Chapter 23: Clever Enough

“It’s really impressive, how quickly you’ve learned,” Liu Shi couldn’t help but marvel, feeling genuinely happy.

Song Jingyun was slender and not particularly dexterous. There was a time when she worried about how Jiang Mixia would manage as she and Jiang Youcheng grew older. Now that Song Jingyun had acquired the skill of weaving baskets, it was akin to having a meal served, ensuring that they wouldn’t go hungry. This brought a sense of relief to Jiang Mixia.

As Jiang Mixia leaned in to watch Song Jingyun’s hands busily working with the bamboo strips, the basket gradually taking shape, she couldn’t help but feel amazed.

Wow! He definitely deserved a big thumbs up for this.

Thinking about it, her husband was indeed remarkable. He learned fishing quickly, he was skilled at splitting bamboo strips, and now, he was proving to be quite the expert at weaving bamboo baskets. Clearly, he had an exceptional ability to learn.

However…

As Jiang Mixia was helping Song Jingyun with her hair in the morning, she suddenly fell into deep thought.

Since Song Jingyun came to this world, she had always been the one to help with his hair. It was something Song Jingyun never seemed to learn to do on his own. It didn’t quite fit with the idea of her husband’s exceptional learning ability.

“Why do you learn things so quickly?” Jiang Mixia wanted to find the underlying reason, to analyze and see if she had been teaching in the wrong way.

“Well… it’s like after seeing something once or twice, I remember it. When I try doing it, I can do it,” Song Jingyun hesitated for a moment before answering.

Could he be a genius, with an exceptional memory and incredible learning abilities?

After thinking for a while, Jiang Mixia felt it was very possible. After all, Song Jingyun came from the future interstellar world, and after so much human evolution, intelligence surely must have become increasingly powerful.

But then, a problem arose.

“Why then can’t you learn to do your hair?” Jiang Mixia asked.

“I’ve thought about this issue. It’s probably because the hair bun is on top of my head, and I can’t see it,” Song Jingyun replied earnestly.

Jiang Mixia: “…”

That’s actually a good answer!

—

Fifty bamboo baskets were finally completed through everyone’s hard work. There were still five days left until the agreed delivery time with Manager Zhou.

Having previously discussed the possibility of early delivery with Manager Zhou, he had mentioned that if the delivery was early, it could be dropped off at any time. If he wasn’t available, arrangements had been made for someone else to handle it and make the remaining payment.

Jiang Mixia proposed that they deliver the goods two days before the scheduled delivery time. This would demonstrate their hard work and dedication, and upon careful estimation, there wouldn’t be a significant margin of error.

Furthermore, Jiang Mixia suggested weaving a few shallow bamboo baskets and conical hats to bring along as additional gifts.

“We don’t need many, just a couple of shallow baskets and a few conical hats. This will be an extra touch for this business,” she explained.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Youcheng nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Given the size of this deal, Manager Zhou didn’t even haggle. If we don’t add something extra, it might seem a bit thoughtless.”

Moreover, the value of these additional items wasn’t much, and it was essentially an opportunity for him and Song Jingyun to work together and complete some additional tasks. 

Jiang Youcheng thought it was a great idea, so following Jiang Mixia’s suggestion, he and Song Jingyun worked together to weave the baskets and hats.

On the day of the delivery, it was still Jiang Mixia, Song Jingyun, Jiang Youcheng, and Jiang Chushi, who hired a cart from Third uncle Jiang.

However, due to the large amount of goods, they couldn’t fit everything onto one cart, so they had to hire an additional one from a fellow villager, Jiang Shuanzi’s cart.

With the creaking of the two carts, they left the village before dawn and arrived at Shaoji Tea Garden just as the sun was reaching its peak.

The tea garden had been tidied up and showed signs of revival. The collapsed buildings had been cleared, and new ones were being constructed. Several temporary thatched sheds had been set up for resting, and the fence walls were taking shape.

Compared to the last visit, the tea garden felt entirely refreshed.

Zhou Xing was overseeing the work. Upon seeing Jiang Mixia and the others, he came over. “You’re here a few days earlier than expected.”

“We heard about the renovations in the tea garden. You’re rushing everything forward, so we didn’t want to delay,” Jiang Mixia smiled. “Would you like to inspect the goods, Manager Zhou?”

Zhou Xing picked up one of the baskets, examined it carefully, and even tried wearing it to ensure it felt comfortable. He was particularly impressed with the wide fabric strap, finding it well-designed and comfortable to wear.

After checking several more, he instructed his assistant to count the quantity and asked the accountant to prepare the payment.

“What about these?” Zhou Xing gestured toward the conical hats and shallow baskets that Jiang Mixia and Jiang Youcheng had brought over.

“Manager Zhou has looked after our family’s business, so we should show our respect. There isn’t much we can offer from a farming household, so we made these items. We hope they may be of use here,” Jiang Mixia explained, presenting the conical hat to Zhou Xing. “We’ve also added a lining to the hats, so they won’t feel rough, and there’s more space inside to avoid flattening the hair.”

Zhou Xing examined the conical hat, tried it on, and nodded. Then he looked at the various sizes of shallow baskets and nodded again, “These are good too.”

He then smiled and remarked, “You’re still young, but you have a keen mind and are quite clever.”

As he said this, Zhou Xing’s eyes narrowed into slits, yet they were sharp and keen, resembling that of a sly old fox, showing that he clearly saw through Jiang Mixia’s intentions.

Jiang Mixia didn’t try to conceal much and simply admitted, “Our family is poor, so naturally, we want to find more ways to make money. We are grateful for Manager Zhou’s support. These items serve as a token of appreciation and also demonstrate our skills and intentions, in the hopes of receiving further support from Manager Zhou in the future.”

Zhou Xing rubbed his nose.

Since it was a tea garden, buying these tea-picking baskets naturally meant it was time to start working.

During the spring, when the sun was intense, a conical hat was essential to shield the eyes. And for drying the harvested tea leaves, the shallow baskets were also necessary.

Jiang Mixia specifically chose these two items to present, with the intention of securing future business opportunities.

“In business, it’s all about being cost-effective. If your prices are reasonable, then it works for me,” Zhou Xing stated.

Being given the opportunity to quote a price was akin to receiving an invitation.

Jiang Mixia replied, “The conical hats don’t require much material, but they need an inner lining, which is labor-intensive. So, for a conical hat, we’d price it at forty-five wen. For the shallow baskets, the size matters. For one this size, it would be forty-five wen, and for a larger one like this, it would be fifty-five wen each. If you want an even larger size, the price would depend on the specific dimensions.”

Zhou Xing nodded slightly, “The prices seem fair.”