With Liangliang, this curious and tireless little guy, by their side, their journey became incredibly lively and fun. Liangliang loves riding in any vehicle, whether it's a bicycle, a car, a bus, or a train. Of all the options, he likes the train the most because it's the biggest. Once on the train, he was extremely excited and couldn't sleep at all, even when it was time for bed. After getting familiar with his surroundings, he ran around in the aisle of the carriage.
They bought soft sleeper tickets, which meant fewer people. Liangliang curiously looked around each small compartment of the train. So many small compartments within a large building, and several people living in each small compartment—it was all so novel! Shen Xuyue followed his son everywhere, but the child wasn't tired; it was he who was exhausted. Liangliang, finally tired from running around, was about to sleep, much to the relief of the couple.
Zhao Mingyue placed her son on her bunk, propped her head up with one hand, and looked at the little guy's peaceful sleeping face. She gently stroked his eyebrows and eyes with her fingers, but the little guy slept soundly without any reaction. Zhao Mingyue felt a surge of emotion; her life hadn't been in vain, her son was already so grown up. Shen Xuyue walked over and sat down beside his bunk, looking at his wife and son, their faces so similar, both his beloved ones, filling him with a profound sense of happiness. Shen Xuyue reached out and touched his son's little face, saying to his wife, "Sleep well, get some rest. Tomorrow when he wakes up, you'll have to deal with his endless stream of questions."
Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Okay, I'm going to sleep now. You should sleep too."
The lights in the carriage went out, and the train wheels made a rhythmic "clang, clang" sound as they hit the joints of the tracks. Zhao Mingyue fell asleep to this familiar sound, dreaming of her familiar home, the place where she and Shen Xuyue first met.
As dawn broke, Liangliang indeed remained glued to the car window, gazing at the scenery and chattering incessantly. Outside, there were vast plains, leisurely grazing cattle and sheep, rolling mountains, and boundless rivers. In a child's eyes, everything was new and wonderful. Looking at these beautiful landscapes, he could always come up with all sorts of whimsical remarks. These memories, perhaps like dreams, will be imprinted on Liangliang's mind, making it difficult for him to distinguish between memory and dream when he grows up.
After a long journey, they arrived home on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. Their parents, knowing they were coming back, had prepared a meal early and were waiting for them. Four years had passed since their last visit, and the house had changed drastically. Their two older brothers had built large, red-brick houses after earning money, but their parents' house remained unrenovated. They said they preferred living in the old house, as it was cooler in the summer. They were getting old, and they didn't know how many more years they would live in the new house, so they simply decided against it.
Zhao Mingyue hadn't seen her parents for four years. She had only returned home once, the winter Liangliang was born, and hadn't been back since. Her parents had aged considerably, their hair had turned much whiter. When Zhao Mingyue saw her parents, she felt a pang of sadness, and her eyes welled up with tears.
Zhao Shunsheng and Hu Nianchun couldn't help but wipe away their tears. Hu Nianchun nodded vigorously with a smile through her tears: "Yes, it's good that you're back. Come and eat. Liangliang is so big now. Come here and let Grandma hold you."
Liangliang couldn't understand his grandmother's words, so he looked up at his mother. Zhao Mingyue held her son's little hand and said, "Liangliang, call Grandma and Grandpa. Didn't you talk to Grandma on the phone?"
Liangliang looked at the two elderly people and called out loudly, "Grandma, Grandpa," without the slightest bit of shyness.
“Give your grandma a hug. When you were little, your grandma held you every day,” Zhao Mingyue gently coaxed her son.
Liangliang looked at his grandmother's arm, opened his arms, and Hu Nianchun picked him up: "Wow, he's so heavy, you're really good."
Zhao Mingyue said, "Liangliang, give your grandma and grandpa a kiss."
Liangliang readily complied, kissing each of the elderly people. Zhao Shunsheng nodded excitedly, "Yangyang is such a good boy," wiping away the tears that rolled down his cheeks.
