Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 198 - Ride a free ride_1
Chapter 198: Ride a free ride_1
Chapter 198: Ride a free ride_1
The sky was turning dark.
Li Baoni, carrying a basket of tea leaves, hurried down the mountain and the first thing she did upon returning home was to hang the basket and weigh it—
“One and two-tenths of a pound.”
This was her usual efficiency. To be precise, it was the same for most of the people in the village.
She spread the tea leaves out on a plastic sheet on the ground to dry, then walked into the bedroom to check on her husband, who was resting in bed:
“How’s it going? Were you able to get up and use the bathroom today?”
The man in the bed cracked a smile, “I did, my waist doesn’t hurt that much anymore, I can move around quite well, and I feel better each day. It won’t be long before I’m all better.”
Li Baoni also breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s good.”
She rambled on, “Now the tea price has dropped, they’re only paying thirty yuan for a pound of buds. How much can you do with just sixty or seventy yuan a day?”
“I’ve tidied up the vegetable garden too. I’m thinking, when the hot weather arrives, if you’re well by then, I might just go work outside.”
As she spoke, she skillfully and efficiently helped her husband slowly stand up, then took a few slow steps:
“I saw on TikTok that lots of factories are hiring. I’m just fifty years old, right at the cut-off age. I can make more than twenty yuan an hour. If I work some overtime, maybe I can make seven or eight thousand yuan a month!”
While talking, she couldn’t help but sigh:
“How come Wu Lan’s tea plants are growing so well this year? I heard those tea pickers say that they can easily harvest two or three pounds in an afternoon. Those buds must be really thick.”
The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.
She, on the other hand, couldn’t keep up, despite being fast with her hands.
Her husband just laughed, “That’s right, my back injury has even kept you from making big money.”
With Li Baoni’s diligent nature, if it hadn’t been for needing to take care of her husband who was resting in bed, she would have certainly gone to help pick tea leaves for Wu Lan’s family from the start of the spring.
One hundred and fifty a day, much steadier than picking tea herself. And that’s the price given by fellow villagers not including food and lodging.
In previous years, tea pickers who came with food and lodging included were paid only one hundred yuan per day or even less, and if paid by weight, they had to go with the market price.
But as renowned teas began to advertise more and more, and their remote impoverished area remained undeveloped, the price of tea kept dropping, with most of it being used to bolster the supply of famous teas.
As a result, the local villagers gradually couldn’t afford to hire tea pickers anymore. Now, there wasn’t much income to speak of all year round.
Every household capable of working had gone out to find jobs.
Just as she was pondering this, she heard a call from outside the yard, “Baoni, Baoni!”
Li Baoni was startled and hurried out, “I’m here, what is it?”
She had just asked when she couldn’t help but smile, “Does your family need someone to work tomorrow? Don’t worry, whatever it is, I’ll be there early.”
After speaking, she looked at Wu Lan with a face full of expectation.
These days, village folks were quite willing to work for Song Tan’s family.
The food was good, and the pay was better than working outside. It was just a shame that the work was sporadic and unstable.
But Wu Lan shook her head, thinking about the wealthy clients that were coming to their house, and quickly made herself clear in a few words:
“It’s for some people coming to fish, found online by our Yanping. They have nowhere to stay for the night. I thought since your place has a solar water heater and Wi-Fi, it should be fine to arrange someone to stay at your place, right? Just wanted to come and ask.”
“Fifty for one night, no need to prepare food, what do you think?”
Li Baoni was overjoyed, how could this not be okay?!
The yards in the countryside are large, and her house, like Lao Song’s family’s house, had been built many years ago.
Besides where her children lived, there was an extra room left over for the tea pickers, but now it was filled with miscellaneous items.
But that didn’t matter.
“My son’s room is clean, I’ll bring over the bedding later.”
Seeing her start to fuss about tidying up, Wu Lan finally said with a smile, “No rush, no rush, this young man hasn’t eaten yet. He can eat at my place tonight, and then I’ll have Yanping send him over.”
“Take your time to tidy up; there’s no hurry.”
Li Baoni was pleased and couldn’t help but ask an extra question:
“Wu Lan, I’ve noticed that the onions and garlic in your vegetable garden are growing really well. When do you plan to sell the produce?”
Wu Lan didn’t have the time to pay attention to her vegetable garden!
Her eyes were solely on the tea leaves.
At the question, she was startled: “I’m not sure about that, it’s all Tantan’s responsibility. She’s the only one in the family who can drive.”
Li Baoni smiled apologetically: “I was just wondering if it would be convenient for her to take us to the hospital when she goes to sell the vegetables again? It’s time for a check-up.”
No big deal!
“I’ll go home and ask her later. I’ll send you a message once I know.”
Wu Lan couldn’t help but tell her, “If you need something, just say the word. You don’t have to wait for the vegetable selling.”
While Li Baoni was replying politely,
the village normally had transportation, but the village-to-village bus still had to make a long detour to the town each day. She felt somewhat embarrassed:
“You know how it is, his back hurts if he sits too long. I’m not in a rush for the check-up, just let me know whenever it’s convenient.”
Back problems are indeed a serious matter, after all, as a main source of labor for the family. If his back were to give out, not only would he be unable to earn money, but he would also hold Li Baoni back.
Knowing the situation, Wu Lan hurried home and immediately asked Song Tan:
“Your scallions and garlic in the field are ready to be sold, when are you planning to go sell the vegetables?”
Song Tan visited the vegetable garden every day, touching base with the two Baonis to build rapport. She had a clear sense of how the vegetables were growing.
Now that spring was in full bloom, you couldn’t imagine how quickly the green leaves were sprouting, especially with the help of the “Spiritual Energy” she infused every night…
Just today, they ate several heads of onions and garlic pulled straight from the garden, along with coriander.
Aunt Lianhua had even plucked a handful of Schizonepeta from the field that afternoon, planning to make tofu soup tonight. Seeing Seventh Uncle so satisfied, it was clear that this batch of vegetables tasted even better than wild ones!
Forget about the onions and garlic; the bok choy would be ready to harvest in just a few days.
But the first to grow were these condiment vegetables: scallions, garlic sprouts, Schizonepeta, coriander.
Ginger has a longer growing cycle, so it’s not ready yet.
Scallions and garlic sprouts had the highest yield per acre; with good cultivation, you could get three or four crops a year with a yield of six or seven thousand pounds per acre without any problems.
Thinking of this, she felt it was time to find a designer to touch up the house, having some extra cash on hand was more stable.
Given that—
“I’ll go tomorrow then, what’s up? Do you need to buy any vegetables?”
Going to the market every morning to buy vegetables had become her routine.
Wu Lan relayed Li Baoni’s situation.
Song Tan nodded: “No problem, the vegetable market is not far from the People’s Hospital. I’ll take them directly, it won’t hold anything up.”
This is why everyone knows living in the village is stress-free and comfortable, but still, everyone wants to move to the big city.
Besides education, the other most important factor is medical care.
Without a car, dealing with illness or pain feels almost impossible.
