There are indeed several households that cannot find anyone to hire no matter how much they raise the price, now the wages of short-term workers outside have risen to twenty-five cents a day, and even if they reluctantly raised it to twenty-seven cents, they still can't find anyone.

  It's easy to have a few heartbeats, and also in the midst of companions' movements, I came back to my senses, hesitating.

  A wakeful fellow advised him, "Have you forgotten what happened two years ago? Chen Lao San from our village nearly lost his life at the Zhu family's. He worked hard for over 20 days and didn't even get a penny in wages. On top of that, he was beaten up and had to be ransomed back home with money. If you think Lin's wages are too low, go take a look at Shang, Lu, and Zhou families - their reputations aren't bad either, and they're also paying 25 cents now."

  "If I had to say, staying at the Lin's house isn't bad either. Other households are busy for just these few days, and after the summer harvest is over, they'll be idle again, no different from the Lin's household. Although it's also temporary work, there's more visible work to do, and I'm afraid we'll have work to do until winter arrives. Moreover, the Lin's household pays wages promptly, and every day there are various soups, occasionally even meat soup for us to drink, actually not much different from that twenty-five cents of wages."

  "Yes, yes, instead of running around, it's better to just stay at the Lin's house. Who knows, maybe Manager Zhong will see that we're honest and let us stay on as long-term workers."

  "Apprentice? Me? I don't want to be an apprentice, that's a lifelong contract. Where's the freedom in being a short-term worker?"

  "You say you're stupid, but you really are! The Lin family is a generous household, and they even pay the short-term workers so promptly. Would they cheat the long-term workers?" The man lowered his voice and said: "I heard that the Lin family pays their long-term workers a high salary of five taels of silver per year, and if they do well, they'll also get a bonus of 300 to 2000 wen during Chinese New Year."

  "Really? Fake?"

  "It's true, I heard it from Lin Quan himself. He's secretly looking for capable and honest short-term workers to hire them as long-term workers."

  Everyone was moved by the words, one year and five taels of silver, calculated carefully, it's even less than what they earned from short-term work, but short-term work is not only short in duration, but also very tiring. Working as a long-term laborer is different, basically following the farming schedule, and also including room and board, which means one less mouth to feed at home.

  Farmers are busy during the busy farming season, but idle during the slack season. If there is less work to do, they can also take care of their families, and this job will seem very valuable.

  They have been working for others for many years and naturally know that a long worker in another family only gets three to four taels of silver per year, with many demands.

  Some masters are generous, such as the Lu family, they will not limit long workers to stay in the house every day, and when there is no work, they can return home.

  But what was just said about the Chu family is very strict, it's said that unless it's a holiday, the long-term workers of the Chu family are not allowed to leave the estate. Once caught, the master will definitely suspect them of stealing things from the estate to supplement their family.

  Every year, they will find various excuses to deduct wages, it can be said that being a long-term worker for the Zhu family is the most unfortunate.

  The Lin family seems even more generous than the Lu family, so being a long-term worker for the Lin family is still quite tempting.

  Everyone no longer thinks about leaving, but instead begins to secretly compare and compete with each other. When working, they are even more diligent and will think of ways to show off their skills, striving to let the leaders see their excellence and keep them as long-term workers.

  So, despite losing so many short-term workers, the farm's land reclamation work has still progressed at such a rapid pace.

  Lin Guan brought back the fruit trees and started planting them in the orchard planned by Lin Qingyuan. After the summer harvest, the fruit trees were basically planted, and even the workers helped build a row of houses in the orchard for the people who would guard it.

  Because they were all one household at a time, they were built quite well. According to the size of the orchard, Lin Qingyuan decided to select five households to guard it.

  Apart from the three households in our village, we also need to select two more. Firstly, because they have no experience in taking care of fruit trees, and secondly, the male owners all have old injuries, and some physical labor is beyond their ability.

  Apart from the household's own tenant farmers, they could only be chosen from among the long-term workers and tenant farmers. However, the long-term workers were still just candidates and had not yet signed a contract, so it was still necessary to consider the tenant farmers first.

  It so happened that Lin Yuhong was idle at home, and Lin Qingyuan took her along, "Let's take a walk in the village and see which tenant is suitable to take care of the orchard."

  Lin Yuhong happily went to change his clothes. "Little aunt, aren't tenants free? They are willing to go and watch the orchard?"

  "And they don't have to sell themselves into slavery, and the work in the orchard is relaxed, they can still continue to rent land and farm. Why not take the opportunity? Now it's hard to come by a chance to make money."

  The orchard is now a field, and the fruit trees have just been planted, so there's no need to fertilize them yet. We can wait until after the autumn harvest to move over, and by then the tenant farmer will have transferred the lease of the field on the other side of the orchard.

  Lin Qingwan took Lin Yubin's small hand and headed towards Changfu Village, pointing at the tiny human heads in the distant fields: "Some workers need to rush over from their homes a hundred miles away, once they settle down, they won't go back, do you know why?"

  "For the sake of money?" Lin Yubin hesitated to ask.

