Du Jinning said again: "Let's say it first, only the first-level tea can give eight cents a catty, the second-grade tea can only give four cents, and the third-grade tea can only give two cents." ”

As she spoke, she turned her head and asked Qin Lao Liu, who was sitting on the side drinking tea: "What is the first, second, and third level, have you told them?" ”

This was ordered by Du Jinning repeatedly, Qin Lao Liu naturally didn't dare to be careless, and hurriedly said: "I said, I said it yesterday, and I told them twice before going to pick tea today." ”

Hearing this, the women looked nervous, and took off the bamboo basket and looked at the fresh leaves inside.

Du Jinning hurriedly stopped: "Anyway, it's all picked, don't turn it over again." The tea buds are already tender, and they will rot when they are turned over like this. I'll say okay first, I won't take the rotten ones. ”

The women had to put down the fresh leaves one after another, waiting for Du Jinning to evaluate.

Du Jinning motioned for the woman who was first in line to come to her, looked at the fresh leaves in her bamboo basket, turned over again, and made sure that the fresh leaves below were the same as the ones above, so he raised his voice and said: "Yes, they are all picked according to the standard and belong to the first level." ”

Hearing the word "first-class", the women's expressions relaxed, and they each whispered.

Du Jinning handed the basket of fresh leaves to Lu Xiaobei and motioned for the second woman to come forward and evaluate.

Lu Xiaobei skillfully weighed the fresh leaves.

He first weighed the bamboo basket together with the fresh leaves, and then signaled Du Fangfei to pour the fresh leaves into the dustpan, and then weighed the bamboo basket again to get the weight of the fresh leaves: "Two and a half catties." ”

The woman took the empty bamboo basket and walked in front of Du Fanghui, Du Fanghui's arithmetic was learned from Du Jinning, and it was not worse than those students in the academy. She quickly calculated the money that the woman deserved: "One pound of first-class tea is eight yuan, and you have two and a half pounds, a total of twenty yuan." As she spoke, she counted out twenty cents from her purse and handed it over.

The woman saw that before half an hour arrived, she earned twenty yuan, and was very surprised, and dragged the copper coin to thank Du Fanghui repeatedly.

When the women in line saw this, they all whispered, and their faces were full of joy.

On Du Jinning's side, the woman in second line looked nervous, staring at Du Jinning tightly with a pair of eyes.

Du Jinning finished reading her tea, and said expressionlessly: "Grade 3 tea." ”

When the women heard this, they all exclaimed: "How is it level three? ”

The woman suddenly stopped doing it and shouted, "How can it be level three? You see it carefully. As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of fresh leaves, and just wanted to stuff them into Du Jinning's nose, "Such a good tea, not to mention the first-grade, second-grade tea must be available." ”

"Sixth brother, tell her what is called first-class, second-level, and third-level tea." Du Jinning was unmoved.

Qin Lao Liu's sweat that had just gone down came out again. He didn't dare to sit anymore, stood up and said: "All the teas are picked according to the standard of one bud and one leaf, and the buds and leaves are neat and free of fragments; Picking is not according to the standard, some have one bud and one leaf, and some have one bud and two leaves or a pair of clip leaves, which are second-grade; It is mixed with one bud and one leaf, one bud with multiple leaves and mixed with old leaves and old stems, which is three grades. All tea leaves must be free of impurities such as leaves, grass clippings or pebbles, otherwise they will not be purchased. ”

Du Jinning looked directly at the woman: "Auntie, take a look at the tea you picked yourself." ”

The woman also knew that she was at a loss, and she didn't dare to shout and scold Sapo in front of the old and young masters, so she only begged bitterly: "Isn't this unpicked?" Say so, and I'll know. This time, you can give me a grade, and when I pick it up later, I will definitely do it according to your requirements. Young master, you are a rich man, accommodating, I have many children in my family, and it is not easy to live. ”

"It's not that we are unreasonable, it's that the tea you pick is not good, and the dry tea we make is not of good quality, and the price is very low, which is far from the price of first-class tea. If we are not strict and give you a first-class tea, it will be unfair to the aunts and sisters-in-law who honestly pick first-class tea. People work hard for half an hour to pick two catties of first-class tea; If you scratch the tea tree indiscriminately for half an hour, you can pick five or six catties. We give you a first-class rating, are you worthy of someone who picks first-class tea carefully? If everyone followed your example, we wouldn't have to open a tea garden. We cut down the tea trees at a loss and planted something else, and you won't be able to make any money in the future, will you? ”

As soon as those women heard that they had harmed their own interests, they naturally stopped doing it, and said to the woman: "Ergouzi's family, the Qin steward has repeatedly said that he wants to pick a bud and a leaf, and he has picked it twice for everyone to see, but you don't listen, thinking that you can make more money by playing a little clever." How can you do that? ”

Qin Lao Liu also said in a timely manner: "This time the evaluation of the third level is still a chance for our young master to give you a good heart." If the tea leaves picked again are still not up to standard, you don't have to go again, just go home and rest. If you do this, you are also ruining the tea leaves, and we can't make dry tea when you pick them back. Anyway, there are many big girls and little daughters-in-law who can pick tea in the village, so we don't have to worry about no one working. ”

The second dog's daughter-in-law was scared when she heard it. This tea picking for most of the day is not very hard, but it can earn a hundred dollars, is there a better job than this? And Steward Qin also said that if they pick well, the tea garden will hire them for a long time, and once there is tea, they will be called to pick it, unless the amount of tea is too large, new people will be added.

If she loses this job, she will have to be scolded to death by her mother-in-law and husband when she returns.

"Well, well, three is three." She mumbled.

Lu Xiaobei took her bamboo basket, weighed it, and glanced at her: "Three catties and nine taels." ”

Du Jinning saw that Chen and Du Fangfei took the bamboo basket and wanted to pour it into the dustpan, so he hurriedly said: "Don't mix it together, take another dustpan to pack." If there is tea of this grade, it will be put together and processed when all the tea is ready. ”

Du Fanghui saw that the bamboo basket of the second dog's daughter-in-law was vacated, and handed over eight yuan: "Count you four catties, eight yuan." ”

Take this eight pennies, and then look at the woman who has gone out of the long way to pick the second tea, think about spending the same effort, people earn twenty wen, and earn eight wen by themselves, which is the best deal, it is naturally clear at a glance, the second dog daughter-in-law made up her mind, no longer play smart, lucky, and must pick it according to the first-class tea standard for a while.

One person rated, one person weighed, one person paid, and after a while, Du Jinning and they put away the tea. In addition to the third level of the second dog's daughter-in-law, there is also a second level, and the rest of the people have picked the first level of tea. It's good to be able to pick tea like this for the first time.

Qin Lao Liu originally planned to take them up the mountain once, but the second time he didn't go, he stayed here to help. But seeing this, he still didn't feel at ease, said a word to Du Jinning, and still followed those women up the mountain.

Du Jinning once told him that the quality of tea depends on the picking. If the picking is standard, the tea leaves are good; Otherwise, it will not be sold. Tea before the Ming Dynasty was expensive, and "quality" was more important than "quantity", so he didn't feel at ease if he didn't stare at it.