Back to Luohe Prefecture. After receiving Scholar Zhou's letter, You Jin hastily sorted the affairs in hand. On the third day, she took Uncle Song, Qiao-er and the newly recruited driver, got on the newly bought horse carriage, and went south.
As the name suggests, Chaxiang made a living by growing tea. Compared with the tea gardens in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the tea leaves in Chaxiang were picked later. It had the difference between a clear day and rainy day.
You Jin had already visited Chaxiang in February; the time when spring tea was budding. It was impossible to buy suitable tea mountains. In addition, most people were used to growing tea by themselves. Unless there was an emergency that needed money, they wouldn't think about selling the tea garden that the whole family depended on for survival. That was why You Jin stayed in Chaxiang for more than ten days and couldn't find a suitable tea garden. So she had to change her plan. She requested Scholar Zhou to look for a hill suitable for a tea plantation near Chaxiang and find a few experienced tea growers. She wanted to build a Su Family's tea garden in Chaxiang.
Although Scholar Zhou was a scholar, he knew that his talent was only to the level of Tongsheng. After passing the entrance examination of Tongsheng, he no longer focused on studying. He did some small business in Chaxiang area and had a wide range of connection. What You Jin entrusted him to do was done quickly.
"As Miss Su requested, here are all hills that are connected together. A total of 379 mu of hills. If tea trees are planted here, the cost of the saplings alone may be a large expenditure." Scholar Zhou took You Jin along the uneven mountain path one after the other. He introduced the situation of this tea mountain to her: "This tea mountain was originally an unowned wasteland. I had inquired with someone from Yamen. The land taxes and fees cost is one liang per mu of land.Do Miss Su have any thoughts of buying it?"
The price of buying barren hills was about the same. But the hill Scholar Zhou chose was in a very good location. Bypassing the hill in front of them was the official road. If she wants to transport tea in the future, it will be very cheap.
You Jin nodded slightly and asked, "Where is the water source?"
If there was no water source for the nearly 400-mu tea mountain, the irrigation of tea gardens will also be a big problem in the future.
"The source of water is just ahead. There are several springs in the hills. We just need to dig bigger ones and the water will be enough." Since Scholar Zhou was able to choose this place, he naturally went through many considerations.
The two walked around the mountain one after another with one asking and one answering. When they came down from the mountain, Uncle Song, who tagged behind his Eldest Miss, felt that his back was sweating profusely and was extremely hot. Seeing his Eldest Miss glowing with health and radiating vigor, Uncle Song couldn't help feeling that he was getting old. Seeing his master walking away again, he hastened to follow.
Scholar Zhou had acquaintances in Yamen. You Jin had made the decision to buy this land. Within two days, the red deed was exchanged and handed to You Jin. In addition, many part-time workers were found to start tidying up the tea mountain.
It took a lot of effort to tidy up the nearly 400-mu tea mountain. Still, Chaxiang's nearby short term laborers had experience in sorting the tea mountain. Under the discussion of Scholar Zhou and You Jin, all the work was done in an orderly manner.
Scholar Zhou had already sourced the saplings needed for tea tree planting. As long as the tea mountain was sorted and the manure that had been retting the day before yesterday had been buried, the planting could be arranged.
You Jin didn't know much about tea tree planting. She only learned some knowledge about tea tree planting in the past two months. For the general direction, she still had to rely on Scholar Zhou. According to the saying, use the person, don't doubt them; doubt them, don't use them. You Jin adopted most of the reasonable opinions put forward by Scholar Zhou. The cooperation between the two was very pleasant.
This time, You Jin stayed in Chaxiang for nearly a month. Not only was the tea mountain sorted, the newly bought Big Leaf Oolong and Biluochun each occupied 100 mu. Big Red Robe tea and Silver Needle Tea each occupied 50 mu. Another 70 mu were planted with a kind of tea tree called Oriental Beauty, which was popular in Chaxiang.
They also found someone to build a big house with two entrances and two exits at the foot of the tea mountain. The area was about the same size as Su's house in Wuliqiao. It wasn't have much detail; just looked like a clean and flat farmyard. Two rows of blue brick and tile houses were built next to the house as the dormitories for the tea workers of Su Family Tea Garden. After all, Su Family Tea Garden was so big that it took at least a dozen people to take care of the growth of the tea trees on most days. It seems there will be more people.
Under the suggestion of Scholar Zhou, a tea frying workshop covering an area of about three mu was built to prepare for tea picking next year. All these were too numerous to count. During the month of staying in Chaxiang, You Jin had already spent one-third of the 10,000 liang that Xiao Lin Yu lent to her.
"Miss, should we leave someone here to watch? After all, there was a tea garden of three or four hundred mus!" Uncle Song was still a little worried. The people recruited here were local. Once they return to Luohe Prefecture, there is a chance that all the tea saplings get pulled out!
You Jin nodded. Although there was Scholar Zhou who can occasionally help a bit, it was still necessary to have their own people here. So she said what she planned in her mind: "Before I wanted to send Song Hua to Houjiawan. Now this side has more priority. Song Hua had been training with you for a while. What does Uncle Song think?"
When he heard that Eldest Miss was going to hand over such an important matter to his son, Uncle Song replied: "Thank you for favoring Song Hua, but that child isn't always steady. I'm afraid he will cause trouble for Miss... "Although he knew this was a rare opportunity, but if his son messes things up, it will be a greater sin.