  Lin Qingwan nodded, "For just twenty cents a day, Suzhou was already considered prosperous, but job opportunities were scarce. Most people had no extra income apart from farming. And there were also some people who didn't even have land and couldn't rent any, so they could only make a living by working as short-term laborers for others or renting official fields like the villagers of Changfu Village before."

  "So?"

  "So don't mind the sarcastic remarks from those classmates in school, it's a good thing that we can provide job opportunities for so many people, they're just jealous of you and that's why they said that."

  Lin Yuhong's face turned red, and he lowered his head to ask in a low voice, "You know everything?"

  Lin Qingwan's eyes were filled with reproach as she said, "You should have told your sister earlier. In the future, if something like this happens again, don't keep it to yourself. If you bottle up your emotions and get sick, I'll be the one who worries."

  Lin Yuhbin saw that Xiaogu already knew, and didn't want to hide it anymore. The child's temper burst out, and he said angrily with a pout: "They didn't say it in front of me, but behind my back, discussing it, not even giving me a chance to refute."

  This labor crisis has made everyone see the influence of the Lin family. Although no one says it out loud, they are all secretly resentful of Lin Qingwan.

  After all, this summer's harvest increased labor costs for nothing, and who knows what will happen with autumn harvest.

  Fortunately, it didn't rain during those few days of summer harvest, otherwise everyone would have been even more resentful.

  Or it was because the adults at home said too much, and in the Lu family's school, there were already several students who secretly targeted Lin Yuhong.

  What surprised Lin Qingwan was that the female students were fine, but it was actually more prevalent among the male students, because boys and girls were taught separately, and at first, Lin Yuhong didn't even notice.

  It wasn't until she was at the entrance of Lushi's house that she realized male students would always stare at her with deep meaning, whispering to each other.

  Lin Yuhbin was always sensitive, and at the time, he thought it was his own fault, so ashamed that he almost dug into the ground, but he got on the bus with a strong self-restraint in order not to lose face for his family.

  But she checked herself and didn't find anything wrong, after doing this two or three times, her face also became thicker, every time they stared at her and whispered to each other, she would stare back at them, scaring them.

  Even Xia Shangmingjie found something wrong, because he was a relative of the Lin family, and after much effort, he finally learned about the situation and hurriedly told Lin Yuhong.

  Lin Yuhbin would never tell her little sister that she was being targeted in school, so she thought of fighting back on her own.

  Unfortunately, those boys were not gentlemen and only dared to secretly discuss it among themselves, but did not dare to openly confront her, leaving her no chance to fight back.

  She was waiting for an opportunity recently, but didn't expect her younger sister to find out.

  She dejectedly lowered her head, "Was it Second Brother who told you?"

  "Not really, so I decided next time I see him, I'll scold him for a while, he actually didn't tell me."

  Lin Yuhong mourned Shang Mingjie silently in his heart and asked, "How did you know?"

  Lin Qingwan tapped her forehead and said, "Silly child, have you forgotten that I've been exchanging letters with Mr. Shi all along? She told me."

  If teachers have a mind to know, what can be hidden from them in the school?

  So Lin Yuhbin was targeted, Shi Xian realized it, but she didn't intervene and let the students solve it themselves. Seeing Lin Yuhbin couldn't get in, the atmosphere became more tense, so she wrote a letter to Lin Qingyuan.

  This matter needs to be discussed with parents for a solution.

  Lin Qingwan didn't take those male students seriously, what she cared about was Lin Yuhong's mental health, it was just some gossip, how did it become so serious?

  So Lin Qingwan is telling Lin Yuhong today that he should be proud because our Lin family has provided job opportunities for many people and supported the livelihood of many.

  And those boys who don't even dare to speak to you face-to-face, are not only short-sighted but also cowards, why do you care about their opinions?

  If I were your younger sister, I wouldn't even bother to give them a glance.

  You go to school with a happy heart, learn knowledge with a happy heart, and return home with a happy heart, which is the greatest revenge against them.

  Aren't they using that strange gaze to look at you, and whispering in front of you, isn't it just to make you feel flustered and lose your composure, or do something wrong?

  So as long as you're not affected, that's the biggest counterattack.

  Lin Yuhong's eyes sparkled as he listened, but he couldn't help biting his lip and saying, "But I still can't calm down in my heart, feeling resentful with no way to vent."

  Lin Qingwan burst out laughing, "That little girl taught you a trick, and now they're frustrated with no way to vent."

  "What method?"

  Lin Qingyan whispered a few words in her ear, and Lin Yuhong doubted: "Is that it?"

  Lin Qingwan lowered her head and looked at her niece, who had a natural air of elegance, and nodded: "When you get back, practice in front of the mirror to cultivate a sense of disdain that comes from within. As long as they see it, they will definitely treat you the same way as before."

  Lin Yuhu was half-believing and half-doubting, but with her trust in Xiao Jie, she decided to go back and give it a try.

  As they spoke, the two of them arrived in front of a thatched hut. Lin Qingyan stopped and said, "This is Chen Jisheng's home, right? Let's go take a look."