Surprisingly, no one was willing to give a refund!
"Brother Xiaoman, you're too late, haha. My dad took the tea cake and drank it."
"My department manager said this tea is very fragrant, so I gave it to him! Xiaoman, when will your company release this kind of tea cake gift box? Please save me two sets to give to my manager for the New Year!"
“My grandpa said your tea cake is so delicious, he asked me to buy him another one.”
...
Sure enough! Older customers still prefer their Langshan handmade tea cakes. Sigh!
However, finding target customers is a good thing.
After spending several busy days at home planting two thousand honeysuckle plants, Jiang Xiaoman immediately dragged Jiang Yu along to go door-to-door to encourage the mothers left behind to make tea cakes.
The climate in Langshan is particularly suitable for tea tree growth, and tea can be harvested twice a year.
However, the taste of tea cakes made from spring tea leaves and autumn tea leaves is quite different.
Autumn tea tastes more bitter, while spring tea has a better aftertaste.
This season is the perfect time for autumn tea picking, and Jiang Xiaoman plans to make a batch of autumn tea cakes first.
As for the production process of a single-serving tea cake...
Jiang Xiaoman shamelessly pestered his uncle.
"Get lost! I'm busy with my midterms, how can I have time to make tea cakes for you?" Jiang Baichuan pushed his nephew aside with a look of disgust.
"Uncle! If my tea cake business succeeds, all the mothers left behind in our area can earn money. Then, not only the boys, but even the girls might be able to go to high school and go to university!" Jiang Xiaoman tried her best to persuade her uncle.
Jiang Baichuan was so pestered by him that he had no choice but to agree to give it a try.
Don't let his uncle's position as a school principal fool you; in reality, being a teacher at a village primary school requires mastering a wide range of skills!
Take Uncle Baichuan for example. He not only teaches and educates students, but also raises pigs, farms, cooks, does simple needlework (mends clothes for students), picks and processes tea, and works as a bricklayer (repairs and repairs old school buildings), etc.
To put it simply, if Uncle Baichuan were to participate in some wilderness survival show, he'd probably still be alive and well by the time the show airs.
Jiang Xiaoman trusted her uncle completely!
Jiang Baichuan did not disappoint his nephew's trust.
He made a set of wooden molds for Jiang Xiaoman to make tea cakes.
At first glance, the mold looks a bit like the clay molds that city kids use. When put together, it's about half the size of a quail egg. To let Jiang Xiaoman see how to use the mold, Jiang Baichuan specially left a set of finished tea cakes untouched.
"Look, here's a small strip of cloth. After you've finished making the tea cake, turn it upside down and pull on this strip of cloth, and you can pry the tea cake out intact."
As he spoke, Jiang Baichuan pressed the mold firmly with one hand and pulled the cloth strip with the other, and a cute, semi-circular mini tea cake popped out.
It really "popped out".
She even jumped on the table twice before Jiang Xiaoman quickly caught her and pressed her down.
"It's quite cute, isn't it?" Jiang Xiaoman looked at the small and adorable tea cake in her hand and began to play with it with fondness.
These tea cakes are only the size of a thumb. One small teapot can hold one, while a large teapot can hold two or three. They can be individually packaged so that you can brew tea as needed. As long as the remaining tea cakes are not opened, they can be stored in a cool, ventilated place at room temperature for a long time.
"Each tea cake weighs about 10 grams, and there are 50 cakes in a pack, which is exactly one pound. It's convenient to take with you when you go on a trip."
"Yes, yes, yes! I've seen many retired seniors online who enjoy traveling, fishing, hiking, and the like. Bringing this tea cake will make brewing tea on the road much more convenient." Jiang Xiaoman nodded repeatedly, wishing she could hug and kiss Jiang Baichuan!
How come his uncle is so talented?
And this mold is so great, it's made of wood! It requires absolutely no skill; just hire two carpenters, and they can make a whole bunch in a week!
Shredded fabric is even cheaper; you can buy a whole bunch online for just over ten yuan!
With the mold in hand, Jiang Xiaoman felt confident that he could do it again. He immediately found a carpenter to make the mold and bought a large bag of scraps of cloth online, intending to distribute them to the farmers who helped him make tea cakes.
