Zhao Mingyue followed behind Zhao Minglang as they walked back together. She fiddled with a strand of hair in front of her, while Zhao Minglang snorted, "You gave him shoes, and he didn't say anything?"
"Yes, I said thank you."
Zhao Minglang said disapprovingly, "Just say thank you?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "What else is there to say?" He also said that he liked it very much, but there was no need to tell his third brother; it was enough for him to know.
Zhao Minglang said, "Since he's willing to associate with you, he should take the initiative to pursue you and officially start a relationship with you, instead of doing this sneaky thing. What kind of behavior is this between the two of you?"
Zhao Mingyue's good mood was dampened a bit after her brother touched on her secret. She thought for a moment and said, "Maybe he has his reasons, or maybe the time isn't right yet."
"What are you worried about? What's the timing?" Zhao Minglang retorted. He was determined to protect his sister's interests, no matter who the other party was, they couldn't be allowed to bully her.
Zhao Mingyue said, "Back when Zhao Jinyun slandered me, he stood up and said that we had a purely platonic relationship. Now, not long after, he's with me. He's probably afraid of gossip."
“If he was afraid of gossip, he shouldn’t have messed with you,” Zhao Minglang said. “Or he never intended to be open with you and just wanted to deceive your feelings. When he returned to the city, he would slip away without a trace.”
If Zhao Mingyue hadn't been reborn, she would definitely have thought the same way as Zhao Minglang in this situation. However, the current situation is much better than she expected. She believes that Shen Xuyue isn't the kind of person who would cheat or play with feelings: "Brother, matters of the heart are voluntary. He didn't force me. I like him, and I'm willing to do things for him. I feel happy about it. I will uphold my bottom line and ensure that my love has dignity. I won't lose myself, so you don't need to worry about me. Even if we can't be together in the future, I won't suffer any loss."
Zhao Minglang looked at his sister and found it hard to believe that such words came from the mouth of his seventeen-year-old sister. She was so young, yet she understood things so clearly. He reached out and patted his sister's head: "I feel much more at ease knowing you think this way."
Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your concern, brother."
"Don't talk nonsense. Who told you to be my sister?"
Zhao Mingyue discovered that Shen Xuyue was wearing the cloth shoes the next day. She wasn't the only one who noticed; many others did as well. Shen Xuyue always wore canvas shoes, leather shoes, and sandals, and had never worn cloth shoes before. It wasn't that no one had ever made cloth shoes for him, but he had never accepted them. Now that he was actually wearing cloth shoes, it was big news. Who made the cloth shoes for him?
"Hey, did you guys see that? Secretary Shen is actually wearing cloth shoes now."
"I saw it. I even took a closer look. The stitching isn't very good. The shoemaker is a novice."
"Does that mean he has a girlfriend now? Who do you think did it?"
"I don't know, maybe it's some female educated youth. Didn't she just say that she wasn't doing very well?"
"Yes, that's possible. Anyway, he definitely wouldn't be interested in the girls from our village; he'd have to find someone from the city."
While Zhao Mingyue was weaving the mat, she heard everyone discussing this matter. She smiled and then lowered her head to continue weaving.
That afternoon, Zhao Mingyue went to work and overheard everyone gathered together, whispering about something. Their faces were full of surprise. Zhao Mingyue never liked joining in on such commotion, so she glanced at them with a puzzled look before going to weave mats. Yu Youfen arrived shortly after and whispered to Zhao Mingyue, "Hey, have you heard about Wang Qiulan?"
"What?" Zhao Mingyue frowned; she hadn't seen that crazy woman for a while.
Yu Youfen said, "I heard she's pregnant, already four or five months along. I don't know who the father is. Her mother is trying to find medicine for her to have an abortion."
Zhao Mingyue was taken aback: "What happened?"
Yu Youfen said, "I heard that she often went out during that time, probably because she was taken advantage of. Sigh, how could someone suddenly go crazy, so young, really..." Suddenly she thought of something and changed her words, "What a tragedy, I never thought she was so cruel, even wanting to curse you, this is all retribution. I really don't know what she was thinking."
