Chapter 972: Hiring Farm Workers (Patreon)

Chapter 972: Hiring Farm Workers

These tenant households had known for a while that Jiang Kuanyu intended to sell the land. However, after so much time had passed without seeing a buyer, they still held onto a glimmer of hope.

Some of the tenant households even approached Jiang Kuan Yu, suggesting that since the land couldn't be sold for the time being, they should go ahead and plant crops. If they waited any longer, they would miss the planting season, and they were confident they could yield a good harvest this time.

But Jiang Kuan Yu rejected their proposal and advised them to find other work during the busy farming season.

His firm determination eventually convinced the tenant households, and some of them went to the county town or other landlords' estates to find land to work on.

Now that the land had truly been sold, a sense of confusion filled their hearts.

Although they had encountered other prospective buyers, Jiang Kuanyu was the most pleasant to deal with and the most understanding of their situation.

Who knew what the next buyer would be like?

Just as they were thinking this, Shu Yu stood up and walked over to Jiang Kuanyu's side, standing beside him.

The people in the front row were surprised to see her. Wasn't she... the Village lord? They had just met her a couple of days ago.

Jiang Kuanyu began introducing her, "This is Village lord. I believe all of you already know her. From now on, she will be the owner of this manor and the hundreds of acres of land outside."

Village lord Lu? The crowd exchanged glances. This person seemed to hold their fate in her hands, and they couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Shu Yu surveyed the crowd and coughed lightly before speaking, "Nice to see you all again. My surname is Lu, and you can call me miss Lu. Young Master Jiang has already informed me about your situation. I understand that you want to lease the land to grow crops, but I must inform you beforehand that I have no intention of leasing the land."

"What?"

Someone grew anxious. "Village Lord are you really not leasing any of the hundreds of acres of land? Then, what..."

Did that mean they would have to buy all their food? Rice, flour, and cooking oil were already expensive, and they didn't have much money to begin with. Did that mean they wouldn't even have a means to survive?

The buzzing voices grew louder, and some people started crying.

Shu Yu was almost overwhelmed by the noise. "Please calm down. I haven't finished speaking yet."

She raised her voice, and the people in the courtyard felt a sudden tension, immediately falling silent.

Shu Yu continued, "I plan to use this hundred acres of land to cultivate crops for my own family. However, we definitely won't be able to manage such a large area on our own. Therefore, I am considering hiring people from among you. You are known for being hardworking and willing to endure hardships, and I observed that myself the other day. You are all quite capable."

Pausing for a moment, she said, "So, if you are willing, I will prioritize hiring workers from among you to cultivate the land as our family's farm workers."

"Farm workers?" The people below exchanged glances.

In this day and age, whether as tenant households or farm workers, they were all people who didn't own land.

However, comparatively speaking, tenant households had more freedom. They could have good or bad harvests, as long as they paid a certain amount of rent, the rest belonged to them.

Farm workers, on the other hand, lacked freedom but had a fixed wage. They didn't need to worry about the size of the harvest; they only needed to receive their wages on time.

Of course, both options had a prerequisite: encountering a good master.

Most landlords nowadays were exploiters, and whether as tenant households or farm workers, not many could live a good life.

They didn't know if Shu Yu would be any different, and they were uncertain about what to decide.