“In our rural area, women are treated like men, and men are treated like animals. So don’t think you can relax and play with cats and dogs, that’s impossible! If you come home with me, you not only have to do your own job, but you also have to work in the fields with me, turning the soil, fertilizing, watering, weeding, everyone has to do it!”
Yue Jiuyue was telling the truth. When things got busy, not only did the women have to work like men, but even the children had to get out of bed and do what they could.
Spring planting is manageable; a few days' delay isn't a big deal, at most you'll just get a few laughs from the villagers. But during the wheat and autumn harvests, even the children know they have to put in a lot of hard work, and they can only feel at ease if they bring the grain home as soon as possible.
These words were something those people hadn't expected, because they had never truly experienced the lives of farmers; they only occasionally visited farms to experience the "hardships" of life, which was more like a show.
"Madam Lin, I will bring the children with me to work, and I promise that they will learn to do farm work as soon as possible so that they won't hold us back in the future!"
She stopped saying things like "I'll help with the work." This old lady clearly didn't like people who didn't work for anything and enjoyed the fruits of others' labor; otherwise, she wouldn't have said things like "eating half-full delays the work."
"Hmm, that's feasible, as long as it's not a free ride."
Yue Jiuyue was worried that the teenagers would cry and make a fuss while doing chores. She really didn't support people who would freeload, especially since they were all strangers, and she had paid to bring them home. She wasn't the type to hit other people's children, even if they were servants she had bought. As for whether she would hit her own children, she hadn't given birth, so she didn't know.
That's good now. Even if the children cry and don't want to work, their parents will keep them in check, so there's no need to worry about anyone taking advantage of them.
"Let me make this clear first: I don't support freeloaders, not even the kids. If any of your children don't work hard, don't blame me for sending them back!"
Is this considered a combination of kindness and severity? It seems there's no "kindness" involved? Does buying the child along with the purchase count?
Forget it, once we buy her, she's one of our own. It doesn't matter if we're all nice to her or not, as long as she works hard for us.
"Then, the discount?"
As soon as Yue Jiuyue turned around, the matchmaker felt a pain in her teeth.
She finally understood that Old Madam Lin had always had her eye on this family and just wanted to give them a warning. She hadn't expected that she would be unable to resist and offer them a discount. Wasn't this like shooting herself in the foot?
Oh well, at least we completed the task assigned by our superiors, found them a good home, and didn't let them separate. I believe the superiors won't care about the few dollars we lost.
Besides, these people's identities shouldn't be sold at high prices! It's such a pity, even though they're all top-notch!
"These people are all skilled craftsmen, and they should have sold for a higher price, but since I said I'd give you a discount for the sake of these children, how about one tael of silver per person?"
The matchmaker still used a negotiating tone, after all, this was practically a forced sale, and she didn't want anyone to suffer too much. She knew all too well how difficult life was for farmers; she'd heard that the Lin family's daughter-in-law had injured her health, and their eldest grandson's health had been poor since birth, already draining the family's savings!
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