Wang Siniang greeted people and walked all the way up the mountain. Tea gardens like a refreshing environment, so the tea gardens in Phoenix Villa are located in the upper half of the mountain near the top of the mountain. [No pop-up novel website] The bluestone path winds all the way up. Newly planted saplings have been planted on both sides of the road. Some of these saplings were bought from nearby nurseries, and most of them were bought from the pier leaning on the riverside at the foot of the mountain. It can be unloaded from the big ship.
Wang Siniang never knew why Mr. Zhao didn't like local seedlings. Almost all the seedlings planted at Phoenix Villa, especially the profitable ones, were unloaded from ships.
It is spring now, and all kinds of flowers and trees are in bloom. The journey along the way is like walking among the clouds. She walked through a plum forest planted last year. Although the tree was no taller than a person, the flowers were already in bloom. The pink and white flowers were floating on the foothills like clouds, and a faint fragrance hit her nostrils from time to time. There are several boxes of bees placed among the trees, flying among the flowers. These plum trees were specially planted by the master by ship. Wang Siniang knows a little about the ways of literati, and feels that although the master is a businessman from Guangli, he is also an elegant man.
Zhao Yingong did not plant plum trees on the mountain for elegance. In fact, he did not arrange anything to be planted on the mountain. Professionals from the Agricultural Committee came to the site and arranged them one by one. The overall principle is to ensure the greening of the hillside while also obtaining certain economic benefits. Although these dozens of acres of plum groves are good for reciting poems and composing poems, the main purpose is to obtain plums for pickling sour plums.
Walking along the road up the mountain, there are all kinds of newly planted saplings along the way, and some fast-growing tree species have already reached a large scale. The bamboo transplanted the year before last has become a forest. Looks lush.
The mountain road is winding, and streams are flowing in the canals on the roadside that have both irrigation and drainage functions, bringing down the fallen leaves and flower petals along the way.
Wang Siniang was sweating slightly. Looking around, it was very different from when she came to seek refuge the year before last. The long-term workers in the forest are busy, either pruning branches and leaves, or loosening the soil and fertilizing. Others are collecting dead branches and leaves in the forest and clearing out weeds. A busy spring scene.
Wang Siniang climbed until she was close to the top of the mountain. There was a large tea garden here. Most of them were newly planted last year, and the tea saplings were specially purchased from the Longjing area.
Naturally, tea cannot be harvested from a tea tree that has just been planted for a year. She has to go to another tea garden. Originally, someone had cultivated it on the mountain. Later, because the quality of the tea was mediocre and could not be sold for money, it gradually fell into disuse. When Zhao Yingong bought land in Phoenix Mountain, he bought it together. After pruning and fertilizing. The tea trees grew very well last year. However, no spring tea was picked that year, only summer tea and autumn tea. This year is the first time to pick new spring tea.
Before the autumn tea came out last year, Cai Shi came to her specifically and asked her to pick and roast 600 kilograms of fine autumn tea, saying that the master wanted to give it away.
Tomb Sweeping Day will be here in a few days, and this is the best time to pick new tea "before Ming Dynasty". Although Cai Shi did not come to take care of her this time, Wang Siniang still planned to follow the example of last autumn and carefully select Caimingqian's new tea. After frying, I will present it to the master before and after Qingming Festival.
A dozen women, old and young, have gathered at the entrance of the tea garden. They are all dressed in the same color as her. Seeing her coming, they all smiled and stood up to say hello. They are all refugees who were taken in during last year's severe drought in northern Zhejiang. Many of them have a background as tea farmers, so they stay in the villa to work exclusively in the tea gardens.
Wang Siniang is the "old man" and "head" of the villa. The female tea-picking workers can't help but flatter her. The younger ones call her "fourth sister", while the older ones dare not call her "sister" outright, but at least they have to call her. A fourth sister-in-law.
Before she could stand still, several usually smart female workers gathered around her like a gust of wind. Some took over her tea basket, some hurriedly brought her tea, and some saw that they couldn't make it in time and hurriedly used their own tea baskets. He spread the towel on the stone and pulled her to sit down.
Wang Siniang was used to this for a long time. She smiled and waved her hand: "Tea, I'll drink it later. The weather is nice today, it's a good day to mine new tea. This time, Mingqian tea, one flag and one shot." . This tea must be prepared to be presented to the master, either for personal use, or for the master to give to others, so everyone must handle the errands carefully."
"Fourth sister, what are you talking about? Not to mention that the master wants to use the tea, even if you are here to take care of it, do we sisters dare not do our best?" A female tea waiter inside said with a smile on her face, "You are here Have a rest, let’s start picking tea now.”
"How can this be done?" Wang Siniang is very smart. Although she has not had much contact with Mr. Zhao, she has heard and witnessed a few things and knows that the master is very disgusted with his servants doing Weifu things, so she is very careful on weekdays. She stood up and said, "Everyone, let's get started. We've picked the tea, and we have to fry it all night. Everyone, work harder."
