The sun is like a huge fireball, forcing the earth, and the midsummer in Taiwan is so hot that people are dizzy. Bai Peiwen parked the car at the gate of the factory, got out of the car, and a wave of heat rushed towards his face, and the scorching sun flickered so that he couldn't open his eyes. Walking into the factory, the fragrance of tea fills the air, mixed with the fragrance of jasmine, sweet and fresh, this smell is never tired of smelling by Bai Peiwen. After taking a deep breath, Bai Peiwen felt refreshed, as if the scorching heat had been dispelled a lot by the fragrance of this tea leaves. After passing through the machine room, the sound of the oven and the sound of the tea rubbing machine were rolling, so monotonous and tired. The tea roast master by the fireside raised his head and nodded to Bai Peiwen. The fire was burning under the machine, the whole machine room was turned into an oven, and the masters and female workers were sweating. Bai Peiwen stood at the door of the machine room for a moment before continuing on. There are three or four female workers, wearing hats, wrapping their hands and feet in cloth, standing under the scorching sun, holding bamboo rakes, and constantly turning the tea greens. Seeing Bai Peiwen, they did not stop working, nor did they pay attention, the boss was far away from them, they were managed by the foreman.

After passing through the tea drying field, Bai Peiwen walked into his office, which was the only air-conditioned room in the entire factory, excluding the cold storage. Bai Peiwen has to work six or seven hours a day. When Bai Peiwen was not there, this room was the reception room. The offices of other senior staff in the factory, such as Manager Zhao and Accountant Zhang, are next door. Further on, there are the rest rooms, dining halls, and dormitories for the female workers. This row of houses, there are five large rooms, and the machine room, tea room, cold storage, etc. become a "concave" shaped building, in the open space in the middle of the "concave" shape, it becomes a tea drying field. In terms of scale, this tea processing factory is already the largest in Taipei. In other factories, tea rubbing and roasting are still in the stage of manual labor, and Bai Peiwen has replaced them with machines. Therefore, in recent years, the factory has expanded very much, and the business has developed very rapidly, and Bai Peiwen has his unique insights and talents in doing things and starting a business. Therefore, although this factory was founded by Bai Peiwen's father, it really developed after the death of the old man. Zhang, an accountant who has been working in the factory for more than ten years, often said to the new manager Zhao:

"Don't look at our little boss's politeness, he is much better than him! It's only been three years since he took over, and the business has expanded more than tenfold! ”

Peteran's philosophy is: keep investing. Every money they make in their factories is reinvested in the factory, buying machinery, repairing buildings, and building cold storage...... He improved the quality of his products, so several big tea houses in Taipei City became his regular customers. Then, foreign orders also came in a steady stream, his own tea garden has been in short supply, he bought tea gardens again, and improved the method of planting tea, I don't know how he dealt with it, other tea gardens at most five times a year to harvest tea, spring tea three times, autumn tea twice. His family's tea garden often harvests tea eight or nine times, and the quality is not bad each time. Therefore, the fame of "Baijia Tea" is almost unknown in the tea industry.

Walking into the room, Bai Peiwen sat down, and Manager Zhao had already come with a large stack of documents. Standing in front of Pewen's desk, he said:

"The order from Japan is coming, and we are specifying that we will not be able to produce so much. Xinxin Tea House and Qingxiang Tea House also booked 'Bird's Tongue', and this year, our Bird's Tongue seems to be in the limelight! ”

"Tongue" is a kind of green tea, people who will taste tea, they all know that this kind of tea must be made with the heart of the tea leaves, the leaves are not at all, as long as the heart of the tea leaves, therefore, many tea hearts can make a little "tongue", this kind of tea is particularly precious.

"How much do you want to order in Japan?" Bai Peiwen asked.

"A thousand boxes." "Let's next!" Bai Peiwen said.

