Chapter 112: To Set out on the Journey

Many people in Big Stone Village heard that Lu Lin was selling commercial house, but they all thought that was hearsay until Lu Lin had actually sold it.

"Lu Lin really has sold the commercial house."

"I heard that he and Chen Xiao Mi have bought an official post, and they are assuming the post soon, so they have to sell the commercial house."

"Lu Lin is really bold. That is such a big commercial house, and he just sold it like it didn't matter to him."

"He's already an official, I bet you he thinks nothing of a commercial house now."

"I thought Lu Cheng Yu was going to be the first official in our village, who would have expected Lu Lin to be the first one!"

"It's Lu Lin who is going to be the official? Isn't it Chen Xiao Mi?"

"Bios can't be government officials. They bought the title for Lu Lin."

"Oh I see~ I thought Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin weren't on good terms. I heard from the Lu family that Lu Lin is henpecked. If he wants to use money, he has to ask for permission from Chen Xiao Mi. If Chen Xiao Mi doesn't give him money, he won't be able to use a single cent. They say Chen Xiao Mi has always treated Lu Lin as an outsider."

"Just don't buy a single word what the Lu family said."

"This is really unpredictable. Lu Lin was frightened to death and he even tried to commit suicide when he heard that he was going to be married into Chen Xiao Mi's family. I didn't expect that he would become a government official today."

"..."

It was not easy to have an official in the village. Everyone was talking about this. Knowing that Chen Xiao Mi had spent three thousand tales of silver on buying the official title, a group of villagers sighed with emotion that Chen Xiao Mi was too low-key and who would have thought he had earned so much money.

"Once Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin leave, how are we going to do with our embroidery products? I wish they would still run Sino Commercial House!"

"Who knows, it's definitely not going to be as convenient as when they are here."

When the villagers thought about the consequences of Chen Xiao Mi leaving, they started to miss Chen Xiao Mi's kindness.

......

Grandma Chen was very indignant when she heard Lu Lin was becoming an official. She didn't understand why Lu Lin, an ill-starred boy, was going to pursue an official career.

Lu Cheng Yu told her that the title Lu Lin and Chen Xiao mi bought was not a good one. Sha County was close to the border and it was a war-stricken area. County magistrate in such a county was the most challenging job, the invaders might kill the county magistrate first to warn others.

Grandma Chen was mollified to some degree when she heard that. She thought that Lu Lin was destined to be a short-lived person. If Lu Lin took the position, he would be killed sooner or later.

Lu Lin and his party of fourteen people and four mule carriages headed towards Sha County with great strength and vigor.

After he decided to go to Sha County, Lu Lin dismissed some of his employees.

He kept Wan Xiao Fan and his family Xique and Lin Chun because they signed indentures with him and they all wanted to follow him.

Qin Yi and his family also followed. Qin Yi had already bought a property in town and led a comfortable life, but he resolutely sold his house and joined Lu Lin with his boys.

Lu Lin was very grateful for Qin Yi's decision. Qin Lang and Qin Ming had grown up to be adults over the years, and they learned some martial arts.

Over the years, the Qins had earned a decent amount of money from working for Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi. They could lead a comfortable life and find good jobs if they had decided to stay in Forest Town, but they sold their house and followed Lu Lin.

It was a long journey from Forest Town to Sha County, and there might be bandits and robbers on the way. With Qin Yi and his two strong boys following, Lu Lin felt much more relieved.

Zhang Rui wanted to follow Lu Li n as well, but Zhang Rui's wife had given birth to a little girl, he had two kids now, it was hard for him to leave his family.

Seeing Zhang Rui's situation, Lu Lin didn't let Zhang Rui follow him despite the fact that Zhang Rui had expressed that he would love to follow him.

Although the higher authorities had given Lu Lin three months report his arrival, Lu Lin still wanted to rush to Sha County before winter in case the journey became even more difficult, so he left earlier.

Lu Lin was worried about the Yuan Bao, it was very windy and dusty on the way.

