The incense factory was about to start formal production, requiring a continuous supply of various raw materials, especially elm bark, pine wood, cypress wood, and mint.

The secretary and the team leader discussed it, and since there were only three people in the incense-making team, they asked Lin Shu to choose a few more people.

Lin Shu selected Qiu Pozi’s younger son and Li Auntie’s second son.

For now, adding two people to the incense factory was enough.

Besides, someone had to help with material procurement, so the team leader’s eldest son and Brother Lu Erge were put in charge of that.

They would increase the staff if orders grew and they couldn’t keep up.

Although others wanted to join the factory, they understood that since the Lu family started the factory, they would choose their own people first.

Xu Laonian and Qiu Pozi were the closest to the Lu family apart from their children, so it was appropriate to select them.

Didn’t they even choose Lu Shaocai and his son?

Since Lu Shaocai’s family didn’t get into the incense factory, what right did they have to complain?

They only hoped that when the factory expanded in the future, they would be among those selected and could also earn a salary.

Lin Shu didn’t choose Lu Shaocai and Lu Changfu to help, which made Lu Shaocai angry and he started crying and shouting at home.

He complained to Old Man Lu, blaming his uncle for not promoting him, his own nephew.

Old Man Lu was helpless.

The incense factory wasn’t his responsibility; what right did he have to select people?

“If you have the ability, go argue with my third daughter-in-law. Don’t bother me.”

Lu Shaocai didn’t dare.

Lu Shaotang cared so much for his wife that if Lu Shaocai tried to act tough with Lin Shu, he believed Lu Shaotang would throw him into a dung pit.

He couldn’t be tough; he could only play the emotional card.

Lin Shu didn’t even glance at him, so how could he make a move?

He could only have Zhao Meifeng flatter Lin Shu.

No matter how superior they felt from their past experiences in the capital, they had to lower themselves now to beg Lin Shu.

The problem was, even if they tried to lower themselves, Lin Shu didn’t seem interested in paying them any attention.

Zhao Meifeng was also quite troubled by this.

At dinnertime, Lin Shu, with the help of her two children, set the table and called the family to eat.

Lu Dage’s voice came from outside, “Come on, give me a hand! I’m exhausted!”

Lu Erge in the south room saw this and immediately went out to help Lu Dage in.

Lu Dage, dusty and tired, was still carrying his briefcase.

Lu Erge helped him bring in two bundles of oil-paper-wrapped packaging bags.

Lin Shu was surprised, “Dage, it’s done already?”

Lu Dage had gone to the county that afternoon.

It had only been three days, so the speed was impressive.

Originally, she thought it would take at least ten days or even half a month.

Lu Dage said, “I initially planned to place the order and go home, then pick it up when it was ready. But I came across a rare opportunity, so I waited an extra two days and got the bags made. The price was much cheaper than usual, so I ordered extra.”

Fang Dihua was annoyed by his decision-making.

Lu Erge had already unwrapped the oil paper and taken out the packaging bags to show Lin Shu and Fang Dihua.

Lu Dage said, “Although they’re slightly different from our design, they included an extra thousand large ones!”

Fang Dihua was about to criticize him, but Lin Shu stopped her mother-in-law, saying, “Dage did a great job. The quality of these bags is better than I expected.”

As Lu Dage was now the brigade’s accountant and would need to handle orders in the future, they should maintain his confidence and dignity and not constantly criticize him.

He wasn’t a child.

Fang Dihua understood her daughter-in-law’s meaning and restrained herself.

Lu Dage sighed in relief when Lin Shu nodded and then began to boast about his efforts, “I had to use a lot of persuasion to get these bags done quickly. Originally, they said they were too busy and would have to schedule it for ten days later.”

Panpan and Tiantian’s appetites were immediately piqued as they wanted to hear their uncle’s stories.

Although Lu Dage didn’t smoke, he habitually carried a box of cigarettes when he went out.

He would offer cigarettes when handling business, even if he couldn’t get things done, to gather information.

Besides cigarettes, he also carried candy to give to women.

This time, when he went to the printing factory, he first gave a cigarette to the security guard to find out who was in charge, then went to the office to look for the person.

