A Good Country Wife-Chapter 620 - 614_1

Lin Yue looked at the child with genuine compassion, her heart unable to bear the sight. She could ignore others but couldn’t bear to see these children suffer, and, setting aside her usual fastidiousness about cleanliness, she felt no repulsion towards the boy’s dirtiness. She personally helped the boy up and then had the others who were kneeling on the ground get up as well.

"Stand up, everyone. I promise you, although I don’t consider myself particularly kind-hearted, I can’t just watch you starve to death. However, there’s one thing—you will also have to rely on your own labor to get what you deserve, not just live on handouts! The thing I disdain the most is people who, despite having able bodies, rely on others’ charity to survive," Lin Yue said, looking toward the faces before her and seeing disappointment mingled with the initial joy. They had probably misunderstood her intentions.

As Lin Yue had expected, people initially thought she was going to provide for these women, children, and the elderly. After hearing her subsequent remarks, they changed their minds. Everyone knew that these groups were asking Lin Yue for help because they couldn’t work. It seemed that the lady didn’t want to bother with these useless people yet didn’t want to earn a heartless reputation. Thus, she spoke euphemistically. In the end, it all meant the same thing.

Lin Yue, reading their reactions, knew what they were thinking. "You don’t need to guess my intentions; they’re as stated. If I hadn’t wanted to help, I would’ve simply instructed Manager Liu to deal with it. Why would I bother saying so much? Yes, to you these women, children, and the elderly might appear vulnerable, talentless, and incapable of heavy labor—mere burdens. But in my eyes, they are by no means useless!"

Lin Yue didn’t look at the crowd anymore but addressed the people pleading before her. "Do you really see yourselves as useless? Everyone has hands and feet. Even if you can’t do heavy labor, you can still manage lighter tasks. Now that there are so many extra people in the house, with so much more to feed and use, the kitchen is in need of help. Women and the elderly can cook, and while the children are too young for that, they can still fetch firewood and kindling. And if anyone has any special skills or talents, feel free to inform the manager so that you can be assigned more suitable work."

"Moreover, whoever labors will be compensated accordingly, no matter who it is. Of course, if anyone still harbors the thought of freeloading, you should take the opportunity to leave now, lest I have you thrown out. In my household, no one is allowed to gain without working or taking advantage of the chaos," Lin Yue spoke with clarity and decisiveness.

"Let this be the same for everyone; abandon any such ideas and work diligently. The Zhao Family will not shortchange you. Even a child knows to earn food through their own labor. Everyone should understand this principle." The child Lin Yue mentioned was the one who had first called her ’Madam’, a very clever and agile little fellow.

The women, children, and elderly present were mostly overjoyed at Lin Yue’s words, and many even cheered, kneeling and thanking Lin Yue earnestly. This was, after all, a lifeline for them. They were willing to do what they could, and to be paid for it too—such luck seemed heaven-sent! It turned out that the lady did indeed have a merciful heart but was rather outspoken. Her words might have been tough, but she offered them such good terms; this was what truly good people did, unlike those wealthy families who only appeared kind-hearted but were malicious behind closed doors, preying on those beneath their status.

Lin Yue was unaware that she had unintentionally created such an image for herself in the public eye. As a result, her reputation spread. Sometimes, even if she said something ’harsh’ or did something ’severe’, it was misinterpreted kindly by everyone. It took Lin Yue a while to realize this reputation she had acquired and she lamented in a somewhat exasperated tone, "I’m really not a good person; for heaven’s sake, don’t misunderstand!"

Only a few with bad intentions, feeling somewhat resentful, were not fully satisfied. They had thought that since Madam was a young lady of seemingly refined taste and otherworldly demeanor, she would be easy to fool with their miserable plight, expecting her to take them in without question and provide them with good care. But Lin Yue’s words and actions did not match their expectations.

Regardless, the resettlement of the refugees was going smoothly. The sudden increase in manpower was initially challenging to manage, but once everything fell into a routine, it proved to be a tremendous help. Particularly since the continuous rain and the floods that followed had led to a lot of delays in the household chores, the Jiang Family had just barely managed to supply their needs. There had been no time to prepare the goods for shipping. Besides the residence being built to the east, the workshop also required many hands.

But these refugees could not be trusted completely. Lin Yue instructed the manager to assign them to less critical jobs; sensitive matters were still to be handled by the household servants. Despite this, Lin Yue picked out several refugees she deemed good and trustworthy to be trained. Quite a few, in an act of loyalty, signed contracts of indenture to sell themselves into the Zhao Family. Most of these people had lost their kin and had no attachments or hopes upon returning home. Seeing that the servants at the Zhao Family were treated well, they decided to stay put. These events would unfold later.

After arranging matters for the refugees, Lin Yue made a visit around the village. It was a scene of utter disarray, as if bandits had ravaged through. With so many refugees pouring in, such chaos was normal. The situation was slightly better than Lin Yue had anticipated. Although the influx of refugees had brought destruction, deaths and injuries were minimal, thanks in large part to Zhang Guo and the village chief who had managed to persuade the refugees to limit themselves to stealing food and avoiding violence if possible.

Because the refugees had all gone to Zhao Erhu’s place, those who had been hiding in their homes finally dared to come out and check the situation. Seeing Lin Yue, they boldly approached. "Erhu’s wife, I heard that your family took in all those refugees—is it true?"

When this question was asked, the person already had a strong inkling of the answer. It seemed the rumor was not unfounded. No wonder the village was so peaceful, not in its usual state of uproar, and no refugees were seen lurking around. Moreover, the fact that Erhu’s wife was coming out with some people demonstrated that the refugee situation had indeed been resolved. Otherwise, showing herself so openly would have led to them being surrounded by refugees long ago.