Chapter 638
Chapter 638: Chapter 631_1 Chapter 638: Chapter 631_1 Lin Yue and Nurse Xu had both anticipated this, yet they hadn’t expected Lin Youfu and Zhou Shi to be so eager as to surreptitiously assign two additional people to watch over them. It was always necessary to be wary of Lin Youfu and Zhou Shi’s hidden agendas. Nurse Xu had specially leaked some rumors in private, informing everyone in the household that the mistress had a poor relationship with her parents-in-law. Moreover, with quite a few people already aware of the old affairs of Zhao Erhu’s family, the servants had been speculating and spreading rumors among themselves, resulting in a lack of respect towards Lin Youfu and Zhou Shi. Those who felt grateful towards Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue were particularly disdainful of Lin Youfu and Zhou Shi. They wondered how such good people as the mistress could have such parents.
Lin Yue also knew that in the past few days, rumors about her and her unworthy parents had been fiercely circulated. Since it was Nurse Xu who had intentionally spread the news, she simply pretended to be unaware. As for Zhou Shi, who had intended to probe for information everywhere these days, she had hit many walls. Those with somewhat better manners simply avoided her without a word, and some even mocked Zhou Shi, infuriating her to the point of wanting to curse. The developments were indeed beyond her expectations.
“Old Master, the mistress is currently busy at the workshop and truly doesn’t have time to see you. If there’s anything inconvenient about your stay here, please feel free to tell this humble servant. The mistress has entrusted me with the management of the inner court affairs, and this humble servant can make decisions on minor matters,” said Nurse Xu, standing at the door, neither servile nor overbearing.
Lin Youfu was there to assign Lin Yue a task—something Nurse Xu naturally had no authority over. Even if Nurse Xu could make the decision, in Lin Youfu’s eyes, she was merely a servant by his daughter’s side, and even speaking to him was a grace. How could he possibly condescend to discuss such matters with a servant?
“I have business with my own daughter; this is not something for a servant like you to handle! What is Erhu busy with all day long? I can’t even catch a glimpse of her. Tell her to come back and see me; I have matters to discuss with her,” Lin Youfu had gone to find Lin Yue more than once, and each time he was blocked at the door. Sometimes when he got in, Lin Yue was not there, and this time he was fed up and spoke with airs of command. After saying his piece, he left with a flick of his sleeves.
“Absolutely preposterous, they really think the mistress is someone they can control,” muttered Nurse Xu with a cool expression after Lin Youfu left in a huff. The longer Nurse Xu stayed with Lin Yue, the more loyal she became. To speak disrespectfully, Nurse Xu regarded Lin Yue as a daughter and couldn’t stand to see anyone scheme against her, especially not Lin Youfu and his wife who treated Lin Yue so poorly just because they were her biological parents.
“Is the person gone?” Lin Yue asked without lifting her head as she worked on embroideries, hearing Nurse Xu’s footsteps entering. She was not avoiding Lin Youfu out of fear, but rather out of reluctance to waste her effort playing mind games with him and to avoid direct conflicts for the sake of Lin Qing’s dignity.
“Rest assured, mistress, I have sent him away. This humble servant won’t allow them to disturb you,” Nurse Xu said and then went about her own business, knowing well Lin Yue’s habit of needing complete focus when embroidering.
Zhou Shi came back in the afternoon, having found out nothing and sitting in the courtyard huffing with anger. Seeing Lin Youfu entering with a dark face, she asked, “Husband, how did it go? Did you talk with her? Is that wretched girl deliberately avoiding you?”
Lin Youfu glanced at Zhou Shi, plunked himself down on a stool, and, puffing on his pipe with a few loud, vexed drags, finally said, “Didn’t see her, that damn old woman blocked me. Said Erhu was busy with something and didn’t have time to see me.”
Zhou Shi was indignant. “That damn girl, growing confident, actually ignored her own parents. I noticed that even the servants at home are taking cues from that dead girl, showing me no respect at all. Additionally, their mouths are sealed tight. No matter what I ask, they refuse to speak and can’t be bought with silver. They even mock me with every word and phrase; it’s infuriating.”
Upon hearing Zhou Shi’s words, Lin Youfu fell into contemplation. “So that’s how it is. I reckon that our second girl has probably guessed my intentions, which is why she’s taken precautions beforehand. I hadn’t expected that in just two years, the girl would actually become so astute.”
The moment Zhou Shi heard this, she became anxious. “So what if that damn girl has figured out our intentions? What are we to do? Since she’s guessed it, she definitely won’t be deceived.”
“What’s the rush? Even if she has guessed, so what? We are her parents, after all; her flesh and blood run in her veins. Even if we openly say we want to gain some benefits from her, what of it? If others have received her favor, surely we as her parents can’t be considered inferior to a servant. Rest assured, I will make her agree.” Lin Youfu spoke with conviction, but in truth, he didn’t have any exceptional plans; his idea was to force her eventually, should Lin Yue disagree, simply by leveraging his status as her father. Had it been earlier, he might have been concerned about saving face. But these days, after making trip after trip to Lin Yue’s residence and being turned away time after time, he had truly lost any semblance of pride and was indeed aggravated.
As for Liu Aniu, he had followed Lin Yue’s commands and went to Shanglin Village once again. Upon arriving at his aunt’s home, he found the situation just as Lin Yue anticipated—the home had been robbed by refugees. There was no more food in the house; even his second cousin had been injured in a scuffle with the refugees and now lay in bed, unable to afford medicine. With the crops gone as well, they didn’t know how they would survive. The entire family wore faces of worry and despair, only managing to muster a forced smile when they saw Liu Aniu and welcomed him inside.
Liu Aniu brought in the food and seeds that Lin Yue had sent. “Auntie, the Mistress anticipated that things here wouldn’t be good, so she specifically sent me to bring you some food and seeds. This food should be enough to last for half a year. Also, here are sweet potato and corn seeds. These can be planted at this time and yield a high harvest. If well-tended, you won’t worry about having no food for the winter.”
At last, feeling a glimmer of hope, the Aunt’s family, driven by the need to survive, had no room to refuse. They could only hold their gratitude in their hearts, thanking Liu Aniu profusely as they accepted the food. The Aunt’s daughters-in-law, who had previously complained about her taking care of Lin Yue and giving away items from the household, now felt fortunate. If not for their relationship with the Aunt, Lin Yue might not have bothered to help their family.
Liu Aniu handed over the food and then conveyed Lin Yue’s instructions. “The Mistress said the household is in need of dependable help. Having trustworthy people on the construction site to keep an eye out would allow her to worry less.”
“I understand the second girl means well. Otherwise, our family wouldn’t be in real need of a couple of extra hands. In that case, let her two cousins go. But one thing, the wages they receive must be the same as the other workers. She must not give them more, just to save my face.”