Zhao Mingyue sensed Yu Youfen's sympathy for Wang Qiulan from her tone. However, she also understood that Yu Youfen thought this way about Wang Qiulan because she didn't know how wicked Wang Qiulan could be. Wang Qiulan's current predicament didn't bring her any remorse. Since someone else had avenged her, it saved her the trouble of getting her hands dirty.
Seeing that she was indifferent, Yu Youfen stopped talking about it and quickly changed the subject.
There was a lot of rain this spring, which seemed like a year of good weather and abundant harvests, but Zhao Shunsheng was sighing at home. Zhao Mingyue asked, "Dad, why are you sighing?"
Zhao Shunsheng puffed on his pipe: "Qingming Festival is approaching, and it's time to pick the pre-Qingming tea. If it continues to rain, the tea leaves won't be able to be processed." Almost every household in Moon Bay knows how to make tea. Pre-Qingming tea is the first batch of tea each year. At this time, the tea leaves are the most tender and less susceptible to pests, making it the best batch of spring tea.
Zhao Mingyue looked at the sky and said, "Dad, don't worry, maybe the sky will clear up soon."
Zhao Shunsheng sighed, "I hope it will be sunny. The worst thing about making tea in spring is bad weather; it's hard to produce good tea that way." Farmers, no matter what they do, all depend on the weather for their livelihood.
The tea trees on the tea mountain, nourished by the spring breeze and dew, have already revived and are quietly sprouting new buds. Rain is not always good for tea leaves. While rain makes the tea leaves grow faster, it also affects their quality, diluting the flavor. Moreover, picking and processing tea on rainy days makes things even more difficult.
Fortunately, just as the tea-picking season arrived, the continuous rain suddenly stopped, the clouds dispersed, the rain ceased, and the sun shone brightly. Zhao Sinong, the village head and an experienced tea farmer, announced over the village loudspeaker, "If it doesn't rain tomorrow, everyone, men and women alike, should go tea picking." Tea picking is a race against time. With thousands of acres of tea gardens, even if each person picked one acre, it would still require over a thousand people. The village has a population of over a thousand, but that doesn't mean everyone can work. Therefore, the headman instructed both men and women to go tea picking and harvest as quickly as possible while the weather was good.
As soon as the notice was issued, the men started to clamor: "What's the old director doing? Men have to pick tea too? Isn't that women's work?"
The women said, "Tch, don't men need to eat?"
That day, every household made preparations, taking out all the willow baskets to wash them clean and drying them in the sun. The tea baskets had not been used for many years and had been gathering dust on top of the granary. Now that they could finally see the light of day, everyone was in a particularly good mood as they washed them.
The next morning, the weather was still fine, and people happily carried their willow baskets up the mountain. The entire tea mountain was full of vitality, and the newly sprouted tea leaves were still green and yellow, tender and beautiful.
Shen Xuyue, holding a megaphone, addressed everyone: "First, I need to remind everyone that no one is allowed to slack off. The income from tea picking will be distributed according to everyone's work points, which are calculated based on the amount of tea picked. We will establish a ranking system; the more tea you pick, the more work points you will receive. So don't try to be lazy and expect others to pick more. Even if others pick more, it won't be yours. If you don't pick, you won't get any work points."
Looking at Shen Xuyue standing on the rock, Zhao Mingyue secretly gave him a thumbs up. This egalitarian distribution practice should have been broken long ago. Eating from the same pot stifles people's enthusiasm and creativity for labor, and it is absolutely unacceptable.
Upon hearing this decision, everyone immediately erupted in discussion. Those who were quick and diligent said, "Great! The more I collect, the more money I'll make, right?"
Some people hesitated and said, "Isn't this a bad idea? Some people are not in good health and are too slow. Wouldn't that be a huge disadvantage for them?"
"Women are better at this kind of work. There are more men in our family, so aren't we at a disadvantage?"
"Haha, so now you admit that you men are inferior to us women?"
Who says men are inferior to women!
"Then what are you still babbling about? Just wait and see."
"..."
Overall, the proposal was well-received. Most people disliked those lazy people who slack off and do nothing, wondering why they should be given free meals when everyone else has done the work.