"Okay? They will deliver the goods within three months, and the autumn tea will not be harvested until October! They also have a fine if they fail to meet the deadline. ”

"Wait a minute, I'll give you a call and ask."

Bai Peiwen dialed the phone number at home, and it was the maid Alan who answered the phone, and Bai Peiwen asked, "Mr. Gao is not there?" "Just got back from the tea plantation." "Ask him to listen to the phone." The other party is coming. Bai Peiwen said succinctly and clearly:

"Lide, what is the situation in the tea plantation? I'm going to get a batch of tea in a month, okay? I took an order from Japan. ”

"What order?" "Sparrow's tongue." "Hah!" The other laughed. "I had to stand in the tea garden and call for wind and rain, and then blow fairy breath on those tea trees. Called: 'Long! Long! Long! 'Do you want to see them grow?' "Don't tell jokes, you can say a word, okay or not?"

"Okay!" The other party is cut and ironed, and it is refreshing and neat. "This is what you said, Lide, if you can't pick it up then, I'll look for you!"

"Don't worry, Peiwen, when did you miss something?"

"See you in the evening, then!" "Wait!" "How?" "Aunt told you to come home for dinner!"

"Oh." Bai Peiwen hung up the phone, looked at Manager Zhao, nodded and said, "That's it, we took it." "This Mr. Gao, there is really a way!" Manager Zhao couldn't help but say. "Tea trees seem to listen to him."

"He's an expert!" Bai Peiwen said. "Anything else?"

"These contracts have to be signed. Boss Zhu of Shengda Trading Company invited you to dinner on Saturday, and I made seven or eight phone calls. ”

"Shengda? Where is the pin? "Southeast Asia." "Didn't we contract it to Hongji? You find out the contract of Hongji and show it to me. In fact, Hongji is not bad, but the payment is always dry and crisp, and the last time he paid was a promissory note for a few months? ”

"Six months." "It's really not like that, the contract is for a few months?"

"It's like three months." "You bring the contract first, and I'll take a look." Bai Peiwen took the slips and looked at them one by one, Manager Zhao turned around and wanted to go, but Bai Peiwen called him again. "Wait a minute, Manager Zhao." "Mr. Kashiwa?" "I saw that the workers in the boiler room seemed to be very miserable, the temperature was too high, you informed Accountant Zhang to install an air conditioner in the machine room, and the cost was listed in the installation item, and it was done immediately, the sooner the better." "Okay." Manager Zhao smiled. "But in this case, it's time for everyone to grab the job in the machine room." Manager Zhao exited the room, and Bai Peiwen leaned back in his chair and began to study the few contracts in his hand, and he ticked out several points to be modified. I was about to call Accountant Zhang when I suddenly saw a group of female workers running through the window nervously, and at the same time there was a lot of noise. He was taken aback, stood up, he opened the door, and saw everyone running towards the tea field, he looked in the direction everyone ran, and saw a cluster of people huddled in the tea field, not knowing what they were looking at. He grabbed Manager Zhao, who was running towards the field, and asked, "What's wrong?" What happened? ”

"There was a female worker who fainted in the tea field."

"Fainted?" He was startled and quickly walked towards the tea drying field. The scorching sun was like a fire, and the cement floor of the tea field was hot, and when he came out of the air-conditioned room, he felt even more steaming. In such weather, it is no wonder that female workers faint, female workers in the tea field should work shifts, who can afford such a big sun exposure? He rushed to the crowd and shouted, "Get out of the way, everybody! Give her a little air! ”

The workers got out of the way, and he walked over and saw a female worker lying on her back on the ground, her hat still on her head. Under the hat, the entire face is wrapped in a layer of blue cloth, revealing only the eyes and nose, and the hands and feet are also wrapped in blue cloth, which is a fixed attire for the female workers who work in the sun to prevent the sun from damaging their skin. Bai Peiwen crouched down to look at her, and then looked up at the sun that was still shining directly. He knew that the most important thing now was to move her to a cool place and remove the bandages. Without thinking about it, he reached out and picked up the female worker, whose body was lying in his arms, so light, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Carrying the female worker into his room, he said to Manager Zhao, who followed up:

