PCJ – Chapter 245 It’s Tea Picking Time Again

Last time, all the tea pickers for the garden were from Meizi’ao Village. After a batch of tea leaves was harvested, each worker earned at least a few dozen dollars, which is not a small amount for people in Meizi’ao Village. Other groups in the village were quite dissatisfied. Although Zhang Jiaohua had contracted the garden and had the final say on who to hire, the garden is still a collective property of Meizi’ao Village. Even if Meizi Village’s group was contracted, the benefits should not all fall to them alone. The other three groups Shibei Liu Family, Paomalan Ma Family, and Duimen Mountain Chen Family should also get their share.

So, before the second batch of tea leaves was ready for picking, representatives from each group approached Zhang Dechun.

Zhang Dechun was indecisive and could only consult Zhang Jiaohua. “Jiaohua, the garden is, after all, the collective property of our four groups in Meizi’ao. I made the decision to contract the garden to you. However, since it is still collective property, and since last time the Zhang family from Meizi Pond did it but didn’t have enough manpower, resulting in the last batch of tea leaves missing the optimal picking time, I think it would be best if the other three groups also helped with the tea picking this time. You need to ensure the quality of the tea leaves. How does that sound?”

“Grandpa Dechun, then let’s let everyone in the village come to pick tea leaves. But I must warn you beforehand that if anyone does not pick according to the standards, I will not pay them a cent,” Zhang Jiaohua said, also worried that too many people might be difficult to manage.

“I thought of that too. The village will be divided into four sections for tea picking, and the villagers from each group will draw lots to decide which section to pick. Tea leaves picked by each group will be stored separately. If any group’s tea leaves have problems, that group’s qualification to pick tea will be canceled,” Zhang Dechun had already planned this out.

“Alright, let’s do that,” Zhang Jiaohua agreed, though he was concerned about potential disruptions.

Zhang Wenrong and the others came carrying pigweed in bamboo baskets and greeted Zhang Dechun awkwardly.

“Secretary Dechun.”

Zhang Dechun had heard about the troublemakers from Meizi’ao working at Zhang Jiaohua’s pig farm and had been worried that they might mess up the garden. The garden was now in collaboration with the city’s tea factory and the county. If they messed things up, it would have a significant impact on Meizi’ao Village, especially since County Mayor Deng had promised to allocate funds for road repairs.

“Are you three here to cause trouble for Jiaohua? If I find out that you’ve disrupted the tea picking process, I won’t spare you,” Zhang Dechun warned Zhang Wenrong and the others.

“Secretary Dechun, don’t worry. We wouldn’t do something like that,” Zhang Wenrong said, feeling speechless. Did everyone see him as someone who always caused trouble?

After Zhang Dechun left, Zhang Wenrong came to show his loyalty to Zhang Jiaohua.

“Jiaohua, Secretary Dechun must have said a lot of bad things about us. To be honest, we have indeed caused trouble before, but recently I’ve started to regret how we behaved in the past. Really. We’ll work properly in the garden. You don’t need to worry about us causing any trouble,” Zhang Wenrong said.

“It’s fine, I’m not worried about you causing trouble,” Zhang Jiaohua said indifferently.

Zhang Wenrong was extremely frustrated, but he truly couldn’t do anything about Zhang Jiaohua. Even if the three of them teamed up, they weren’t a match for Zhang Jiaohua.

“So what should we do during the tea picking?” Zhang Wenrong asked. They were hoping to earn some money picking tea leaves as their pockets were empty, making Zhang Wenrong’s position quite awkward.

“Just focus on your own work. Why pick tea leaves?” Zhang Jiaohua asked, puzzled.

Zhang Wenrong was too embarrassed to speak up, “Then let’s continue with our previous tasks.”

Wild boars have a big appetite and need to eat a lot every day. Feeding them only with grains would cost Zhang Jiaohua a fortune. That’s why he came up with the idea of feeding wild boars with pigweed. This method saved him a lot of grain. Zhang Wenrong and his team had done quite a good job these days.

“You’ve worked at the garden for almost a month now, and your performance has been quite good. After the tea leaves are picked, I’ll give you your wages for this month. Also, considering your performance, you won’t be restricted from staying here in the future,” Zhang Jiaohua suddenly shared a piece of good news that surprised Zhang Wenrong and the others.

However, for some reason, Zhang Wenrong and his team, who had been looking forward to this day, didn’t feel excited at all. They had come to regard working at the garden as their job. They were used to it and didn’t find the work too tiring. The meals were abundant and being there was quite enjoyable. The morning practice of Mei Mountain stance was not particularly painful.

After Zhang Jiaohua left, the three of them stood there in a daze.

The day before tea picking, Zhang Dechun had used a loudspeaker to notify the entire village. Early the next morning, everyone in the village arrived at the garden. The garden was bustling with people. Zhang Dechun had already marked the sections, and the group leaders had drawn lots. By the time the morning arrived, the people from each group went to their designated sections.

Since tea picking was to take place during the day, there was no stance practice in the morning. Zhang Wenrong and the others busily got to work. They went early in the morning to cut enough pigweed for ten wild boar piglets and two large wild boars. They then chopped the pigweed into pieces with a sickle, mixed it with some pig slop, and brought it to the pig farm.

Zhang Wenrong, Zhang Hanggou, and Zhang Jiagen were very proactive this morning. It seemed that Zhang Jiaohua’s talk the previous day had a significant effect on them.

“I’ll go to Chen Family’s place at Duimen Mountain, Hanggou will go to Liu Family’s place at Shibei, and Jiagen will go to Ma Family’s place at Paomalan. Jiaohua can’t keep an eye on everything alone, so we need to help him out. We need to do a good job, or Jiaohua might kick us out. If you two want to leave, I won’t stop you, but I want to stay,” Zhang Wenrong said, surprisingly showing no intention of leaving the garden.