The words spoken by Dabao startled the usually noisy Second Aunt, but she quickly recovered and began shouting, "Everyone, come and see! This family of Er Niu is truly despicable! Such a young child is bullying an aunt! My husband merely wanted to come and work; not only do they disregard kinship, but they also humiliate me like this. If they don't give me an explanation today, I'm not leaving."

Some of the busybodies in the village had already gathered at the courtyard entrance. Seeing that many people were peering in, Madam Huang felt a touch of embarrassment and said to her cousin-aunt, "Second Sister-in-law, please don't speak carelessly. When have we ever bullied you? We simply said the long-term worker positions are filled and we aren't hiring. You are causing such a ruckus at our house during the New Year; you've called all the villagers here, what exactly do you want?"

"What do I want? I'll tell you. If your family is willing to hire my husband today, I'll let this matter drop. If you aren't willing, this won't end today. Let the villagers come! I want them all to see that the Er Niu family has just earned a little money, and this is how they treat their own relatives! If they treat their kin like this, what will they do to others in the future? No matter how much money your family has now, you are still in Lin Village. I don't believe your family isn't afraid of being gossiped about." Second Cousin-Aunt said these words rather quietly, so the people at the entrance might not have heard clearly.

Lin He knew that this Second Cousin-Aunt was doing this intentionally. By drawing the villagers over and then claiming her family was bullying her, she was deliberately creating a misunderstanding among the villagers, using public opinion as pressure to force her family to back down. Lin He glanced toward the courtyard entrance, where quite a crowd had already gathered to watch the excitement. It was the first month of the year, and most people had nothing better to do, so any commotion brought them out.

Furthermore, the Cousin-Aunt’s words were already having an effect. The people in the courtyard began to murmur amongst themselves. Some said, "This Er Niu family is going too far. This is his cousin-brother; they are family. The man just wants to earn some money; it's only right they lend a hand. Why are they unwilling to even let him work?"

Others chimed in, but some offered a different view: "The Er Niu family has been quite reasonable. You should see what kind of person their cousin-aunt is—usually so sharp-tongued and petty. She hasn't even properly managed her own fields; how could she farm? She's just banking on Er Niu being easygoing and trying to latch onto them."

There were all sorts of comments at the entrance. If it were just Lin He herself, she would have chased the Cousin-Aunt away long ago, caring little for what others said. But this time was different from her previous life, especially since her mother and father cared a great deal about being gossiped about behind their backs.

Lin He thought for a moment, then walked up to the Cousin-Aunt and said, "Second Cousin-Aunt, what did you just say? It was so soft, we couldn't hear. Were you saying what would happen if our family refused to hire Second Cousin-Uncle as a long-term worker?"

"If you refuse to hire him, this won't be over today. I don't believe your family isn't afraid of what people will say," the Second Cousin-Aunt replied carelessly, seeing that Lin He was asking her directly.

This statement was spoken somewhat loudly, and many people at the entrance could hear it. Immediately, someone from the crowd called out, "What's this? Tie Zhu's wife is deliberately clinging to the Er Niu family today, trying to force them to hire her husband as a worker, that’s why she's making a scene!"

Lin He immediately followed up, using a child's clear voice, "Yes, Second Cousin-Aunt came to our house causing a fuss, saying she wanted work, and even insisted that Cousin-Uncle move back home! Mother said she couldn't decide, so she started shouting. I don't know why she was shouting. What's so great about being a long-term worker when you have your own fields to tend?" She then deliberately widened her eyes in an expression of genuine confusion.

No ordinary child would tell such obvious lies, and by this point, everyone in the courtyard understood that Tie Zhu's wife was just being unreasonable. Someone shouted, "Tie Zhu's wife, go home! What are you loitering at someone else's house for on New Year's Day? If it were me, I'd have kicked you out long ago."

Others yelled, "Tie Zhu's wife, why are you trying to force your Tie Zhu onto the Er Niu family as a long-term worker? Go clean up your own fields! If you don't sort them out, the landlord might refuse to rent them to you next year."

"Exactly! Their staff is already full. Just let it go. They are family after all; what's the point of causing trouble like this?"

Suddenly, everyone was blaming the Second Cousin-Aunt and siding with Lin He's family. This was exactly the effect Lin He had wanted. Didn't she want to use public opinion as pressure to force her family to compromise? Now, she was using that same public pressure to force the Cousin-Aunt to retreat. Let's see what she could do now.

Hearing everyone in the courtyard talking about her, the Second Cousin-Aunt stood up and snapped, "All of you, scram back! Why are you making noise here? This isn't anyone else's business. What right do you have to interfere?"

This angered some of the more hot-tempered people at the entrance, who started cursing directly: "You greedy, lazy wretch! You don't even manage your own household matters, yet you talk about being a long-term worker! It would be better if Er Niu just gave you some silver for the year! If your Tie Zhu farms those fields, he’ll ruin them too. It’s only because the Er Niu family is easygoing that I haven’t thrown you out myself long ago."

Many people were rebuking the Cousin-Aunt. Just as they were speaking, Er Niu returned, unaware of what had transpired. After getting a brief summary from Madam Huang, Er Niu persuaded the villagers at the door to return home. He then said to the Cousin-Aunt, "Second Sister-in-law, please go back. The work of a long-term servant is indeed too hard for Second Cousin-Uncle; it’s from dawn till dusk, and he probably couldn't manage it. If you continue to cause trouble, I will invite Elder Uncle over."

The Elder Uncle Er Niu mentioned was the father-in-law of this Second Cousin-Aunt. This Elder Uncle was a brother of Old Man Lin and the eldest in their branch of the family. Usually, any matters concerning their branch were settled by him, and he carried a certain authority. If he knew his daughter-in-law was causing such a scene, he certainly wouldn't spare her lightly.

Hearing Er Niu's words, the Second Cousin-Aunt stopped pressing the issue, but she still muttered curses as she left. Before departing, she didn't forget to take her basket, mostly grumbling about how the Er Niu family didn't care about relatives or the like. Er Niu couldn't be bothered with her; as long as she wasn't causing trouble here, that was enough.

After sending the Cousin-Aunt away, Lin He's family all felt a headache coming on. Why did they have so many difficult relatives? It was truly vexing. Such incidents would probably happen frequently in the future—what if they showed up every few days?

Er Niu told them, "If anything like this happens again, don't you worry about it. Push everything onto me and tell them that I make the final decisions here. I will handle these matters."

The family members all nodded; it was certainly best if Er Niu handled such affairs.