PCJ – Chapter 247 Drive away

Zhang Dechun immediately assumed that Zhang Wenrong was causing trouble when he heard that he was involved, thinking that the Chen family had chased him here. He immediately started scolding, “Wenrong, you bastard! I just told you not to stir up trouble at the horticultural field, and now, in the blink of an eye, you’re causing problems! Just wait and see how I’ll deal with you!”

“Hold on a moment!” Zhang Jiaohua walked over.

“Jiaohua, stay out of this. I’ll take care of him,” Zhang Dechun said.

“Grandpa Dechun, we shouldn’t just listen to one side of the story. Even if Wenrong did something wrong, we should at least hear his side of the story first,” Zhang Jiaohua said, noticing that the Chen family members were whispering among themselves, while his hearing was sharper than most.

Zhang Wenrong, feeling grateful, almost cried and loudly said, “I didn’t cause any trouble. The Chen family on the opposite mountain didn’t follow the rules when picking tea leaves. Especially Liu Fengying—she picked old and green leaves, grabbing them all at once. I told her the leaves were substandard, and then her son started attacking me.”

“Are you an idiot? He attacked you, and you didn’t fight back?” Zhang Jiaohua scolded.

“I fought back, but that bastard was no match for me. I flipped him over with one move. Then the Chen family on the opposite mountain ganged up on me,” Zhang Wenrong angrily pointed at Liu Fengying.

“Hmm!” Everyone now angrily turned to the Chen family on the opposite mountain.

The Chen family immediately averted their eyes, feeling somewhat guilty. This time, Zhang Wenrong was in the right.

“He’s talking nonsense!” Liu Fengying was about to start making a scene.

Zhang Jiaohua quickly walked over to the tea field managed by the opposite mountain group.

“Well, well, well, your Chen family really has some nerve!” Zhang Dechun was also angry, realizing that he had wrongfully blamed Zhang Wenrong this time.

When Zhang Jiaohua reached the tea field managed by the opposite mountain group, the bamboo tray had already been overturned, likely during the earlier commotion.

“Look! The tea leaves are still here. Take a look; can these leaves be sold?” Zhang Wenrong, now justified and backed by Zhang Jiaohua and the Zhang family from Meizi’ao Village, spoke confidently.

Zhang Jiaohua’s expression darkened, “Grandpa Dechun, when you asked me to let the whole village pick tea leaves, I agreed without hesitation. But with leaves like these, how am I supposed to deliver? Our tea leaves won a provincial gold medal. If the quality is substandard, the tea factory in Zijiang City won’t cooperate with us anymore. That would ruin me! I lease the village’s horticultural field and pay rent on time every year. If things go on like this, I’ll lose everything!”

Zhang Dechun turned pale as he inspected the tea leaves collected by Chen Shunchang, growing more furious with each handful he examined.

“Chen Shunchang, what did I tell you? How did you promise me? Our Meizi’ao is poor, and every opportunity to make money counts. I wanted to give everyone a chance to earn some extra money for their households. But you have to do the job right! Now that things have turned out like this, what am I supposed to do? We agreed beforehand that if the tea leaves weren’t up to standard, your group would lose its qualification. Now that this has happened, there’s nothing more to say. You better stop everyone from the opposite mountain group immediately, or you’ll have to compensate for the tea leaves,” Zhang Dechun shouted in Chen Shunchang’s face.

“Then I want to see the tea leaves picked by your Meizi’ao Village Zhang family. If the standards are the same, the Chen family on the opposite mountain will accept it!” Chen Shunchang still believed that the Zhang family from Meizi’ao Village was looking for an excuse to drive the Chen family from the opposite mountain out, as their two families had the most conflicts among the four groups.

“Fine! I’ll make you convinced!” Zhang Dechun dragged Chen Shunchang to the tea-picking area of the Meizi’ao Village group.

Zhang Dechun casually dumped the weighed tea leaves from the bamboo basket onto a bamboo tray, “Take a good look! If you can find a single substandard leaf in here, I’ll kneel down right here and apologize to you! But if you can’t find any, then you’ll get your people from the opposite mountain group out of here immediately. Don’t ever set foot in the horticultural field again! From now on, nothing here will involve your group!”

Chen Shunchang hung his head but didn’t dare turn and leave stubbornly, “I’m responsible for this, but most of our group followed the rules when picking tea. To drive everyone out like this seems unfair. Liu Fengying’s leaves are substandard, so just make her family leave. There’s no need to punish the whole opposite mountain group.”

“Then why didn’t you speak up when your group chased after Zhang Wenrong? Doesn’t everyone know that Zhang Wenrong works for Jiaohua? You went that far, and now you have the nerve to say this?” Zhang Dechun shouted.

Chen Fenglian stepped forward, “Jiaohua, I have a request.”

“Aunt, are you here to plead for your group members?” Zhang Jiaohua, despite being young, immediately saw through Chen Fenglian’s intention.

Chen Fenglian was smart enough to know that if Zhang Jiaohua didn’t speak up, no matter how much her father Chen Shunchang begged Zhang Dechun, it wouldn’t work. Zhang Jiaohua had the final say here.

“What the opposite mountain group did was wrong, but they were misled by Hongming’s family. We’re all from the same village, all either related by blood or by marriage. It’s hard enough for everyone to make some extra money. I’ll go teach them how to pick tea properly. I promise every leaf will meet the standards. Can you give them another chance?” Chen Fenglian looked at Zhang Jiaohua with pleading eyes.

Zhang Jiaohua had no choice but to agree, considering the close ties between the two families and the fact that Chen Fenglian was related to Chen Dianzi, who had contributed to the village, though no one knew it. Zhang Jiaohua knew, though. After thinking it over, he agreed, “Alright, but they must guarantee that the tea leaves are up to standard. And as for Chen Hongming’s family, they must be expelled from the horticultural field! A bad apple spoils the barrel. If people like them stay, others in the village will follow suit!”

Zhang Dechun didn’t really want to drive the entire opposite mountain group away either. When he heard Zhang Jiaohua speak, he immediately shouted, “What are you all standing around for? Go and organize your group to pick tea leaves according to the rules! Fenglian, go teach your group how to pick tea. Wenrong, you actually did a good deed this time. Go check on the other groups and make sure anyone picking substandard tea leaves is kicked out of the horticultural field immediately!”

“Yes, yes.” Zhang Wenrong was overjoyed to be praised for once and, as if he’d found money, happily said to Zhang Jiaohua, “Jiaohua, I’m off.”

Zhang Wenrong quickly ran out, and his comical manner made everyone in Meizi’ao Village burst into laughter.