TLHHS 🍁 Chapter 13: You don't even recognize Mr. Lin, the owner of the hot and sour sauce shop?

The fruit shop Lin Yan chose was the very same one where he'd bought his lemons. The shopkeeper knew him well by now, and the moment he saw him walk in, he said with a smile, "Yan-ge'er, here for more lemons?"

Lin Yan nodded. "And a few other things too."

He had a bit more money to spare now, and he wanted to buy some fruit to eat—otherwise his body always felt like it was lacking moisture.

He looked around and suddenly spotted a small box off to the side, its surface beaded with condensation.

His eyes lit up, and he immediately stepped over to peer inside.

It was actually waxberries, and iced ones at that.

The shopkeeper leaned over, looking pained. "This stuff is precious. You have to keep it on ice, too. If it weren't for my two rascals at home loving it so much, I'd never spend the money."

"Uncle, where did you buy the ice?"

"From a shop run by the Qiu family."

"The Qiu family?"

"You don't know the Qiu family? They're the wealthiest family in the county. I hear they dug an enormous ice cellar, and every year as soon as summer begins they start selling ice. Oh, the silver just flows right into their pockets."

The shopkeeper's face was full of envy.

Lin Yan understood. In this era, ice was a rare commodity. No wonder the Qiu family could become the richest in the county

"Look here, just this small box of ice costs one tael of silver."

Lin Yan was startled. He knew ice was expensive, but he hadn't imagined it would be this expensive.

Waxberries were also a rarity, but compared to this ice, they seemed downright cheap.

The key issue was that ice melted so easily. Sure enough, in the time it took to exchange just a few words, the ice on top had visibly shrunk by a corner.

The shopkeeper was heartbroken. That had cost him a whole tael of silver, after all.

"Uncle, why don't you have an ice container made? That way the ice won't melt so easily."

The shopkeeper froze. "An ice what?"

Lin Yan was somewhat surprised as well. Don't they have ice containers here?

He pulled the blueprint for the ice container he'd drawn from his bosom. "It's this. If you put ice inside, it'll keep for a long time."

The shopkeeper stared intently at the blueprint for a while, his eyes wide with wonder. "Yan-ge'er, you're truly a genius. How is it you know everything?"

Lin Yan smiled. "I saw it in a book."

The shopkeeper had little education, knowing only a handful of characters, so he didn't doubt it. He nodded and said, "Reading really is a good thing."

The shopkeeper carefully folded away the blueprint, saying happily, "I'll go find Carpenter Tang right away to have one made. With this treasure, our summer will be so much more bearable this year."

Lin Yan happened to be in need of a reliable carpenter, so he asked a few questions about Carpenter Tang. With the shopkeeper's assurances, he had a rough idea of what to expect.

The two were just arranging to go find Carpenter Tang together when two people walked in through the door.

Lin Yan paid them no mind, but the pair walked straight up to him.

"I thought I was mistaken just now, but it really is you."

Lin Yan looked puzzled. Lin A-die had just gone to the bookshop across the street to find Zhang Moyuan, so there was no one to explain who these people were.

He could only look at them in silence.

His instinct told him this person meant trouble.

Sure enough, the next moment the man let out a laugh. "This is Xishou Street, you know. How many copper coins do you have on you that you dare come wandering here?"

The shopkeeper, sensing something was wrong, quickly said, "Young ge'er, how can you speak like that?"

Tan Xin rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "You don't know, shopkeeper. His family is so poor they can barely put food on the table. He can't afford any of these fruits. You're wasting your time on him."

Lin Yan remembered now. He'd heard this voice the very night he'd transmigrated.

He'd been hiding under the bed then and hadn't seen the face clearly.

Tan Xin, Zhang Moyuan's number one admirer.

And one of the people responsible for the original owner's death.

Over these past few days, the shopkeeper had developed an excellent impression of Lin Yan. What's more, he'd just received the ice container blueprint, so he seemed even more agitated than Lin Yan himself.

"Who says he can't afford it? Yan-ge'er is a valued customer in my shop! Let me tell you, have you not been to Xishou Street for a long time? You don't even recognize Boss Lin, who sells hot and sour sauce?"

Tan Xin's eyes went wide with shock. "What Boss Lin? Where did this Boss Lin come from?"

The shopkeeper gave Lin Yan a gentle nudge. "Young man, your eyes must be failing you. There he is, right in front of you."

Lin Yan had felt a little embarrassed when he first heard "Boss Lin," but now he could barely keep from laughing.