"Song Hua is almost sixteen now. It's time to come out and practice for a while. Besides, Luohe Prefecture isn't far from here. It's convenient to get someone to send a letter back if something happens?" You Jin felt this was a very good opportunity to practice. Song Hua was smart and knew how to interact. With experience, he may help out a lot in the future.
Uncle Song heavily kowtowed: "I thank Miss on behalf of Song Hua!"
You Jin hurriedly called him up: "Uncle Song, you are too polite!"
After the discussion here, a letter was sent to Wuliqiao immediately. Ten days later, Song Hua arrived at Chaxiang in the horse carriage with a bundle on his back.
In the past ten days, You Jin, Scholar Zhou, and Uncle Song had bought back 17 young and strong laborers and hired four old tea farmers in Chaxiang to teach these workers how to care the tea trees. Once Song Hua arrived, he saw a piece of bare hills and a group of people scattered on it doing some unknown task.
"Elder Brother!" At the foot of the mountain, Qiao-er was the first to see her elder brother whom she hadn't seen for nearly a month and a half. She happily waved to him before jogging over: "I heard from Eldest Miss that you are coming. You're finally here."
Panting, she took her elder brother into the newly built house and placed the baggage in the house in the front yard that Eldest Miss had already arranged for him. Only then, she led him up the mountain.
Seeing that his little sis, whom he hadn't seen for more than a month, became quite tanned, Song Hua asked in mirth, "Qiao-er, what are you doing with Eldest Miss? Why did you turn into a briquette?"
Although Qiao-er was still young, which girl didn't like being pretty? Hearing what he said, she pursed her lips: "Elder Brother!"
The two siblings cheerfully messed as they headed up the mountain. At this moment, You Jin was leading a group of workers to study hard alongside a few old tea farmers. Seeing Song Hua coming, she hurriedly waved to him: "You came at a perfect time. Quickly listen with us."
When Song Hua saw Miss, the playful smile on his face became serious: "Yes!"
Then he squatted down in a position that was freed up among the tea workers and listened. Although he didn't understand, he remembered a bit.
You Jin specially bought three middle-aged women who were responsible for cooking. They were responsible for cooking for their family's workers every day. This was very convenient. On the night Song Hua arrived, the four master and servants had a sumptuous dinner together. Then You Jin rested early. On the contrary, Uncle Song talked with his son, Song Hua until late in the night. Uncle Song knew that his son had been by his side since he was young. His personality was great and was a smart lad. Just the thought that Son will be staying far away from him, he couldn't be at ease.
Song Hua was was given a tour at Chaxiang's side and was introduced to Scholar Zhou and others. Because Song Hua was a confidant left by the owner and was quite sociable, he became familiar with Su Family Tea Garden's workers in a few days. After staying for a few days and seeing Song Hua settling in, You Jin's master and servants returned to Luohe Prefecture.
Once You Jin and others returned to Wuliqiao, they had already been gone from Wuliqiao for two months. During this period, there were already five or six letters from the capital. Mrs. Su and the others were also eagerly waiting for You Jin to come back every day. After all, no one thought that it would take so long for her to come back from this trip.
"When you left, you were traveling light with few attendants. I thought you would come back after a few days. Never thought you would be gone for two months! Your whole person became darker and thinner!" Looking at Daughter who was a few shades darker and a lot of skinnier, Mrs. Su complained in distress: "It seems away from our sight, you were so busy that you didn't even eat?"
Sitting next to Mrs. Su, You Jin obediently listened to the lecture. Seeing the fatigue on her daughter's face, Mrs. Su couldn't bear to be more harsh and said: "Alright then. Quickly go back and wash up and rest! Once dinner is ready, I'll call you again."
You Jin, who had been sitting in the carriage for a good few days, was naturally happy to be relaxed. She took a bath first. Then she put on thin clothes and prepared to go to bed. However, a bundle of letters on her desk caught her eyes. Out of curiosity, she picked them up. Sitting on the kang, she casually flipped through them. She discovered that all of them were letters from Xiao Lin Yu: "This person is really free!"
After berating in amusement, she didn't read the letter and went to sleep.
You Jin left a few days after the Dragon Boat Festival .When she came back, the Ghost Festival was coming up. The eager Su Family's little girls naturally wanted to see Eldest Sister, but Mother said Elder Sister had traveled for a few days and shouldn't disturb Eldest Sister .So they could only obediently wait in the front yard for Eldest Sister to get up.
"Eldest Sister wake up!" Little Eighth, who had snuck into the backyard at some point and entered You Jin's room when no one was noticing, sat on You Jin's bed with her round eyes open. Looking at sleeping Eldest Sister and seeing her open her eyes, little Eighth threw herself into her arms in delight.
Only after opening his eyes, You Jin had just regained her energy when she was startled by the little thing that suddenly jumped into her arms. Instantly, her senses were wide awake: "Little Eighth, let Eldest Sister get up first, okay?"
Little Eighth lolled in her arms for a long time before reluctantly letting her up. Squeezing little Eighth's chubby face, You Jin sat up. She looked through the glass window and saw the already semi-dark sky outside. Only then, she realized that she had slept for half a day. She slept until her bones were laced with tiredness.
The maid outside, Cao Guo heard the movement in Eldest Miss's room and brought hot water in: "Eldest Miss woke up?"
Seeing one big and one young sitting on the bed, she grinned: "Just now Madam said Eighth Miss disappeared with a turn of a head. Turned out that she ran to Eldest Miss's place."
"Take Miss to the front first. I'll tidy up and go over after." She handed little Eighth to Cao Guo. She accepted the hot handkerchief that Cao Guo handed over and wiped her face. Once she freshened up, she headed to the front yard.