Shrewd wife of Lin brothers

"Please have this tea," Madam Han said to Su Wan as she offered her a cup of the best tea in her house. She wanted to serve something better to Su Wan but there was nothing in the house. Their financial condition also did not allow them to purchase expensive tea.

Su Wan nodded as she took the teacup from Madam Han. Earlier she had asked Madam Han not to serve anything as she did not want to put any sort of burden on the Han family but as the Han family was once an official family, it was impossible for them to ignore the etiquette.

What was more, Madam Han stayed on her knees the entire time, she did not even raise her head in front of Su Wan. What could she do? Even if she was old enough to be Su Wan's mother, she needed to lower her head in front of Su Wan.

Though the young ones bowed to the elders, the ones who were in a weaker position needed to remember their positions as well.

Su Wan also did not stop Madam Han because she knew that when someone was too nice others thought it was fine to ride on top of their heads. It was better to create a fine line between what could never be done and what could be done from the start.

It was even more important since she was a woman official upon whom everyone looked down.

She looked at Han Fu and then pushed the contract in front of him that she had brought along with her. Su Wan said, "This is a working contract. It includes all the terms and conditions of your working period. Firstly, I would like it if you and your family moved into the empty courtyard in my house, as the news of you working for me and my family will soon be spread in the town.

I do not want anyone to harm you, Master Han. That will be more loss on my part than on yours."

"Secondly, your salary will be ten taels and there will be a trial period of three months. Your job is to make sure that the crops that I am growing are in perfect condition and are not harmed. As long as you do a good job, I will give you a permanent position and your salary will hike up to fifty taels."

No sooner did Su Wan finish speaking, than the Han family all sucked in a breath. Even Master Han was shocked, he did not expect that Su Wan would give him such a good deal. Doesn't this mean that as long as he worked honestly, and climbed up to the permanent position, his and his family's life would only get better?

"Lastly, I will expect nothing but extreme loyalty from you and your family. Once we start farming, there will be many who will be willing to snatch you over to their sides along with the secrets of growing these crops. If that happens, then I hope that Master Han will be able to shake off the temptations and not accept the bribes or gifts that are offered to you. Including your family as well."

When Han Yijin heard the strict terms he couldn't help but remark, "Magistrate Su, are you not being too harsh? I mean who will try to suck up to my father and have him offer techniques to grow vegetables? This is something that everyone knows, already. In the end, it's all about fertile and non-fertile land."

Though Master Han taught his son to be respectful, Han Yijin grew up with boys who came from patriarchal houses. Thus even though he was respectful to his mother and sister, he did not think much about other women.

So when he saw Su Wan acting as someone who knew it all, he couldn't help but remind her that she was a woman and she shouldn't act like she knew better than others. Especially not men.

His father was an official who was respected by the Emperor. How could Su Wan even compare to his father?

"Yijin!" Han Fu shouted at his son with a reproachful voice, he even told his son to not act up and yet his son was still disrespectful towards Su Wan. He turned to look at Su Wan before lowering his head as he apologized, "I am sorry, county magistrate. My son is still growing up, he is a bit impulsive and bad-tempered, there is no need for you to take his words to heart."

"Hahaha, there is no need for you to say such a thing," Su Wan waved her hand. She was used to being looked down as no one in this era believed that she could do anything better than men. Other than her husbands, Su Wan was certain that there might be no man who did not doubt her.

'But then again if they were not special I wouldn't have stayed with them,' Su Wan thought while taking a sip of tea. She then turned to look at Han Yijin who flinched and then looked away.

He seemed to be worried about Su Wan getting angry at him as he was also aware of the fact that he was quite rude to Su Wan just now.

'Well it seems like he is not an entirely lost cause,' Su Wan would have thought twice if Han Yijin was someone like her ex-husband who thought that he was better than her just because he was a man.

Men like her ex-husband were sure to backstab as they wanted to earn great profits at the smallest expense. If Han Yijin was the same kind of person, Su Wan might have taken the offer back.

She then smiled at the young man and questioned, "So you mean to say that anyone can grow soilless vegetables?"

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