The jasmine fields in Nahuan Village were a bit far from the village proper. It took Village Chief Chen half an hour to get there with Zhou Jiajing and Jiang Lianyue.
“The villagers still don’t believe that planting flowers can make money, so there aren’t many fields yet,” Chen explained to Jiang Lianyue on the way.
At this time, the land hadn’t been fully allocated to households. What crops to plant was still arranged by the production team. Even though Chen was the village chief, persuading the team leader to plant jasmine took some effort.
Hearing that the fields weren’t very large, Jiang Lianyue had already braced herself. If Nahuan Village had even one or two acres of jasmine, that would be enough.
One or two acres would yield plenty of flowers. The Hengzhou Tea Factory wasn’t very big yet, they probably couldn’t use all the flowers, so she could even get some for herself.
When she first saw the fields, Jiang Lianyue’s eyes widened. This is a lot of jasmine! Not just a little!
“Village Chief, it looks like quite a lot. At least three or four acres, right?” she shaded her eyes with her hand and looked into the distance.
Chen nodded. “Five acres.”
Jiang Lianyue said, “Let’s go take a look.”
The village’s terrain was flat, almost like a plain. The fields were divided into plots by raised paths. The three of them walked along the edges of the plots, chatting as they went.
Mostly, Jiang Lianyue asked questions, and Chen answered.
“Village Chief, these seedlings don’t look newly planted. Were they transplanted from somewhere else?”
“Never thought you’d actually know flowers, little girl. Correct, they were brought over from the tea factory. Those seedlings were planted last year.”
“I see the seedlings are growing well. This year’s flowers will definitely be high quality.”
“The factory’s technicians say the same. They’re already upgrading their equipment, planning to start making jasmine tea as soon as the flowers bloom.”
…
Question and answer after question and answer, the two of them got along very well.
Zhou Jiajing listened quietly on the side. After a while, he pulled out paper and pen, jotting down notes as he listened.
As a publicity officer at the machinery factory, he often went into the countryside for interviews, both to survey production plans and to promote the factory.
If jasmine cultivation expands in the future, it would surely require supporting machinery.
Zhou Jiajing wrote down his thoughts, then glanced at Jiang Lianyue, who was still chatting animatedly with the village chief. These past two days, she had surprised him greatly, completely different from the rural girls he had known before.
Seeing her lick her lips, Zhou Jiajing didn’t think twice. He took off the military water bottle from his back and handed it to her.
Having spoken so much under the sun, Jiang Lianyue was a little thirsty. She took a few sips before handing it back.
Zhou Jiajing took the bottle, feeling a bit thirsty himself. He looked at Chen and offered, “Village Chief, would you like some water?”
“No, no, you drink it yourselves,” Chen waved him off and continued speaking to Jiang Lianyue. “You’re right. The tea factory’s technicians said that with extra fertilizer, the flowers will bloom more abundantly.”
Zhou Jiajing took back the bottle, eyeing the green spout. He hesitated to drink.
Jiang Lianyue hadn’t drunk straight from the spout, she poured it out first. But looking at it now, he couldn’t help feeling that drinking from it himself was somehow… an intimate act.
He glanced at Jiang Lianyue, still calculating how many flowers five acres could produce, licked his lips, and slung the water bottle back on his shoulder, as if hiding an embarrassing thought.
As the sun began to slant west, Zhou Jiajing saw the two still happily chatting and had to speak up. “The sun’s almost down…”
His words reminded Chen. He slapped his thigh. “Ah, we got carried away and lost track of time. Comrade Jiang, you must be tired. Let’s head back and continue another time.”
Zhou Jiajing stared at the chief. He wasn’t mistaken, the chief now seemed more enthusiastic about Jiang Lianyue than about him.
Jiang Lianyue looked at the sun and thought of the pork in Xiaoyi Town. “Village Chief, we need to return to Hengzhou. Let’s leave it at that for today. I’ll come back another day.”
“Eh, stay here tonight. The factory technician will come tomorrow. I’ll introduce you,” Chen said. “Your suggestions were excellent. I plan to propose them to the technicians, but I’m afraid I won’t explain them well. If you do, they’ll understand better.”
Jiang Lianyue hesitated.
This was a good opportunity to connect with the county tea factory, but she had only just arrived two days ago. Staying overnight in a stranger’s village made her nervous.
Zhou Jiajing noticed her hesitation and worried she might insist on staying for the jasmine flowers. She’s so delicate, how could she handle it? he thought quickly. “Tomorrow I need to go to Kuancun anyway. She can come with me then.”
Mentioning Kuancun made his brows knit sharply.
Damn, he’d forgotten Xiao Qin was still waiting there.
Chen looked a little regretful. He had wanted to continue chatting with Comrade Jiang, but the technician would come tomorrow, they could continue then.
“Then let’s hurry back. I’ll have someone take you.”
