Chapter 102: Yuan Bao Turing One

Things became quite uneventful after the Spring Imperial Examinations, days went by peacefully.

Yuan Bao grew up quicky, he could sit up this summer. Lu Lin laid bamboo sheets on the floor of the room. In this way, Yuan Bao could crawl around without getting dirty. Bamboo sheets could lower the temperature of the room as well.

Yuan Bao was able to grasp things in hand as well, he was extremely fond of grasping things and then throwing them far away.

Chen Xiao Mai adored his nephew Yuan Bao. Every time after Yuan Bao threw stuff out, Mai would help him pick up and return the stuff to him. The two of them enjoyed this extremely, they could play it for hours. Yuan Bao had actually reached a stage where he should be shy with strangers, but this baby liked everyone, he would not make a scene or cry even though it was a stranger who was holding him.

Of course, there was a difference. He would just laugh and giggle if it was his family who was holding him, if it was a stranger, he would become reserved and he would just close his eyes and sleep.

Even though everyone in the family said that the Yuan Bao was such a good baby, Lu Lin was a little worried that the Yuan Bao would be abducted and sold off because he didn't cry or scream when a stranger held him.

'It's going to be hard to find him if a stranger stole him away from us, he just doesn't cry or make any loud noises.' Lu Lin would frown whenever he thought about that possibility. But on a second thought, he would breathe a sigh of relief, even though Yuan Bao always behaved like a little angel, he would cry his eyes out if he were hungry.

Lu Lin was very satisfied with his life in this time and space. From time to time, he would launch some novel products to attract new customers and keep regular customers interested.

......

Babies grew very quickly. In the blink of an eye, Yuan Bao was one year old.

Yuan Bao was so chubby and adorable, his skin was as delicate as fine china. No one could take his eyes off of Yuan Bao.

Although Yuan Bao seems to be a little chubby, but he moved very fast.

At Yuan Bao's birthday banquet, Lu Lin prepared 'one-year-old catch' for him. (T/N: 'One-year-old catch', zhuazhou in pinyin, is a Chinese tradition. On a baby's first birthday, parents will lay out a lot of items on the floor for the child to pick from. It's said that whatever they pick is an indicator of the child's future career.)

Lu Lin laid a bamboo mat in the room. There were pen, ink, paper, ink, abacus, coins and ingot on the bamboo mat.

After everything was set, Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi put Yuan Bao in front of the mat.

Yuan Bao seemed a little confused by the situation, he looked around and yawned.

Chen Xiao Mai glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Lin Gege, Yuan Bao is not interested in these things! He likes nothing in front of him, is that possible?"

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mai and said, "How is it possible, Yuan Bao just needs some time to make up his mind."

'As the saying goes, a true hero can startle the world with a single cry. Just wait for it, everyone, Yuan Bao will pick something soon.' Thought Lu Lin.

Chen Xiao Mai said disapprovingly, "I don't think he likes anything on the mat."

Chen Xiao Mai took a pancake from his pocket and put it on the bamboo seat. Lu Lin's lips twitched when he saw what Chen Xiao Mai put on the mat. 'What does a baby know? Of course he is going to pick food! But whatever a baby picks on this 'catch' is an indicator of his future career! What's Yuan Bao going to become if he picks the pancake? A foodie?'

Lu Lin looked at Yuan Bao, his heart thumping. Yuan Bao sucked his fingers and looked left and right, it looked like he was not tempted by the pancake.

Lu Lin looked at Yuan Bao and thought, 'Good job, boy! You are something else, a baby who is not drooling over food!'

Chen Xiao Mi who had been watching nervously finally could not hold his breath anymore. He started to call Yuan Bao and gestured for him to catch something from the mat.

Yuan Bao finally started to crawl thanks to Chen Xiao Mi's passionate calling.

Yuan Bao moved his chubby legs and grabbed a bunch of coins.

Catching coins was not a top choice. It would be regarded as profits-before-everything.

Lu Lin didn't mind that at all though! First of all, this was just a superstition, secondly, this meant his son was down-to-earth.

However, Yuan Bao threw the coins away after he grabbed them.

Lu Lin blinked and thought to himself, 'He has actually thrown them out? Money is like dirt to him, haha, good boy!'

