Chapter 125: Mai Knocking over a Drink
After spring, many farmers began to fling themselves into the farm work. The ploughs that Lu Lin and his team had made during winter time were all distributed to different villages.
With the help of the ploughs, the farmers were able to finish their work in a more efficient way, and they opened up large tracts of wasteland for Lu Lin within a short amount of time.
Lu Lin bought some good sapling from other places and asked the villagers to be responsible for planting them.
Some villagers were too poor to buy their own seeds for grains, Lu Lin bought a batch from outside and lent them to the villagers.
Lu Lin had assigned the Qins a task, he asked them to transport a batch of white mulberry and plant them on the mountain near the county yamen.
It took the Qins an entire month to finish that task, the Qins has even asked help from the patrolling camp. But they managed to get it done in the end.
The Qins promised the villagers that they would pay them three cents for each tree they plant on the barren mountain near the county yamen. The villagers scrambled to get that job opportunity.
Dozens of villagers went ahead at full steam, working so hard.
Every tree pit was round and deep, no one had slacked off.
When some villagers saw Lu Lin coming over, they greeted Lu Lin one after another. They wore a kind smile on their faces, which was completely different from the gloating look when Lu Lin first arrived.
Soon, a mulberry forest covered the barren mountain. Lu Lin exclaimed at how fast the mountain looked completely different now, he showed a satisfying smile on seeing the new scene.
In addition to the mulberry trees, there were also some fruit trees.
Chen Xiao Mi stood beside Lu Lin and asked curiously, "Why did you plant so many mulberry trees? Do you want to get into silkworm breeding?"
Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah!"
Lu Lin had spent a lot of money to bring this batch of mulberry trees over, and quite a few died on the road.
Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and asked, "Do you know how to raise silkworms?"
Lu Lin shook his head, "Well, I can slowly explore it. We've just got the reward money, it's not like we are spending our savings, let't just take a bet on this one. And hopefully it will work."
Chen Xiao Mi nodded.
"Actually, I did have raised silkworms," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin with disbelief and said, "What? When? Didn't you just inherit a convenience store in your hometown? When did you raise silkworms"
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi's sparkling eyes and rubbed his nose with affection. He couldn't figure out if Chen Xiao Mi was admiring him or ridiculing him.
Lu Lin had raised silkworms before. When he was a child, someone sold silkworms outside the school. He spent two yuan on some silkworms and some mulberry leaves for fun. A lot of his classmates did the same thing, but unfortunately, none of the kids could find fresh mulberry leaves to feed the worms, and slowly the worms had died. Lu Lin's silkworms were no exception.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mi and said, "I've done many things that you don't know."
Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and didn't believe it.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi's expression and thought to himself, my mysterious aura in Mi's eyes are slowly fading away, I better come up with a plan to spice things up and keep Mi interested. But it's getting seemed more and more difficult.'
Lu Lin looked at the mulberry grove and smiled, "We can set up a few chooks runs here and raise some chickens."
Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and said with surprise, "Raise chickens here?"
Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah! Do you know chicken manure is a natural fertilizer, trust me, our more mulberry trees are going to love that."
No one in Sha County dared to pick and steal for fear of the patrolling camp, Lu Lin didn't worry that the chickens would be stolen.
Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "Alright. If we raised a few chickens here, we wouldn't have to worry about buying chicken meat."
"I will raise a few more children, the kids at home have been complaining that they are craving for meat," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and thought to himself, 'You don't have to use the kids as excuses, I know you are the one who has been craving for meat.'
......
After Lu Lin inspected the mulberry forest, he went to inspect the winery.
Lu Lin's winery was now fully operational.
Chen Xiao Mai had been frequenting the winery quite often recently.
The alcohol percentage in the wine was not high, so Lu Lin coaxed Chen Xiao Mai into drinking some wine for fun.
It was supposed to be a one-time thing, but Chen Xiao Mai had fallen in love with wine and he had been thinking about drinking more.
