A Good Country Wife-Chapter 626 - 620_1

Lin Yue knew the scene must be chaotic, so she had brought most of the family’s servants and guards with her. Seeing Liu Aniu overwhelmed, she quickly ordered the servants and guards to step in and separate the two groups of people.

"Stop fighting, all of you! Anyone who causes further trouble won’t work for me any longer!" Lin Yue commanded coldly, which proved to be much more effective than Liu Aniu’s words. Lin Yue had long established her authority in Zhao Family Village, and most of the villagers respected her. Those refugees had been well-fed and well-treated in recent days and felt grateful to Lin Yue. Now that Lin Yue was in charge of the Zhao Family, her words brought most of the conflict to a halt. Only a few continued to scuffle and cause trouble, but they were not a serious threat. Lin Yue directed the servants and guards to separate the individuals involved and stared coldly at those who refused to listen to her.

"Have you all forgotten the rules I set? If you want to work here, you must follow my rules: keep the peace, and don’t create trouble. Look at what you’ve caused now! Do you think my family has mistreated you? If that’s the case, those unwilling to stay may stand up now. I will immediately settle your wages for these past days and you can find better employment elsewhere."

"Madam, we hold no such thoughts. We’re still not over our gratitude that you took us in, gave us a place to stay, and treated us so well. It’s just that some people were pushing us too far. We kept retreating, but they kept on bullying us, beating Xiaosan to this state. If we hadn’t stepped in, Xiaosan might have been beaten to death," said a young man who was about the same age as Xiaosan, angrily. His words suggested that he was either a fellow villager or friend of the beaten Xiaosan, and indeed he was as loyal as they come, having taken many punches himself in his defense.

"What exactly happened?" Although Lin Yue had heard a general account from the reporting servant, she still inquired at this moment.

It turned out that the villagers bore a grudge against the refugees working for Lin Yue because of past events, leading them to make life difficult at every turn. Seeing the refugees consistently yielding, the villagers grew more and more audacious and excessive in their actions. Today, when Xiaosan was returning from the restroom, he was accosted by some villagers of Zhao Family Village. They not only mocked him with cold and heated taunts but also insulted his parents. In a moment of anger, Xiaosan couldn’t hold back, and a fight broke out, with the villagers initiating the physical altercation. It then escalated to the state witnessed by Lin Yue.

Hearing this, Lin Yue turned to the man who had beaten Xiaosan. "What’s this about, then? Is everything he said true? I know that you all have grievances towards the refugees because of past incidents, but when you joined my household, I made it very clear that personal grudges must not be brought here. Why would you still act this way? Are you deliberately trying to stir up trouble by causing a commotion on my property?"

"I, I just couldn’t hold back. Those bastards caused such a disaster in the village before, and my mother’s still bedridden because of them. I couldn’t swallow the indignity without getting back at them," the man admitted boldly, without making excuses. It was clear he had a hot temper, but not a bad heart.

"Was it Xiaosan who harmed your mother to end up like this?" Lin Yue asked again.

The man stuttered under Lin Yue’s questioning, "No, it wasn’t him, but does it make a difference? They’re all cut from the same cloth."

"How could it be the same? Among the refugees, there are both good and bad characters. You can’t simply lump them all together. They did what they did initially out of desperation, lacking food and needing to survive; they had no choice. But now that they’re willing to work for food instead of continuing to steal or rob, it shows that they still recognize right from wrong and have a conscience. Moreover, you targeted Xiaosan because you couldn’t find the real culprit, venting your anger on someone easy to bully. How is your cowardly behavior any better than those who broke into your home and injured your mother?"

Hearing Lin Yue’s words, the man felt both shame and guilt—he indeed had harbored such thoughts. "Madam, I was wrong. Please don’t drive me out. My mother can barely move in bed right now, and all our food was taken. The entire house depends on the wage I earn working here. If you send me away, I’ll have no means to survive," he pleaded.

The man, seeing Lin Yue silent, assumed she intended to send him away and set aside his pride to kneel before her. While he might endure any hardship, he couldn’t ignore his family—"Madam, I’m kowtowing to you. Please show mercy; I won’t dare to do it again." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Lin Yue felt empathy for the man’s plight and had no intention of firing him, but given the situation, if she did not administer some form of punishment, it would amount to condoning such behavior. This was unacceptable, as it could set a precedent for those with bad intentions, and it might be impossible to prevent similar incidents in the future. She was also somewhat vexed about how to settle the matter, as everyone was watching.

"Erhu’s wife, Biaozi is just quick-tempered, straightforward, and impulsive, and sometimes he just can’t contain himself. It’s not entirely his fault. After all, his family has suffered so much; the refugees snatched their food and even injured his mother, who is still confined to bed, critically ill. Anyone would struggle to stomach such a blow. This time, for this old man’s sake, please forgive him. Have him properly apologize to the young man, and let’s consider the matter resolved," interjected the village chief, hoping to appeal for clemency on behalf of Biaozi, even though he knew the difficulty Lin Yue faced.

This put Lin Yue in an even more awkward position. Managing so many people was a challenging task to begin with, let alone under these circumstances, and she found herself in a real dilemma. Thus, she remained silent for an extended period.

"Madam, we are to blame for this. We were the ones who stole the village’s food in the first place. This brother’s actions are understandable. Please don’t hold it against him; otherwise, I won’t feel right either. I’m not seriously injured; it just looks worse on the outside. The injury isn’t deep, and this brother was somewhat restrained in his attacks." Unexpectedly, just then, Xiaosan, who had been the most severely beaten, stepped forward to speak on behalf of Biaozi. His readiness to acknowledge his own faults and seek reconciliation improved everyone’s impression of him considerably. Xu Xiaosan might have seemed timid normally, but he was clear-headed and magnanimous by nature.

Biaozi saw that Lin Yue still did not speak, even though the village chief had pleaded on his behalf, and his heart sank further. He couldn’t believe that Xu Xiaosan, the very person he had wronged, would come to his defense, and he felt deep remorse. The truth was that Xu Xiaosan had not been among those who raided his home for food; it was a different group of people who had since left. Unable to find those truly responsible, he had turned his frustrations toward the vulnerable Xu Xiaosan.