After the Yuan Bao threw the coins away, he grabbed an ingot of silver. Seeing this, Lu Lin felt a little gratified and thought to himself, 'He thinks he is too good for those petty coins?' It looked like he was destined to make big money in his life.

Yuan Bao waved his hand and threw the silver out.

Qin Lang, who was watching from the side, couldn't help saying, " Yuan Bao is going to be a big shot one day! The way he treats money is amazing! He just threw away such a big ingot of silver! Does he know how many buns this ingot can buy?"

Yuan Bao then threw away the writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones, he couldn't help giggling while he threw them away, he seemed to be amused by this whole thing!

Seeing that Yuan Bao was holding a book and smashing it onto the ground, Lu Lin suddenly felt that his son was probably not scholar material.

After the Yuan Bao threw everything out, he grabbed the abacus and fondled it admiringly.

Lu Lin looked at Yuan Bao who was holding the abacus and thought to himself, 'Yuan Bao has picked the abacus. It indicates that he will become a big businessman in the future just like me and Xiao Mi!'

......

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.

On the fourth year of Lu Lin's arrival, Lu Cheng Yu finally passed the exam and became a Xiucai.

When Tang heard that Lu Cheng Yu had passed the exam, she suddenly felt like the sky had grown bright and everything seemed to work out all right. The entire Lu family seemed to be able to hold their heads up high now.

Tang said excitedly, "Everything works out just fine!"

Xiucai were exempted from military service and corvee, their fields enjoyed tax exemption, and they could just greet the county magistrate instead of kowtowing. They got 2 taels of silver as subsidy from the government per year, and more importantly, it was a great way to enjoy vanity.

"Son, it all paid off, all sorts of ordeal you have gone through is worth it!" Tang said excitedly.

Lu Cheng Yu had failed so many times. There were many rumors in the village and Tang was under pressure as well.

Lu Cheng Yu also breathed a sigh of relief at this moment. He knew it the best how much effort he had put into his study. With the title of Xiucai, it wouldn't be a problem for him to have a home school and make a living in the future, but having a home school was not his goal, he aspired to become an official.

The next step was to pass the imperial examinations at the provincial level. Only when he passed that exam could he become a government official and tread Lu Lin underfoot.

Business in Sino Commercial House had been stable for the past few years. Quite a number of villagers would sell the mountain specialties and game to Lu Lin. Lu Lin would pay them a good price because they were from the same village. Lu Lin's reputation in the village was getting better and better.

At one point, the villagers had discussed whether Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had embezzled money of the store, but the 'big boss' had never suspended them or fired them, soon the villagers stopped that gossip.

In the past few years, Lu Cheng Yu had to bear the pressure of his studies, and on the other hand, he had to bear all kinds of praises from the villagers for Lu Lin. Lu Cheng Yu was green with envy at Lu Lin.

......

Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and said, "Lu Cheng Yu has passed the exam on the county level! He is a Xiucai now!"

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Lu Cheng Yu studies hard, but he can't become an official when he is just a Xiucai."

Xiucai indeed had some privileges, but it was just a good reputation. Of course, if Lu Cheng Yu was willing to teach kids in the village, he could lead a comfortable life. If he wanted to become an official, he still had a long way to go.

Knowing Lu Cheng Yu, Lu Lin was sure that he would meet difficulties head-on.

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "A lot of students spend their lifetime on the exams, but the majority of them will die a Tongsheng. Lu Cheng Yu is already very lucky, he is now a Xiucai, I don't think he can easily pass the exam on the provincial level and become an official."

Lu Lin raised an eyebrow. This official's prestige was very high. If there was an official in a village, it could even affect the fate of the entire village.

The imperial examination at the county level took place annually, but it was every three years at the provincial level. Apart from that, the cost of going to the provincial capital was not low! Many Xiucai failed to collect the travelling expenses or got sick on the long journey.

Lu Lin pouted and thought to himself, 'In the past few years, we have saved a lot of money. It's already more than 4000 taels. Maybe it's almost time for us to buy an official title."

Business in Sino Commercial House was good, but Lu Lin didn't just rely on Sino Commercial House to make money, he had side hustles.

In the past two years, Lu Lin had earned a lot of money by brewing wine. In addition to beer, there were also some high wine in Lu Lin's convenience store. Lu Lin had been blending those wine and selling them to the restaurants.

