Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 55 - : 55. Tea Quality_1
Chapter 55: 55. Tea Quality_1
Song Sancheng hurriedly responded, “I’m here, waiting!”
He quickly picked up the shoulder pole and descended the mountain.
Standing at the door was Zhou Maozhu from the same village, who had been entrusted with the task of roasting their tea leaves this time.
Roasting tea leaves also depended on the heat control; some were too fierce, others not heated enough, resulting in a product that wasn’t always up to expectations. Only Zhou Maozhu had worked in those large tea factories in his youth and had now the most reliable skills.
It was arranged for tea leaves to be gathered every evening and taken to him for processing overnight.
This year the tea leaves were exceptionally lush, such that even with five people harvesting, the quantity was significant. Zhou Maozhu’s house didn’t have a tea roasting machine, which likely meant a long night ahead.
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But in the village, it was his craftsmanship that was the best, and his house still had a tea roasting stove.
Other places were, firstly, too distant, and secondly, nowadays people used tea roasting machines for mass production, which didn’t cater well to individual processing.
Upon seeing Song Sancheng, Zhou Maozhu couldn’t help but reveal a smile on his equally weathered face:
“Sancheng, your family is truly blessed by the God of Soil this year, just look at these tea leaves!”
He opened the transparent plastic bag he was carrying, and instantly, a burst of fresh fragrance filled the air!
“Yesterday, in total, twenty-five jin and two liang of Maojian were sent over. You said there was no need to sift, so I didn’t; I saw that all that was picked was quite pure, hardly any leaves.”
In their locale, the most popular tea leaves were Maojian, which had only a single bud tip. Next came those with one leaf, and the value decreased as more leaves were included.
Specialist tea farming households would strictly grade the tea and set different prices accordingly, but Song Sancheng’s family only had that much land, so there was no need for such measures.
Zhou Maozhu reached into the bag to show him a handful of dry, dark green tea leaves covered with a layer of white fuzz:
“Three and a half jin yielded one jin of finished tea, and after roasting, there’s just over seven jin in total. But didn’t you say you wanted to sell some? I dried it extra thoroughly for better preservation.”
“However, because of that, this time we got exactly five jin of dry tea. When you have time, you can pick out some of the leaves.”
Both being seasoned workers, as soon as Zhou Maozhu mentioned the numbers, Song Sancheng knew whether they were accurate or not.
Smelling the refreshing tea aroma, he felt an immediate thirst and nodded, quickly ushering the man inside:
“Come on in, let’s steep a couple of cups and check the soup color!”
Top-quality Maojian must never be brewed with boiling water; fortunately, the water in the household thermos was heated early in the morning. It was an old thermos with fairly poor insulation, so by now, the temperature was probably just right.
Song Sancheng took out two glass cups, grabbed two pinches of tea leaves, gave them a quick rinse, and eagerly began to assess their quality.
—There was nothing professional about it, it was all based on experience.
As the clear water cascaded over the leaves, the dark green dry tea instantly started to unfurl in the water before gradually expanding to reveal a delicate and vibrant green color.
A subtle fragrance slowly spread throughout the room, and Song Sancheng couldn’t resist taking a deep breath, truly feeling as if the God of Soil was looking after them, blessing their fields with his spirit!
When had he ever smelled tea leaves as fragrant as these in his life?
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Zhou Maozhu gazed at the upstanding Maojian in the cup with pride and joy in his eyes:
“Sancheng, your family’s tea leaves this year are truly remarkable!”
“They had just been put in the pan yesterday, and the aroma was instantly unleashed! While fixing the green, I felt refreshed and increasingly comfortable just smelling it.”
“The more I roasted, the more fragrant it got. The whole courtyard smelt crisp and clean. The refreshing effect was quite strong; I haven’t had the chance to taste it yet—I might have inhaled too much of the aroma. I stayed up all night, and I’m still not the least bit sleepy.”
When Zhou Maozhu talked about fixing the green, he wasn’t referring to a movie wrap-up, but to the initial step in their local tea roasting process, mainly to bring out the tea’s fragrance, evaporate moisture, and make the leaves soft enough for rolling.
Generally, tea leaves emit a wet tea fragrance during this process, a flavor quite unique.
But to be so invigorated just by smelling the aroma of tea being fried, and to have Zhou Maozhu, who had worked in a large tea factory, say that…
Song Sancheng sniffed the strong fragrance filling the room and couldn’t help but beam with joy.
It was at this moment that Zhou Maozhu couldn’t help but ask sheepishly, “Sancheng, how do you plan to sell this tea? Once the tea is fried, could you set aside a pound for me?”
How to sell?
Song Sancheng didn’t know either!
He only knew that his daughter was capable; she could turn wild vegetables from the field into twenty-one pounds. As for this tea… Dare not think, dare not think.
But at this moment, Zhou Maozhu’s request wasn’t excessive.
He started to think that with the small yield, frying the tea wouldn’t take many hours, and the wages they’d negotiated with Zhou Maozhu were a hundred and twenty a day. With his skills, if he went out to work, despite the toil, he could easily earn three to four hundred yuan a day!
No matter how expensive this tea was, in the past, the pork butcher would still have to bring something back home, so if it was due, it should be given!
Song Sancheng made a decision:
“Old Zhou, judging by this year, our Tea Mountain should produce quite a bit, and I reckon you’ll have some late-night work to do for a while. Giving you some tea, definitely possible.”
“But as for the weather and yield, one cannot be certain. Provided that they’re all about the same as today, then I’ll take the liberty—”
“How about this, I’ll give you a pound of the pre-Ming tea!”
“Two pounds of the Yuqian Tea.”
“If there’s more to follow, then a total of five pounds for the summer and autumn teas, how does that sound?”
Most Maojian teas are at their most expensive right before Qingming, followed by Grain Rain, and by the time summer tea comes around, the price drops significantly.
Of course, there’s tea for the summer heat and White Dew Tea for autumn, each with their own flavor. It all depends on whether this year’s teas are worth such a long investment.
The gift Song Sancheng offered was more than generous.
It was all because he saw Zhou Maozhu as a conscientious and honest person. With someone else, the tea leaves could be sneakily taken during frying, and by taking one or two every day, a substantial amount would accumulate in a month.
Song Sancheng then smiled awkwardly, “You know that right now, this area is all managed by our Tantan. We, as her parents, are just lending a hand.”
That implied that he couldn’t give more or make decisions on his own.
Zhou Maozhu was already content, even overwhelmed with joy.
“Great, great, great! I know your tea will definitely sell for a high price! Rest assured, I will fry your tea leaves to the best of my ability, wasting not a bit.”
“Oh,” he was already rubbing his hands, expressing his admiration: “Such great tea, that Yuqian Tea I will save to enjoy slowly for myself.”
“If the quality of the summer tea remains like this, giving it to my son to take as a gift would be even better than those few thousand outside.”
Song Sancheng laughed, “You’re choosing summer tea as a gift for your son? Why don’t you choose the Yuqian Tea?”
But Zhou Maozhu shook his head:
“You don’t understand, I’ve never drunk tea this good in my life. Why would I give such an exaggerated gift?”
The most important thing was, with five pounds of summer tea, giving one pound at a time; if the recipients liked it and asked for more, it would be convenient to strike while the iron’s hot!
“For our small family, it’s just about doing what’s within our ability; summer tea is fine.”
