A Good Country Wife
Chapter 569 - 563_1

Chapter 569: 563_1

Madam Zhou knew that Lin Yue didn’t like her, so she didn’t follow Xixi inside, lest the girl talk nonsense again and say something "utterly outrageous." But still concerned about whether the silver would come into her hands, she waited eagerly outside the door. Seeing Xixi come out with a silver ingot in hand, her face bloomed into a smile.

"How did it go, second girl agreed, didn’t she? I told you, no matter what, I am that girl’s biological mother. There’s no way she’d let such a good deal slip to outsiders. Give me the silver, and I’ll arrange for your accommodation right away. I guarantee that I’ll clean the rooms spotless, and you’ll be staying in the utmost comfort."

Madam Zhou didn’t wait for Xixi to hand over the silver; she reached for it herself, but Xixi dodged her. Madam Zhou’s smile froze, and Xixi looked at her coldly, "Why be in such a hurry, Old Madam? What’s yours will be yours. The Mistress has commanded me to give the silver to you, and I dare not disobey. However, the Mistress’s orders need to be spelled out in advance."

"Miss Xixi, what do you mean?" Madam Zhou’s tone now much more polite; where she had called her a worthless girl and a cheap maid before, she now addressed Xixi the same way Lin Genfa did—Miss Xixi—all for the sake of the silver.

"My Mistress has said that she’ll pay for the room, but since the rent is paid, you also need to make sure everything is arranged properly, Old Madam. If there is any displeasure, our Mistress certainly won’t tolerate it. Here are five taels of silver, which would more than suffice for a night at Xin’an City’s finest inn. If anything is unsatisfactory, the silver will be taken back at any time. You shouldn’t just assume that once the silver is in your hands all is well. Aside from having a fair argument, we also have ways to be unreasonable. Angering the Mistress would surely bring no good," Xixi recited the words Lin Yue had instructed her to say. Everyone had seen Madam Zhou’s bridge burning tactics before, but if the money wasn’t given in advance, Madam Zhou would not be inclined to help. With money given, there was a fear she wouldn’t do the work.

Indeed, upon hearing Xixi’s words, Madam Zhou glanced at the burly servants Lin Yue brought with her, each one looking fit and clearly skilled in some way. Madam Zhou shrank her neck and her original thoughts vanished immediately.

"Rest assured, Miss Xixi. Since I have taken the silver, I will do the job well, arranging everything perfectly. Please let second girl rest easy. Can I have the silver now?" Madam Zhou, afraid of the guards Lin Yue had brought, now truly dared not grab for it.

Xixi reluctantly handed over the silver to Madam Zhou, feeling it was a disservice to her mistress, "Take it. The Mistress said there will be a reward later if you do well. Also, we will cook our own dinner in the kitchen, but you need to first clean and prepare the ingredients."

"No problem, no problem at all! I’ll get it done for sure," Madam Zhou, hearing that there would be additional reward money, was overjoyed. Clutching the silver ingot tightly in her hand, she smiled so broadly her mouth could hardly close. This was a full five taels of silver—outside of when she sold her second girl, she hadn’t seen this much money in a long time. As she mused, she bit down on the silver ingot with her few remaining old teeth, "It’s real, genuine silver."

The people around her viewed such behavior with even more disdain. Xixi didn’t bother paying Madam Zhou any attention; instead, she headed to the door where Lin Genfa was still waiting outside, as Madam Zhou, fearful of incurring bad luck, steadfastly refused to let Genfa inside.

"Son-in-law, our Mistress has decided to stay here. We will prepare our own dinner, but the house lacks ingredients. I would need to trouble you to accompany me on a trip to buy some," Xixi said much more politely to Lin Genfa. She wasn’t one to despise the poor and fawn over the rich—her disdain for Madam Zhou stemmed entirely from Zhou’s attitude towards the Mistress and her behavior.

When Lin Genfa heard what Xixi said, he didn’t insist on having Lin Yue over for a meal. It wasn’t that he was reluctant to use the food from his home for hospitality, but because Lin Genfa knew the Zhao family’s standard of meals, he was afraid Lin Yue might not be used to it and that his own cooking would be more to her liking.

"Alright, no problem, I’ll take you there right now. I still have plenty of ingredients at home, and I’ll also kill a chicken. Lin Qing is so ill, she needs to eat something nutritious. You can take it back and stew it into soup for her to drink." Lin Genfa was considerate and knew how to maintain good relations, he brought it up before Xixi could say anything.

"Thank you, son-in-law. My mistress was just saying she wanted to prepare some nourishing food for uncle to strengthen him and was worried that it was too late to find ingredients, how thoughtful of you, son-in-law. Also, my mistress said she is too busy taking care of uncle to come out and meet you, and has asked me to pass on the message, she will come to visit Great Auntie tomorrow morning."

Lin Genfa came over for their sake, and originally Lin Yue should have come out to see Lin Genfa. However, in this household, Madam Zhou lacked sense and liked to gossip, and with Zhao Erhu not around, Lin Yue didn’t want to get too close to Lin Genfa, to avoid any unpleasant rumors. She believed Lin Genfa wouldn’t take offense over this.

"It’s fine, sister-in-law’s care for the patient is what’s important. Let’s go get the ingredients now, Miss Xixi. It’s getting dark, so we must hurry."

The majority of the ingredients Xixi brought back came from Lin Genfa’s home, brought over by Lin Yue in the morning; otherwise, it would have been hard to find so much food on short notice, especially since winter had just passed and the wild vegetables in the fields hadn’t grown much yet. Each household was frugal with their grain, let alone having an abundance of food.

Lin Genfa packed up the ingredients in a basket and killed the only laying hen left in his house. He also sent his eldest son, Lin Youyin, to the village chief’s house to ask for some dried mushrooms, which, when stewed with the chicken meat, created a very fragrant and delicious dish.

Before Lin Genfa finished killing the chicken, Lin Youyin returned, empty-handed. However, it turned out the village chief, Lin Dayou, upon hearing it was for Lin Yue, personally brought the dried mushrooms over and also brought some smoked meat and rabbit meat from his home.

Seeing the village chief arrive, Lin Genfa hurriedly set aside his work to greet him, "Why have you come yourself, Village Chief, and with so much stuff, what’s this about?"

Of course, Lin Genfa didn’t think the village chief’s gifts were for his own family, as he didn’t have that kind of clout. However, since the village chief came over with stuff, Lin Genfa guessed that he was here to see Lin Yue, though he wasn’t sure what it was about.

"You carry on with your work, don’t mind me. I heard from your boy that Zhao Erhu’s wife, Lin née Lin, was here, and these dried mushrooms were to be given to her. Lin née Lin has helped out people in our village a lot. I don’t often have much to thank her with, so hearing that she was here, I specifically brought this smoked meat and rabbit meat as an additional dish for Lin née Lin. It’s a token of appreciation from this old man, on behalf of my two sons and everyone in the village to thank Lin née Lin."

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