Among the group, Yuan Bao was the youngest. Lu Lin was worried that Yuan Bao would fall ill considering they had to be exposed to cold and wet.

Luckily, Yuan Bao was a child and he was very enthusiastic about going out this time. He was chatting and laughing along the whole way, appearing very excited.

In Chinese culture, people practice thrift at home but were amply provided while traveling, Lu Lin was no exception. He was willing to spend money for the group all the way. When he met inns and restaurants, he was not stingy, he was more than happy to spend generously for a better stay, so the group did not suffer too much along the way.

On the way, Qin Ming was driving the mule cart while humming a song.

"Brother, you're very happy!" Qin Lang said.

Qin Ming nodded, "Yeah! Lin Ge is now a county magistrate. I might not be able to get a job as a yamen runner. Don't underestimate Yamen runners, they are an officials with eighth ranking, how impressive!" (T/N: Yamen, government office in feudal China)

Qin Lang smiled and said, "With your limited martial arts skills, it is not easy for you to become a Yamen runner."

"Big Brother, don't underestimate me! I'm amazing. Those Yamen runners in Forest Town are not my match at all, but... I was just being smart when they provoked me, I acted like I wasn't as good as them."

Qin Lang smiled and said, "Ming, all jokes aside, days with Lin Ge always makes people's blood boil."

In fact, the Qins all longed for challenges in life, it was in their blood.

Knowing that Lu Lin was going to sell commercial house and go to Sha County, the father and sons didn't hesitate to sell their property in town.

Qin Lang did not hesitate to go to Sha County with Lu Lin. On the one hand, the journey to Sha County was long and difficult. The father and son trio were all deeply grateful for Lu Lin's kindness and were worried that the Lu family would encounter bandits on the road. On the other hand, they felt that life would only be wonderful if they followed Lu Lin.

......

Chen Xiao Cai sat in the mule cart and flipped through a book.

Shen Chi looked at Chen Xiao Cai and asked, "Do you want to attend the imperial examination?"

Chen Xiao Cai smiled and said, "I do have such an idea. I'm inspired by our Lin Ge, he is an official now."

Chen Xiao Cai's eyes sparkled as he talked about that, an official title was awe-inspiring! They were successful businessmen, but they could lose their entire business if they had offended an official. Unfortunately, the status between a businessman and an official was too huge.

Shen Chi blinked and echoed, "I didn't expect Lin Ge to become an official."

In Shen Chi's heart, all the officials were unreachable. Lu Lin suddenly became a county magistrate, and Shen Chi was still digesting that.

Chen Xiao Cai puffed up his cheeks and said, "Lin Ge really has got some spendthrift style. He spent three thousand dollars on an official title, that was well over half of their savings over the past few years. If I could pass the exam and get an official title, I can save so much money."

When Lu Lin heard the conversation between Shen Chi and Chen Xiao Cai, he cast a sidelong glance at Chen Xiao Cai and thought, Little Cai, you really are delusional sometimes! Passing the imperial examination at the county level is already a daunting task, let alone the provincial level. Lu Cheng Yu, who has persevered in his studies in spite of hardships for over a decade, has just passed the exam at the county level. Plus, how can you call me being spendthrift.'

......

Lu Lin and his group had finally reached the destination after two months.

After entering Sha County, Lu Lin discovered that the people in Sha County were not interested in him, the new official. The way they looked at him was like they couldn't wait to take pleasure in his misfortune, the message they conveyed was more like 'you won't be here for long'.

Lu Lin shook his head in his heart, thinking, 'What have I done? No wonder the post of this county only needs three thousand taels, while other counties all need ten to twenty thousand taels. The people in this place are too arrogant, the way they look at me is just so scary.'

But on second thought, Lu Lin felt a bit relived that many of the native people here had moved away, a lot of people in the county were veterans who were field-tested.

Most of the people who came to join army were in a bad situation at home. Some of them had been serving as soldiers for a long time, and they had nowhere to go after they retired, so they chose to stay in Sha County.