If he hadn't distributed these scraps of fabric, most people would probably have just cut up a couple of old clothes and used them anyway.
But who knows if these old clothes are underwear or thermal underwear?
Jiang Xiaoman dared not joke about food safety, so she could only buy the scraps of cloth herself and send them out along with the finished molds.
Of course, the molds aren't used for nothing. To ensure the quality of the goods, he plans to sign contracts with each farmer individually. If they use his molds and ideas, they have to supply them for at least three years.
What if these farmers want to go it alone three years from now?
Let's talk about this again in three years.
Anyway, three years from now, his family's guesthouse will definitely be on track. At that time, he and Shanyan will raise hundreds of beehives together. The money from selling honey every year will be enough for him and his father to live a good life without any worries about food and clothing.
Jiang Xiaoman is never greedy, and she has never forgotten her original intention of giving up employment and returning to her hometown.
All he wanted was to earn enough money to support his father in his old age and see him off when he passed away.
He wanted to have enough money to make his father's later years more dignified.
Instead of him struggling in the big city, his father waited day after day in the deep mountains for his son to come home for the Lunar New Year...
He had thought it through: if the business could grow, he would lead his fellow villagers to prosperity and strive to make Langshan Village as wealthy as Banligou.
If the villagers learn e-commerce and have their own sales channels, and they don't want to supply him anymore and want to go it alone, then he has no reason to stop them.
Anyway, with the income from his own homestay and beekeeping, plus the income from running a courier outlet, and the extra money he can earn by shooting short videos in his spare time, and with the low cost of living in the countryside, the money he earns is enough for him and his father to live comfortably.
With this idea of a safety net in mind, Jiang Xiaoman became much more relaxed when signing contracts with farmers.
However, even though he was willing to suffer a loss, the villagers were determined not to let Principal Baichuan's nephew suffer a loss!
Jiang Baichuan has been reluctant to get married, acting as if he wants to "dedicate his life to the great cause of education." The villagers dare not say anything, but they all know in their hearts that Jiang Baichuan will probably never get married or have children in his life.
In the eyes of the mountain people, a man who has no descendants, or even a sworn brother, is even more pitiful than a widower who has lost his wife. What good is a pension after retirement?
To put it bluntly, someone like Jiang Baichuan, once he dies, won't even have anyone to break a basin for him!
But things are different now.
The villagers could all see Jiang Baichuan's attitude towards his nephew Jiang Xiaoman.
It's widely believed that Jiang Baichuan intends to raise his nephew as half a son, and that after his death, Jiang Xiaoman will likely be the one to break the pot and keep vigil for him...
Thinking about it this way, isn't Jiang Xiaoman practically Principal Baichuan's son?
How dare they take advantage of Principal Baichuan?
However, Jiang Xiaoman had already drafted the contract and even made and delivered the molds for the new-style tea cakes. They genuinely wanted to do this business. For one thing, once the tea cakes were made, they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of carrying them to the market to sell; Jiang Xiaoman would come to collect them and settle the payment on the spot. It was practically giving them free money!
Seeing that Jiang Xiaoman absolutely refused to accept the money for making the mold, the villagers held onto him tightly as he was leaving, and stuffed him with lots of free-range eggs, cured meat, peanuts and walnuts that they had harvested themselves.
In short, Jiang Xiaoman's basket was still empty when they arrived.
When we returned, the place was almost completely packed.
Jiang Xiaoman couldn't finish eating them all herself, so she sent a lot to the school.
The foundation for Langshan Primary School's new school building has been laid, and the walls are currently being built. I heard that if all goes well, they can move back next semester.
For now, the school's teachers and students have no choice but to squeeze into a residential house.
When Jiang Xiaoman went to deliver the items, she happened to run into the two new teachers who were giving a physical education class to the students in the courtyard.
Those who were ultimately assigned to Langshan Elementary School for "gilding" after fierce competition in the early stages are said to be "outstanding reserve talents" introduced by the city in the past two years.
One of them was a female teacher named Yao Tiantian, who graduated from a local second-tier normal university and then took a contract job at a primary school in the city.
