Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 101

“I’m telling you!” Zhang Wang’s old hands tightly gripped the hoe, veins bulging as he glared at his children. “Since your mother and I got married, she started saving money. She saved some for the family and some for you. Over forty years, she saved up quite a bit.”

“Later, when times got better, the family’s savings were used to support you. We did our part. Your mother said that when she passed away, this money would be divided among you as a keepsake.”

“But now, you’ve grown up to be ungrateful. You don’t even care about your own mother, so why should you get any keepsake?”

Zhang Wang slammed the hoe into the ground. “I’m telling you now, I don’t have children like you. You don’t need to kneel!”

“Get out! All of you, get out!”

At that moment, the sisters-in-law who had been counting the money finally finished. Looking at Mrs. Zhang, who hadn’t yet been placed in her coffin, one of them tearfully announced, “There’s a total of thirty thousand yuan.”

Everyone present fell silent.

Then, they heard Song Youde puffing on his cigarette. Suddenly, he remarked, “Sancheng, if you dare to treat me like that when I’m old, I’ll burn your house down.”

“Zhang Wang is too soft-hearted. If it were me, I’d have struck their heads with the hoe. A dog would be more loyal than his children.”

Song Sancheng felt a chill down his spine and quickly straightened up. “Dad, what are you saying? I was the one who dragged those three bastards away today!”

When the sons and sons-in-law arrived, they all drove cars. It didn’t matter if the cars were good or bad, borrowed or owned, they had the means. Yet, they wouldn’t spend money on their own mother. Calling them heartless was putting it mildly.

Song Youde snorted in satisfaction.

As for Zhang Wang, with no relatives from his children’s side to help, the neighbors kept things simple. Since today wasn’t a proper day for receiving guests, Song Sancheng planned to help out the next day and also help carry the coffin the day after.

It seemed like this matter had quietly settled.

However, during the funeral, Song Tan noticed that the relatives, whether uncles or aunts, suddenly became very eager to work.

After some thought, she realized that seeing how unreliable their children were, these middle-aged and elderly people were struck with a deep sense of fear.

Now, given the chance to make money, they felt it was more reliable to save up for themselves. If they got sick, they’d pay for their own treatment. When they got old, having money wouldn’t guarantee comfort, but it would certainly reduce their suffering.

Understanding this, Song Tan sighed.

But now, she had another matter to worry about—the price of mature, fruit-bearing grafted peach seedlings was too high.

Zhang Yanping had been looking for channels through an old nursery owner named Zhou, while also making inquiries elsewhere. However, the mature seedlings, each three centimeters in diameter, cost eighty yuan per tree.

To plant twenty acres, they needed at least two thousand trees, costing more than the twenty-year land lease, a total of 160,000 yuan!

“Oh my goodness!” Wu Lan and Song Sancheng were shocked when they heard the cost. “Do we really have to plant such expensive fruit trees? Can’t we plant something cheaper?”

The problem was, mature fruit-bearing seedlings were all around this price.

Where could they get the money?

Just as Wu Lan was contemplating, “Maybe we could use that 60,000 yuan…”

Song Tan shook her head. “Mom, don’t worry so much. Think of it this way, 160,000 yuan is just the price of sixteen kilograms of tea.”

Wow! The way she said it, as if it were just sixteen yuan.

But it made sense. If you said 160,000 yuan, it sounded like a huge amount. But sixteen kilograms of tea didn’t sound so bad. Even though Wu Lan knew selling tea wasn’t that easy, she couldn’t help but feel relieved.

Song Tan reassured her further, “It’s okay, there’s no rush. It will take four or five days to get the mountain ready, enough time for us to make the money.”

She wasn’t worried at all. If needed, she could take a loan. She believed in the quality of her products to earn the 160,000 yuan.

She turned around and started sending messages in the group chat.

[Honey pre-sale starts now, 1,000 yuan per pound. First come, first served. Price will adjust to 2,000 yuan in a week.]

[Early spring tea is almost sold out. Hurry to buy.]

No problem. In two days, it would be Qingming Festival, and they could produce only four or five pounds of tea daily. Compared to big tea merchants, they were indeed almost sold out.

[Vetch flower picking season lasts five days. Seize the time.]

Wow, her phone didn’t stop buzzing all night.

Inquiries came pouring in, along with addresses and payments.

The next morning, Song Tan casually informed Wu Lan, who had dark circles under her eyes, “Mom, I told you not to worry. Last night, we sold eight pounds of tea.”

“Twenty pounds of honey were pre-ordered.”

And some vetch flowers, but they would count those during the picking.

Wow, they made 100,000 yuan in one night! The money came so fast that Wu Lan was floating on air.

Little did she know, the director and Secretary Wang, after drinking the tea, carried their tea boxes everywhere they went.

Originally not so picky, they found other teas unsatisfactory now.

This tea was too dark, that one was bitter, another lacked a sweet aftertaste, and another had a dull aroma…

Though they drank top-quality tea, it just didn’t taste right anymore.

So, upon hearing that such tea was almost sold out and unsure if they could get the same quality later, they quickly stocked up like it was a Black Friday sale, buying four pounds in one go.

Three pounds for the director and one for Secretary Wang.

Secretary Wang had a tighter budget.

The last two pounds were ordered by some young guys from the bureau.

These shrewd fellows kept the good tea for themselves and didn’t give it as gifts, fearing their parents or in-laws would get used to it and keep asking for more.

With their modest salaries, they couldn’t afford to keep up. Better to enjoy it themselves.

As for the final two pounds?

Those went to Old Sun’s brothers.

In just a few days, these brothers, perhaps emptying their savings, quickly transferred the money. Unlike last time, they didn’t hesitate or act sneaky about it.

Wu Lan finally felt relieved.

The 100,000 yuan from honey and tea, plus the 40,000 yuan from vetch flowers, made her feel light-hearted and worry-free.