The ten-year movement brought the entire social economy to a standstill. At this time, everything was in need of rebuilding, and departments at all levels were actively seeking solutions.
Shen Xuyue returned from a meeting in the county with good news: the county's demand for tea has increased, and they are willing to take as much as they can produce, urging everyone to actively produce tea.
Shen Xuyue and the village head estimated that the average yield of tea per mu is about 70 jin, but some of the tea trees in their village are starting to age and the yield will not reach that level. So they estimated that the average yield per mu would be 50 jin. Their village has thousands of mu of tea gardens, so they could have about 5,000 jin of tea. They reported this estimated yield.
The two returned happily, estimating their tea income as they walked. Different grades of tea had different prices: top-grade tea could sell for seven or eight yuan per jin (500g), medium-grade for four or five yuan, and even the lowest grade for two or three yuan. Averaging three or four yuan per jin, that would be an income of fifteen to twenty thousand yuan. Divided among them, that would be over ten yuan per person, meaning each household would earn at least fifty or sixty yuan more—almost doubling everyone's annual income. This was simply incredible news.
Shen Xuyue recalled how Zhao Mingyue had stopped everyone from destroying the tea garden. If they had decided to destroy it back then, there would be no tea left to rely on now. For the first time, Shen Xuyue felt that Zhao Mingyue's insight was extraordinary, as if she had foresight.
The resumption of tea tax collection undoubtedly gave the whole village a shot in the arm. Everyone's spirits were lifted. With income from tea, people's incomes could increase, and their lives would have hope.
With this task target set, people once again turned their attention to the long-abandoned tea mountains. Luckily, they hadn't cut them down back then; otherwise, there would be no going back now. Although the tea gardens are now abandoned, with a little rest, the tea trees will sprout and grow leaves again, and people can start picking tea next spring.
So that winter, the entire tea mountain was bustling with activity. People cleared away all the weeds and shrubs in the tea gardens, pruned the tea trees that needed pruning, replanted the trees that needed replanting, and fertilized the trees that needed fertilizing, all in anticipation of a few spring rains so that the tea trees could sprout new buds again and people could get busy again.
Zhao Mingyue joined everyone in pruning the tea trees in the tea garden. The tea trees hadn't been tended to for many years, and their branches were growing wildly, some even taller than a person. These branches all had to be cut off because they were too tall, making tea picking inconvenient and affecting the growth of the tea leaves below.
In the tea garden, everyone chatted happily. Some bold people couldn't help but sing tea-picking songs. The songs were melodious and had not been heard for many years. Hearing them again now gave people a feeling of being reborn, and they couldn't help but shed tears.
Zhao Mingyue was also very excited. In her memory, she had only heard people sing this song when she went up the mountain to pick tea with her mother when she was a child. Because tea-picking songs always included young men and women picking tea, this was considered decadent music during the movement and was explicitly prohibited. It disappeared for many years. Now, listening to it again under the winter sun, it was as if people's shackled souls broke free from their cages, and the most sincere and natural emotions in their hearts broke through the suppression of reason and rolled out, which was particularly moving.
Yu Youfen and Zhao Mingyue huddled together, chatting as they worked. Good things had been happening one after another lately, and the two sisters were in better spirits than ever before, chattering incessantly. Yu Youqing, carrying a hoe, walked to the nearby tea ridge and began digging manure pits for the tea trees, preparing to fill them with fertilizer.
Yu Youfen looked at her younger brother and suddenly smiled and said, "Recently, I don't know what's wrong with Youqing. He's been memorizing English words even when he's sleeping, and he's always buried in books. My parents are asking him if he's preparing to become the top scholar in the imperial examination."
Zhao Mingyue glanced at Yu Youqing in surprise: "What book is Youqing reading?"
Yu Youfen sighed, "The high school textbooks are like crazy, it's worrying to look at them. We know Youqing wants to study, but what hope do we have now?"
Zhao Mingyue asked Youfen, "Sister Youfen, do you want to go back to school?"
Yu Youfen shook her head: "I've long since given up on this idea. I'm already this old, what's the point of studying? And with this kind of family background, I'm afraid I can't rely on anything for the rest of my life."
"What if—there's still a chance to take the exam?" Zhao Mingyue asked tentatively.
Yu Youfen shook her head slightly: "I won't take the exam. So many years have passed, I've forgotten almost everything, how could I possibly pick it up again? Last time I looked at the books Youqing brought back, it was like looking at a book from heaven."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingyue stopped discussing the topic.
The tea bush they were pruning had grown a thick branch that formed a lush canopy at the top, sparsely obscuring the lower branches. If the difficulty of picking the tea leaves weren't a concern, leaving the upper part would obviously be better. This tree was clearly old and needed replacement, but before that, the upper canopy needed to be removed, leaving the lower branches. Even if tea leaves grew on top, they would be difficult to pick, time-consuming, and laborious – not worth the effort.
Shen Xuyue came down from the top of the tea plantation with a notebook in his hand. As he passed Zhao Mingyue, he saw her struggling to chop tree branches with a machete, so he stopped and said, "Let me do it."