"Turn the air conditioner up a little more! Fast! ”

Manager Zhao turned up the air conditioner, he laid the female worker flat on the sofa, and then immediately removed her hat, untied the cloth wrapped around her face, and with the unraveling of the cloth, a beautiful and black hair fell down like a waterfall, and at the same time, a pale and beautiful face was revealed. That face was so delicate, Bai Peiwen couldn't help but be stunned, the high forehead, the curved eyebrow line, the two rows of eyelashes under the closed eyelids, the nose was small and slightly upturned, and the closed lips were thin, bloodless, and pitiful. He was stunned for a few seconds, then quickly removed the cloth from her wrist, unbuttoned the collar of her shirt, and asked Manager Zhao, "What is the name of this female worker?" ”

Manager Zhao looked at her. "This seems to be new, and you have to ask the foreman to find out."

"Tell the foreman to come and bring another cold towel."

The foreman is a female worker in her thirties, named Cai Jinhua, she has been working in this factory for more than ten years, looking at Bai Peiwen, she said respectfully:

"Her name is Zhang Hanyan, she has only been here for three days, I see that she is not in good health, she must have said that she can do it......"

"Zhang Hanyan?" Bai Peiwen interrupted Cai Jinhua's words, how elegant is this name, "How do you write it?" "Libai Chapter, containing is today's word, and the next word at the bottom, smoke is the smoke of cigarettes." Cai Jinhua clumsily explained. "Does she live in our factory dormitory?"

"No, there are no vacancies in the dormitory, she wants a dormitory, but she can't help it yet." "Why don't you send her to work in the tea room?"

"Oh, Mr. Bai," Cai Jinhua smiled reluctantly, God knows how difficult it is for the foreman to do, who doesn't grab an easy and comfortable job? Who should do the work under the sun! "They all go to the tea drying room, who goes to the tea drying field? She is a novice, and she is not afraid to do other jobs. "Oh." Bai Peiwen nodded, looking at Zhang Hanyan lying on the sofa, a thin and small man, wearing a dress with a small red flower on a white background, his skin was white and delicate, and his fingers were thin and slender. It's not a woman's material, it's too detailed. "Where does she live?"

"I don't know." Cai Jinhua said a little crampedly: "I'll ask her later." If I had known she wouldn't be able to take it...... "Alright," Bai Peiwen waved his hand. "There you go! Let her rest here, I'm afraid she won't be able to continue working today, let her go back and rest for a day when she wakes up. You go first. Cai Jinhua withdrew. Zhang Hanyan was covered with a cold towel on her forehead, and she lay in the air-conditioned room for a long time, at this time, she woke up. Her brow furrowed slightly, and her long eyelashes rose upward, revealing a pair of misty, watery eyes, which flickered slightly, and the eyelashes fell again, and her brow frowned even tighter. She tried to move, letting out a low moan.

"She's awake." Manager Zhao said.

"I think she's okay," Bai Peiwen relieved. "Go ahead, let her lie down here a little longer." Manager Zhao walked out of the room. Bai Peiwen walked straight to Zhang Hanyan, sat on a low table in front of the sofa, crossed his hands on his chest, and quietly and carefully examined the young face in front of him. The little pointed chin, the beautiful arc of the neck under the chin, the thin shoulders...... The girl is like a delicate work of art. The frowning brow is endearing, the fan-like eyelashes are moving, and the little lips, the little lips that sigh low...... She was really awake. Her long eyelashes rose sharply, and she opened a pair of frightened eyes wide, and the black eyes were so big, so deep, so black, like two dark pools. "I ...... What's wrong? She asked, trying to sit up, her voice soft and weak. Don't move! Bai Peiwen reached out and pressed her shoulder. You'd better lie down a little longer, you've fainted for a while. She opened her eyes wide and looked at him suspiciously, and it took a long time for her to wake up with an "oh" and hang her eyelashes weakly. Her head was tilted to the side, her eyes were looking at the ground, her fingers subconsciously touching the corners of her clothes, and she let out a long, long sigh.

