering a pig in front of them to scare them away.

......

The next day, Zhang Rui came over to the store together with Chen Chun'er. Zhang Rui was a good-looking boy with a bright smile.

Although Zhang Rui lived far away from this commercial house, he had heard of the Sino Commercial House.

Zhang Rui knew the whole town would go crazy every time this store launched new and novel products.

Even though the products were expensive, the owner of the commercial house was a smart businessman. All the products in the store couldn't be bought anywhere else, so although the products were pricy, the store was still always bustling with visitors.

Chen Chun'er and Zhang Rui arrived at the Sino Commercial House around noon even though they left home early in the morning.

"Lin! This is my son, Zhang Rui, please discipline him for me," Chen Chun'er said sincerely.

Lu Lin smiled and said, "Aunt, I will look after him."

Zhang Rui looked at Lu Lin curiously, "Lin Ge, I heard that there is a Big Boss in this store, but he has been away the whole time, is that true?"

Zhang Rui knew his Cousin Mi was working in this store, so he had been very curious about this store, but he lived too far, even his villagers didn't know much about the store.

Chen Chun'er didn't want to help Chen Jing when he borrowed usury, but she couldn't help worrying for that nephew, so she had secretly asked Zhang Rui to sneak into Big Stone Village for more updates. So Zhang Rui knew that the villagers had been selling embroidery products to Xiao Mi and Lu Lin, he also found out that Xiao Mi had given Chen Jing 30 taels of silver and a house.

Zhang Rui admired this Cousin Mi so much, and he didn't believe it when the villagers said that Chen Xiao Mi only got rich from embezzlement.

Chen Chun'er gave Zhang Rui a look and said, "Rui, why are you asking so many questions?"

Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's fine. Actually, the Big Boss is occupied somewhere else, so he doesn't come often. We just have to give him the account book and the profit from on a regular basis."

Zhang Rui nodded, he didn't understand what account book and the profit from were, he was just so impressed by Cousin Mi and Lu Lin.

Looking at Zhang Rui's expression, Lu Lin vaguely felt that Zhang Rui might have heard something in the village.

Lu Lin had heard about the rumors about him and Mi doing embezzlement. Lu An was fired because he took bribes from the workers. Lu Lin thought that someone must have spread the rumors in the hope that it would reach the Big Boss' ears so that he and Xiao Mi would be fired.