"Lu Cheng Yu now can walk with his head held high," Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "I agree."

When they first moved to town, Chen Xiao Mi often went back to the village to collect vegetables. However, after Granny Shen rented out her field, Chen Xiao Mi had been buying veggies from the villagers. Therefore, he had heard so much about Lu Cheng Yu from the villagers recently. Lu Cheng Yu did well in the exam, the entire Big Stone Village felt honored with him. It was a very prestigious thing to have a Xiucai in the village, and it was even helpful for the villagers' betrothals.

......

The Lu family had specially organized a banquet to celebrate. Tang had invited all the respected villagers to attend the banquet.

Li Fang Yue and Lu Cheng Yu had been on a tight rope in the past two years. Li Fang Yue thought that Lu Cheng Yu would treat her better now that he had passed the exam, but things went contrary to her wishes, there were more tensions between them now.

In the past few years, Lu Cheng Yu had been a laughingstock in the village. The villagers all said that it was useless for Lu Cheng Yu to marry Li Fang Yue, an official's sister-in-law. But now some villagers who were jealous said that Lu Cheng Yu had only passed the exam because Li Fang Yue's brother-in-law had pulled some stings.

The second year Lu Cheng Yu married Li Fang Yue, he was completely disappointed with Li Fang Yue.

Lu Cheng Yu did not even bother to ask Li Fang Yue to visit her sister and brother-in-law this year. Therefore, Lu Cheng Yu felt so wronged that some people thought he had pulled strings when he did it fair and square. It had nothing to do with Li Fang Yue. It was a big mistake to marry Li Fang Yue.

Tang made a pot chicken soup for Lu Cheng Yu and said complacently, "Son, you really make me proud this time."

The Lu family had spent quite a lot on the banquet, but most of the villagers had given them gifts and red packet money. In this way, the Lus managed to make some profit. Tang felt that she was finally starting to see hope.

"Cheng Yu, what's your plan next?"

Lu Cheng Yu said with a determined gaze, "Since I've passed the exam on the county lever, I will work on the provincial exam." If he could pass that exam, even the Secretary-General would look up to me!

Lu Cheng Yu harbored hatred against both Li Fang Yue and the Secretary-General. He was obsessed in rising head and shoulders above others and treading those who looked down on him underfoot.

Tang said regretfully, "I've invited Lu Lin to your banquet, but he didn't come, he just stays in town the whole time."

The reason why Tang invited Lu Lin was because she wanted to show off to Lu Lin.

In the past few years, the villagers praised Lu Lin for his ability and generosity. Tang got so jealous.

With great difficulty, Lu Cheng Yu passed the exam. Tang was dying to use this opportunity to tell Lu Lin that her son was destined for great achievements, but to her disappointment, Lu Lin spurned her invitation.

Lu Cheng Yu said sullenly, "Lu Lin has been working in Sino Commercial House for a really long time."

Tang nodded and said, "Yeah!"

Chen Xiao Mi took out 30 taels of silver to renounce the Chen family years ago. Tang wished to get 30 tales from them as well.

The owner of the store had never shown up during the past few years. Lu Lin had been managing the store with great ease, Tang had always suspected that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had been embezzling money in the store.

Tang reckoned that Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin could make more than forty taels per year. On top of the embezzlement, their savings now were immeasurable.

Whenever she thought about how Lu Lin made a fortune with Chen Xiao Mi, but their family didn't get any benefits, Tang's heart would ache!

Tang looked at Lu Cheng Yu and said, "Cheng Yu! You're not young anymore. When are you going to have another child?!"

Since Lu Cheng Yu had passed the exam already, Tang couldn't help thinking about other things that had been bothering her, she wanted a grandson.

Lu Cheng Yu and Li Fang Yue had been married for a few years and they only had a little girl.

Tang knew that her son had not been on good terms with Li Fang Yue for the past few years, they had been sleeping in separate rooms, considering she didn't like Li Fang Yue, so she just let that go. However, the older she got, the more she wanted to have a grandson, and gradually she became anxious.

Lu Cheng Yu said sullenly, "Let's talk about it later."

Recently, Lu Cheng Yu became more impatient with Li Fang Yue. He and his classmates had visited a brothel, he couldn't help but give loose rein to his fancy when he was entertained by the harlots.