Song Tan's Notes

For Qiaoqiao, picking daylilies posed absolutely no technical barriers.

For the villagers, maturity level is something they can tell at a glance, without even having to think about it.

As for picking, that's even simpler.
Even a tiny tea leaf can be plucked by hand, let alone a round, plump, long daylily bud magnified many times over.

Xiao Yang was patting it from all angles, and Qiao Qiao was patting it with both hands at the same time, swish swish swish swish!

They hadn't walked far along a furrow when the cloth bag hanging from their waist was already quite heavy.

Yang Zhengxin was dumbfounded: "Qiaoqiao, do you have to pick tea at this speed?"

He tried it too.

I went up the mountain and carefully picked tea buds, but after a whole morning of picking, I only got three ounces!

Ulan laughed and said that if you kids were to earn money to support your families, your whole family would starve.

Look how discouraging this is!
Now, Qiaoqiao has thought about it seriously:
"Picking tea leaves is faster than this."

The stems of daylilies are thin, and if you pick them too quickly, they will sway, so sometimes you need to use one hand to hold them steady.

Tea tree branches are sturdy and mostly neatly trimmed. Unless they are old tea trees that have been neglected, they will not sway like this.

After saying this, he looked at the farmers scattered in the field and asked curiously:

"Did they work all night too? Did they work all night?"

While doing his homework yesterday, he noticed that other people started picking daylilies after 10 p.m.

The uncles and aunts also had to wear headlamps, otherwise the fields would be pitch black and they wouldn't be able to see anything.

Xiao Yang shook his head: "We call this a farm, but crop farming is just a side business. These daylilies are mostly harvested for internal supply to the group, so we're not in a rush."

Qiaoqiao had her own homework to do, and Xiaoyang also had a lot to learn, so he explained earnestly:
"They started a little earlier than us, but it wasn't time to turn on the lights yet. Since they live nearby, they started working around 4 a.m. Look, the first bag isn't even full yet."

Qiaoqiao looked carefully into the distance and nodded.

He didn't know how many people were in the live stream, but no matter how many, it wouldn't stop him from teaching diligently.

"Children, if you're going to pick daylilies, you must get up early! Otherwise, once the sun comes up," he said, pinching out a plump, round, long daylily bud with a deep yellow tinge of green:
"Like this, it will open as soon as the sun comes out. After it opens, it's not good anymore; it's not the best to eat it, nor is it the best to sell it."

Thinking about the rain at home, he sighed with a touch of melancholy:
"If sales are poor, farming will result in losses."

Yang Zhengxin glanced at the live stream; there were only less than two thousand viewers in total.

But the comments section was buzzing.

Okay, I learned something. Where can I get the daylily field?

[Teacher Qiaoqiao, how did you know I had to rewrite my resume again?]

[Hey, with so many skills, can you even list them all on your resume?]

My resume is already written; it starts with picking the pumpkin tips.

Speaking of pumpkin tips, are pumpkin blossoms ready to eat now?

[How pathetic! I stayed up all night to learn, is there a link on the pumpkin flower?]

[Just kidding, I'm here to learn too. Do you have a link for the daylily?]

[If you're staying up late, just say so. Don't pretend you're so studious. Otherwise, is it because you don't like Tsinghua University?]

【But I'm different. My grades aren't good, and I've heard that daylilies can improve brain function. Teacher Qiao, can you sell me 100 jin?】

[You don't understand what I just said, do you? The principle is to use what you're born with to compensate for what you're born with; if you're not smart, you should eat pig brains.]

There were few people, so the comments were easier to see.

Yang Zhengxin watched as the conversation gradually veered off course in all directions, and at that moment he couldn't help but chuckle.

Qiaoqiao looked at him with a puzzled expression, then went back to work.

Yang Zhengxin then thought with a touch of melancholy:
Qiaoqiao missed out on a lot of fun by not watching the live comments.

However, on the other hand, if he were actually reading the comments, the screen would probably be full of "links" right now, and no one would be chatting at all.

At this moment, he quickly emphasized:

“Look carefully, everyone. These are daylilies from our own field, not Qiaoqiao’s. There’s not much difference between the ones you buy and the ones you buy outside, so there’s no need to buy them.”

"Besides, daylilies, like wood ear mushrooms, can't be picked and eaten directly. Look at the trucks waiting by the roadside—they're harvested here and then sent to the steaming room there. If left too long, they'll bloom. After steaming, they have to be dried in the sun before they can be eaten and preserved."

Goodness, the process is so complicated!

Someone in the live chat asked: "Why can't you just show it off directly?"

[Yes, it's not traditional Chinese medicine, so why would it need to go through the nine-steaming and nine-drying process?]

It wouldn't be nine steamings and nine dryings, but in the process that Yang Zhengxin knew, one steaming and one drying were definitely necessary.

As for directly sun-drying it, he doesn't know that either.

But he wasn't in a hurry. He simply raised his voice and asked a middle-aged woman next to him who was also fully armed:

"Auntie, if we dry these daylilies directly in the sun, is it safe to eat?" The auntie laughed heartily, "You must be students doing temporary work around here. You can't just eat anything! If you dry them directly, they'll turn black and won't sell. They might even be poisonous—"

He paused, then emphasized again, "You can't just eat anything."

