Chapter 79.2: Trouble at the Tea Plantation

　　Several newly built buildings stood at the foot of the tea mountain. In addition to Su Ling’s surveillance room and office, the village committee had specifically constructed a visitor lounge, a ticket office, and other facilities to enhance the experience for visitors.

　　An entrance checkpoint marked the path to the tea plantation, where visitors were required to present their tickets before ascending.

　　The tickets were quite affordable: just ten yuan¹ CNY 10 is approximately US $1.38. for adults. Children under 1.2 meters tall could enter for free, while those above that height enjoyed a half-price ticket.

　　As the tea farmers went about their daily work, they became unofficial guides for visitors. If tourists lost their way on the mountain, they only needed to ask a tea farmer, who would point them in the right direction.

　　Mount Phoenix mountain range loomed large and imposing, its vast expanse stretching beyond the eye’s reach. The tea plantations covered only two of its peaks, but the scenic beauty beyond the tea-covered slopes remained largely unexplored. For over two months, the village committee had worked tirelessly, and now, they had finally marked out a designated path for visitors to explore, at least for the time being.

　　Climbing fifty-some meters up through the tea-covered slopes, one would come upon a forest of peculiar rock formations — jagged, towering, and strangely sculpted by time. Just beyond lay a waterfall that plunged a hundred meters straight down, thundering into a crystal-clear pool. From there, the water flowed into a narrow mountain ravine, forming the headwaters of the stream that wound its way down to the valley below. Above the falls, nestled high among sheer cliffs, was a serene and picturesque lake. But with no path leading up its vertical walls, reaching it was impossible for now.

　　From what the village chief said last night, it sounded like they planned to develop the lake into a tourist spot after teaming up with that gamified travel platform. Su Ling had no objections, so he would just foot the bill when the time came.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

　　“Fbyzz ol ts wr vbl xswdvykd qsa y zssj, Gwdv Tl?” Fw Nkdt pwttlpvle okvb y psqv pxkzl.

　　“Ls, vbydj usw. Mblpl sze csdlp sq xkdl yald’v xyel qsa vbkp jkde sq saelyz.” Gwdv Tl zssjle wr yv vbl vsolakdt xswdvykd, qllzkdt vbl olktbv sq kv ralpp esod sd bla nblpv.

　　Lsv oydvkdt vs ralppwal bla, Fw Nkdt vwadle yde xyel bkp oyu cynj vs vbl sqqknl.

　　Rd vbl sqqknl, Nk Zwl’l oyp pvladzu alrakxydekdt vos vly qyaxlap. Mblu pvsse clqsal bla okvb vblka blyep csole, dsv eyakdt vs wvvla y osae.

　　“Tso xydu vkxlp es R byhl vs vlzz usw vs vyjl tsse nyal sq vbl vly rzydvp, yde dsv y pkdtzl zlyq nyd cl eyxytle? Mbl ywvwxd byahlpv kp fwpv yaswde vbl nsadla. Rq yduvbkdt tslp oasdt, obs’p tskdt vs vyjl alprsdpkckzkvu?”

　　“El nyd’v vyjl yzz vbl czyxl qsa vbkp, Pkalnvsa Nk. Fsxl vswakpvp pkxrzu alqwple vs blle swa oyadkdtp yde plnalvzu rknjle vbl vly zlyhlp obld ol olald’v ryukdt yvvldvksd. Mbl eyxytl kp xspv plhlal yzsdt vbl xswdvykd ryvbp.”

　　“Zlyb, lmynvzu! Ohlau vkxl R vau vs pvlr kd yde pvsr vblx, vbspl vswakpvp oswze ulzz yv xl, yde kq vblu tlv alyzzu osajle wr, vblu lhld tlv rbupknyz.”

　　Nk Zwl’l qasodle, nsdvlxrzyvkdt vbl pkvwyvksd.

　　There are pros and cons to everything.

　　The fame of the tea mountains had spread far and wide, drawing in waves of tourists and bringing a welcome boost to Stone Creek Village’s economy. But with the crowds came trouble — littering, trampling, noise — leaving the tea fields damaged and the farmers exasperated.

　　At the door, Su Ling raised his hand and gave a soft knock despite it being ajar. The sound stirred Li Yue’e from her thoughts.

　　“Oh, look who’s here! Xiao Su!” Li Yue’e exclaimed, rising to her feet in surprise.

　　“Hello, Director Li,” Su Ling greeted as he stepped inside. His eyes landed on two familiar tea farmers, and he furrowed his brows in confusion. “What’s going on here?”

　　Li Yue’e sighed, “It’s those tourists again, refusing to listen to our warnings and messing with the tea plants we’ve carefully nurtured. With the autumn harvest just around the corner, I’m afraid the damage to the trees will mean we won’t be able to sell the tea at a good price.”

　　Su Ling nodded. “That is a problem.”

　　Though the tea plantation sprawled across the mountain, only a small number of farmers made their way up the slopes each day. When tourists came in droves, it quickly became too much to handle. Most did not mean any harm when they plucked at the tea plants; some did it for fun, while others simply wanted a memento to take home.

