Don't Want to Work
Lily Evans looked at Old Joe Zhou, then at the group of laborers. She saw that every face was full of agreement with Old Joe Zhou. Taking a deep breath, Lily understood that her method of growing off-season greenhouse vegetables clashed with the ideas of these seasoned laborers. But now, Lily Evans was the boss—these laborers were servants she had bought!
If these people ignored Lily Evans and went back to their old ways of growing vegetables, the greenhouse crops simply wouldn't survive. It would ruin everything Lily was working for!
"Old Joe Zhou, let me make this clear one more time: you must follow my instructions exactly when planting. No one is allowed to make decisions on their own!" Lily Evans kept her patience, suppressing the anger that was about to burst out.
But Old Joe Zhou just smiled, his tone respectful but his expression dismissive: "Madam, I've been in this village for a while now. I heard your family didn't have much money or land before, and I doubt you've worked the fields yourself. Sure, you're the mistress and we were bought to serve you. But you're an outsider who doesn't know farming, teaching us experts how to do our jobs—isn't that just wasting good land? Madam, we're only taking matters into our own hands for your sake."
"Oh, really? For my sake? Old Joe Zhou, you really do worry yourself sick for your mistress!" Lily Evans saw that Old Joe Zhou was still unrepentant and, furious, let out a cold laugh, squeezing out her words between clenched teeth.
Old Joe Zhou mistook Lily Evans' softer tone for agreement, thinking this clueless young mistress had been convinced. He continued, "Madam, it's already autumn—winter is coming soon. Once winter hits, all the vegetables in the fields will freeze. You're asking us to plant now, but it's pointless. It'll just waste seeds and labor."
A few laborers behind Old Joe Zhou chimed in, "That's right, Madam. If you have us working now, it's just busywork. Once winter comes, all the veggies will freeze anyway."
"Exactly, Madam! You might as well give us some time off and let us plant in the spring. That way, we won't be exhausted for nothing."
"Yeah, Madam, it's the slow season for farming. Why not be kind and let us have a holiday?"
Old Joe Zhou and the laborers went back and forth, their meaning clear: Lily Evans was making them work for nothing, and they'd rather rest until spring than waste their efforts now.
Lily Evans said nothing, watching the noisy group of laborers. Seeing her silent, the laborers only grew bolder, raising their voices and demanding she stop making them plant crops in autumn and winter.
Once the group had finished their complaining, Lily Evans quietly sat down and tapped her fingers lightly on the table. "So, none of you want to work, huh? You'd rather take a break?"
Old Joe Zhou put on a smile and said, "Madam, it's not that we don't want to work. Just look—no one in the village plants vegetables this time of year. We're just reminding you, it's not the season for it. Autumn and winter are always the slow times for farming, and the other villagers aren't doing anything either."
Lily Evans glanced at the crowd and smiled lightly. "Fine, if you say it's the slow season, then it's the slow season. But I've never heard of anyone feeding laborers for free when there's no work! Old Joe Zhou, I heard that over in the next village, Master Zhang sends his laborers to the brick kiln during the slow season. And in the neighboring village, Master Wang has his laborers fixing irrigation ditches. So, what should our laborers do when there's nothing to plant? Hmm, I know someone who owns a coal mine and needs workers. Since you claim there's no work in the fields, maybe I'll just send you all to dig coal instead?"