The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 767 - 766 Purpose

Chapter 767: Chapter 766 Purpose

Wang Yongping rubbed the sleep out of his eyes in a daze, still not fully awake, "Go where?"

Guan Yifei was so anxious he was almost hopping on one foot, "To Yingzi Gully! Time waits for no one! Right now is just before and after the Clear Brightness Festival, the best time for tea leaves. Any delay means losing pure silver!"

Jinhoo yawned, "Is it daylight already? Did the Chief Steward you find the person my old aunt asked for? Otherwise, going there is futile!"

Guan Yifei hurriedly said, "When have I, Guan Yifei, ever been unreliable in handling matters? The provisions are ready, and the people have been waiting outside for a while! Now, we’re just missing you two to lead the way!"

Seeing Guan Yifei so eager and everything prepared, Wang Yongping and Jinhoo quickly washed up, each grabbed a bundle of steamed buns, and got onto the horse carriage.

Besides the Wang Family’s carriage, there was another one following behind, leaving Shiqiao Town one after the other.

Heading straight for Yingzi Gully.

Because Guan Yifei was in such a rush and wished they could go without stopping, although the people could take turns eating and drinking, the mules couldn’t cope with that.

When it was nearly noon, they found a shady spot with water and grass, unleashed the mules to drink and graze, and everyone got out of the carriages to walk around and stretch their nearly disjointed bones.

It was only then that Wang Yongping and Jinhoo saw that in the carriage behind them sat an elderly man over fifty, neatly dressed, with a stern complexion.

The bumpy mountain road had troubled even the young, but this elderly man seemed unfazed.

He got out of the carriage and walked around, scrutinizing the surrounding mountains and grass, sniffing the air, and even scooped up some stream water flowing down the mountain to taste it.

Guan Yifei cautiously and respectfully asked, "Master Qi, what do you make of this place?"

That elder, known as Master Qi, remained expressionless and glanced at Guan Yifei, "I haven’t even seen the tea leaves or tea trees yet, what could I possibly make of it?"

Guan Yifei’s face turned red.

Only then did Master Qi speak leisurely, "Although the location is good, the air is fresh, warm and moist, and the water is sweet and refreshing. The trees around here also grow well. If there truly are tea trees in such a place, they are likely to yield excellent tea."

With Master Qi saying so, Guan Yifei’s heart became even more eager.

Looking at the vast deep mountains in the distance, could that place truly fulfill his dream?

At this moment, deep in the Dahei Mountains in Yingzi Gully, the women had all gone to pick tea leaves, and the men were of no help with this meticulous task.

After Wang Yongzhu’s conversation with the men of Yingzi Gully yesterday, she managed to persuade these men.

Each of them was a father, a son, carrying the livelihood of a family on their shoulders.

Hunting was an activity at the mercy of nature and fortune. On a lucky day, bagging a rare big creature could provide for the year’s livelihood.

But if luck wasn’t on their side, catching only ordinary pheasants and rabbits would merely be enough to fill their families’ stomachs.

Which man doesn’t want his family to live a better life?

Do they truly enjoy living in stone caves in Yingzi Gully?

Claiming that the stone caves are convenient is merely an excuse to save face!

In these stone caves, said to be warm in winter and cool in summer, but how warm can they actually be in winter? There would always be drafts blowing through some crevice, cold enough to wake someone up in the middle of the night.

Without the possibility to build a kang or install a chimney in these caves, winter could be more bearable.

They had to rely on brazier for warmth.

Several times in the middle of the night, he had to get up to add more firewood; only then could he fall asleep.

The brazier emitted a lot of smoke, and being in the cave, the older children were somewhat better off, but the younger ones occasionally went unwatched and would bump or knock into the brazier.

Children who grew up in Yingzi Gully often had scars from burns on their bodies, more or less.

Those unlucky enough would fall directly into the brazier, and there were not a few who either ended up disfigured or lost their lives.

As for summer, the cave was indeed cooler, but it was also damp; whenever there were signs of changing weather, large droplets of water would begin to condense on the cave walls.

It wasn’t until the change in weather passed that these droplets would slowly disappear.

During summertime, they lived in this damp environment for the better part of the year.

Therefore, the hunters of Yingzi Gully mostly either had short lives or became riddled with illnesses after turning forty, with dampness seeping into their bones. It particularly affected their joints; living in such an environment year-round led to all kinds of joint problems.

When they got older, their joints would swell up like buns, causing unbearable pain.

As they aged further, not only did their joints swell but there were also those who were bedridden and unable to get up.

Even now, these men still in their prime, living year-round in the cave, began to feel aching in their joints on rainy, overcast days.

Having suffered themselves, which parent could bear to let their child endure the same?

Therefore, each generation of hunters from Yingzi Gully harbored a beautiful hope: to move away from Yingzi Gully and settle down somewhere else.

Wang Yongzhu had gathered a general idea from bits of conversation with the women, and some questions she had asked Yang Zhaodi.

According to her, living in this cave was indeed very hard.

She didn’t say anything else, just that such a large wild tea forest, if its leaves caught Guan Yifei’s eye, would no longer be a wild tea forest, but a treasury of wealth.

This was indeed a blessing granted by Dahei Mountain to the men and women of Yingzi Gully.

As long as the people of Yingzi Gully took good care of the vast wild tea forest, their future life was bound to be much better than it was now.

Not to mention anything else, just considering the labor wage per pound of tea leaves picked, with only two harvests a year, the rest of the time only required periodic care of the wild tea forest.

It didn’t interfere with anything at all!

The wild tea forest could entirely be managed by the women at home, without affecting the men’s hunting.

This way, the household could certainly gain an extra source of income.

By Wang Yongzhu’s conservative estimate, this tea forest could bring each household several taels of silver at the least after a season’s harvest.

Not to mention that if these people learned how to process tea, by frying the picked leaves themselves first, the price could increase several times over.

Hearing this, the big brother leading them naturally felt tempted! And when he heard Wang Yongzhu’s promise that in the future, all of Yingzi Gully’s mountain goods would be collected by the Wang Family and no deceit would be involved, he was even more moved.

However, the leader also knew in his heart that they could not communicate well with the outside traders dealing in mountain goods, especially on such an important matter that concerned the future livelihood of everyone in Yingzi Gully, young and old.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked, "The discovery of this wild tea forest is naturally a good thing for us in Yingzi Gully! But why does the Scholar’s Lady want to help us? We hunters have never believed in the world giving away pies for nothing!"

As he spoke, he watched Wang Yongzhu with a wary eye.

If the wild tea business was so profitable and promising such great returns, how could the Scholar’s Lady stand by and not intervene? If she had no ulterior motive, would such a delicate Scholar’s Lady come to the mountains?