PCJ – Chapter 327 The Flavor of the New Year

Liu Qiaoye took a bite and found it quite delicious. “Cai Cai, did you really make this yourself?”

“Of course! I make my own meals every day,” Zhang Jiaohua said proudly.

“My Cai Cai is really impressive…” Upon hearing her child’s words about making meals every day, Liu Qiaoye felt a pang in her heart, thinking about how her child had spent a year alone at home, enduring hardships. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Mom, did I do something wrong?” Zhang Jiaohua was afraid her mother was angry with her since she had to go back to work in Guangdong after the New Year.

“No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong. From now on, I won’t go anywhere; I’ll stay home every day to take care of you and make you good food.” Liu Qiaoye hurriedly wiped away her tears and forced a smile.

“That’s great!” Zhang Jiaohua jumped up excitedly.

Chen Guangbin, having finished a large bowl of wild boar leg meat, burped and said, “With Brother Ping here, I’m full. I should be heading back now. Once the New Year arrives, there’s no end to the work. You just got back, and I’m afraid you’ll be busy all day tomorrow too.”

“Master Chen, maybe you should head back early tomorrow. The mountain roads here are hard to navigate, and it’s not safe to travel at night,” Zhang Youping said worriedly.

“If it were my first time here, I wouldn’t dare walk the night roads. But I’ve been here a few times, and although the roads are tough, it’s not too much of a problem. Director Zhao might have something for me to do tomorrow. I haven’t prepared anything at home. I have to go,” Chen Guangbin laughed.

“Jiaohua, do you still have that bamboo tube of tea?” Zhang Youping asked.

“Yes, yes, Dad, I saved some for you and Mom,” Zhang Jiaohua went to her room and brought out two tubes.

“Uncle Zhao said to bring him some bamboo tube black tea,” Zhang Youping said as he took the two tubes and placed them directly into a bag. Then he took several pieces of cured meat from the smoking rack and packed them into a snake skin bag.

“Dad, that cured meat is what our family eats for the New Year,” Zhang Jiaohua meant to tell Zhang Youping not to take too much.

“Cheapskate. Uncle Zhao brought you plenty of delicious food,” Liu Qiaoye said, playfully tapping her child’s nose.

It pained her to watch Zhang Youping take the cured meat piece by piece from the rack. Zhang Jiaohua felt a bit ashamed to look. Seeing her like that made Liu Qiaoye laugh uncontrollably.

“Do you have any tea left?” Liu Qiaoye asked.

“Yes. How about I bring them two more tubes of tea and take a little less cured meat?” Zhang Jiaohua whispered in her ear.

“Quick, go get a few more tubes of tea. Your father and I nearly couldn’t get back from Guangdong this time. Thankfully, Master Tang from Uncle Zhao’s factory let us hitch a ride on his truck. He happened to be at the factory and casually asked, which is how we found out. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known how to get home. It’s just right for Uncle Chen to bring a tube of black tea to Uncle Tang,” Liu Qiaoye was someone who valued gratitude.

“Got it.” Zhang Jiaohua immediately ran back inside to get several tubes of black tea.

These black teas weren’t specifically saved by Zhang Jiaohua. There were some wild tea trees in Meishan, but not many, producing only a little tea, and they were harvested later than those from the garden. The quantity of wild tea was also scarce and fragmented, and Zhang Jiaohua processed them into black tea, totaling just over a dozen tubes. If it weren’t for this, she would have taken them all to the Zijiang Tea Factory. Who in Meizi’ao would be willing to drink such precious bamboo tube black tea?

“This is all there is; I still need to save some for my grandpa Luo,” Zhang Jiaohua also took three boxes for Master Chen.

“Master Chen, could you please take two pieces of cured meat and a box of black tea to Master Tang for us?” Liu Qiaoye asked.

“Brother Youping, sister-in-law, you’re really kind-hearted people. This trip hasn’t been in vain. When you have time to go to Zijiang, you must visit my home. I’m really grateful for your hospitality today,” Chen Guangbin also felt that Zhang Youping and his wife were very generous. Knowing that a tube of bamboo tube black tea was worth over a thousand yuan, giving away so much at once without batting an eye was remarkable. Who would be willing to give away so much?

The Zhang family saw Master Chen off from the garden, and Zhang Youping loaded everything onto the car. Then the family stood at the entrance of the garden, watching the small vehicle gradually drive away.