"I'm so useless." She said to herself. "You can't do anything."

This low self-pity sent a strange, compassionate emotion through Bai Peiwen's heart. There she lay there, so pale, so weak, so lonely and helpless. It made him feel a strong desire to comfort her and even protect her. "You've been working in the sun for too long," he said quickly. "No one can stand this kind of weather, don't worry, I can ask them to transfer you to the tea room or machine room to work." She looked at him quietly, with a hint of research in her eyes, and her eyebrows were still slightly frowned. "Don't bother with me, Mr. Kashiwa." She said softly, a little ashamed, a little uneasy, and the most shocking thing for her was that she was lying in front of a man like this. For Bai Peiwen, she was already familiar with it on the first day she entered the factory. She knew that the whole factory respected and trusted the young boss. In the minds of the workers, Bai Peiwen was simply a mixture of man and god; Young, beautiful, courageous, willing to do, willing to improve, and considerate of others. Only then did she understand the reason why the workers liked him, how kind and gentle he was! "The work in the tea shop is not hard, I should practice." She said. "Someone has to do the work anyway, if I don't do it, others don't have to do the same."

"Who introduced you?" "A female worker in your factory, her name is Yan Lili, I don't think you know her, she is my neighbor." He looked at her deeply, and by this time she had sat up, and removed the towel that was pressed on her forehead, her long hair hanging down her shoulders, and her bright eyes. There are three points of shrinkage, seven points of cowardice, and twelve points of elegance. He couldn't help but be stunned.

"It doesn't seem like the job is for you." He said instinctively.

"I hope you don't mean to fire me." She said with some fright, looking at him with a sorrowful look in her big eyes, pleadingly.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant." He said hurriedly. "I just think that this job is too hard for you, you look weak, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it."

Her eyelashes drooped for a moment, and when they were raised again, her eyes appeared clearer. She let go of her frowning brow, and a pitiful smile tugged at her lips. This smile actually made Bai Peiwen's heart move more than her frowning. She smiled and said self-deprecatingly, "I've done harder work." "What job?" She was silent. After a while, she looked at him again, still smiling on her lips, but there was an incomprehensible, fierce look on her face.

"Please don't ask, Mr. Kashiwa. You have to understand that physical suffering is nothing, and working here is a pleasure for me. It's easy for me to find other very easy jobs, but I don't want to let my life be worn out at such a young age. ”

Bai Peiwen's heart moved, is this a female worker's conversation? He looked at her tightly and asked, "Have you ever studied?" "High school graduation." High school graduate? Think about it! She's a high school graduate girl! But she works as a female worker in the tea field! He stared at her in surprise, feeling completely confused by her. What kind of girl is this? Is she just looking for some life experience here? Or have you watched too many legends and want to experience another life? "Now that you've graduated from high school, you don't seem to have to do this kind of job, you should be able to find a better career!"

"I've looked for it, and I've done it, Mr. Kashiwa." She smiled, laughing so weakly. "I can't find a serious job, I have no personnel relations, no shop insurance, no recommendation, high Chinese is not as valuable as you think." In addition, I also worked as a clerk, a scribe, and a female secretary, and it turned out that I had betrayed not labor and intelligence, but youth. I've done worse...... In the end, I chose your factory, which is the best I have ever worked for. He pondered for a moment, staring at her beautiful face, and he understood the difficulty of a young girl finding a job in this society, especially beautiful girls, and there were traps everywhere, waiting for these girls to jump. He sighed in his heart, he felt sorry for this girl, Zhang Hanyan, such an elegant name!

"Is work necessary for you?"