When Zhao Mingyue saw him, she couldn't help but smile and said, "Okay." She then handed him the wood-chopping knife.
Shen Xuyue swung his machete vigorously, chopping at the branches as he spoke, "Even if we cut this branch, the yield probably won't be very high. We'll have to dig it up and plant a new one."
Zhao Mingyue said, "Yes. Secretary Shen, what are you busy with?"
"I'm counting the number of tea trees and noting which ones need to be replanted or replaced so I can buy new tea seedlings." Shen Xuyue had already cut off the branch, handed the machete to Zhao Mingyue, and dragged the branch to the middle of the path for someone to come and take it away.
Zhao Mingyue said, "Isn't it the production team leader who's supposed to do the statistics?"
Shen Xuyue smiled and said, "The tea gardens need to be redistributed. The previous allocation was too vague, and the production team's statistics were also somewhat vague, with a lot of data being duplicated."
Zhao Mingyue said, "With tea gardens in the future, everyone will have hope for a better life."
"Isn't that right? Speaking of which, I really owe it all to you. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have been able to persevere." Shen Xuyue's eyes were full of appreciation and praise.
Zhao Mingyue smiled sheepishly: "I didn't expect that a new policy would be introduced so quickly. It was truly an unexpected stroke of luck."
"You planted this willow tree beautifully." Shen Xuyue picked up his notebook. "You guys continue with your work, I still need to go over there to do the statistics."
Zhao Mingyue said, "Secretary Shen, please take care."
The two were chatting animatedly, while Yu Youfen secretly watched from the side. Yu Youqing was also looking up at the commotion below, as if he were possessed, his heart and eyes filled with sadness and sorrow.
Seeing that Shen Xuyue had left, Yu Youfen asked Zhao Mingyue, "Mingyue, what did you say to Secretary Shen?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "It's nothing. It's just that during that meeting, they talked about cutting down the tea gardens to make terraced fields. I felt it was a bit wrong, so I mentioned it to Secretary Shen. Later, he changed his mind and preserved the tea gardens. Luckily, he did, otherwise we would still have tea leaves to pick. Even if the higher-ups collected more, it wouldn't make a difference, right?"
Yu Youfen looked at Zhao Mingyue in surprise: "Mingyue, so you also played a part in this?"
Zhao Mingyue smiled and shook her head: "No, I was just saying it casually. It's mainly thanks to everyone's efforts."
"No matter what, I still admire you so much. If it were me, I wouldn't have thought of preserving this tea garden. Even if I had, I wouldn't have dared to say anything. I always feel that people are pushed along by fate, and wherever they are pushed, that's where they go. It's better to accept one's fate." Yu Youfen sighed as she said this. Every time she wanted to change something, she always encountered various setbacks, and slowly she gave up the idea of fighting back.
Zhao Mingyue said, "With Sister Fen, sometimes it's important to be proactive and take the initiative to seize what you want. That's the real life. You can't always be pushed around by others, or you'll regret it."
Yu Youfen looked at her and then nodded: "You're right. But I always feel like time is running out for me."
The tea plantation's renewed vitality not only deepened Shen Xuyue's understanding of Zhao Mingyue but also astonished another person: Zhao Minglang. Zhao Minglang had personally accompanied his sister to Shen Xuyue, advising them to preserve the tea plantation, explaining that the national economy was poised for rapid growth and the plantation would have a brighter future. Unexpectedly, in just six months, Zhao Mingyue's words had come true. She had also accomplished her promise to petition for Zhao Jinyun's removal from office. His sister was truly remarkable.
Zhao Minglang didn't think of these things as coincidences; he just felt that his sister was amazing. He had a feeling that his sister would be more successful than many men in the future, and as her brother, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't proud.
Although the movement had ended, people's mode of production had not changed. They still worked collectively and ate from the same pot. When it came time to distribute grain and money at the end of the year, every household was still in the same situation as the previous year. It seemed that they still had to mix dry food with their food to fill their stomachs. With people not having enough to eat, the fighting spirit that had just been ignited by the tea plantation couldn't help but wane again.
Shen Xuyue said to everyone, "Don't be like this, everyone. I believe that by next year, none of us will go hungry. Although things are tough now, there is hope for the future, right? So everyone should cheer up."
Seeing the low morale of the villagers, Zhao Mingyue actually wanted to bring up the policy of contracting land to individual households earlier than planned. However, this would likely require rewriting history. The first time Xiaogang Village in Fengyang, Anhui Province, proposed contracting land to individual households was at the end of 1978, and people had to sign life-or-death contracts back then. This shows how difficult it is to break with the old and establish the new. Later, they made a significant mark on history, ushering in China's reform and opening up. Zhao Mingyue didn't want to distort history, so she decided to wait and see with everyone else.
Moreover, the whole country is currently busy correcting past mistakes, and the situation is still unclear and not very optimistic. There are still some people taking advantage of the chaos to stir up trouble. The real clear skies have not yet arrived, so they can only endure this ambiguous situation for now. The people of the whole country are suffering, and the people of Moon Bay are no more delicate than others.
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