Liangliang understood the name Yangyang and looked up at his mother, asking, "Mom, is Yangyang also me?" His full name is Shen Muyang, but no one has ever called him Yangyang.
Zhao Mingyue smiled and nodded: "Yes, Yangyang is you too."
Hu Nianchun said, "Bringing your child to eat, and then eating while warming yourself by the fire, must you be freezing?"
Zhao Mingyue sniffed: "It's still a bit cold at home, I'm not used to it."
Liangliang was wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, looking like a little turtle carrying a thick shell. He felt uncomfortable and had difficulty moving around. He rarely wore such a thick coat at home except when going out: "Mom, I want to take off my clothes."
Shen Xuyue said, "Silly son, you can't take it off. There's no heating at home, and you'll catch a cold if you take off your clothes. You can only take them off when you're going to sleep."
Liangliang nodded, walked to the table, and looked at the room full of children, all smiling kindly at him. Zhao Mingyue said, "Liangliang, these are all your older cousins. Call them 'brother' and 'sister'. After you finish eating, you can play with them."
Liangliang nodded: "Okay." He wasn't shy; he was happy as long as he had playmates.
Zhao Mingyue and her family of three were eating: "Dad, Mom, won't you eat something else?"
“We’ve all eaten. The children are hungry, so we didn’t wait for you. We’ve saved some food for you. Please eat.” Hu Nianchun pulled over her youngest grandson and vigorously patted the dust off his knees and bottom. This was her second brother’s precious son. The child, with his head turned as his grandmother brushed the dust off him, stared at the guests from afar with his dark eyes. His little face was rosy and covered with black scabs, caused by extreme dryness.
Zhao Shunsheng sat for a while, then got up and left. Zhao Mingyue ate while talking to her nephews and nieces. Her eldest nephew was already a teenager, and the youngest was four. The group sat huddled together on one side of the brazier, occasionally glancing furtively at the three guests opposite them. The older nephew recognized his aunt, but the younger ones had only a vague memory of her. They found it quite novel to hear Zhao Mingyue speak her hometown dialect.
Zhao Mingyue asked her nephews and nieces, "Where are your parents?" Zhao Mingyue knew that since her brother and sister-in-law started their factory, they had been eating at their parents' house, and their children were all being cared for by them. Her parents were probably the hardest working, taking care of six children of varying ages and cooking for over a dozen people. Zhao Mingyue felt sorry for her parents, but in the countryside, if her parents were still able to work, there was absolutely no possibility of hiring a caregiver. However, her parents were quite content; the fact that their children could still rely on them was a form of affirmation and reward for them, and they were very happy to do these things for their children.
"At the factory," the children answered eagerly.
"Is the factory still making tea?" Zhao Mingyue asked. Shen Xuyue was busy feeding her son. Liangliang, who was over four years old, could eat by himself, but now he was wearing many clothes, which made it difficult for him to move around. The table was also a bit high, making it difficult for him to eat. His parents had to do it for him.
The eldest nephew said, "No, it was done before. My parents, second uncle, and second aunt were cleaning up the warehouse."
Zhao Mingyue nodded. No wonder; she had thought they were picking winter tea. Winter is the dormant period for tea trees, but the quantity is scarce due to the climate. However, the best tea leaves are extremely expensive. Some people, in pursuit of profit, are willing to damage the roots of tea trees to cultivate winter tea. She was worried that her two brothers would also be so eager for quick success and instant benefits.
As Liangliang ate his meal, he curiously observed his older cousins and even took the initiative to greet them. He spoke with a perfect Beijing accent, which amused his older siblings, but they were all a little embarrassed to talk to him. Zhao Mingyue knew that her nieces and nephews were too shy to speak Mandarin with Liangliang in front of them, but once the adults were gone, they could play around more freely.
