Chapter 288: Chapter 282 Undermining from within_1 Chapter 288: Chapter 282 Undermining from within_1 Lin Yue noticed that a long-term worker in their household nad Li Chang’an had recently beco dishonest. Originally, he and his wife had moved into the residence provided for long-term workers by their family. Later on, they brought their children as well. Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu saw that their family was not having an easy ti and turned a blind eye, letting it go. Little did they know that Li Chang’an not only lacked gratitude, but he also beca even more excessive. Recently, he had been spying around their vicinity. His wife and children must have been instigated by him, as they were loitering around their courtyard all day, probably trying to steal a glance at sothing.
After discussing it, Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu agreed that a long-term worker like Li Chang’an could not be kept around. Otherwise, they feared he might bring disaster. They couldn’t afford to spend so much attention on a single long-term worker every day. As the saying goes, “You can guard against a thief during the day but not a traitor inside your ho.” In the next few days, Zhao Erhu would find so pretext to dismiss Li Chang’an.
Although Lin Yue felt that letting Li Chang’an off so easily seed unfair since he had been double-dealing, they now had other matters to attend to at ho and couldn’t keep such a malicious person around. If he were to inadvertently witness sothing and then divulge what he had seen, it would certainly bring losses to their family. Moreover, the fact that Li Chang’an was doing this clearly indicated that soone had instructed him to, likely having connections with the Wei Family.
The more Lin Yue thought about the nurous tis the Wei Family had sched against their family, the angrier she beca. When the opportunity arose, she would definitely play a trick on the old master of the Wei Family, letting him know that she also had her limits. Zhao Lingxiang had co to cause trouble several tis, which was bad enough. Last ti, she even learned how to sprout beans from Chunxi, competing with them on price. Now, they were even casting their aspirations on their family’s long-term workers. If she didn’t teach them a lesson, these people would beco increasingly shaless and devise even more insidious sches.
Lin Yue went out to the fields to check the sweet potatoes, which had grown well and were ready to harvest. By rough estimates, there would likely be a harvest of around twenty to thirty thousand catties. Lin Yue planned to store half in the cellar. Since sweet potatoes can be stored for a long ti, they would not spoil for a year or two if kept properly, and so were needed for planting. As for the other half, more than ten thousand catties would be used to make dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato flour, and sweet potato noodles. These new food items would surely be popular once on the market.
In fact, making these sweet potato products was not difficult; most people could learn after watching twice. This was why Lin Yue had to be especially cautious. Although she didn’t think she could keep the production thods to herself forever, at the very least, she wanted to be the first to profit from this golden opportunity. What would happen later would depend on the developnt of the situation.
“Dongjia, are you there?” Liu Aniu, who usually went ho early to take care of his elderly mother, did not go back today after finishing his work. Instead, he ca knocking. Zhao Erhu let him into the house, where Liu Aniu stated his reason for coming.
It turned out that the Wei Family had approached Liu Aniu and wanted him to be a mole in Zhao Erhu’s household to get hold of Lin Yue’s family’s food production thods. In return, Liu Aniu would receive a generous reward.
Liu Aniu was naturally a loyal and grateful person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have worked so hard every day, commuting back and forth to take care of his aging mother. Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu had both told him to bring his mother to stay here as it would be more convenient, and they had enough space. But both mother and son were stubborn, thinking that it was already a great favor to work as long-term workers for Zhao Erhu and receive such a generous salary. They didn’t want to impose any further.
This ti, the Wei Family mother and son sought out Liu Aniu over the matter of the son, but Liu Aniu refused without even considering it. Despite multiple persuasions by the Wei Family, Liu Aniu did not relent. Later, when Liu Aniu’s elderly mother found out, she took a broom and chased the Wei Family out.
“My son, Dongjia has been gracious to our family, and we must not be ungrateful. Otherwise, even if I die, I would have no face to et your father. Your father was an exceptionally upright and kind man while he lived. If he knew you did sothing that went against your conscience, he would not rest in peace even in the ground. You mustn’t be confused by a bit of small gain,” she said.
“Mom, don’t worry. Don’t you know what kind of person I am? I rember everything Dad taught , and I won’t let you down. Mrs. Wei has co to several tis, but I haven’t agreed once. Just be at ease,” Liu Aniu hastily explained, fearing his mother might misunderstand him, while in his heart, he worried about another problem. Now it wasn’t a matter of whether he agreed or not, but since Mrs. Wei didn’t get what she wanted from him, she definitely wouldn’t give up and would surely find another way by persuading others to do the deed. Not everyone could resist the temptation of silver and refuse the Wei Family as firmly as he did.
After thinking it over and still not finding a good solution, Liu Aniu went to Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue when he finished work in the evening and inford them of the Wei Family’s intentions. He wanted Dongjia to be more alert against the Wei Family and not to fall for their sches.
Although Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu knew that people from the Wei Residence were targeting their family and were aware that the long-term worker Li Chang’an was problematic, they hadn’t realized that this matter was also connected to Mrs. Wei. Zhao Lingxiang had really improved, knowing she couldn’t take advantage of them, she got Mrs. Wei to help out. This was probably also because Zhao Lingxiang, being pregnant, found it inconvenient to act on her own.
Mrs. Wei was more calculating than Zhao Lingxiang and sharper than her daughter Zhao Lingxiang, having lived in Zhao Family Village for so many years, she was well-acquainted with every aspect of the village and it was more convenient for her to act, making it easier to plot against their family. Fortunately, Liu Aniu’s tily warning gave them a direction to better guard against such plots.
“Aniu, thank you. If it weren’t for you telling us, we still wouldn’t know that the one scheming behind our backs was Mrs. Wei. Your information is very valuable to us,” Lin Yue always had a good impression of Liu Aniu. Their family now needed more hands. After a while, when the sweet potatoes were harvested, they would be even busier. So tasks needed to be entrusted to several loyal and reliable people; the couples of Zhao Dahuo and Wu Qiang couldn’t handle everything on their own.
Lin Yue had originally planned to observe Liu Aniu for a while longer. After all, Liu Aniu was different from the couples of Zhao Dahuo and Wu Qiang, who were well-known to them and had a special relationship with Zhao Erhu. If Liu Aniu could withstand her tests, she would employ him in more important roles. Because of this incident, Lin Yue was even more satisfied with Liu Aniu. Liu Aniu could resist the temptation of profit, and both his loyalty and capability were sufficient.
“Dongjia, you don’t need to thank . This is what I should do. In the past, when I was toiling as a laborer for the landlord, working hard from dawn till dusk, I could barely earn enough money to keep my mother alive. You’ve been so benevolent, providing with such high wages and treating us long-term workers well. I don’t even know how to express my gratitude to Dongjia. I couldn’t possibly let others take advantage of you again,” he said.
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