Chapter 146: Gossiping Tongues

After speaking with Lin Qi and giving him a few instructions regarding the factory affairs and precautions, Lin淼淼 rose to her feet, intending to head over to the sugar mill.

Just as she stepped outside her brick factory, Lin淼淼 caught the sound of whispering behind her, with people gossiping at her back.

Irritated, Lin淼淼 stopped in her tracks, turned to face the group of women, and said, "If you have anything to say, you can say it to my face. There is no need to wag your tongues behind my back. I detest people who do that."

Once she finished speaking, those women curled their lips in disdain and retorted unceremoniously, "The women in our village despise nothing more than illicit affairs with other men. What is your relationship with that man? The two of you shut yourselves inside a room talking behind closed doors—anyone who didn't know better would think you were up to some shameful, scandalous business behind your husband's back!"

Hearing these words, Lin淼淼 was so angry she laughed. She looked coldly at the women and demanded, "Did you see it with your own eyes, or what?"

The women curled their lips again and replied slowly, "Hu's husband saw it all. The only reason you didn't hire Hu's husband is because he caught you two in the middle of your dirty deeds."

Lin淼淼 wanted to burst out laughing. She sighed, looked straight at the women, and said coldly, "Don't you know that framing others can land you in a jail cell?"

Smiling gently as she addressed them, the women were initially taken aback, but then they slowly shot back, "People in our village don't engage in such filth, and we don't want an outsider like you ruining the reputation of our entire village."

Lin淼淼 was so infuriated by these village matrons that she was momentarily at a loss for words. Just at that moment, Lin Qi heard the commotion outside and walked over.

The very instant Lin Qi approached, those women pointed straight at him and cried, "That's the adulterer right there!"

Lin淼淼 sighed, wondering how to handle this group of women, when Cuihua emerged from the courtyard holding a broom. Cuihua grabbed Lin淼淼, pulling her behind her for protection, and turned to launch a fierce, unsparing tirade at the gossiping women: "I was wondering what kind of crows were perching on the eaves this early in the morning—turns out it's just you few pieces of trash. I kept wondering why you lot had been so quiet the last few days, and here you are, wagging your dirty tongues!"

Cuihua gave a cold snort, her fighting spirit entirely undiminished.

Hearing Cuihua, the women immediately snapped back, "Look who's talking! You're just a dog licking up to people because their family has a bit of money. What's so great about that peddler? Doesn't your family just have a few stinking coins? I've had my eyes on you for a long time!"

"That's right! Who do you think you are, following this newcomer around like a pug, doing whatever she tells you to? Why don't you just fly up to the sky?"

Lin淼淼 had never witnessed a women's quarrel—or rather, she had seen them, but never been right in the middle of one. She couldn't come up with a single retort to the foul language the women were spewing. She stood awkwardly in place, watching Cuihua single-handedly wage a battle spanning three hundred rounds.

Cuihua raised her voice even higher, pointed at the women, and shouted, "And you lot—your own men are lazy bums who couldn't pass my screening, so what? Are you bitter about it?"

As soon as Cuihua dropped those words, the women were instantly left speechless.

At that moment, several individuals who had successfully applied to work at Lin淼淼's factory stepped forward and addressed the women directly: "Don't be jealous just because other people got hired. If your own men are lazy, don't blame anyone else. As long as you women are hardworking, it doesn't matter much even if your men aren't."

Once the village men spoke up in this manner, the women clamped their mouths shut. After all, in any dispute between men and women, the women usually ended up on the losing end.

Seeing that the courtyard had suddenly quieted down, Lin淼淼 looked coldly at the women and said, "Lin Qi, go to the yamen and bring back some yamen runners."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qi bowed respectfully to Lin淼淼 and replied, "Yes, Mistress."

Right then, Hu San stepped directly forward, lifted his chin, and told Lin Qi, "Brother Lin Qi, you go ahead. I'll protect the Mistress."

Hearing these official terms from the town, the women were somewhat tongue-tied. It was only at this moment that they truly realized Lin淼淼 was different from the women of their village.

Lin淼淼 took a deep breath, raised her head, and addressed the villagers: "My family used to do business, and we saved up quite a bit of silver in the past. Now that I am opening this factory, you can go into town or even to the capital to inquire—anyone whose wages or benefits are higher than mine, you are free to leave and work for them. The wages and benefits I offer are based on my past standards when I ran factories. Anyone who is dissatisfied in any way is free to leave."

After Lin淼淼 finished, Hu San stepped forward again and told the villagers, "That's right! Mistress, opening a factory right now is actually a losing venture. Since the factory just opened, the number of hires is naturally small. Although holidays and days off might not match the regular breaks of our former factories, the wages we offer are genuinely good. If you work hard and stick with it for a year or a half, every single household will be able to build a grey-brick tile house!"