After the family of three finished their meal, Zhao Mingyue gave the children some dried fruit, pastries, and other snacks she had brought back from Beijing. She also gave each child a small gift, such as a kaleidoscope, a shadow puppet, or a plastic toy gun. The older children received more practical gifts like pens. The children were overjoyed to receive the food, toys, and other items. Liangliang quickly joined in playing with the other children.
Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue both wanted to visit the tea factory, so the children volunteered to lead the way for their aunt and uncle. Villagers, seeing Zhao Mingyue's family, all came over to greet them. Everyone knew that Zhao Mingyue owned a factory in Beijing and was a successful businesswoman, and that Shen Xuyue was a government official there. She had also helped her two older brothers open their own tea factory; tea from the village was delivered to their factory, and even tea from neighboring villages was sent there. The factory was growing bigger and bigger, a fact that everyone could see. The family was thriving, truly the envy of everyone.
Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue greeted their neighbors with smiles, their accents clear and distinct, as if they had never left their hometown. To everyone else, they seemed incredibly approachable, without a trace of pretension.
The factory was still located at the original educated youth settlement, but the old buildings had been demolished and replaced with two large, spacious, and bright brick houses, complete with a roasting room, a packaging room, and a tea roasting machine. In Zhao Mingyue's eyes, it was still rather rudimentary, but in the eyes of her two older brothers, it was already a remarkable improvement.
Zhao Shunsheng had already arrived at the factory while Zhao Mingyue was eating, so her two older brothers knew as soon as she arrived. They greeted their sister and brother-in-law like honored guests. The factory was already on holiday, and everyone who had helped with the work had gone home for the New Year; only they were packing up. The two older brothers showed them around their tea factory as if it were a precious treasure. Looking at the results, Zhao Mingyue knew that achieving this scale in the countryside was already quite remarkable.
Zhao Mingliang proudly told his sister, "Now that I've bought this tea drying machine, I don't have to worry about rain or hail anymore. It's just that there's only one machine, so the amount of tea we can harvest on rainy days is limited. We can't handle more than that. We plan to buy another one next summer. Your second brother is even more excited than I am. He wants to buy a whole set of tea-making machines."
Second Brother Zhao Minghui chuckled and said, "When we went to buy the machines, we visited other people's factories. They mainly rely on machines to process tea, unlike us, where we rely almost entirely on manpower, which is too inefficient. If we had that whole set of machines, we wouldn't have to worry about not being able to process all the tea leaves we collect, and we could collect more tea leaves to process, making more money." Second Brother didn't talk much, but he had a good idea.
Zhao Mingyue looked at the baking machine and nodded, saying, "Yes, relying solely on manpower is really not enough; the efficiency is too low. How much would a set of machines cost?"
The older brother said, "It'll cost at least 20,000. We don't have enough money yet, so let's take it slow."
Zhao Mingyue said with a smile, "I'll do my part for my older brothers by buying this machine."
Zhao Mingliang and Zhao Minghui had certainly considered borrowing money from Zhao Mingyue, but they had already borrowed some money from her when rebuilding the factory, so they felt a little embarrassed to ask for more. Hearing Zhao Mingyue so readily offer to lend them money, they were overjoyed: "Thank you so much, little sister. We'll pay you back once we've made some money."
Zhao Mingyue waved her hand: "This money doesn't need to be returned. It's to support my eldest and second brothers' business ventures." Initially, Zhao Mingyue's plan was to give each of her three brothers a 2% share of the profits, just like Shen Xuyue's siblings. However, she later thought that it's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Once her eldest and second brothers' businesses are established, they certainly won't want to move their factories to Beijing. Everyone is attached to their homeland, so she decided to help them with the infrastructure construction of their factories.
Shen Xuyue said, "I think I heard that someone in my family is also running a tea factory."
Zhao Mingliang nodded: "Yes, there are people running factories in the next village as well."
Shen Xuyue said, "In that case, won't someone else be competing with you to buy tea leaves?"