However, the young man in charge acted arrogantly and was not interested in his cigarettes.

He coldly said that new orders couldn’t be scheduled until ten days later.

No matter what Brother Lu said, the person wouldn’t budge.

Not wanting to return empty-handed, he continued to wander around the factory.

The printing factory wasn’t large, so it didn’t take long for him to run into a friendly-looking woman.

He tried to gather information from her by giving out candy.

It turned out that the woman was a workshop manager!

Sister Wu explained that there had been a problem in the workshop—some packaging paper was printed incorrectly and would need reworking.

This meant there wasn’t time to schedule new orders.

Printing errors not only caused financial loss for the factory but also delayed production.

Brother Lu Dage saw the damaged packaging paper and thought that the standards in their factory were quite strict.

Wasn’t it expected for a factory to be meticulous?

They were a small team, and it was understandable if they cut corners to save costs.

The damaged paper had small jasmine and chrysanthemum flowers printed on it, and he wondered if it was intended for tea bags.

Since it didn’t have the factory’s name and address yet, he thought they might as well use it for their own packaging!

He suggested to Sister Wu that he could help recover the loss.

If the factory was willing to sell the damaged paper cheaply, he could buy it, print his own factory’s details on it, and use it for sanitary incense packaging.

The suggestion was excellent.

It solved the factory’s immediate problem and recovered their loss.

Sister Wu immediately agreed to the deal, offering him not only a discount but also a thousand free large paper bags!

Since Brother Lu Dage needed five thousand paper bags, getting a thousand large ones for free was a great deal.

He then ordered six thousand small bags separately.

Lin Shu noticed that although the packaging bags were slightly different from her design, her design was quite casual.

They were a small business, so they couldn’t afford very elaborate bags.

The main thing was to have the promotional text and factory name on them.

Now, they even had added designs like jasmine and chrysanthemum flowers.

They had made a great deal!

She smiled and said, “We’re a small business, so it’s good that Brother Lu Dage can adapt like this. It saves money and gets things done.”

Seeing that she not only didn’t complain but actually praised him, Brother Lu Dage was relieved and his spirits lifted.

He mysteriously asked, “Can you guess what other good news there is?”

Panpan eagerly said, “I know! Uncle made money!”

Panpan loved making money and was sensitive to anyone who made a profit.

Brother Lu Dage happily replied, “That’s right! My nephew understands me.”

He proudly took out the order form, showing an order from the printing factory for fifty large packages of sanitary incense.

He looked at Fang Dihua with a look of, ‘You always criticize me, but now I’ve done something good. Hurry up and praise me!’

Fang Dihua instinctively wanted to smack his head.

Lin Shu subtly tugged at her mother-in-law’s clothing.

Fang Dihua understood and glanced at the order form, then awkwardly praised, “You did quite well this time.”

Lu Dage was thrilled!

It wasn’t easy to get praise from his mother, especially after all these years.

Just then, Old Man Lu came in with a small basket of eggs, and Lu Dage rushed over to seek praise.

Old Man Lu wasn’t as stern as Fang Dihua.

Hearing that his eldest son had done such a good job, he immediately asked Lin Shu to fry some eggs to reward him and allowed him to have a couple of drinks.

Lu Dage was so happy that his head felt a bit dizzy.

He cheerfully shared how he secured the order.

“I didn’t go out for nothing, you know. I took our sample incense with me.” Lu Dage boasted, enjoying the moment, “I noticed a musty smell in their office, and instead of persuading them to buy, I immediately took out our incense and lit it. The lady said it smelled better than the Tiger Brand sanitary incense they were using, and because it was cheaper, she decided on the spot to buy fifty large packs.”

At 1.30 yuan per pack, fifty packs came to 65 yuan.

Wow, he made money while spending it on the trip!

Doing business was more profitable than being an accountant.

He put his arm around Lu Erge’s shoulder and toasted him, “Second brother, you focus on making incense at home. I’ll handle selling it outside. Let’s work together and make a lot of money!”

Lu Erge was also rarely excited and clinked glasses with him, “Alright.”