Chapter 78
Manager Zhang came over and the farmers greeted him warmly.
"Manager Zhang."
"Manager Zhang, OK."
"Hey, hey, okay, okay, let's get busy. The chef has stewed some big bones. Everyone should eat more later."
"Great, haha, let's have meat at noon, everyone, let's have meat at noon."
There was a burst of warm cheers, and Zhang Yunniang was also infected by their joy.
"Miss Zhang, these fields are overgrown with weeds and full of snakes, insects, rats and ants. You should go somewhere else. Getting your shoes and socks dirty is a small matter, but getting bitten is really unpleasant."
"Farming is new to me. I've never done it before. You go ahead and do your thing. I'll play for a while."
"The tea fields are cleaner over there. There are tea pickers picking tea. Would you like to go over and take a look?"
"That's good too."
Zhang Yunniang threw away the frame, and Manager Zhang took people to the river to wash their hands.
The tea fields were just across the river. Passing a small wooden bridge, I saw a group of young girls picking tea leaves.
The girls chattered non-stop, but their hands moved without slowing down at all.
"The tea leaves are growing well this year, and the weather has been good these past few days. If you stay a few more days, you can bring some new tea back to try."
"Do you have any tea baskets left? Give me one too."
"Girls, do you have any extra tea baskets?"
"Meet Manager Zhang."
"Hello, Manager Zhang." The girls greeted him warmly with smiles on their faces.
"This is Miss Zhang from the master's mansion. She's staying here for a few days. Please take good care of her."
"Miss Zhang, this is for you." A girl took down her tea basket and handed it to Zhang Yunniang.
The tea basket is small and exquisite, woven from bamboo strips, and has a semi-hollowed-out flower pattern on it.
"This is really beautiful, did you make it yourself?"
"Yes, I don't want to use that ugly basket they made. If you like it, I can make a new one for you."
"Really? Great, please teach me."
The little girl was lively and smart. As they chatted, they started talking about what kind of bamboo to use and the thickness of the bamboo strips.
Zhang Yunniang really likes this little thing. She can use it to store things, as a small decoration in the house, or even as a base for flower arrangement.
Elegant, really elegant.
"Mo girl really treasures her little basket. She's afraid we'll take it away, so she keeps it in her hand all day long."
"Bah, you have the nerve to say that. Just tell me how much good stuff you took from me."
"What did we take? What did we take from you? Just a few bamboo crickets and a few bamboo dragonflies, right?"
"That's right, didn't I return the little bamboo stool to you?"
"Isn't it just a bamboo hairpin? Why do you have to remember it for so long?"
"Yes, yes, I even gave you wild fruits picked from the mountains."
"I didn't take anything, just a bamboo pendant. I even gave you a leg massage."
Miss Zhang learned how to pick tea from them while listening to their bickering. They were all teenage girls, lively and hardworking.
"Pah, pah, pah, you can only tease me, a child."
"Oh my, stop arguing. Miss Zhang will laugh at us soon."
Then there was the sound of the girls laughing and teasing.
"Let me see how long you have picked." Zhang Yunniang compared the lengths of the buds picked by the girls, picking them one by one.
The tea leaves left behind after picking emit the fragrance of tea.
It smells light and pleasant, the green scent of nature filling my nose.
She grabbed a handful and sniffed it carefully; the fragrance of the tea was refreshing.
Different from the refreshing fragrance of tea, this fragrance also has a fresh scent.
"Mmm, smells good."
"Girl, if you stay here for a while, it will get on your body and clothes, and it will take a while to go away."
"Is that so? Then I'll come again tomorrow. I like the taste."
"I heard there's a tea-picking song. Can you sing it?"
"I won't."
"Neither can I."
"Picking tea and singing?"
"Miss Zhang, can you do it?"
"Ah, I can't do that either!"
......
The girls and Zhang Yunniang chatted about all sorts of things. They were just talking about the tea-picking song, and in the blink of an eye they were going to hunt in the mountains.
We were just talking about jungle, and they were already talking about fishing and catching crabs in the river.
Seeing that the girls were chatting animatedly, Manager Zhang stayed for a while and then tactfully left.
Zhang Yunniang turned around inadvertently, patted her clothes, pretending to chase away insects, and found that the person had already left.
She continued with her work and continued picking tea with the other girls.
"Miss Zhang, what do you usually do in the master's mansion?" The girls all came from the farm and were full of fantasies about the life in a wealthy family.
Now that the manager has left, he becomes even bolder.
"Yes, yes. Aren't there a lot of rules in a wealthy family?"
"I heard from them that the masters in the capital city eat delicacies from land and sea every day, and even the servants wear silk and satin."
"There's a place called Shuyuxuan in the capital, which is just for us girls to have fun. What a pity, I haven't even been there yet."
"Have you ever been to Shuyu Street? You have to work on weekdays, it would be great if you could go there for fun."
Zhang Yunniang's face was full of black lines. These girls asked questions one after another, looking at her hopefully, hoping that their curiosity could be satisfied.
You asked, but could you at least leave me a space to answer?
