Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 576 - Chapter 576 576. Maozhu educates his son_1

Chapter 576: 576. Maozhu educates his son_1 Chapter 576: 576. Maozhu educates his son_1 Zhou Tianyu woke up to find it was already past eight o’clock, with the sun dazzlingly high in the sky, and just walking around in the yard had gotten him covered in sweat.

The house was silent, and his dad had just returned with a deep blue pesticide sprayer on his back.

“Dad, it’s so hot, are you still spraying pesticide now?”

“Have to, we got busy in the spring and didn’t take care of the fields. Your mom also has to pick the tea leaves, and the weeds in the tea and vegetable gardens have grown so tall.”

It was more than just weeding, their tea garden was much bigger than Song Tan’s, covering over a dozen mu. Weeding wasn’t a matter of just pulling lightly to get them out by their roots. Those wild weeds dug in deep, and it took a lot of effort to pull them out–exhausting work!

And with more than a dozen mu of tea garden, it would take the couple almost half a month to weed by hand. Look again later–a lush carpet of new weeds where they started weeding!

They had to rely on spraying.

After all, every spring they could make a good ten thousand yuan or so by selling the fresh tea leaves in the market for a couple of months.

Zhou Tianyu nodded his head and then asked, “Where’s mom?”

Zhou Maozhu put down the sprayer, washing his hands and wiping off sweat as he explained, “She’s gone to Song Tan’s tea garden, to bring back the pruned tea branches. Load three or five carts and then strip the leaves–that’s done in the yard, out of the sun and with a fan… probably working until ten o’clock.”

“If you’re hungry, there’s some congee in the pot, have some to hold you over.”

Zhou Tianyu was somewhat displeased, “It’s so hot, why make mom do this?”

“What?” Zhou Maozhu raised his voice, “Including transport and stripping, it’s 150 yuan for a day’s work! If it wasn’t the hot season, where would you get this price? Wouldn’t it be silly not to earn the money when it’s there?”

Early in the morning, around five or six, they load the tea branches onto the tricycle, and Zhang Wang’s family cycles them to the yard. The branches are loose, not bundled, so about seven or eight trips usually does it.

They don’t get too tired, just moving them from the ground onto the truck. It’s just a bit hot and sweaty.

Then, by about 8:30 a.m. when it gets hot, they can head back to the yard to strip the tea leaves, working until ten o’clock.

Later in the afternoon, they work from four until six-thirty and it doesn’t even interfere with getting home to cook and such…

Just for this, 150 yuan a day, it’s really only because of the high temperatures that Song Tan’s family doesn’t want the old lady moving and lifting stuff, so they pay this price!

The other old ladies who just strip the leaves without doing these jobs, they get 100 yuan a day.

“If it weren’t for your mom still being young, I wouldn’t let her do this work.”

My mom still young? She’s already fifty!

Zhou Tianyu couldn’t help but be speechless.

But then he thought about it, and couldn’t help feeling a bit down, “So you fry tea leaves for her family in the spring, and my mom strips leaves for them in the summer… It’s like we’re practically employees of their family.”

They were roughly the same age, from the same village, and his monthly salary alone could buy a pound and a half of tea leaves… Why was the gap so large?

Zhou Maozhu sighed, “I think about it too. The Zhang Wang family on the back mountain works for Song Tan’s family all month, not much, 2500, but includes meals–”

Oh dear, if it were all like the taste of the day before yesterday, even for 1500, he’d do it if it weren’t for saving money!

Speaking of this, he was truly envious, “You didn’t see it. The Zhang Wang family looked like they were one foot in the coffin at the start of spring, completely lacking any vitality.”

“Now, look at them! Their faces are full and round, the complexion so good! Even their limping walk has a breeze to it! They’re just so full of energy now! And the work isn’t heavy, plus they can drive a tricycle!”

2500, in the eyes of the villagers, wasn’t a high salary. But the problem is, this is work right at their doorstep!

