Chapter 77: Be Content with a Small Fortune
"They said they wanted to follow the rules and make her work hard. She didn't have much time to rest during the day. This time she had a miscarriage and she didn't even realize she was pregnant. What a pity."
"She's so obedient? She does the work when she's told to do it?"
"I don't know the details of the situation. I just heard that Tang Jianguo told her to be filial to her mother. Isn't that right? She is the daughter-in-law. What can she say?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, it seems like the Tang family is hard to get along with. Why didn't I realize that before?"
"How could I not feel that? If the Tang family were easy to get along with, would they have tortured a good child like that? I originally thought that the child was difficult to raise, but now I see that the family is just not human."
"Tang Jianguo is also confused. Filial piety is filial piety, but you can't just listen to everything you say, right?"
"That's right. It's just that our lives were too good before, and we were separated by distance and had no contact, otherwise we would have had conflicts a long time ago."
"Well, didn't Xiaoyuan have to bear all the original conflicts alone?"
“That’s true.”
…
I heard, it seems, it seems... When the news reached Tang Yuan's ears, I didn't know how many people passed it on, and I didn't know how much truth it had.
Anyway, as the rumor spread, it turned into the news that the baby in Liu Hongmei's belly was aborted.
If she hadn't heard the news from the source, she would have believed it.
But this was not a bad thing for her. After all, the news spread, and many people came to her and reminded her to live a good life for herself in the future and never give her monthly salary to the Tang family.
Even the leaders of the machinery factory talked to her privately, telling her that she was now a member of the machinery factory and that no matter what happened in the future, the machinery factory would protect her.
After two days of spreading the news, as it became increasingly more serious and outrageous, the machinery factory had no choice but to issue a statement, briefly explaining the cause and effect of the incident.
It is true that Liu Hongmei had a miscarriage, but the story that the baby in her belly was aborted is a fabrication.
As for why she had a miscarriage, it was mainly because she caught a few colds during the coldest weather around the Chinese New Year, which resulted in her being unable to keep the baby even though she was pregnant, leading to a miscarriage.
There is no detail on why she caught a cold.
However, the workers in the machinery factory had already guessed this before, so when they saw this situation, they could easily identify the cause.
Finally, as for how to deal with Tang Jianguo, the machinery factory still needs to have a detailed understanding with Liu Hongmei and see what Liu Hongmei thinks. If she, the "victim", thinks that severe punishment is necessary, the machinery factory will naturally not let him go, but if Liu Hongmei has no idea, the machinery factory can't do much.
After all, Tang Jianguo is now on unpaid leave, and the most severe punishment would be dismissal. The matter is serious at this point, and we have to look at the circumstances of the person involved and hear his opinions.
Everyone was waiting to see the result, but unexpectedly there was no news from the machinery factory in the next few days. Even Liu Hongmei, who was clamoring for a divorce, did not make any further news, which made many people who wanted to see the excitement very disappointed.
Tang Yuan only paid attention to the matter for two days and then stopped paying attention to it.
The original owner's life was at stake, so it was impossible for her to get along with the Tang family in a friendly manner, but it was also not okay for her to kill anyone. She was happy to see these evil people fight each other, otherwise there would be no point in her trying to send Tang Jianguo back.
Liu Hongmei's life in the countryside is not easy. Tang Jianguo, who has worked in the machinery factory for many years, has no salary when he returns and has to eat and spend at home. She doesn't believe that he has no conflicts with the Tang family.
The facts turned out to be just as Tang Yuan predicted.
Tang Jianguo did not go back to the machinery factory with Liu Hongmei. It was not because he did not want to go back, but because his family members prevented him from going back.
It was the sowing season, and he had been clearly put on unpaid leave. Not only would he not get paid if he returned to the machinery factory, he would also have to pay for transportation. Naturally, the Tang family would not agree, and each of them pulled him back, asking him to stay and work.
Even if Tang Jianguo doesn't do much, he is still a strong laborer.
At this time, Tang Jianguo looked much older than before he returned home. He was wearing a coarse linen shirt, carrying a hoe, and walking towards the field step by step with a dark face.
Occasionally I would meet villagers and hear their praises.
"How filial you are."
"That's right. He gave up his good job in the factory and insisted on coming back to take care of his mother. He is the most filial person in the village."
"Jianguo, you are really promising."
When facing each other, everyone praises him, but behind his back, there are mixed opinions on praise and criticism.
"What a fool! You can earn a lot of money working in a machine factory. Why do you come back to the fields?"
"It seems like I'm going to get a promotion, but it's only sixteen months, one year and four months, time flies by, unlike us, who have to dig for food in the fields all their lives."
"I definitely can't do it anyway. Even if I work as a laborer in a factory for the rest of my life, it's better than working in the fields."
"That can't be helped. They have their own ideas."
