SEC Chapter 152 Tea Picking, the Poor Little Girl
Chapter 152 Tea Picking, the Poor Little Girl
Shen Yu gently woke Jiang Xinlan and the two children one by one, his eyes filled with tender love.
"Xinlan, Niannian, Guigui, it's time to get up. Have you forgotten we're going to pick tea on the mountain today?"
*
One hour later.
In the early morning, Wuling Mountain was still shrouded in a thin mist, and the tea tips of the century-old tea garden were covered with glistening dewdrops, with a refreshing tea aroma filling the air.
Wang Kai stood at the entrance of the tea garden with a megaphone and loudly announced today's task:
"Dear teachers, our task today is to pick tea! We will be divided into four groups and have a two-hour time limit. The final score will be based on the net weight and integrity of the tea leaves."
The winning team will receive one-on-one instruction from Uncle Li on how to hand-fry tea leaves, and all the tea leaves they pick can be donated to the villagers of Xitou Village.
The groups were quickly determined: Shen Yu, holding Niannian and Guigui's hands, was in a group with Jiang Xinlan.
Chen Guodong was in a group with his wife Bai Hui and granddaughter Duoduo.
Su Wanqing and Wen Ran formed a sister duo.
Gu Yanchen is introverted and chose to be in a group alone.
With bamboo tea baskets on their backs, everyone scrambled into the tea bushes.
Su Wanqing and Wen Ran clumsily plucked the tea buds, either pulling too hard and tearing off the whole branch, or only plucking a leaf. After half a day, the bottom of the tea basket was not even full, and their fingertips were covered with tea stains.
The Chen Guodong couple were more skilled, but they still had to bend over and search for each tree one by one, and soon they were so tired that they couldn't straighten up.
Only Shen Yu's group appeared exceptionally composed.
He held Niannian's hand and walked slowly among the tea bushes, even taking the time to point out the wildflowers by the roadside to the child.
But his fingertips were incredibly fast. A pale gray shadow flickered on the tea tip, and a complete bud and leaf fell automatically into the tea basket at his waist without him even having to bend over.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell on him; although he was doing farm work, he exuded an indescribable air of detachment and tranquility.
Gui Gui, carrying her little tea basket, followed behind, diligently learning. She accidentally tripped over a stone, and with a "thud," her little tea basket fell over onto the ground, scattering the freshly picked tea leaves all over the ground, mixed with dirt and weeds.
"Oh dear!" Gui Gui pouted, on the verge of tears.
Shen Yu didn't even turn his head; he simply waved his hand casually behind him.
The next second, something amazing happened.
The tea leaves scattered on the ground seemed to be guided by an invisible hand, floating up and falling neatly back into the small tea basket, leaving not a single broken leaf behind. It even automatically sifted out the mixed soil and weeds, which then fell to the ground.
"Wow!" Gui Gui instantly forgot her tears, staring wide-eyed at her tea basket. "Daddy's so amazing!"
Su Wanqing, who was standing nearby, witnessed this scene. The tea basket in her hand fell to the ground with a clatter, scattering tea leaves all over the floor. Wen Ran was also so shocked that she covered her mouth, speechless for a long time.
The live stream chat exploded:
[Holy crap?! The tea leaves flew back by themselves?! Am I seeing things?!]
[What kind of magic is this? Mr. Shen solved it with a simple wave of his hand?]
[Others pick tea with their hands, but Mr. Shen picks tea with his mind, right?]
[GuiGui: My dad can do magic, would I say that?]
[Hateboys, step forward! Is this just a coincidence?]
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the weighing process left everyone speechless.
Chen Guodong's group harvested 3 jin 7 liang, Su Wanqing's group harvested 2 jin 1 liang, and Gu Yanchen's group harvested 2 jin 8 liang.
On Shen Yu's scale, it clearly showed 12 jin and 3 liang, and the tea leaves poured out were all intact, without a single broken leaf, and had a uniform emerald green color, clearly top-grade tea leaves.
Holding the notebook, Wang Kai said, half-laughing and half-crying, "Mr. Shen, if you were to switch to tea picking with your skills, all the tea farmers in our village would be out of a job!"