"Hey, Miss Zhang, why don't you say anything?"
“No wonder she can work in the master’s mansion. I heard that the eldest girl should be mature and steady, but we look like wild girls from the countryside.”
"Miss Zhang, it's very fun on the farm. Although we have to work during the day, we finish work early at night. Other farms don't rest until the sun goes down, but we can rest at 5 p.m."
Zhang Yunniang: "You also know Shuyu Street?"
"I really want to go there. My sister who's been there said it's like heaven. It would be great if I could go there once in my life."
"Don't we have a holiday every month? Why don't you go and have some fun? It's so much fun. It's full of girls, and everyone can do whatever they want. It's so free. There are a lot of shows to watch, and they're all free. They even provide some free food."
"Every month, I can have one day off in the first half of the month and one day off in the second half. It takes more than half a day to walk back and forth to the capital, leaving me no time to play. It would be great if I could take two days off at once so I can go to the capital and play."
Mo girl pouted. The little girl was no more than ten years old, about eight or nine years old, just the right age for fun.
"Mo girl, what nonsense are you talking about? It would be bad if the steward heard it."
"You little girl, you're not satisfied. We have two days off a month here at the farm, which means we can rest for nearly a month a year. Other farms don't have this good thing."
"That's right, my sisters in other villages envy me so much. They have no holidays all year round, and even if they take leave, their monthly salary will be deducted."
"We were lucky to be bought here. We have enough food, rest, and meat to eat."
"Other villages only have meat during festivals, but we have meat during festivals. We can have a big meal of meat every ten days, and we also have white rice and white flour buns."
"So what do you eat if you don't eat white flour buns and rice?"
"Eat rice or bread mixed with whole grains. It also contains a mixture of rice and white flour, and it's very filling."
Mo Yatou was still pouting, her eyes full of longing for that paradise on earth.
"Cheer up, I'll take you there." Zhang Yunniang blinked and whispered quietly, "Shh, don't tell anyone. When I return home, I'll say I brought too many things and need your help to send them back."
Mo's eyes widened, and she pursed her lips to control the urge to cheer out loud. Her eyes were filled with laughter.
Of course, he's still a child.
In the evening, Jun Qingmo's carriage clattered to a halt at the gate of the villa. The horse pranced leisurely, its cheerful demeanor reflecting its owner's cheerful mood.
When he arrived, Zhang Yunniang had already finished her dinner and went with Mo Yatou to take a walk by the river to digest her food.
Mo Yatou has no father or mother and was bought by Zhuangzi from a human trafficker.
The people here are all older than her, and out of pity for her parents' absence, they all take good care of her. She still has the liveliness and energy of a child.
Zhang Yunniang liked this little girl very much. She was enthusiastic, lively, and cute. In her previous life, she would have been the little flower of the motherland.
Mo Yatou was very skillful. She pulled out two long wild grasses and was weaving a grasshopper.
Zhang Yunniang was trying to weave with a blade of grass, looking clumsy. Mo Yatou was scratching her head as she tried to weave. She could weave quickly herself, but she thought her sister was so stupid that she couldn't even teach her.
Jun Qingmo slid over and saw Zhang Yunniang and a little girl sitting on a big rock, shoulder to shoulder, legs touching, with their feet dangling in the air.
The shadows of the two people were stretched very long by the setting sun, and the orange sky was dreamy and intoxicating.
He was thinking, if Zhang Yunniang was willing to marry him.
If they have children, the three of them will live under the same sky.
How wonderful that would be.
The child was named Yan Ning.
The sea is calm and the rivers are clear, and there is peace and harmony.
He was mesmerized, looking at the quiet scene over there, unable to bear to disturb the warmth.
Yunniang is nice to everyone and can quickly integrate into any place. What qualifications does he have to want to have her all to himself?
I wanted to illuminate the bright moon with my heart, but the bright moon does not shine only on me.
Ah, I want to cry.
It's not good for my sweetheart to be too popular. The attention and focus he gets are getting less and less, and I'm not willing to accept it.
Thinking back to the days when she was in that small courtyard, her heart and eyes were filled with her own life, which was better than being a god.
He was thinking about this and that when the people over there noticed him.
"Second Young Master? Why are you here?"
Zhang Yunniang waved her hands in greeting, jumped off the rock, turned around and picked up Mo Yatou.
Mo Yatou paused as she was about to jump down, and was embraced in a warm embrace.
Zhang Yunniang didn't put her down, but just carried her away.
The little girl rubbed her eyes and put her arms around her neck obediently. She apologized in her heart that she shouldn't have secretly said that Sister Zhang was stupid.
"Are you used to living in the village?"
"It's fun here. We went tea picking during the day, and had fresh roast potatoes and free-range chicken from the farm in the evening. Hey? Did you have dinner?"
"I've eaten. Is this the new kid I met?" Jun Qingmo unfolded his folding fan and smiled gently, looking like a "gentlemanly villain".
Yes, he always keeps his tail spread out, so even if someone looks at him for a second, it doesn't mean his efforts are in vain.
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