The other teacher was a bespectacled man named Gu Qingsong, who looked about the same age as Jiang Xiaoman. He graduated from some engineering college in the province. It is said that his major was not teacher training, but engineering technology. However, he seemed to want to be a teacher, so he chose a teacher training major and even obtained a teacher's qualification certificate.
Neither of the two new teachers graduated from a proper physical education major.
However, graduates with proper sports majors are in high demand these days, so they don't end up in the hands of Langshan Elementary School.
The only consolation is that Mr. Gu Qingsong has loved playing football since he was a child. From elementary school to university, he was always a key player on the school football team and even participated in the football competition of the provincial university games. With such a level of skill, he is definitely qualified to teach elementary school students.
Yao Tiantian plays table tennis very well. It is said that her maternal grandmother used to be on the provincial table tennis team. With such a family background, she could teach elementary school students physical education.
It's clear that the Municipal Education Bureau put a lot of thought into the selection of personnel this time.
Although the two new teachers selected were there to gain experience at the rural primary school, their professional skills are quite impressive.
No wonder his uncle even had time to help him make tea cake molds.
It seems that the arrival of the two new teachers has indeed greatly reduced Uncle Baichuan's teaching burden!
After a while, when Sister Caiyun returns from her maternity leave, maybe her uncle won't even need to personally participate in the teaching work anymore. That's a real principal!
Chapter 116
Just like the two substitute teachers who taught during the previous summer vacation, Yao Tiantian and Gu Qingsong saw Jiang Xiaoman as if he were a relative, and they wished they could keep him at the school and not let him leave!
"Brother Xiaoman, shall we eat at school today? I'll ride my bike to town and buy you two big pork hocks." Gu Qingsong pushed up his glasses and very "hospitably" invited Jiang Xiaoman to stay for dinner that night.
"Pfft~ Okay, then when you don't have class later, go to town and buy some groceries. Buy whatever you want to eat, and I'll cook something delicious for you guys tonight." Jiang Xiaoman smiled.
Gu Qingsong is quite proud, so he absolutely couldn't expose his little scheme to eat braised pork hock in front of him...
"Brother Song, could you buy me another fish? I want a big, fathead fish! Brother Xiaoman, could you make tofu and fish stew for dinner? I haven't had it in ages! None of the restaurants in town make it as good as yours." Yao Tiantian, true to her name, was beautiful and had a sweet voice.
Aside from being quite fierce when playing table tennis and being known as the "strongest champion" at Langshan Village Primary School, she's a cute girl most of the time.
"Okay, bring me two more pieces of tofu, one firm tofu and one soft tofu, and a few pieces of tofu skin too. You're in luck today! Someone gave me a bag of pine mushrooms, so I'll stir-fry some cured pork and mushrooms for you tonight, and make you a soup too!"
"Brother Xiaoman, you're so great!" Upon hearing that there would be a big meal that evening, the two intern teachers instantly perked up and went back to pressuring the students.
Although they are both amateurs in sports, they have a very solid foundation in academic subjects.
Yao Tiantian's mother studied in England when she was young and personally taught her daughter. Yao Tiantian speaks with a pure British accent. If she hadn't failed the civil service exam twice, the school wouldn't have been willing to let such a talented teacher come to the mountain village primary school to gain experience.
Gu Qingsong is exceptionally good at science. Since he arrived, Jiang Baichuan has stepped down and let him take over the heavy responsibility of teaching math and science to upper-grade students.
These two teachers are now the school's darlings!
Jiang Xiaoman was grateful to them for teaching the students so diligently, which allowed his uncle to catch his breath. Seeing that they were not used to the food at school, whenever he had free time, he would often come to the school to freeload meals and cook some good food for them.
Today he finally visited the last three companies on the list Jiang Baichuan gave him!
It has to be said that Uncle Baichuan is really reliable. On the list he was given, apart from two families who decided to go out to work during this period because they were really struggling to make ends meet, the other families were quite willing to follow him in doing this tea cake business.
The main reason is that, at present, this is a business deal with no initial investment.
After all, many wild tea trees on Langshan Mountain are unclaimed, and if you work hard, you can pick more tea leaves than you can handle.