Zhao Mingliang sighed: "Yeah, there's nothing I can do about it. We can't just stop people from opening factories, can we? We don't have that power. In the end, we can only see whose price is better."
Shen Xuyue and Zhao Mingyue exchanged a glance, and Zhao Mingyue said, "This might lead to vicious competition."
Shen Xuyue also said, "Yes, this is not conducive to development. Tea farmers are naturally happy to see this happen. If you drive up the price, they will sell to whoever offers the highest price, and your profits will probably become thinner and thinner."
Although Zhao Mingliang and Zhao Minghui didn't have such a direct and profound understanding, they vaguely sensed that something was wrong. When they heard what they said, they were stunned: "Then what should we do?" The tea factory had already been built, and such a large sum of money had been invested. If they couldn't make money, wouldn't all their efforts have been in vain?
Zhao Mingyue thought for a moment and said, "We can contract the tea plantations from the villagers, pay a certain amount per mu per year, and then hire people to pick the tea."
Zhao Mingliang said, "Take it all? Do we take it all?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "When you set up a tea factory, the first thing you need to consider is the issue of raw materials. You need to ensure that there are enough raw materials. Without raw materials, even the most skilled cook cannot cook without rice, and the factory will just be an empty shell. So first, you need to have your own tea mountain to ensure the most basic output. If you want to expand the scale, you can purchase tea leaves from other places. This way, you don't have to worry about people driving up the price of tea leaves in order to grab raw materials."
Zhao Minghui said, "But who would be willing to let us contract their tea plantation?"
Zhao Mingyue said, “I heard that some people from our area have started going to work in Shanghai and surrounding areas, and the tea plantations at home will definitely be abandoned. More and more people will go out to work in the future. My older brothers, why don’t you go and visit some people to see if they are willing to contract out their tea gardens to you? As for the price, you should divide it into two parts: one part is the cost of the tea leaves, and the other part is the labor cost for picking the tea. Just offer them the price of the tea leaves. If they think it’s too low, explain to them that this is the price of the tea leaves, and if they are willing to come and pick the tea, the labor cost for picking the tea will be calculated separately. In this way, they will not actually lose any money, and if they work harder, they may even earn more than before. This way, you will not lack labor. After all, you can’t manage thousands of acres of tea plantations by yourself, so you will definitely need to hire people.”
Upon hearing his sister's words, Zhao Mingliang suddenly felt enlightened: "So that means we can at least guarantee that we have our own tea leaves, right?"
Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue both nodded with smiles: "That's exactly how it is. It might involve a lot more work than if you directly purchased tea leaves, but you can now run your tea factory without any worries."
Zhao Minghui said, "What my sister said makes a lot of sense, but if we contract one mu of tea plantation, it will cost at least two hundred yuan a year. So, one thousand mu would cost two hundred thousand yuan, which is too much."
Shen Xuyue said from the side, "Actually, there is another way, which may be less expensive, but it will take a little longer to take effect."
Zhao Mingyue looked at her husband: "What?"
Shen Xuyue said, "We can contract barren mountains and grow tea ourselves. There are still quite a few mountains here that can be used to grow tea. If we can contract them to grow tea, we won't need to contract tea gardens from tea farmers, and the cost should be relatively low. Tea trees can be harvested in three or four years."
Zhao Shunsheng, who had been silent all along, said, "Three years will be enough."
Zhao Mingyue asked her father, "Dad, which mountains around here can still be used to grow tea?"
"There are many places, such as Nantouling and Songzi'ao, where tea can be grown." Zhao Shunsheng is an experienced tea grower and knows these places very well.
Zhao Mingyue said, "In that case, let's contract the barren mountain. It's the end of the year now, so it's a good time to go and contract it with the village. We can start clearing the mountain and planting trees as soon as spring comes. Then it will all be money trees, big brother, second brother."