"Yes." "Why?" "Pay off your debts." "Paying off debts? Are you in debt? What about your parents? ”

"I don't have parents." She was depressed, and sat there, her hands propped up, and her eyes were deeper and darker. "My parents died when I was a child, I don't remember what they were like, I was taken to Taiwan by a distant relative, who was married to two and had only one idiot son. They raised me and educated me until I graduated from high school, and then, all of a sudden, they said they wanted me to marry that idiot......" she chuckled and looked at Perrivan. "It's such a story, I refused, and so all the kindness was gone. I moved out, I worked, I earned money, in order to pay off the debts owed to them for more than a decade. ”

"It doesn't make sense!" Bai Peiwen said with some indignation. "How much do you have to pay them back?" "Two hundred thousand." "How much do you earn a month working here?"

"A thousand dollars." Oh, my God! How long will she need to work to pay off this debt! He looked at Zhang Hanyan, who had obviously bowed to this fate, she had a hard-working look, and a calm and accepting demeanor, which made Bai Peiwen sincerely feel sorry for her. "You don't have to pay back the money, they didn't say beforehand, the condition for raising you is that you marry that idiot! Legally, they are not tenable at all. You can ignore them! "Legally, although they are untenable, in terms of human favors, I owe them too much!" She sighed, her brow furrowing again. "You don't understand, I ruined their life's hopes, and in their minds, I was ungrateful...... Therefore, I am willing to pay back this money, in order to lighten the load on my conscience. Raising her eyelashes, she looked at him quietly, her eyebrows slightly raised with an inquiring look. It's hard to talk about the debt of life, isn't it? You often can't tell who owes whom. Bai Peiwen stared at Zhang Hanyan, he admired her! He admires her in every consciousness, in every thought! And, gradually, a strong and surprising emotion welled up in his heart, and he never expected that there would be such a figure among his female workers! It was as if he had suddenly found a pearl in a plate of sand, and he couldn't hide his ecstasy and excitement. Standing up, he suddenly said resolutely:

"You have to stop this job right now!"

"Oh? Mr? She was taken aback, and her mouth, which had just regained its natural nature, turned pale again. I'm sorry I fainted, I promise ......"

"You can't promise anything," he interrupted with a smile, his eyes falling tenderly on her face. "If you bask in the sun for another two hours, you'll still faint! You can't do that. "Oh? Mr? She looked up at him with a passive, helpless look, and her slightly quivering lips looked even more pitiful.

"So, starting tomorrow, you're moving to my office, and I need someone to help me with some desk work, sorting out contracts, drafting contracts, issuing receipts, and so on. I'll ask Lao Zhang to add a desk here later, and you can start ...... tomorrow," she jumped up from the couch. To Bai Peiwen's surprise, there was no joy on her face, on the contrary, she looked very frightened, very timid, very cowering, and as if she was hurt. "Oh, no, no, sir." She said hurriedly. "I don't want to take the job." "Why?" He glared at her in amazement.

She closed her eyes, lowered her head, and when she looked up again, her eyes were full of tears, and those eyes were soaked in tears, so dark, so bright, so sad. She said in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, Mr. Bai, you can say that I don't know how to lift. I can't take it, I don't want to take it, because, because ,......" she took a breath, tears sliding down her cheeks and down her wriggling lips. "I'm small, lonely, and helpless...... But I don't want pity, I don't want sympathy, I'm willing to support myself. I appreciate your kindness, Mr. Kashiwa, but I beg your understanding ...... I have nothing but self-esteem. After saying that, she stopped looking at Bai Peiwen and rushed to the door. Before she could recover from her surprise, she had already opened the door and ran out. Bai Peiwen chased to the door, looking at her little back that quickly disappeared into the corridor, he couldn't help but be stunned. He never expected his proposal, but it hurt that weak heart. But in the depths of his heart, he was shaken—for the first time in his life, he was deeply, deeply, deeply.