"Okay." A group of female workers agreed together.
Tea picking should start at noon, neither too early nor too late is appropriate. After picking, let it sit for an hour and a half before starting to fry. The fresh tea leaves picked are generally not kept overnight. The technique of frying tea in the 17th century was almost the same as that of later generations. The only disadvantage was that there was no electric pot and it was difficult to control the temperature. Therefore, frying tea increasingly relied on the experience of workers. Fortunately, last year's great disaster in northern Zhejiang had all kinds of people among the victims. The expert tea fryer is about to get two. Siniang Wang’s craftsmanship is barely passable. Give the master in charge of tea frying a try. So every day Wang Siniang and the female tea workers had to work until midnight before going to bed.
The fried Hangzhou new tea is provided to the general office as a special supply for Hangzhou station. Zhao Yingong can be regarded as making a contribution to the Senate. Gain some trust for yourself in the Senate.
Even though it was a "special supply" of tea, given the stingy style of the Senate, it had to be a one-flag-one-shot kind. Wang Siniang is an expert at picking tea, with quick eyes and quick hands. While picking, I also had to teach the novices around me: "Pick with your fingers, not with your nails!"
The work of picking tea is very hard. Although the spring sunshine is warm, it makes people feel unbearably hot after being exposed to it for a long time. Besides, they still stand in the airless tea bushes for an hour or two, working non-stop with their hands and eyes. After a while, I was sweating profusely. After working continuously for nearly an hour, some of the weak ones had their faces flushed and stopped to pant from time to time.
"Drink some water and take a breath! Don't stop, catch up immediately!" Wang Siniang kept moving and urging the female workers who were starting to fall behind.
As the leader, Wang Siniang has the right to arrange rest time, but she will not stop easily. Each team has a daily quota of work, which must not only ensure quantity but also quality. And this workload is roughly enough to be completed.
Although there are experienced people in her group, there are also many novices. If we don't work hard, we won't be able to complete the picking quota before the work ends at dark. The tea leaves picked every day have to be sent to the tea frying room for processing - the tea frying masters also have their own work quotas, and if they cannot deliver enough tea in time, the whole process will be unraveled. During the assessment, the entire group will have their monthly fees deducted. As the "leader", she herself suffered even greater losses: in addition to the monthly salary, management allowances were deducted. If you are unable to complete your consideration, your position as the leader will not be guaranteed.
There are people everywhere who can work and do well, but there are very few people who can lead others to work and still do well. If Wang Siniang wanted to keep her position, she had to desperately urge her subordinates.
Baskets of fresh leaves were sent to the tea-frying workshop down the mountain by a special transportation team. Wang Siniang kept moving and moving until the breath of the mountain sounded fourteen times in a row before announcing a break.
"Everyone, please take the time to eat, drink, and wipe your sweat. We will start again later!" Wang Siniang herself was so tired that she did not forget to encourage everyone.
Everyone came to the big tree where they were resting. An insulated tea bucket had been prepared here, with tea brewed in it, and there was also a small rattan box of snacks.
This kind of snack is actually a kind of military ration from Lingao. It is characterized by containing more sugar and salt. It is an "energy bar" that can quickly replenish physical strength for field workers who consume a lot of energy.
Wang Siniang was holding a bamboo cup, drinking water and eating snacks, looking at the number of work recorded on the blackboard - this is the number of kilograms of tea they have picked so far. According to this progress, they have just completed less than 40% of the quota.
There is still an hour and a half until the end of work in the afternoon, so if you catch up, you can still make it in time. She was a little unsure about today's tea-picking situation, and thought about how to adjust the tea-picking routes of each tea-picking worker in the afternoon to maximize their tea-picking speed.
Rest periods are thirty minutes, but they rarely take up to full time. After drinking water and having snacks, everyone consciously got up and got ready to go back to work. Of course, if you don't meet the schedule, you will be deducted. If you can exceed the limit, you will also get a bonus. Although tired, I am still very motivated.
In the next hour and a half, tea picking began according to her readjusted personnel allocation. The hands and feet were kept busy like this until the sky was getting dark and the whistle started to sound seventeen times, and today's tea picking work came to an end.
The tea picking is over, but their work is not yet finished - the work in the tea frying workshop has not yet begun. They have to help spread leaves, finish green leaves, pick stems... and do auxiliary chores inside. Phoenix Villa is not a place where the sun rises and the sun sets. The basic working time here is twelve hours. Wang Siniang started work at eleven o'clock. According to the twelve-hour work system, she could not get off work until eleven o'clock in the evening.
After packing up their tools, the group meandered down the mountain. The younger girl was too tired to speak. There are many large and small houses and courtyards built in a relatively flat area at the foot of Phoenix Mountain. This is where the general management office and various workshops of Phoenix Villa are located. (To be continued...)