Since Hu San was a former soldier, his voice was loud and booming. Several villagers nearby looked at Lin淼淼 with grateful eyes.

Lin淼淼 told the crowd, "We have an employer-employee relationship, a patron relationship. There will naturally be times when I must give directions regarding factory management. I am married now, and most of the time I won't be managing the factory's every detail. Lin Qi has been with me for a long time and is very familiar with running factories; I merely gave him a few instructions. I don't understand why you chose to spread such vicious rumors."

With that, Lin淼淼 glanced at the matrons and continued, "Though what you said may just be women's idle gossip, if you keep this up and ruin my reputation like this, what will other people think? I have no desire to make things difficult for anyone today, but we can settle this in a court of law."

Just as Lin淼淼 finished speaking and made to stand up, the women dropped to their knees with a thud and began kowtowing to her. Lin淼淼 instinctively stepped back.

The commotion at the brick factory quickly alerted the village head, who was overseeing the villagers building ponds at the sugar mill. Striding over quickly, the village head saw the women kneeling and kowtowing while Lin淼淼 stood off to one side.

Taking in the scene, the village head asked Lin淼淼 slowly, "Er-Zhong's wife, what is going on here? Tell me."

Seeing the village head arrive, Lin淼淼 walked over. Hu San immediately spoke up on her behalf: "Our Mistress opened a factory in the village. She was just giving a few instructions to her people when these women started wagging their tongues behind her back, claiming our Mistress was whoring around with another man."

Hu San was a rough man unversed in subtleties. Knowing Lin淼淼 was too polite to bring it up to the village head herself, he recounted the entire sequence of events from beginning to end.

Hearing the kind of filth those women had been gossiping about, the village head grew furious, pointing a finger at them and scolding, "Your own husbands are lazy bums, and you refuse to work hard yourselves! When you see other families making money, your hearts turn green with jealousy and rage. If you have the ability, go work the fields and grow crops instead of standing around here talking nonsense!"

Naturally, the village head understood the situation in the village. They were poor, but that didn't mean the majority of the villagers were lazy. He had long wished to change the village's current plight, but lacking any great ability of his own, he could only watch as the hardworking villagers fared better day by day.

The village head's son, Li Bao, glared at the women with visible displeasure. "Even though the Lin woman hasn't been in the village long, she's a hardworking person. The silver left behind by her ancestors isn't like you lot, idling the day away sitting against a mud wall and gossiping about family matters."

The arrival of the village head had drawn a crowd of villagers. Realizing what had happened, they immediately chimed in, shouting at the women: "Our village is only this poor because of people like you!"

"Exactly! You have no proof whatsoever, yet you accuse people of illicit affairs. You're destroying someone's good name!"

Over the past few days, everyone in the village had learned that the sugar mill had successfully produced sugar, and naturally, they also knew about the opening of Lin淼淼's factory. The positions Lin淼淼 was hiring for and the wages offered each month had been posted on the large white wall outside the factory. Anyone passing by who could read had spread the word ten to a hundred times throughout the village.

The factory benefits and wages were truly generous, and anyone who worked diligently for half a year to a year could afford to build a brick-and-tile house directly. This factory was bringing fortune and blessing to the people of the village—why on earth were certain people spending every day gossiping instead of properly tending their fields or helping out at the sugar mill?

Lin淼淼 waved her hand at the villagers and said, "I have already reported this to the authorities. Even though I know making an issue of this might seem like making a mountain out of a molehill, I must see it through. If I don't, anyone in the village will feel free to point fingers at me and whisper about me and another man in the future. Imagine—there was nothing between us to begin with, but with you people talking like that, what would my husband think if he found out?"

When Lin淼淼 finished, Hu San silently stepped behind her and told the crowd, "Our Mistress is a good person. She isn't like those landlords who treat people like dirt just because they have a little money. Back when I was..."

Before Hu San could go on, Lin淼淼 smiled at him and interrupted, "That's all in the past, Brother Hu San. There's no need to keep bringing up such trivial matters."

Hu San was a rough man, but he wasn't stupid. Hearing Lin淼淼's words, he instantly understood and broke into a goofy, honest grin.

Curious, the villagers interrupted when Lin淼淼 cut Hu San off, pressing him: "Hu San, tell us, what happened before?"

Hu San scratched his head and glanced warily at Lin淼淼. Lin淼淼 calmly explained to the villagers, "It's just that Hu San was nearly starving to death before, and I had him come work at my factory."

With Lin淼淼 putting it that way, Hu San's background as a soldier, along with whatever Lin淼淼 and Li Yanzhe had been doing at the trading post, was smoothly glossed over and put to rest.