Chapter 169: Tao Ming, Do You Like the Young Miss?
“Why didn’t I think of that? But among these hundred or so people, I wonder if anyone knows how to dig a well.”
“Don’t worry. Most of them have lived in rural areas. Even if they don’t know how to dig a well themselves, they’ve surely seen others do it before. They should at least understand the basics. To get clean drinking water, they’ll definitely find a way together.”
Not long after Yu Luo and her family entered the cave, the people who had gone to clear the fields also returned in groups.
At noon, the women who had come back to cook had already told their men about Yu Luo hiring the men from the stone house. Whatever their reactions were, Yu Luo didn’t really care.
But when they returned and saw Tao Ming and his group still tirelessly digging the water reservoir, working as if they felt no exhaustion, some people finally started to feel a sense of urgency.
“They’re working way too hard! It’s already this late, and the sky is completely dark.”
“Yeah, if they work this hard, won’t they end up taking our jobs?”
Zhang Yuan’s third son was already seventeen. When he heard Bai You’s exclamation and saw those men, stripped to the waist, swinging their hoes despite the cold weather, he couldn’t help but compare them to how they worked themselves.
A sense of crisis immediately welled up within him!
As soon as Zhang Sanqiang spoke, the expressions of the people around him changed in unison!
Inside the cave, Yu Luo overheard the discussions outside and suddenly remembered the group of men still digging the reservoir below the vegetable garden.
She quickly asked the system for the time and realized that it was already Xu Hour—which meant 8 PM in modern time. Without hesitation, she hurried outside.
As soon as she stepped out, the returning workers surrounded her.
“Xiao Luo, what’s going on? So many of us are already working for your family. That should be enough. Why are you hiring these outsiders? What if they have bad intentions?”
Yu Yongcai’s wife, Wang Ying, was the first to ask anxiously upon seeing Yu Luo.
She wasn’t afraid of these men taking their jobs—her real fear was that they might harm the Yu family and bring disaster upon them.
With Wang Ying speaking up, the others hesitated. They didn’t want to be the first to confront Yu Luo, especially since Liu Lan had just been scolded by her at noon. No one wanted to be the next target of her sharp tongue.
As Liu Lan’s words faded, everyone’s eyes turned to Yu Luo, waiting for her response.
Yu Luo glanced at Wang Ying and simply smiled as she shook her head.
“Relax. If they have bad intentions, then it’ll be a good chance to deal with them all at once. Those stone houses can then be shared with everyone.”
With that, she turned around and went back into the cave, completely ignoring the others.
Even though she knew Wang Ying meant well, she wasn’t sure about the others.
They were only worried about their own safety and their livelihoods being taken away. Yu Luo simply didn’t feel like exposing their selfish thoughts.
Back inside the cave, Yu Luo took out a basket of eggs, a bag of white flour, and another bag of prepared steamed buns. She waited until the noise outside her cave had disappeared before heading down the mountain.
“Alright, it’s already late. Everyone should go back and rest. Get a good night’s sleep and continue working tomorrow.”
“Miss, you still want to hire us tomorrow?”
Hearing Yu Luo’s words, Tao Ming’s eyes lit up with excitement!
In the moonlight, most of his face was covered by his hair and beard, making it difficult to see his features clearly. Only his eyes shone brightly in the darkness.
“You all worked so hard, so of course I’ll keep hiring you. You’ve passed the free trial period. This is your reward for today. Keep working hard tomorrow, and I won’t treat you unfairly.”
After speaking, Yu Luo placed the basket and bags on the ground.
The group of men eagerly climbed out of the half-meter-deep pit and immediately peered into the basket.
Under the dim firelight, they saw round eggs gleaming inside—causing their mouths to drop open in shock!
“Th-these are eggs?!”
“Yes, eggs! I haven’t eaten eggs in years! Miss, thank you! Thank you so much!”
Seeing a group of grown men nearly moved to tears over a few eggs, Yu Luo felt a pang of sadness.
“Take them back and cook them. There’s also a bag of freshly made white flour buns—they’re stuffed with meat. There’s another bag of flour, along with some white radishes and two large cabbages.”
After saying that, Yu Luo ignored their repeated thanks and turned to leave.
After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and looked back.
“If you know anyone else who wants to work, bring them along. The daily wage is ten copper per day. Since you passed the trial period, starting tomorrow, your wages will be increased to twenty copper per day. Also, take these farming tools home. Bring them back for work tomorrow—don’t break them, or you won’t be able to afford to compensate me.”
Despite delivering this in a cold tone, these words filled the men with joy.
Yu Luo turned again and walked toward the faintly glowing oil lamp inside the cave.
Behind her, the group of men, after a brief moment of shock, erupted into excited cheers!
“Wow! Real white flour buns! So soft and white! The young miss is so kind! And she even gave us cabbage and radishes! These things are incredibly rare in the wilderness, especially after an entire winter. If these were in Feng City, a single cabbage would sell for at least ten taels of silver—this is too precious!”
“That’s right! The miss asked us to work for free today, but who would’ve thought she’d reward us with so much food? These are white flour, eggs, and vegetables—we haven’t had these things since we were exiled!”
“Wait… didn’t the miss say earlier that the wage was ten copper a day? Why did she suddenly double it to twenty copper? We haven’t even officially started working for a full day yet!”
“You fool! This means we passed the miss’s test. She first offered ten copper a day, and while we were happy with that, she was actually testing our attitude.
Remember this—work diligently in the future! Just because the miss is kind and easy to talk to doesn’t mean we can slack off! You see? As long as we work seriously, she won’t treat us unfairly.”
“I get it, I get it. Tao Ming, why are you suddenly so talkative? Do you like the miss?”
As soon as Hu Liu finished speaking, he was met with a solid slap on the back of his head!
His cheerful smile froze as he winced in pain, sucking in a cold breath.
Covering the back of his head with his hand, he glared at Tao Ming with an annoyed expression.
“Why’d you hit me? Do you really think the miss is yours? We were just joking!”