Lu Lin would cut Chen Xiao Mai out, but Xiao Mai didn't take it very well, he would assume a position and dash towards at Li Lin's chest like a mini tank.
When Lu Lin first transmigrated into this time and space, he saw Xiao Mai as a cute chubby kid, but Mai had fully evolved into a 'mini tank' during the past few years.
Lu Lin didn't expect he would face such a huge consequence from a joke.
Seeing this, not only Chen Xiao Mi did not sympathize with Lu Lin, but he also gave Lu Lin a good scolding. Lu Lin had to only use various methods to divert Chen Xiao Mai's attention, but none of them seemed to have worked.
The winery was built near the County Yamen, and the fragrance of the alcohol would often waft into the county yamen.
Chen Xiao Mai would often sneak into the winery whenever he smelt the fragrance of alcohol. Yuan Bao who always followed Chen Xiao Mai around would sneak into the winery as well.
Lu Lin would just press his forehead when he saw the two kids sneaking around.
Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and said, "We really need to do something now if we don't want to have two juiceheads in the family, the two brats have been sneaking into the winery almost every day."
Two days ago, Mai drank a large bowl of wine when no one was watching him, and he ground the millstone for half an hour in the yard, giving Chen Xiao Mi a start. Chen Xiao Mi thought Mai was possessed by something.
Lu Lin nodded in silence how he regretted for coaxing Mai into drinking.
Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Do you have any ideas?"
"I'm thinking," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiao Mi said sullenly, "Look at what you did!"
Lu Lin said embarrassedly, "I didn't expect things to be so serious." Lu Lin shook his head and thought to himself, 'I was just too bored, so I created a little fun, oh man, I miss the internet!'
"Mai is tall and strong, looking like a young man, but his brain still works like a child's mind. If there is anything that can divert his attention, he probably won't be thinking about the wine day long."
Lu Lin thought about it and said, "How about asking him to feed the chicken in the mulberry forest."
Chen Xiao Mi thought for a moment and said, "That's worth a try! He used to like feeding chickens and ducks when we were in Big Stone Village..."
Not long after Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin got married, Lu Lin set up a chook run at home. Mai would spend all his free time watching the chickens, and he would feed the chickens without anyone reminding him.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Well, that's settled."
A few days later, Chen Xiao Cai held a basket with rice bran in one hand, and Yuan Bao's little hand in the other hand, together they went to the mulberry forest.
After Chen Xiao Mai arrived at the chook runs in the mountain, several chicks surrounded Chen Xiao Mai asking for food.
Chen Xiao Mai counted the chooks and he let out a sigh of relief that no one had stolen any chook.
Chen Xiao Mai searched around and picked up a few eggs before he grabbed Yuan Bao's chubby hand and went back home.
Seeing that Chen Xiao Mai no longer sneaking into the winery, Lu Lin could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
Lu Lin swore to himself that he would never coax Mai into drinking again. He decided to stew a chicken for dinner this day to celebrate this, but he decided to not mention a word in case Mai recalled the taste of wine and slipped back into his old ways.
......
Ji Yun An walked into the room only to see a few wine jars sitting in front of Yuan Bao.
Yuan Bao held his chin in his small and chubby hands.
"Where did the wine come from?" Ji Yun An asked.
Yuan Bao glanced at Ji Yun An and said, "It's my wine, you are not allowed to drink it!"
Ji Yun An pinched Yuan Bao gently on his cheek, "You are not allowed to drink any of this, you will get dumb if you start drinking at such a young age, you know?"
Yuan Bao glared at Ji Yun An and said, "Nonsense."
"It's true. And you know what, I'll tell your fathers if you start drinking," said Ji Yun An.
Yuan Bao glared at Ji Yun An angrily and said, "Okay, okay, let me tell you the truth, this wine is not for me, Little Uncle hides them here. Father always does surprise inspection in Little Uncle's room now, so he asks me to hide these jars for him."