Zhou Jiajing’s gaze slid down to Jiang Lianyue’s feet. “Village Chief, no need to trouble you. Our factory driver, Xiao Qin, is in Kuancun. You can just call him over.”
“Sure. I’ll phone Kuancun on the way back.”
The three returned straight to the village office. After Chen phoned Xiao Qin, he continued chatting with Jiang Lianyue about jasmine.
“Jasmine can really be used for cooking?” Chen repeated in disbelief.
The tea factory had suggested planting jasmine, so he checked the records. Hengzhou County had been cultivating jasmine since the Tang dynasty, but mostly for ornamental purposes. Even the elders had never heard of using jasmine in cooking.
“Yes. Jasmine scrambled eggs, jasmine stir-fried meat, jasmine tofu, jasmine-rose flower pudding…” Jiang Lianyue recalled the jasmine feasts from her previous life, and her mouth watered.
Once the flowers bloom, she had to figure out a way to buy some to cook.
“Comrade Jiang, you know so much,” Chen said, impressed.
At first, he had thought she was just a rich young lady visiting for fun. He hadn’t expected her to know so much about jasmine, from cultivation to tea production to cooking. Even when the factory director tried to persuade the villagers to grow jasmine, he hadn’t been as thorough as she was.
Chen glanced at Zhou Jiajing. “Officer Zhou, you married well.”
Suddenly being addressed, Zhou Jiajing: “?”
He cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Lianyue, drinking water nearby. She was even better than he’d imagined.
Kuancun was adjacent to Nahuan, but traveling there wasn’t a straight line, you had to detour around the Liulan Reservoir. By the time Xiao Qin arrived, it was nearly five o’clock.
Jiang Lianyue, worried about the pork in town, grew anxious. Hearing the tractor’s engine, she grabbed her bag and craned her neck in anticipation.
Zhou Jiajing watched her and smirked internally. Now she’s eager to go back. Just a moment ago, she wanted to stay here.
The three said goodbye to Chen and climbed onto the tractor.
At the village entrance, Jiang Lianyue spotted Chen Amei and her classmate, backpacks on, apparently heading out.
Having had lunch at their house and in consideration of her father, Jiang Lianyue smiled and greeted her. “Xiaomei, where are you off to?”
“Miss Jiang,” Amei noticed her and called out. Her eyes landed on Zhou Jiajing, then shifted downward. “Officer Zhou, we’re going to school. Today the teacher had an errand, so we’re off. Classes resume tomorrow.”
Jiang Lianyue thought of the forest they had passed. These two young girls, so beautiful, if they ran into a petty troublemaker, who knew what could happen?
She looked at Zhou Jiajing and Xiao Qin. “Want to give them a ride?”
Xiao Qin smiled shyly. “I’ll follow Officer Zhou’s lead.”
Zhou Jiajing glanced at Amei, his brows furrowing. I don’t like how she’s looking at me, same as the other schoolgirls.
Jiang Lianyue, seeing he wasn’t speaking out of anger, turned to the girls. “Amei, Azhen, hop on. We’re going to town too, so we can take you part of the way.”
Amei High School was at the edge of the town. From there, it would be less than ten minutes to reach the school.
Amei hesitated at first, secretly glancing at Zhou Jiajing. Azhen immediately smiled and said cheerfully, “Thank you, Miss Jiang! Thank you, Officer Zhou!”
Amei opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Azhen pulled her onto the tractor’s trailer.
Twenty minutes later, the tractor stopped in central Xiaoyi Town. Amei and Azhen thanked them and walked toward their school.
“That Officer Zhou is really handsome,” Azhen whispered to Amei.
Amei couldn’t help but glance back. Jiang Lianyue and Zhou Jiajing had dismounted and walked in the opposite direction.
Amei’s gaze felt like it was burning. She glanced only once and quickly looked away. Coldly, she said, “He’s already married to Miss Jiang. Don’t say anything else, don’t let anyone hear.”
Azhen looked disappointed. “What a pity. Married so young?”
Amei lowered her eyes, pouting slightly. “Don’t lecture me!”
Azhen feigned maturity and sighed, shutting her mouth.
Amei stole another glance at the handsome couple walking away and tightened her grip on her backpack straps.
She felt the same regret.
At the other end of the street, Zhou Jiajing followed Jiang Lianyue. He watched her stride toward the pork stall, smiling. “Boss, is my pork still here?”
“Still here,” the pork vendor said cheerfully, pulling out a slab from under the counter.
Jiang Lianyue paid, grabbed the pork, and headed toward the tractor, her lips curving into a grin.
The vendor had saved her a piece of pork belly, red and white, seven-layered, the best for making Dongpo pork. Tonight, they will have Dongpo pork.
Zhou Jiajing glanced at the pork in her hands and then at her radiant smile, and couldn’t help but smile as well.
No thought required, she was definitely thinking about the pork.