After saying that, I noticed he was holding up his phone again, so I quickly asked:

"Want to shoot short videos? Post on Douyin? Hey young man, if you want to make money, get to work! Look, your classmate has picked so many, and you don't even have many in your bag yet."

This silly kid, if he doesn't work a little longer before the sun comes out, he'll be busy later.

He added, "What's there to photograph? Wait until the sun comes out. People will only give you a like if they think the flowers are pretty."

Good, good, good. It's true that vibrato has penetrated deeply into the middle-aged and elderly. This auntie is so experienced; she must have filmed it before.

Yang Zhengxin humbly accepted the advice: "Alright, alright, I'll film for a little while."

The woman shook her head, then quickly waved her hands again, picking as she slowly walked away.

Yang Zhengxin glanced at the few empty sticks in his bag and couldn't help but chuckle.
I have to thank Lao Yang and General Manager Liu for building this empire for him; otherwise, with his personality, he probably wouldn't have made much money just by farming.

Looking at the comments, people only saw the woman's figure, not her face, but they heard every single word she said.

The room erupted in laughter.

Others chimed in, advising, "Yeah, Xiao Yang, look how many Qiao Qiao has picked! You can't dawdle!"

[Exactly, how come the landlord's child is leading the way in slacking off?]

[Let's not talk about slacking off for now, young master of the landlord's family, are you selling your daylilies or not? Or how about we hold a prize draw?]

Yang Zhengxin chuckled loudly.

He then looked at Qiaoqiao and said, "Qiaoqiao, your friends asked me to bring some daylilies for a raffle."

Qiaoqiao was a little confused: "How do I draw this?"

After picking the daylilies, they need to be steamed, and after steaming, they need to be dried for a day or two. Will you come over separately to pack and ship them to the children who participated in the lucky draw?

“Xiao Yang’s crops are definitely all planned out.” He shook his head. “I can’t use your stuff for the lottery. If I grow daylilies at home next year, then I’ll participate in the lottery.”

His comment drew criticism from the live chat:
[Whether there's a giveaway or not doesn't matter, Qiaoqiao, just put this year's best-selling items on the shelves first, don't push everything to next year.]

[Exactly! I couldn't even buy any peaches this year, and I only managed to buy a few discounted tomatoes and cucumbers. Can't they just sell them more freely?]

Xiao Yang didn't mind, but if he just said it, the workers would have to run their legs off in this sweltering heat.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "This is your first time visiting a friend's house for a short stay, Qiaoqiao, so we should have some ceremony. How about this, ask the kids if any of them like Lego. I still have a lot of unopened boxes in my house. Let's give away ten boxes."

He likes this, and most of his relatives, friends, or guests he hears about like to give it to him.

If you send too many, you'll end up sending too many duplicates.

Some have been given away, and some haven't been given away yet; they're all piled up in the warehouse.

This time, in order to let Qiao Qiao choose, I specially went through everything. There were five or six sets of Magic Castle alone. I took one set for Chen Chi, and the rest could be taken out.

Jojo's monetary value is usually not calculated in a universal sense.

Thinking about all that was piled up in Xiao Yang's warehouse, he nodded in agreement: "Okay, okay."

Such beautiful houses are just piled up there, no one to build them, no one to appreciate them, how lonely.

Good guy!
The night owls immediately perked up!

As expected, the bird that doesn't sleep gets the worm.

Putting everything else aside, even if they don't play with the Lego themselves, they can still make a living by reselling it, which immediately excited everyone.

The person in charge of the live streaming platform who made the decision to sign Qiao Qiao was also having trouble sleeping.

Watching the live stream right now, I can't help but exclaim "Oh dear!" again.

Believe it or not, Qiaoqiao's friend also has the potential to become famous!

With that extravagant spending style and that down-to-earth, endearing way of speaking, he's perfect for attracting fans.

With the proliferation of fan culture these days, fans have gradually become more knowledgeable. If a big internet celebrity like Qiao Qiao says a few extra words during a live stream, she can easily be cyberbullied.

Saying things like "riding the coattails of trending topics" or "climbing the ladder by stepping on your friends"... those are really nasty things to say.

But what about watching Qiao Qiao's live stream?

It was a truly harmonious and beautiful scene. Qiaoqiao made friends, and her friends showed their faces and spoke in the live stream, giving away prizes. Everyone was just happy for Qiaoqiao, and no one thought they were trying to create any buzz.

This Xiao Yang is quite a character. He has both high emotional intelligence and high IQ, and he's also a natural-born rich kid. He can easily gain fans by simply shooting a few short videos, such as "A Rich Kid's High-Energy Day" or "Store Lottery Giveaway".

They're the kind of people who aren't afraid of being exposed as counterfeiters.

He perked up and was about to send Qiaoqiao a private message during her live stream when he realized that she hardly ever watched it.

After a pause, he found Song Tan's contact information and sent him a message early in the morning:
"Has Qiaoqiao's friend, Xiao Yang, considered signing with our platform? The benefits are very generous." (End of Chapter)