Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 62

When this topic was brought up, Wu Lan became furious!

“Ask your dad! He took everything out of the fridge and didn’t put it back!” she fumed. “I just went out to pick over a pound of tea leaves, and when I came back, the dumplings had thawed and stuck together!”

If not for this, they wouldn’t have been eating dumplings in the middle of the day—they were supposed to be an easy breakfast for busy farming mornings.

Song Sancheng buried his head in embarrassment and mumbled, “I wanted to put the tea leaves in, but I couldn’t fit them back after taking everything out…”

In the end, he even forgot to have breakfast.

What a mess…

Song Tan was also exasperated. “Dad, our freezer compartment is so small, and you still tried to put tea leaves in it? If you had told me, I could have brought a freezer from the city tomorrow.”

She realized she had been negligent. With more things at home, a freezer was necessary.

Nowadays, freezers aren’t expensive. You can get a nice, spacious one for just over a thousand yuan.

Song Sancheng felt even more sheepish. “I didn’t think it through… I didn’t expect the dumplings to thaw so quickly…”

Zhang Yanping, watching from the side, couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “It’s okay, Uncle. I love dumplings. It doesn’t matter if they’re a bit broken.”

Hearing this, one could understand why Zhang Yanping was so well-liked by the family—he was always so cheerful and talkative!

Ordinarily, Song Sancheng should have felt relieved.

But seeing Zhang Yanping’s large, strong frame, he felt even more disheartened. “We only have a few shepherd’s purse dumplings left…”

His sorrowful tone left Zhang Yanping puzzled.

However, his interest was quickly piqued again. “Uncle, did we pick tea leaves this year? They must be fragrant!”

At this, Song Sancheng perked up. No longer feeling dejected, he tossed the seeds into a water basin and eagerly led Zhang Yanping into the house.

Carefully, he retrieved the carefully wrapped tea leaves, took a small pinch, and placed it in a cup.

Without adding water, he simply held the cup out. “Yanping, take a whiff! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have opened these tea leaves!”

It was dry tea! The aroma was indeed lovely, but why didn’t Uncle add water?

Zhang Yanping, thrown off by the abrupt change, lowered his head to sniff the tea—

“Hmm, this fragrance is really unique!”

Seeing his reaction, Song Sancheng beamed and hurriedly brewed the tea.

The tiny bit of tea leaves barely covered the bottom of the cup.

Amused, Zhang Yanping examined the cup, noting the fine fuzz on the surface and the upright, green buds.

As steam rose, the fresh, fragrant aroma filled the air, soothing his senses.

With wide eyes, he exclaimed, “This is excellent tea!”

No wonder Uncle was so keen on preserving it—any loss would be heartbreaking.

Gently blowing on the tea, he took a sip.

Song Sancheng carefully rewrapped the tea leaves. Turning back, he noticed Zhang Yanping was silent and asked, puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

Zhang Yanping let out a long sigh. “Uncle, this tea is worth at least 6,000 yuan per pound. Anything less would be an insult!”

“What?!”

Song Sancheng jumped up.

Just then, Song Tan walked in and laughed at the scene. “Brother Yanping, no wonder Aunt says you have a discerning palate! I was thinking of selling it for 10,000 yuan.”

Unlike vegetables, which everyone can afford, tea isn’t a necessity. Those who appreciate it will pay for it.

“What?!”

Song Sancheng raised his voice again.

To his surprise, even Zhang Yanping nodded. “Indeed. Do you have connections? If not, give me some samples, and I’ll find buyers.”

Over the years, his reputation for sourcing high-end fruit had grown, all thanks to his connections.

However, to his parents, this seemed like a frivolous pursuit.

Song Tan nodded. “Someone will want it. No rush. Brother Yanping, focus on your work. Selling the tea can wait.”

She turned to see her father’s face turn pale.

“Dad, what’s wrong?” she asked.

Her gaze fell on the tea leaves, and she gasped. “Don’t tell me you already gave some away?”

With a sorrowful expression, Song Sancheng admitted, “I didn’t sell it… But this morning, when Uncle Zhou brought me some tea, I gave him eight pounds of ours in return…”

Desperately, he tried to justify himself. “I thought we had more tea than planned, and Uncle Zhou was up all night with his great skills, and we pay him so little… Five pounds were summer tea…”

Wages could always be increased!

Song Tan’s head spun.

Even if it was customary to give extra gifts, eight pounds was excessive!

What a father!

Looking at her father’s equally pained expression, she sighed. “That’s 80,000 yuan, Dad. You only gave me 60,000 yuan to farm.”

Seeing her father’s distress, she felt her blood pressure rising.

Unable to find a way to let go of the loss, she reluctantly resorted to her trump card—

“Mom!”

…

Zhang Yanping sat uneasily at the dining table, glancing at his uncle.

“Tan Tan, it’s not that bad,” he tried to console her.

Song Tan, embarrassed, muttered, “I just wanted Mom to talk to Dad about not being so generous. I didn’t expect the dumplings and tea to make things worse…”

The siblings exchanged helpless looks until Qiao Qiao brought over a large bowl.

“Brother, Mom said the best dumplings are for you.”

Each of them received a bowl of dumplings with broken skins.

The broken skins released an even richer aroma into the air. Zhang Yanping took a deep breath.

“Aunt, your cooking is way better than my mom’s. These dumplings are delicious!”

Wu Lan laughed. “You sweet-talker! How do you know they’re good without tasting them?”

Zhang Yanping patted his chest. “I can tell from the smell alone. These dumplings are definitely tasty!”

With that, he took a big bite.

The dumplings burst with flavor, the perfect combination of shepherd’s purse and meat. He barely chewed before gobbling down another bite.

With dumplings this good, he could eat them every day without getting tired!

Had he known the food was this good, he would have visited sooner.

Devouring the dumplings like a whirlwind, he finished a large bowl and rubbed his stomach, still hungry.

“Are there any more?”

Song Sancheng, eating his bowl of noodle soup, secretly glared at him. As expected, he had a big appetite!

And just like that, a bowl of noodles later, there were no more dumplings to be had…