Chapter 133: Smell the Tea

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“If you feel better, maybe you should sleep earlier,” Master Xu said to his wife.

“Yes, I hope I can sleep well.”

Since Master Xu’s wife started having headaches, her sleep quality had been affected, and she would sometimes wake from her dreams. Her head would ache the most during those times, as painful as piercing pins.

When we get the chance, we need to thank Dr. Wang properly, Master Xu thought.

…

The night was dark, and the stars were high up in the sky.

In the solitude of Nanshan hill, the cottage was lit and a soft voice reciting scriptures rang out along with the hill breeze. The voice seemed to be able to travel a very long distance.

Up until around 10 pm, the light in the cottage finally went out.

The next day, Zhou Xiong brought his son up to Nanshan hill. When he went up the hill, Wang Yao had just come down from the hill peak after his breathing exercises.

This time, Zhou Xiong started sparring with Wang Yao. By right, the speed should have been extremely fast. However, when he saw the way Wang Yao sparred, he had an idea of Wang Yao’s competence level. Tai Chi focused on substance over form. While he was explaining to Wang Yao the Tai Chi hand pushing positions, with a complementary fist posture, he could feel an extraordinary power flowing to his arm.

What strength! If not for Zhou Xiong’s years of martial arts experience, robust footwork and his knowledge of diverging the force away, he might not be able to defend against Wang Yao’s move.

“Slow down, there’s no hurry.”

Hand pushing was an exercise and a way of transmitting information and giving feedback. During this process, Zhou Xiong used a somewhat close-to-an-actual-sparring method to explain to Wang Yao about the art of Tai Chi defense and attack.

Zhou Wukang and San Xian looked on with relish.

Zhou Xiong was detailed in his teachings, and Wang Yao listened seriously. Time flew by, and it was noontime. This time, Zhou Xiong and his son did not stay to have lunch and went back to Lianshan County.

When Wang Yao returned home, his third uncle was there too. He was laughing with his father and looked to be in a good mood.

“Third Uncle.”

“Yao is back,” Wang Fenglei smiled and said. “Aren’t you bored always being on the hill?”

“It’s alright, I am already used to it.”

While they were chatting, Wang Yao’s mother had already prepared a few dishes, and he helped to set the table.

While they were eating, as Wang Yao’s third uncle was in a cheery mood, he spoke a lot and drank two glasses of liquor. He also spoke of his work at Jiahui company.

At first, when he heard Wang Yao’s father tell him of a job that he should try, he did not think much of it. However, when he heard the name of the company, he thought differently. The company was one of the top companies in Lianshan County and was also very well known in Haiqu City. When he met with Jiahui company’s Human Resources, the person personally received him and was very warm towards him. He was greatly surprised. Subsequently, a job was arranged for him, and it was a good one—in logistics. The work was not tough, and he had days off every week. His salary was over 4,000 yuan, and that was considered to be higher than average in Lianshan County. He was surprised that his brother had such connections to land him this job. Upon reflection, he realized that this had something to do with his nephew. Therefore, he had come to Wang Yao’s house.

“Good that you have settled down in the new job. Do well.” Wang Fenghua was a man of few words.

“I know,” Wang Fenglei replied.

Please don’t cause trouble, Wang Yao thought.

This afternoon, his third uncle drank half a liter of liquor and was evidently getting drunk.

“Third Uncle, when are you going to work?”

“Next week.”

“Don’t ride your motorbike; let me drive you home.”

“No problem, this bit of liquor is nothing.”

Wang Yao’s father did not allow his brother to leave immediately. He had him stay for a bit to drink a lot of water so that he could be slightly sober. It was close to 2.30 pm before he let him leave. Wang Fenghua was still worried and exhorted him before letting him leave.

“What kind of job did you find him?” Zhang Xiuying asked after Wang Yao’s third uncle left.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Didn’t you find him the job?”

“I did, but I don’t know exactly what job was arranged for him. However, seeing how pleased Third Uncle is, it must be a pretty good job,” Wang Yao smiled and replied.

“Good that it’s a good job. I hope there won’t be an issue.”

“I hope so too,” Wang Yao did not say this aloud.

If his third uncle got into trouble at Tian Yuantu’s company, how could he face Tian Yuantu, and what would the latter think?

After two days, Wang Yao visited Master Xu’s home. His main objective was to check on Master Xu’s wife’s condition. Master Xu and his wife were glad to see him. He made Wang Yao tea and served him fruits. Wang Yao noticed that Master Xu’s wife’s complexion looked significantly better. He chatted with her for a bit, asking about her condition for the past few days and took her pulse. It appeared that his decoction had been effective.

“Thank you so much, Doctor Wang,” Master Xu said. After taking Wang Yao’s decoction, his wife’s condition had an immediate improvement. He was both amazed and excited. He wanted to find time to personally pay Wang Yao a visit to thank him and did not expect Wang Yao to come instead.