"My lord, this is your residence," a young man said.

Lu Lin glanced at the young man and gave him 20 pieces of money, "Thank you, Luo Wen."

Luo Wen took the money from Lu Lin and said, "Your Lordship, you look like a good official! It is our blessing that you come to our Sha County.

Hearing Luo Wen's compliment, Lu Lin smiled.

The young man was called Luo Wen, a local child of Sha County. He was a sharp child with bright eyes. After Lu Lin and his group arrived, the residents of Sha County completely ignored Lu Lin, and there was a trace of contempt in their eyes. However, this child came up and said that he could be a guide for them.

The child's clothes were tattered. When he came up to them, he tried his best to appear liberal and dignified, but Lu Lin still had noticed his nervousness.

Although Lu Lin had spent half savings on this official title, he still gave Luo Wen some changes because he could not help having compassion for this child.

Lu Lin looked at the residence in front of him and asked, "Is this the county magistrate's residence?"

Luo Wen nodded, "Yeah! The thing is it has been a while since the previous county magistrate was here, it fell into disrepair now."

Lu Lin frowned and thought to himself, 'This residence looks so dilapidated, even though it has been a while since the previous county magistrate was here, how come it's out of repair to such a degree. The county magistrate's residence is the face of the county after all!'

"Lin Ge, this manor is actually broken like this. No wonder all the previous county magistrates didn't stay here for long," Qin Ming said carelessly.

It was no secret that most officials aspired to become officials in the hope of leading a comfortable life in the manor, only a small percentage of them aspired to plead for the people.

Luo Wen looked at Lu Lin, he rolled his eyes and said, "My lord, your manor is right behind the Yamen. I'm occupied somewhere else, sorry I won't be able to accompany you anymore."

Lu Lin glanced at the child who ran away and felt that the child was a little strange.

Looking at Luo Wen's retiring figure, Chen Xiao Cai vaguely felt that this kid seemed to have fled because he wanted to avoid accompanying them to the manor.

"Lin Ge, this place is so strange!" Chen Xiao Cai said.

Lu Lin sighed and said, "Let's go in first."

Chen Xiao Mi was stupefied as they went to the 'manor' in the back.

"Why is the roof gone? I understand that child said it was out of repair, but honestly, this house looks like it's haunted."

Lu Lin frowned and thought to himself, 'No wonder no one is willing to come to this damn place. The residence is dilapidated like this, and the people here are so intimidating. What have I done to my family and my friends?'

Compared to the residence behind the Yamen, the dilapidated Yamen seemed to be very decent.

Qin Yi said worriedly, "Even though the house is in a state of disrepair for a long time, it won't be so tumbledown. I think the villagers must have stolen the bricks and the tiles on the roof!"

Lu Lin nodded, "I totally agree with you, the bricks and tiles in the Yamen are all superior in quality, I won't be surprised at all the villagers have taken the liberty and stolen them."

Qin Yi looked at Lu Lin and said, "Lin, what should we do now?"

Lu Lin helplessly muttered, "What should we do? No wonder that kid has run away earlier. Perhaps he was worried that I might get mad seeing how ramshackle the house was."

Before Lu Lin came to his post, he spent a lot of effort to inquire about the situation here. There was a border patrol camp where the General was called Ji Cheng Kang. He was a decent person, upright and outspoken, and people respected the General more than any county magistrate.

The general seemed to have made great merits and should have returned to the capital to win promotion and get rich. However, he was too upright and he didn't care to form cliques, so he was assigned over to guard the border.

In many remote places, the magistrate of a county was like a local Emperor. They got to do as they pleased. For example, they could increase the tax by a certain amount more than the Imperial Court had required. The extra taxes would naturally end up flowing into the county magistrate's pockets, and if there was a disaster in the county, the magistrate could deduct most of the food and money for disaster relief.

However, the county magistrate in Sha County couldn't even dream about doing anything like that. The upright and outspoken general would uphold justice and punish the magistrate in his own way.