Shen Yu simply smiled faintly, handed the tea basket to the staff, and reached out to wipe the tea stains off Nian Nian's face.
After the tea picking was finished, everyone followed Uncle Li down the mountain to Xitou Village.
Uncle Li is an old tea maker in the village. He is over seventy years old this year, and his face is etched with the wrinkles of time.
He sighed and pointed to the dilapidated mud-brick houses by the roadside, saying:
"Our village is poor. It's surrounded by mountains, and the roads are difficult to travel. All the young people have gone out to work, leaving behind only the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. We barely manage to earn enough for oil and salt from these few acres of old tea trees. Many children can't even afford a full meal."
Shen Yu led the two children at the very back, and as they entered the village, his steps paused almost imperceptibly.
His divine sense quietly spread out, sweeping over the most remote mud-brick house at the west end of the village. A faint yet unusually persistent aura of resentment, like a thin thread, was tightly wrapped around a small figure, carrying endless reluctance and concern.
Without making a sound, he pulled Niannian and Guigui closer to him, and quietly gathered a wisp of spiritual energy at his fingertips to protect the two children's foreheads.
The mountains are filled with yin energy; don't let unclean things frighten the children.
The old tea-making workshop in Xitou Village is a low adobe house with blue tiles on the roof and moss growing in the corners.
Inside the house were two large, dark iron pots, and pine firewood was burning on the stove. The flames licked the bottom of the pots, making a crackling sound.
"When you're hand-frying tea, the most important things are controlling the heat and the feel of the hand," Uncle Li said, washing his hands and standing in front of the wok to demonstrate.
"The withering process must be quick and at a high temperature to lock in the aroma of the tea leaves. The rolling must be gentle so as not to crush the tea buds. The drying process must be slow so that the tea leaves can be brewed for a long time."
His hands flew across the scalding iron pot, the emerald green tea buds swirling and leaping in his hands, making a rustling sound.
The rich aroma of tea quickly filled the entire room, making people feel refreshed and relaxed.
Jiang Xinlan, eager to try, rolled up her sleeves and said, "Uncle Li, I'll give it a shot too."
She imitated Uncle Li, putting her hand into the iron pot, but as soon as she touched the bottom, she hissed from the heat and quickly pulled her hand back.
"Be careful, the iron pot is very hot." Shen Yu reached out and took her hand, looked down at her reddened fingertips, and said with a hint of heartache, "Let me do it."
He took the teacup from Jiang Xinlan, stood in front of the iron pot, and his movements were even more skillful and fluid than Li Bo's.
His hands seemed impervious to heat, calmly stirring, kneading, and shaking the scalding iron wok, each movement precise to the millimeter.
The tea buds seemed to come alive in his hands, fluttering up and down, their color gradually becoming more emerald green, and their aroma several times stronger than that of Uncle Li's, even wafting out of the yard, attracting the village dogs to run over and wag their tails at the door.
Uncle Li stood to the side, his eyes wide with amazement, muttering to himself:
"Amazing! Absolutely amazing! I've been roasting tea for fifty years, and I've never seen such skill before! The heat control, the touch—it's simply divine!"
Su Wanqing leaned closer to smell it and exclaimed, "Wow! It smells so good! It's even better than the tea I bought that cost thousands of yuan per kilogram! Mr. Shen, you're so incredibly talented!"
During breaks from frying tea, everyone sat in the courtyard to rest.
The production team prepared bread, milk, and fruit. The three children, Niannian, Guigui, and Duoduo, sat on small stools, eating bread and playing around.
Just then, a small head peeked out from behind the courtyard gate.
It was a little girl wearing old clothes that were obviously a size too big, with two crooked pigtails, her face covered in mud, and so thin that only her big eyes were visible.
She hid behind the door, secretly watching the bread in the three children's hands. Her stomach was growling with hunger, and she kept swallowing. Her fingers were tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, but she didn't dare to come over.
Niannian spotted her first, waving her little hand and calling out, "Sister! Come here!"
The little girl was startled and shrank back. After a while, she timidly came out from behind the door, her head down, not daring to look at anyone.
"Here, have some." Niannian picked up a cream bread and handed it to her.
The little girl looked up at Niannian, whispered "thank you," then clutched the bread, turned and ran off.