“Don’t be so formal,” Wang Yao smiled and said.

Master Xu and his wife were very hospital, and Wang Yao stayed at their home for a while.

“Oh right, Master Xu, I have a matter that I’d like to trouble you with.”

“Don’t call me Master, that’s too formal. Based on my age, I’m old enough to be your uncle. You can call me Uncle,” Master Xu, whose full name was Xu Maosheng said.

“Okay, Uncle Xu. I have planted a few tree plants on the hill, and they seem to be ready to be harvested. However, my skill is not yet even at a beginner’s level, and I will probably ruin them if I were to process them. So, I’d like to seek your help. I’ll harvest them and take them to you to process; will that be okay?”

“Of course, no problem at all,” Xu Maosheng smiled and responded. If it were other skills, he might not be skillful. However, if it was tea processing, he was a well-known tea making master in this part of the riverside. He had also taught a number of apprentices. This was a small task for him.

“Sure, when you are free? I will bring the harvested tea leaves to you.”

“How about this. I am free in the afternoon anyway. I’ll go to your place and take a look at your tea leaves, so I can prepare as well.”

“Sure.”

Wang Yao drove his car and took Xu Maosheng to the village, and subsequently, they walked up Nanshan hill.

“What plants are these?” Xu Maosheng curiously asked. This was upon entering the herbal field and seeing the various species of herbs in a sea of deep green.

“These are herbs used for decoction.”

“They grow so well!”

They walked a few steps and came to the side of the tea plants. The tea plants had come from the nursery that Wang Yao had purchased and were not of any famous species. It was something he had suddenly thought of planting. There were less than 20 plants. With the irrigation of the ancient spring, they had grown exceptionally fast.

“This tea?” Xu Maosheng saw the tea plants and was stunned.

These tea plants were similar to the plants in his own field, yet they were also different. These plants looked more delicately beautiful and dewy. He reached out and plucked a tea leaf. Then, he sniffed it and placed it in his mouth before slowly chewing on it and swallowing.

“That’s good tea!” He exclaimed.

For more than 20 years, he had planted tea leaves, hand processed tea and had not merely stayed in the riverside town to concentrate on his craft; he had also learned the craft from various places. In his tea field, there were a few older tea plants where he had earlier acquired from outside the county. In his years of experience, he had acquired a unique skill. Beyond hand processing good quality tea, he was also able to accurately determine the quality of the tea plants.

Before his eyes, these age of these tea plants was relatively young, but the quality of the tea leaves was superior. Only the tea leaves from such quality of plants would be able to yield excellent tea. Being planted on the hill, they were wild and were not comparable to the tea being mass planted in the tea field. For so long, he had not seen such excellent quality tea plants. The only regret was that the tea plants were too small. If he harvested them now, there would be too few tea leaves.

“You flatter me,” Wang Yao responded.

“Too bad, there are too few tea plants. I estimate that after harvesting them, there will only be around 500 grams of tea leaves,” Xu Maosheng said.

“So little?” Wang Yao was alarmed. He had seen multiple tea leaves and shoots on the plants and had thought that there could be a decent quantity of tea leaves.

“Fresh tea leaves at 500 grams will yield 100 grams of tea.”

Hearing this, Wang Yao now knew the production yield of the tea leaves.

“50 grams is fine too. When you are free, let me know, and I will harvest and send them over to you.”

Xu Maosheng did not reply him immediately. He scrutinized the plants carefully.

“In three days, I will personally come over to harvest them,” he responded after looking at the plants for some time.

“Okay, I will come and pick you up then.”

“No need. I will make my way here myself,” Xu Maosheng waved his hands in dismissal.

“No, I will come and pick you up, that’s a deal. Let’s go inside the cottage to rest. I have some good tea for you to try.”

Wang Yao invited Xu Maosheng into his cottage and made him a pot of tea.

“West Lake Longjing?” Having only smelled the tea and not yet sampled it, Xu Maosheng had named the tea type. This was indeed an incredible skill.

“Impressive, it is indeed West Lake Longjing.” Wang Yao poured him a cup.

“Good tea, this is the true West Lake Longjing!” Xu Maosheng drank a sip and exclaimed.

“I didn’t know if it was; it was a gift from my friend.” Wang Yao smiled and filled the tea to the brim for him.

The true West Lake Longjing tea was scarce and rare. Although not as rare as the superior oolong tea grown on Mount Wuyi, an ordinary person would have heard of the true West Lake tea; to be able to taste it was quite rare.

“Are you usually on the hill?” After the few times of interaction, Xu Maosheng discovered that the young man before him was different from other young men of his age. He had an unexplainable aura.

He was not impetuous, but quiet and natural.