It was getting dark.
Li Baoni hurried down the mountain carrying a basket of tea leaves, and the first thing she did when she got home was to hook and weigh them.
"One catty and two ounces."
This is her usual efficiency. To be more precise, most people in the village also have this efficiency.
She spread the tea leaves on the plastic sheet on the ground to dry, and then she walked into the bedroom and asked her husband who was recuperating in bed:
"How's it going? Can you get up and go to the bathroom today?"
The man on the bed smiled: "It's on. My waist doesn't hurt that much anymore. I can walk around fine. I feel more relaxed every day. It won't be long before I'm better."
Li Baoni also breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's fine."
She kept on rambling: "The price of tea has dropped now. A pound of tea buds only costs 30 yuan. What can I do with 60 or 70 yuan a day?"
"The vegetable garden has been tidied up. I was thinking that if you can take good care of the vegetables when the dog days come, I will go out to work."
As she spoke, she swiftly and skillfully helped her husband stand up slowly, and then took a few slow steps:
"I saw many factories recruiting workers on TikTok. I'm only 50 years old, which is the right age. I can earn more than 20 yuan an hour. If I work overtime, I may be able to earn 7,000 or 8,000 yuan a month!"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh:
"How come the tea leaves of Wulan's family are growing so well this year? I heard from some tea pickers that they can easily pick two or three kilograms of tea in an afternoon. The buds must be very thick."
She couldn't do it. Her hands were quick, but the tea leaves couldn't keep up.
Her husband laughed and said, "Of course not. My back is broken and it will delay your making big money."
With Li Baoni's efficient work attitude, if she hadn't had to take care of herself who was recuperating in bed, she would have definitely gone to Wulan's house to help her pick tea leaves in the spring.
One hundred and fifty a day, much more stable than picking tea by yourself. This is the price given by fellow villagers without food and accommodation.
In previous years, tea pickers were provided with food and accommodation, and were only paid a hundred yuan per day or even less. If paid by the kilogram, the price would depend on the market price.
However, as all the major famous teas are now being promoted and their remote area is becoming less and less developed, the price of tea has been falling again and again, and most of the money has been used to make up the number of famous teas.
As a result, the local villagers gradually could not afford to hire tea pickers. Now, they have almost no income throughout the year.
Everyone who can move around in every household has gone out to work.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard a shout from outside the yard: "Boni, Bonnie!"
Li Baoni was stunned for a moment, then hurried out: "I'm here, what's up?"
As soon as he asked, he couldn't help but smile: "Are you going to hire someone to do work tomorrow? Don't worry, I'll go there early in the morning to do whatever you need."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Wulan expectantly.
Now the villagers are willing to work for Song Tan's family.
The food is good and the pay is high, which is much more profitable than working outside. It's a pity that these jobs are only available in twos and threes, and are not sustainable or stable enough.
Wu Lan shook her head, thinking about the wealthy clients who were coming to her home, and made her point clear in a few words:
"This is the person our Yanping found online who came to fish. He has no place to sleep at night. I was thinking that your house has a solar water heater and wireless network, so it should be okay to arrange for someone to stay at your house? So I came to ask for help."
"Fifty for one night, no need to prepare meals, do you think that's okay?"
Li Baoni was overjoyed. Why couldn't this be possible? !
The yards in the countryside are all big, and her house, like the Song family's, has been built many years ago.
In addition to where the children live, there is an extra room reserved for the tea pickers, which is now filled with miscellaneous items.
But it doesn't matter.
"My son's room is clean. I'll bring the bed and quilt over later."
Seeing that she was already in a hurry to pack up, Wu Lan smiled and said, "Don't worry, don't worry. The boy hasn't eaten yet. After he has dinner at my house tonight, I will ask Yan Ping to send him over."
"Take your time to clean up. There's no rush."
Li Baoni was very happy and couldn't help asking one more question:
"Wulan, I see that the onions and garlic in your vegetable garden are growing very well. When are you going to sell the vegetables?"
How could Wulan have time to take care of her vegetable garden!
All she has eyes for now is tea leaves.
Hearing this, he was also stunned: "Then I don't know, this matter is all handled by Tan Tan, she is the only one in the family who can drive."
Li Baoni smiled embarrassedly: "I just want to ask, if she sells vegetables again, will it be convenient for her to take us to the hospital? It's time for a follow-up check."
What a big deal!
"I'll go back and ask. I'll message you when I'm done."
Wu Lan couldn't help but say to her again: "If you have something to say, just tell me directly. You don't have to rush to sell vegetables."
When people speak politely, Li Baoni is also polite.
Normally, the village can get around with a car, but the bus to every village has to go to the town every day and take a long detour. She felt embarrassed:
"You know, his waist is uncomfortable after sitting for a long time. There is no rush for my follow-up examination. Just let me know when it is convenient."
The waist problem is indeed a big deal. After all, he is the strong laborer in the family. If his waist is injured, not only will he not be able to earn money, but he will also be tied down by Li Baoni.
Wu Lan knew what was going on, so he rushed home, grabbed Song Tan and asked:
"The garlic sprouts and onions in your field are ready to sell. When are you going to sell the vegetables?"
Song Tan would stroll around the vegetable garden every day and keep in touch with her two babies. She knew exactly how the vegetables were growing.
Now it was spring, and the green leaves were sprouting so fast. Plus, she had spiritual energy every night to stimulate the growth of the leaves...
Look, what we are eating today are some onions, garlic and coriander that we just pulled directly from the vegetable garden.
As for Nepeta, Aunt Lianhua also went to the field to pick some this afternoon, planning to make tofu soup tonight. Seeing how satisfied Uncle Qi was, the quality of this batch of vegetables must be better than wild vegetables!
Not to mention onions and garlic, the Chinese cabbage will be harvested in a few days.
However, the first things to grow are the seasonings, green onions, garlic sprouts, nepeta, and coriander.
Ginger has a longer growth cycle and it hasn’t grown fully yet.
Among them, green onions and garlic sprouts have the highest yield per mu. If they are grown well, three or four crops a year can easily yield 6,000 to 7,000 kilograms per mu.
I think I should hire a designer to renovate the house so that I can have some extra money.
In this case—
"Let's go tomorrow. What's the matter? What vegetables do you want to buy?"
It has become a habit for her to go to the market to buy groceries every morning.
Wu Lan told the story about Li Baoni.
Song Tan nodded: "No problem, the vegetable market is not far from the People's Hospital, I will deliver it to them directly without delaying anything."
This is why everyone knows that living in the village is stress-free and comfortable, but everyone still wants to move to big cities.
In addition to education, another most important factor is medical care.
Without a car, it is almost impossible to move when you are injured or in pain.