Tan Xin stared at Lin Yan as if he didn't recognize him, his expression full of uncertainty.

Lin Yan suddenly felt a mischievous urge for revenge. He casually pointed to several kinds of delicious but expensive fruits. "Shopkeeper, give me two jin of each of these."

The shopkeeper deliberately called out loudly, "Right away, Boss Lin!"

To drive the point home, he even announced the price of each item as he weighed it, as if afraid Tan Xin wouldn't realize how expensive they were.

Listening, Lin Yan began to regret it. These really are too expensive.

The shopkeeper even gave him a small box of waxberries as a gift, with a few chunks of ice inside.

Lin Yan was already carrying several bags of wedding dates and fruits, and now he could barely hold everything.

Tan Xin's face was ashen. Ding Yu, who'd come in with him, was mortified and secretly tugged at his sleeve, whispering, "Xin-ge'er, let's just go."

This is so embarrassing. Why did I even follow him in here?

But Tan Xin refused to move. He'd already lost so much face in front of everyone that storming off in shame felt even worse than staying. He racked his brain desperately, searching for anything he could use to turn the tables and humiliate Lin Yan again.

Then, his eyes landed on the unmistakable red dates tucked under Lin Yan's arm. He pointed at the wedding dates and fruit in Lin Yan's hands and glared. "Lin Yan, are you getting married?"

Hearing this, Ding Yu quickly craned his neck to look.

"No way. I haven't heard anything about Yan-ge'er finding a match."

Ordinarily, this kind of news would be the talk of the village, but they hadn't heard a thing.

Lin Yan was perfectly open about it. "We just agreed on it. Haven't made it public yet."

Ding Yu couldn't help pressing further. "Who is it, anyway?"

Lin Yan was too shy to say directly, simply saying, "You'll find out when the time comes."

But to Tan Xin, this looked like evasiveness.

Tan Xin suddenly relaxed. If the husband Lin Yan had been matched with were really the Xiucai Zhang, then knowing his father's temperament, he'd have already spread the news through several villages by now, making a huge fuss about it.

But since none of them had heard anything, this all seemed rather suspicious.

Combined with Lin Yan suddenly becoming some "Boss Lin" and spending so freely...

Could he have agreed to be some lord's concubine in town?

"It seems your father has finally come to his senses."

Lin Yan blinked. He had absolutely no idea what the man was talking about.

But Tan Xin had already walked away with a beaming smile.

Lin Yan was thoroughly confused.

No sooner had Tan Xin left than Zhang Moyuan and Lin A-die walked in.

Zhang Moyuan had gone to the bookshop to sell his newly written annotated books, only to be stopped by the group of students who'd been waiting for him, and had ended up explaining things to them for a while.

Lin A-die entered with a huge smile on his face, making it obvious just how pleased he was with his Xiucai son-in-law.

But when he saw Lin Yan's arms full of fruit, his smile faltered.

"Yan'er, fruit won’t last long. Why did you buy so much?"

The wedding was still over twenty days away, after all.

Lin Yan laughed awkwardly. "A-die, I bought them for everyone to share. We have such a big family, you know."

Lin A-die was about to suggest returning some when Lin Yan quickly cast a pleading look at Zhang Moyuan.

Amusement danced in Zhang Moyuan's eyes. "Uncle, it was I who asked Yan'er to buy them. I forgot to get fruit yesterday."

Lin A-die: "..."

Afterward, the fruit shop owner took Lin Yan and the others to Carpenter Tang's house. Lin Yan discussed things with Carpenter Tang for a while, ordering two large ice containers and a small cart that could accommodate a ceramic grill.

Tang Xing had been a carpenter for many years and was very experienced. The moment he saw the ice container design, he found it ingenious, his eyes lighting up.

He could also see the enormous business potential in it.

After Lin Yan and the others left, he specifically pulled the shopkeeper aside and whispered, "Old Ma, could you ask Lin-ge'er for me? Can this thing be sold?"

Shopkeeper Ma understood immediately. Actually, the thought had crossed his mind too, but Lin Yan had been so generous about it that he'd felt too embarrassed to ask.

"Could you ask him for me? I'd be willing to split the profits with Yan-ge'er. And I'll build that small cart of his for free."

"Alright. I'll ask him tomorrow."

Carpenter Tang even gave Shopkeeper Ma a few stools, hoping he'd put in a good word for him with Lin Yan.

By the time Lin Yan and the others returned to Jiahe Village, gossip about him soon becoming some lord's concubine was already quietly spreading.