"What if your father comes to our room?"
Yuan Bao said confidently, "Father won't do that, I'm such a good boy. If he did come and find these jars, I would just say they are yours."
Ji Yun An found that hard to believe, he pulled a long face and said, "You little brat, you plan to make me be the scapegoat, don't you? That's not what a good boy will do!"
Ji Yun An glared at the Yuan Bao, trying to look intimidating.
Yuan Bao put on a fawning smile and acted all cute, "You are a guest, Brother An, neither daddy nor father will scold you or beat you up."
Ji Yun An couldn't really stay mad at Yuan Bao, he just said, "Tell your Little Uncle that drinking isn't a good habit."
Yuan Bao looked at Ji Yun An and said, "I will tell him, but for now let's keep this a secret for him!"
Ji Yun An nodded and said, "All right, you have my word, I won't tell on him."
Yuan Bao nodded and said, "Thank you so much, Brother An. It's peach blossom wine in the jars. It's very rare, it takes a lot of time and effort to brew, it's almost sold out in the winery, that's why Little Uncle hides several jars. "
Lu Lin used the peaches in the mountain to brew this wine.
Ji Yun An narrowed his eyes, 'Sold out? To the soldiers in the military?'
Ji Yun An sighed. After Lu Lin's winery was opened, many soldiers in the military camp who had no self-control would frequent the winery often, they would spend more than half of their salary on alcohol. Fortunately, the wine that Lu Lin sold to the military camp was all at a friendly price.
"It is said that this wine tastes really good, but Little Uncle forbids me from drinking it," Yuan Bao said in distress.
Yuan Bao rolled his eyes and said, "Do you want to taste it, Brother An?"
Ji Yun An looked at Yuan Bao suspiciously and said, "Are you offering this wine to me because you really want me to see how good it is or you just me to be the scapegoat if your daddy Mi or your father Lin finds out you are drinking?"
Seeing that Ji Yun An don't fall for his little trick, Yuan Bao showed a dry smile and ran away.
Ji Yun An looked at Yuan Bao's retiring figure and shook his head helplessly.
......
A few days later, Ji Yun An walked into the room only to see Chen Xiao Mai and Yuan Bao sitting around by a wine jar.
"Little Uncle, you're going to drink, right?"
Chen Xiao Mai nodded, "Yes."
Yuan Bao glanced at Chen Xiao Mai and said, "Let me have a taste, please."
Chen Xiao Mai hesitated for a moment and nodded.
Chen Xiao Mai carried the wine jar to the table, poured himself a bowl, and poured a few drops for Yuan Bao.
Ji Yun An pressed his forehead and let out a sigh. He thought to himself, 'Lu Lin is so. He didn't notice that Chen Xiao Mai has stolen so much wine, all right, it's fair that he didn't notice it in time, but the wine has been in this room for a few days!'
Yuan Bao glanced at Ji Yun An and said, "Do you want to have a taste as well?"
Chen Xiao Mai looked at Yuan Bao and said, "Why are you inviting him?"
Yuan Bao puffed up his cheeks and said, "If you don't give him a drink, he will tell on us later."
Chen Xiao Mai nodded and said, "It makes sense. Come over and drink, you."
Ji Yun An was so speechless, but he accepted the invitation.
Chen Xiao Mai took a sip of wine and frowned, "It's good, but it tastes strange."
Yuan Bao took a sip of the bowl in his hand and said, "Good, good. Give me some more."
Ji Yun An took a sip of the wine and secretly pouted, thinking to himself, 'This is no wine, this is sugar water! This county magistrate is really cunning! He has long changed the wine into sugar water, no wonder he is so calm and peaceful!'
Ji Yun An took another sip of sugar water and found the taste rather strange, but it didn't taste bad.
It turned what they were drinking was drinks from the convenience store blended with water! Lu Lin had been cleaning up the store, he planned to use the store as a warehouse more than anything. An empty space like the convenience store was priceless!
You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net