Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 117.2

After all, they had come back especially, so they had eaten lunch early. It was just 12 o’clock now.

If they were in a hurry to leave at this hour, as if they were clocking in for a task, it would be too embarrassing.

As he was thinking, a burst of laughter and chatter came from the doorway.

Everyone stopped and saw four women of similar age approaching, each carrying a bamboo basket.

When they saw so many people at Song Tan’s door, they were momentarily stunned but quickly understood.

“Hey, Wu Lan, are you so afraid of us eating at your house? Just as we arrive, you’re all done eating.”

Wang Lifeng, who was washing the bowls at the pool, thought:

Of course, they had to eat earlier.

Eat early and leave early, so she wouldn’t miss work and earn money. She’d lost half a day today; this afternoon, she still planned to go to the tea mountain to make another fifty yuan.

Wu Lan also greeted them with a smile:

“Of course. If I have to pay you a high price and provide food, I’d be working for you all season.”

“What high price? What high price?”

One of the women was not happy: “In past years, hiring tea pickers would cost two or three hundred a day. They would be paid by the weight, and the more they picked, the more they earned. You pay by the day, and we still pick four or five pounds a day. Be content.”

Wu Lan laughed, “In past years, tea was expensive, and tea pickers came from other provinces. Are you?”

“My tea grows well; I bet you didn’t pick this much even for your own tea in the past, did you?”

“Besides, if it cost two or three hundred a day, why would I even hire you? I’d pick it myself.”

They were all familiar with each other from chatting and working together in the past, so their conversations were casual.

Wu Lan expertly took out a scale, weighed the fresh tea buds one by one into plastic bags, hung them on the hook, placed the weights, and efficiently calculated: “Two pounds seven ounces.”

The next one also weighed two pounds seven ounces.

Everyone laughed, “Wu Lan, I think we might have been your long-term workers in a past life, working so hard picking tea and getting paid by the day.”

Wu Lan chuckled, “If you were my long-term workers, I’d have you up at the crack of dawn with the roosters!”

Everyone laughed loudly. Eldest Song watched coldly as they finished their accounts and left, then asked, “Are you still picking tea leaves this year?”

Wu Lan smiled, “Yes, it’s all because of Tan Tan. This kid came back and made us old folks busy—picking chestnuts, harvesting tea leaves, and even planting rice.”

“She insists the ones outside aren’t good enough…”

Eldest Song wanted to ask: they were picking tea leaves, so why were they drinking what seemed like last year’s old tea at lunch?

But after what happened with Mao Li and Sun Yanyan, he bit his tongue and didn’t ask.

Mao Li, however, stood by the door with her basket and said with a laugh, “Oh, young people are so energetic. Local tea leaves aren’t worth much; are you earning enough to cover the workers’ wages?”

Wu Lan chuckled, “Not bad. The tea tastes good this year and sells better than in past years, so we can still make a bit.”

Then she quickly countered, “Sister-in-law, I see your family’s tea mountain is growing well this year. Why not hire a few people to help pick tea for a day, and I can fry it for you while I’m at it?”

By rights, if they were picking tea leaves, regardless of quality, giving relatives a half or a pound was not an issue.

But first, this year’s tea was extremely expensive.

Second, Wu Lan didn’t like the look of these two.

Besides, Eldest Song’s family had almost fifty acres of land and fields, nearly twice as much as her own. He had left it to go to waste, so why should she help him?

Hmph!

Money gives courage!

In the past, Wu Lan thought that with Qiao Qiao’s situation, she’d have to cultivate relationships with her brother and sister. She had swallowed many hurtful words, keeping the bitterness to herself.

Sometimes she understood in her heart, but she still held on to a little hope.

Now…

Looking at how Mao Li and Sun Yanyan behaved after her family made money, and then at Eldest Song, who did nothing but act like a nice guy, she realized clearly:

Better to rely on oneself than on others.