…
It's not like Tang Jianguo hasn't heard what everyone said behind his back. If he had a choice, he would never come back no matter what.
But his mother didn't give him any face at all, and with that two-faced and unfilial daughter, if the matter hadn't been a big deal, the factory leader wouldn't have made such a decision.
But the reason was so serious that he couldn't go back at this time no matter what.
After these sixteen months, he returned to the factory and would never come back to the village in his lifetime!
Thinking about this, he looked at the person coming over from the opposite side and tried hard to force a smile.
…
After listening to some gossip, Tang Yuan put aside the family affairs and continued to focus on business.
The tea season is over, and the amount of young tea served is indeed gradually decreasing, but at the same time, the amount of old tea is increasing a little bit.
Knowing her style, when everyone brought tea to her, they would indicate whether it was young tea or old tea, so that she could clearly distinguish it and pay according to the quantity.
It is relatively easy to distinguish old tea from young tea. As long as you know a little about tea leaves, you can tell the difference at a glance. However, because old tea is easy to pick, the quantity is also easy to increase.
Originally, each family sent up young tea, weighing at most three to five kilograms. Now, each family sends up old tea, weighing up to several dozen kilograms, and each time they send up several large bags.
For this purpose, some people even came up one day and built a large shed nearby to store old tea.
However, the price of old tea is cheap, only one cent per pound. If a family delivers 50 pounds of tea leaves, it only costs 50 cents.
She had no other place to store it, so all the tea was not transported away as everyone thought. Instead, it was all kept in her house. There was so much old tea that it filled up room after room without her noticing.
She really had no choice but to carry out two large bags of old tea on a shoulder pole one day.
They were said to be two large bags, but in fact they were two large sacks, each weighing fifty kilograms.
To offset this “outbound” shipment, she had to increase the amount of rags she stockpiled, which resulted in fewer bags of tea but many more bags full of rags in her house.
She suddenly regretted using empty bags instead of rag bags to "transport" the items.
If she had known this would happen, she would not have done that. But now she has caused herself trouble again. Her house is filled with bags of rags, making her think she is running some big business.
She walked away with the basket on her shoulder, then she turned around and went to the market where she usually sold tea, and placed the two bags of tea in the market.
The first thing people who know her ask is: "What kind of tea is it today?"
"Today's tea is old tea." Tang Yuan moved the bag, opened the bag, and put away the price tag he had been using for the past few days.
The customers who were strolling around were immediately attracted and asked: "Tea leaves are only one yuan per pound?"
"They are all old teas. I'm not lying to you," Tang Yuan showed the other party the tea leaves in the bag. "But you can buy them back to make tea soup. Good tea leaves are eight yuan per pound. The price difference between the two is huge."
"It's old tea, no wonder it's so expensive," the customer looked down at the tea in the bag, then glanced at the brand, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Then give me five kilograms. It's really good for making tea soup. Five kilograms of tea can last for a long time."
"Yes, I'll pack it for you." Tang Yuan weighed the other party.
The price was cheap, so she used one sheet of newspaper for every pound of tea, and made a bag for five pounds of tea. After tying it up, she wrapped a slightly thicker book page underneath to prevent it from leaking out.
There is indeed little tea in Hong Kong, but whether it is young tea or old tea, there is a constant stream of customers.
She has been going to several markets these days, bringing out 100 kilograms of tea every morning, which she can easily sell all. In the evening, she goes to a larger market farther away and cannot bring back much tea, so she mainly sells young tea.
However, if she had too much old tea on hand, she thought she would still have to go to the big market. But if it was not suitable to take the bus, she could call a rickshaw to move the things over to her.
The young tea is sold at 350, 500, 800 taels, or mostly at one or two kilograms. The old tea is sold at 35 kilograms. If there are 100 kilograms of tea, all of it can be sold out as long as 20 to 30 people come to patronize it.
She earned 100 yuan for every 100 kilograms she sold.
Compared with young tea, which costs eight yuan per catty, if you can sell thirty catties in the morning, you can get 240 yuan. The money earned from old tea is relatively less, but if you compare the profits strictly, the profits of old tea are higher than those of young tea.
The price difference for young tea is 40 times, while the price difference for old tea is as high as 100 times.
However, people around her don’t think so. Anyone who has picked tea leaves and knows a little about tea leaves will know how much tea leaves can be picked every day. Her price is almost at the bottom price. Even if she is happy that she is making a lot of money, the boss next to her can’t help but sigh that "all the money is hard-earned."
Of course, the boss also bought her tea.
Tang Yuan nodded seriously when he heard what the other party said, "Yes, I am just making a little money. I am afraid that if I set the price too high, it will be difficult to sell. Ordinary people like us don't have big channels."
Boss: "It's OK to make a little money. If you make a lot of money, people will target you. Even the shabby business will be snatched away by people, just to see how profitable that business is."
Tang Yuan nodded again: "That's it."