When it came to work, everyone was indeed working with great enthusiasm, their ten fingers busy picking tea leaves. Like many young men and women, Zhao Mingyue hadn't picked tea much before, but tea picking is an easy skill to learn; it just requires a lot of practice to improve efficiency.
Tea picking isn't hard work; at least you don't have to bend over or exert much effort. As long as you're quick and sharp-eyed, everyone can chat and joke around while they're busy. In the bright sunshine of March, the aroma of new tea fills the air, and people's moods become exceptionally cheerful. The entire tea garden is filled with laughter and joy, a truly lively scene.
Zhao Mingyue was focused on picking tea leaves when she suddenly heard Cheng Meilai laugh and say, "Secretary Shen, are you going to pick tea leaves too?"
Zhao Mingyue looked up and saw Shen Xuyue carrying a tea basket, walking up to her. He looked at her and replied to Cheng Meilai's words, "Of course I have to pick tea too, otherwise I won't get work points."
Zhao Mingyue smiled slightly. Shen Xuyue was holding a tea basket in one hand and picking tea leaves from the tea tree with the other, looking rather clumsy. Zhao Mingyue couldn't help but laugh: "Secretary Shen, I've already picked those over there, there are only a few leaves left. You have to come over here to pick them."
Shen Xuyue blushed slightly and said, "Oh, okay." He then walked over to Zhao Mingyue.
Seeing him carrying a basket in one hand and picking tea leaves with the other, Zhao Mingyue said, "Why don't you find a rope to tie the tea basket to your waist? You can pick tea leaves faster with both hands."
"I've never picked tea before, so I don't know how," Shen Xuyue said.
Zhao Mingyue rummaged in her pocket, found a rope, and tossed it to him: "Here, tie it up."
"Thank you." Shen Xuyue smiled at her.
Cheng Meilai, standing in the tea bushes below, watched the scene unfold above and said, "Oh, Mingyue is so thoughtful. She always carries a rope as a spare. Did she already know that some people would forget to bring their ropes?"
Zhao Mingyue glanced sideways at Shen Xuyue, who was tying a tea basket with a smile on his face. She said to Cheng Meilai, "Sister-in-law Meilai, I have another batch here, do you want it?"
"I don't want it. You can keep it for those careless guys," Cheng Meilai chuckled.
Seeing that she had finally stopped dwelling on the issue, Zhao Mingyue lowered her head to pick tea leaves. Shen Xuyue also tied up his tea basket and resumed picking tea. Seeing that he was picking from the same tree as her, Zhao Mingyue lowered her voice and said, "Go pick from somewhere else."
Shen Xuyue looked him over and then said, "I'll go pick some from across the street."
So it became a situation where the two of them were picking tea facing each other. Zhao Mingyue thought to herself, "Isn't this just trying to cover things up? My third brother and Sister Youfen haven't even picked tea from the same row yet!" She couldn't help but feel anxious, constantly giving Shen Xuyue meaningful glances and shaking her head, gesturing for him to go to the upper tea row. Shen Xuyue just smiled at her, as if he didn't understand her meaning. It was only early spring, and Zhao Mingyue was already sweating with anxiety. Was this man genuinely unaware, or was he pretending not to know?
Cheng Meilai watched from below and laughed: "You two are working together so well, just like a young couple."
Shen Xuyue listened without fading his smile. Zhao Mingyue thought to herself: What is this guy thinking? Oh well, he's not afraid of what others say, and neither am I.
Pre-Qingming tea is delicate, but the quantity is small, so it can be picked quite quickly. Zhao Mingyue is usually a quick and efficient person, but because Shen Xuyue was opposite her, she didn't dare to look at him, so she lowered her head and focused on picking tea, quickly leaving the clumsy Shen Xuyue behind.
Shen Xuyue wasn't actually clumsy. When he saw that Zhao Mingyue wasn't talking to him, she picked tea even faster. He knew she was shy, so he deliberately lagged behind and let her catch up. He couldn't help but sigh: These things really can't be done secretly. You have to find an opportunity to make your stance clear in public so that it can be done legitimately.
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