Zhao Mingliang smiled and said, "You guys really know how to handle things. As soon as you came back, you solved all our problems."
Zhao Mingyue said, "I'll say it again: I'll pay for the factory's machinery, the first three years' worth of renting the barren mountain, and the tea seedlings. You don't need to pay me back."
Her two older brothers looked at her with delight. Zhao Mingyue said, "But, eldest brother, second brother, I have a request."
Zhao Mingliang said, "Go ahead."
Zhao Mingyue thought for a moment, then looked up at her two older brothers and called over her two sisters-in-law who were tidying up the warehouse. She explained the situation to them as well, and then said, "I've thought about this matter many times. I think it can be handled like this. Let's see if you have any objections. I will cover the basic construction of the factory and the costs of contracting the barren mountains and buying tea trees for the first three years. You don't need to pay me back. However, I need 10% of the tea factory's shares. That is, you need to give me 10% of the profits you earn each year. Do you agree?"
The eldest and second eldest brothers exchanged a glance, wondering what Zhao Mingyue was up to. Zhao Mingyue said, "I won't interfere in the factory's affairs, but if you have any major decisions you can't make up your minds about, you can tell me, and I will try my best to help you come up with ideas."
For a moment, everyone fell silent, each making their own calculations. Zhao Mingyue's request wasn't unreasonable. She was the one who established the tea sales channels for the factory, and opening the tea factory was her idea. Now, rebuilding the tea factory was also funded by her, so asking for 30% of the shares wasn't excessive.
Zhao Mingliang nodded: "Okay, I agree. This factory couldn't have been built without you."
If the eldest brother agrees, the second brother will naturally agree as well, since the eldest brother was originally in charge of this factory.
Zhao Mingyue glanced at her eldest and second sisters-in-law, knowing they probably had some thoughts in their minds: why would she, who was so rich, need to share such a small amount of their money?
Zhao Mingyue smiled and said, "Let me be frank, the 10% share I want isn't actually for myself; it's for my third brother. My eldest, second, and third brothers are all my own brothers, and I want them all to be well, which is why I'm willing to invest in this tea factory. If my third brother also manages the factory, then naturally the shares will be divided equally among the three of us. But my third brother has his own business and certainly won't have time to manage the factory, so I'm only fighting for 10% of the shares for him, hoping to improve his life. I also hope my eldest and second sisters-in-law can understand. As for our parents' care in the future, I'll take care of it; my brothers and sisters-in-law don't need to worry about it."
Zhao Shunsheng looked at his daughter, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.
Zhao Mingyue's bright eyes swept over her brothers and sisters-in-law again: "Do my brothers and sisters-in-law have any objections to my decision? If so, please speak up as soon as possible. I think it's better if this is something that is mutually agreed upon, so as to avoid future conflicts and damage to our relationship. If you are not willing to give up these shares, then I will have to adjust the plan."
The eldest sister-in-law tugged at Zhao Minglang's arm, and the second sister-in-law thought for a moment and said, "Can we discuss this again?"
Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Okay."
Zhao Mingyue had long known that matters concerning her family were rather difficult to handle. If she took the shares herself, her sisters-in-law, no matter how dissatisfied they were, would probably be too embarrassed to object. But if she gave them to her third brother, they would likely feel a pang of regret, thinking that their money was being given to Zhao Minglang for nothing. After all, Zhao Minglang hadn't contributed a single penny or effort, yet he was getting money for free—it seemed too good to be true.
Zhao Mingyue could have kept the purpose of the shares a secret and given them to her third brother privately, but she wanted to gauge her sister-in-law's attitude and bottom line, to be upfront about it sooner rather than later, so there wouldn't be any future disputes. Now that her nephews and nieces were all grown up, there were so many of them. What if they didn't want to run the tea factory at home and longed for the outside world, and her brother and sister-in-law still wanted to force them into their factory? Wouldn't that be repeating the mistakes of her previous life?
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