“Let’s go home and tidy up first, then we’ll visit your grandparents. Otherwise, they won’t sleep well tonight,” Liu Qiaoye was very considerate.

Zhang Manyin brought Zhang Yuanbao back home from the garden and began to regret it.

“Yuanbao has been staying at the garden with Jiaohua all this time, and now that he’s back, what if Jiaohua has nightmares again tonight?” Zhang Manyin paced back and forth in the room, feeling restless.

“You old fool just loves to make things difficult. Yuanbao was fine there with Jiaohua; why did you pull him back? Jiaohua doesn’t want to go to the old house for the New Year because Youping and Qiaoye aren’t coming back for the New Year, right? This child’s temper isn’t any different from the Zhang family. When she gets stubborn, not even nine oxen can pull her back. But on the other hand, Jiaohua is pitiful (here, pitiful means deserving sympathy). With her parents not at home, she has to rely on herself for everything. At such a young age, she knows how to make tea leaves to earn money. Isn’t it just to bring her parents back? Write to Youping and have them come back. No matter how good city life is, it’s still the home of city folks. No matter how bad Meizi’ao is, it’s still home. Money can be made in Meizi’ao. Why drift so far away?” Ma Donghua scolded her husband a few times.

“I’ll go check the garden to see if Jiaohua will come over,” Zhang Manyin said, taking a flashlight and heading outside.

“Be careful on the road,” Ma Donghua knew her husband was stubborn and that she couldn’t stop him.

When Zhang Manyin arrived at the garden, he smelled gasoline. It seemed a vehicle had just come.

“Jiaohua, Jiaohua,” Zhang Manyin was worried something had happened at the garden.

“Dad!” Zhang Youping came out.

“Youping? When did you come back?” Zhang Manyin was also shocked; he hadn’t expected Zhang Youping to return home so late at night. Now he understood why there was a faint smell of gasoline in the garden. It seemed Zhang Youping and his wife had come back by car.

“Just got back not long ago. I was about to go with Qiaoye to your place,” Zhang Youping smiled.

“Why are you back so late?” Zhang Manyin’s words carried a hint of reproach.

“Qiaoye was working until the 26th. By the time we went to buy train tickets, they were all sold out. We almost spent the New Year in Guangdong. Thankfully, Master Tang from the tea factory let us ride in the tea factory’s truck. When we got to Zijiang, Director Zhao sent a car to take us home,” Zhang Youping spoke about their experiences as if telling a story.

“Dad, Youping and I were just planning to take Jiaohua over. We knew you and Mom would be worried about her,” Liu Qiaoye quickly invited Zhang Manyin into the house.

“It’s so late; I won’t go in. You all should rest early. Don’t go over tonight. Let’s all go to the old house tomorrow evening for the New Year. It will be lively with more people. Where’s Jiaohua? Has she gone to bed?” Zhang Manyin glanced into the room.

“Grandpa, I brought you some good things! Uncle Zhao gave my dad a lot of high-quality cigarettes with filters, and there are many paper-wrapped candies,” Zhang Jiaohua ran out with a large bag of items to stuff into Zhang Manyin’s hands.

“Oh, this grandson is thoughtful. His parents are back, and he still remembers his grandpa,” Zhang Manyin laughed heartily but didn’t take what Zhang Jiaohua offered.

“Dad, what Jiaohua is giving you, just accept it. This tobacco and alcohol were not bought with money; they were all given by Director Zhao. I also had the driver who brought us back give some wild boar meat and black tea to Director Zhao,” Liu Qiaoye understood why Zhang Manyin hesitated to take the items.

“No, no. You just got back, and you haven’t bought anything for the New Year. These are all ready-made. It’s just right for you to use when you go back to your in-laws. It saves you from spending money. Why should we, as farmers, drink such high-end alcohol and smoke such high-end cigarettes?” Zhang Manyin waved his hands repeatedly.

“Grandpa, don’t be so polite. There’s not much money in the cigarettes and alcohol. Just keep them, we can’t eat them. When we go to the old house tomorrow, I’ll bring some wild boar meat back for you,” Zhang Jiaohua urged.

“It’s late. Let’s all go back early. Go to bed now,” Zhang Youping hurriedly interrupted them.