And what heavy work could Zhang Wang with a limp do?

Preparing fertilizer, watching over the fields, peaches, watermelons, cycling and transporting things…

Isn’t that wonderful!

Comparing that to his son, who rested at home for a day yesterday and still hadn’t recovered, showing an exhausted face, Zhou Maozhu couldn’t help feeling some disdain, “There you are, earning over ten thousand a month, how much have you saved?”

Zhou Tianyu instantly recoiled, stammering:

“The cost of living over there is high, plus you have to pay rent, utility bills, commute expenses… and sometimes you have to dine out for socializing…”

On average, earning fifteen thousand a month, it would be decent if he could save five thousand. He’d been working hard for over two years, grateful that he hadn’t gone from having nothing to being deeply in debt. Instead, he’d managed to save fifty thousand yuan…

Ahem!

Compared to other young people, he was doing quite well!

Zhou Maozhu did some calculations on his phone: “Two and a half years, saving fifty thousand, that’s an average of two thousand a month, huh? Where’s the other ten thousand plus going each month?”

The honest man felt darkness before his eyes, utterly perplexed how he’d been living all this time! Where had all the money gone!

Zhou Tianyu felt wronged too!

Over there, just renting an apartment cost over 2000 a month, and it was a remote and shabby place at that! Then with the overtime work at the company, ordering takeout or drinks when he was hungry seemed pretty normal, right?

Plus, he was managing three people, and they would occasionally go out for meals, drinks, sing some karaoke…

In any case, he had been very restrained, and he didn’t even have a credit card!

Zhou Maozhu couldn’t comprehend why a beverage would cost twenty or thirty, or why the starting price of takeout delivery was twenty… He just muttered:

“You’re not even doing as well as Zhang Wang’s family, at least he saves all his money. He can save over twenty thousand in a year! I heard that for the Dragon Boat Festival, Song Tan said she’d cover the meals and didn’t distribute grain and oil like before, but bought a new set of clothes instead…”

Zhou Tianyu was despondent, “You keep mentioning Song Tan… it’s just because her tea tasted good that she made a name for herself! Can’t we learn whatever variety she’s using and try planting it too?”

“What?!”

Zhou Maozhu could never have imagined his son being so bold, and his voice rose instantly: “Is it just because her tea is good? She spent millions improving the soil and water, and hired expert professors for guidance!”

“How are you going to learn? With the fifty thousand you’ve saved?” he pondered and exaggerated a bit:

“Her tea plants alone are worth more than fifty thousand!”

What?

Millions?!

Zhou Tianyu felt like crying–how come you’re so outstanding when we’re from the same village?

That was indeed unthinkable; he couldn’t come up with millions even if he sold his blood.

But then again–

“How is she so rich?”

“What do you know!” Zhou Maozhu had made up his mind today to cure his son’s extravagant habits; Song Tan was quietly dealing with million-dollar projects and had even built a villa for her family. Yet when she went out, she still drove that second-hand beat-up pickup truck!

Unlike his son–he was too lazy to say more, coming home by hired car (also lucky to catch a ride with Zhang Yanping and the others; even splitting the cost among the four of them was 60 yuan!), while there were buses and private cars from the city center to the town costing only 20 yuan. Then he could pick him up on a motorcycle, how convenient!

This child was too extravagant!

At this moment, he spoke even more convincingly: “Right after graduation, Song Tan went off to the provincial city; her connections are incredible! To say she can get a loan of millions, when she talks about hiring experts, she hires those who appear in the news!”

“How can she be so low-key? Unlike you–handing out tea that costs ten thousand a pound, it’s outrageously extravagant!”

“With your current net worth, if you went to the bank for a loan, who would even consider you?”

Zhou Tianyu listened with embarrassment and annoyance.

Because, with just fifty thousand yuan… it would not even be enough for a down payment in Yun City; going to the bank… the best he could hope for was probably a credit card.