Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 133.2

Early April weather was exceptionally nice. The morning dew lingered, and the first light of dawn was faint. The cool morning breeze was refreshing, especially for those preparing to work.

Before the sun had fully risen, the tea-picking women had already skillfully tied plastic sheets around their waists, donned rubber boots, grabbed baskets, and put on straw hats as they efficiently headed up the mountain.

Meanwhile, the village road gradually filled with noise. The roar of motorcycles soon echoed in front of Song Tan’s house, forming a long row — these were people from the village and the neighboring village who came to help with the work.

When Wu Chengtao also arrived on his motorcycle with Zhou Fangjuan, he was startled by the scene. “How big is this operation?”

“Why are there so many people?” Zhou Fangjuan exclaimed, “How could Wu Lan not mention this to us? With such a big job, it doesn’t look good if the family doesn’t help!”

The couple quickly moved over, and when Song Sancheng saw them, he hurriedly asked, “Big Brother, have you had breakfast?”

“Yes, yes, we’ve eaten,” Zhou Fangjuan replied while looking around. “Where’s Tan Tan? We thought we’d come to lend a hand today. What needs to be done?”

Song Sancheng laughed, “Tan Tan went to buy groceries.”

“We plan to plant peach trees today. Big Brother, come with me up the mountain. Aunt, can you stay at home and help Wu Lan cook?”

With just a few simple words, more people arrived, asking, “Are we going to plant trees now?”

Worried about his precious peach trees being carelessly planted, Song Sancheng, without further ado, grabbed a hoe and shovel and hurried up the mountain with Wu Chengtao, ignoring all pleasantries.

Behind the mountain, the little piglets grunted skillfully, awaiting their breakfast.

Meanwhile, King made a quiet circle around the mountain and then returned to his doghouse.

He knew that this group of people would be working elsewhere; his task was to protect the chickens, ducks, and piglets.

If he performed well, he’d get to eat better.

Sigh, when would the new second owner come back? Yesterday, those little yellow balls tasted so good! So sweet!

Big White stretched his neck, flapped his wings, and waddled over. With his flat beak, he pecked at his empty bowl in dissatisfaction. Eventually, both the dog and the goose exchanged glances and quietly lay down.

In the courtyard, everyone who had agreed to help had gone up the mountain, leaving Wu Lan, two other helpers, and Zhou Fangjuan.

But don’t think there’s nothing to do early in the morning. With twenty to thirty people working, the logistics team had to first prepare all the tea and water.

There were only two thermos bottles at home, which were not enough. But this was no problem; those who came to work naturally brought their own thermos bottles, taking them back after finishing the work in the evening.

For the villagers, this was normal. Decades ago, people used to borrow benches and bowls.

But today, they really needed to borrow benches and bowls for lunch.

Wu Lan led everyone around, borrowing benches from one house and checking out the vegetable gardens in another. She also had to deal with villagers’ endless questions — after all, hiring so many people for work hadn’t happened in years!

She had been physically and mentally exhausted since the early morning, without a moment’s rest!

Finally, when dozens of kettles of water were boiled, Song Tan drove back.

It had been years since she had gone to the market early in the morning. The last time she went with her dad to buy seeds, she wasn’t this enthusiastic.

As she watched Qiao Qiao and Zhang Yanping unload the vegetables and meat from the car, Wu Lan pulled her aside:

“Tan Tan, your aunt mentioned last night that you should go visit today—have you thought about what to bring?”

“As for Seventh Granduncle, we won’t push too hard. If it doesn’t work out, ask if he knows any colleagues willing to come to our village to work?”

“Your mom is just an ordinary rural woman; cooking like this every day, I can’t handle it.”

Wu Lan was also calculating in her mind — don’t think today’s big scene will be a one-time thing! After planting the peach trees, there would still be plenty of work ahead. Even if they hired three or five people a day, cooking would still be a big project.

Her cooking was good enough for family meals, but with more people, and over time, she wouldn’t be able to keep up!

“Every day, just washing dishes and cleaning up exhausts me enough.”