　　While the actions of one or two individuals might go unnoticed, having ten or more people picking leaves each day could lead to significant damage. Over time, whole sections of the tea plants would be stripped bare, their once-lush branches slowly thinning out.

　　“What if we… put up a fence around the tea plants?” suggested one tea farmer.

　　“Fencing it off would spoil the view, and it’d be a waste of both manpower and resources,” Li Yue’e remarked, her brow furrowed. “I don’t think it’ll work.”

　　“Then why don’t we send a few more people up the mountain?” another tea farmer proposed.

　　“Even if we send more people up the mountain, we’ll still be outnumbered by the sheer number of tourists,” Li Yue’e retorted.

　　Out of ideas, the tea farmers cast a helpless glance at Su Ling, their eyes silently pleading for help.

　　Su Ling pursed his lips in thought, but for now, no good plan came to mind.

　　Noticing that Su Ling had brought someone with him, Li Yue’e offered a warm smile. “Come, let’s sit and talk things through.”

　　Once the two settled into their seats, Li Yue’e brewed tea for them and dismissed the two tea farmers to give them some privacy.

　　The tea farmers sighed in relief, swiftly exiting the room and leaving the three of them alone in the office.

　　Li Yue’e heaved a sigh. “When the tourists started pouring in, we were totally unprepared. The village’s basic infrastructure just couldn’t keep up, and that stirred up quite a few conflicts. Luckily, nothing too serious happened, and we managed to smooth everything over in the end.”

　　“Unfortunately, I can’t be of much help here,” Su Ling admitted, his voice tinged with apology. “I’ll have to leave it all to you all in the village committee.” 

　　Li Yue’e chuckled, “No matter how tough or exhausting it gets, it’s our responsibility to give our all for the village.”

　　In the past, her greed for small gains led her to make some poor choices, resulting in a severe reprimand from the village chief. Had it not been for her long-standing work experience, she would have lost her director role.

　　Putting aside past grudges, Xiao Su still hired her to manage the tea farmers. Deep down, she wrestled with feelings of guilt and gratitude. Determined to turn over a new leaf, she threw herself into her work, striving to do everything right and make amends.

　　However, some things could not be achieved through hard work alone. Her lack of expertise was painfully obvious — just look at the graduate in the surveillance room next door, or the accountant calculating the tea farmers’ wages. Both were young, tech-savvy, and highly skilled with computers. And then there was her, completely clueless in that regard, left to focus solely on managing the people.

　　Now that tourists were picking tea on the plantation, she was completely at a loss.

　　Aunt He noticed the distress etched on their faces and suggested, “City parks always have signs with information about the flowers and plants. What if we put up similar ones on the tea plantation? Do you think that would work?”

　　Su Ling raised an eyebrow and noted, “That’s actually a pretty good idea.”

　　“If everyone were more considerate, we wouldn’t have these unnecessary complications,” Li Yue’e remarked, her voice tinged with pessimism.

　　Su Ling stroked his smooth chin and pondered aloud, “We should consider increasing the fines.”

　　“Fines?” Li Yue’e’s eyes lit up with interest. “They can definitely be effective, but only if we catch them in the act, right? We’re still seriously short on hands.”

　　Su Ling glanced at the door separating them from the office, then pointed. “There’s surveillance cameras.”

　　Lin Zhou’s surveillance system was state-of-the-art, meticulously set up with no blind spots. Every movement of the visitors was closely monitored, unable to escape the system’s watchful eye.

　　But Li Yue’e still had her reservations. “There are over a hundred surveillance cameras. Is Xiao Li really able to monitor them all by himself?”

　　Xiao Li was the graduate in charge of the surveillance room.

　　Su Ling snapped his fingers and declared, “I can buy a batch of smart surveillance cameras.”

　　“Smart surveillance cameras?” Li Yue’e repeated, completely baffled.

　　“That’s right!” Su Ling thought of MK, the bee-shaped video camera. “I’ll look into it when I get back and put together a proposal as soon as I can.”

　　“Alright, then I’ll leave it to you, Xiao Su.”

　　After leaving the office, Su Ling and Aunt He strolled back to the Su Clan Ancestral House.

　　It was nearing noon, and Aunt He made her way to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Meanwhile, Su Ling sat cross-legged in the guest hall’s mahogany chair with a Dragon Li kitten curled in his lap. His gaze was fixed intently on his phone, oblivious to everything around him.

　　Lin Feng had been in City H for nearly five hours now, so he could not help but wonder whether the results were in yet.

　　Just as the thought crossed his mind, the phone suddenly rang, giving the Dragon Li kitten a fright. It jumped, lifting its head with a soft meow.

　　Su Ling’s hand shot out to press the Answer button, and he asked urgently, “How did it go? Any results yet?”

　　“Yes, they’ve confirmed it.” Lin Feng’s calm voice came through the phone, and Su Ling felt the knot in his chest finally unravel as the weight lifted from his heart.

　　“That’s wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”

　　A wave of emotions swept over him.

　　He was thrilled to learn that Xiao Fangqi was indeed Elder Brother’s grandson, but a troubling thought lingered at the back of his head: would Mother-in-law agree to him and Lin Feng raising the child?