Chapter 254 - Chapter 254: Specialization

Chapter 254: Specialization

Translator: Zayn_

In the misty mountains, the ancient buildings were solemn and quiet, unlike the human world.

Song Qingyou and the others followed the villagers through the memorial archway with the words ‘White Tea Village’, stopping in front of a white-haired old granny.

The villager who had been arranged by the village chief to lead the way waved at Song Qingyou, beckoning her to come forward.

“This is…?” Song Qingyou asked.

Every time a villager answered, she would translate for the people behind her.

“This is the oldest person in the village. She’s ninety-one years old this year. She was carried up the mountain this morning.”

“When offering sacrifices to the ancestors, the young people will be blessed by the oldest person in the village.”

After saying that, the old lady held Song Qingyou’s hands.

The old lady’s hands were very dark, covered in wrinkles and calluses.

She smiled at Song Qingyou and said a long string of blessings. Then she dipped the talisman water beside her and tapped her forehead.

The few people behind them were the same.

This could be considered a sincere wish from the elders to the juniors. The few of them looked very serious.

After receiving the blessings, they followed the team into the ancestral hall.

The interior was similar to a temple, except that it was not a Buddha statue but a memorial tablet. Beside the table where food was offered, there was also the genealogy of White Tea Village.

Then, the group of people inserted incense sticks into the incense burner and followed the villagers to worship the memorial tablets.

Song Qingyou asked the villagers and found out that White Tea Village didn’t worship any gods or Buddhas. They only worshipped their ancestors, so those tablets represented their ancestors.

After leaving the ancestral hall, the group of people went around the ancestral hall and walked to the back.

Only then did they know that there was a small lake behind the ancestral hall.

There was a stone tablet at the front of the lake. The words “Heaven and Earth” were engraved on it in the local language.

The surface of the lake was like a mirror in the mountains, clearly reflecting the blue sky, white clouds, and green mountains. It was not inferior to the legendary ‘Realm of the Sky’.

In front of the lake, there was also a table for offerings. On it were chicken, duck, fish, meat, and fruits.

This time, without needing Song Qingyou to ask, the villager who led them took the initiative to introduce them, “The word ‘Heaven and Earth’ on the stone tablet represents nature. Every year, we offer sacrifices to our ancestors to thank our ancestors and nature.”

“Without them, there wouldn’t be our ten thousand acre tea garden.”

His tone was casual, but to outsiders like Song Qingyou, this kind of cultural heritage was very moving.

After the ancestral worship ceremony was completed, the villagers beat gongs and drums by the lake, and the others danced around the bonfire.

The seven of them held hands and occasionally glanced at the lush greenery in the clouds not far away. They had long forgotten the “pain” of waking up early.

After going down the mountain, under the arrangement of the program team, the few of them still had to follow the villagers who led the way to make tea.

The first step was, of course, picking the tea leaves.

The villagers did not bring them to the tea garden on the mountain where they stayed.

The tea garden was filled with newly-planted tea trees. They were relatively short and easy to pick.

However, the real ancient tea trees were taller and needed to be climbed up to be picked.

The ancient tea trees were well protected by the villagers. Naturally, they did not want to be ruined by outsiders.

Therefore, after they decided to develop the scenic area, they discussed opening a homestay in the area where the new tea garden was located.

After climbing the mountain, they had to climb the tree again. Their eyes were filled with despair.

Only Song Qingyou was able to do everything with ease, and her body was as good as Superman’s.

Fortunately, they were only here to experience it. Before they left, the six of them had only picked half a basket of tea leaves, which was about the same amount as Qingyou alone.

Jiang Xuyan sighed again and again.

“Qingyou, can’t you be a little more relaxed? This makes us look really useless!”

Song Qingyou smiled and comforted him. “Maybe… there is a specialization in the art?”

“Is there anything Sister Qingyou isn’t good at?”

“Yes… right?”

The others were speechless.

The villagers who knew what they were talking about smiled and spoke up for Jiang Xuyan and the others.

“The tea trees 1 brought you to pick are relatively small. The men are too heavy. You can’t step on the tea branches. It’s not convenient to pick them standing below.”

Song Qingyou translated for them.

Jiang Xuyan was touched. “1 have to promote this scenic spot to my friends. If they don’t want to come, I’ll kidnap them!”

Zhao Yingnan couldn’t help but question, “At that time, will Teacher Jiang still have friends?”

“Don’t I still have you guys?” Jiang Xuyan blinked.

The group looked at each other and smiled.

After picking the tea leaves, it was time to proceed to the next step.

“The tea leaves that have been picked must be dried first.”

“With the current temperature, half a day is enough.”

“Here are some that are just right to be sun-dried. 1’11 show you.”

As he spoke, the elder brother who taught him how to make tea poured the tea leaves into an iron pot that was placed diagonally.

There was still a fire under the stove, and the tea leaves started emitting steam as he kept turning them.

Tang Zinian thought it was easy, so he volunteered to give it a try.

As a result, the feeling he expressed changed from “a little hot” to “very hot, very hot”. Several people watching couldn’t stop laughing.

After frying the tea leaves until they were half dry, the next step was to knead them.

Knead it into a ball, then shake it out, and repeat these two steps.

All seven people could do this part at the same time. After all, there were a lot of tea leaves waiting to be made.

After frying and rolling, it needed to be dried again, and the older leaves must be picked out and skimmed off during the process.

The last step was to press it into a tea cake.

After weighing, the tea leaves were steamed until they were soft. After putting them into a cloth bag, they were pressed tightly with a stone mill-like tool, dried, and packaged.

The steps weren’t complicated, but it would take a lot of time.

Most importantly, the seven of them had to complete each step independently.

After confirming that they had memorized the steps to make tea, the big brother who led the way specially invited them to drink the local tea.

After half a day, the group was deeply moved.

“Director Wei, if we make all the tea on that mountain, will we sell the tea cakes that we make?” Jiang Xuyan asked Wei Zhengrong curiously.

Wei Zhengrong didn’t keep him in suspense. “Of course not. The tea you guys make might not even pass the quality control. How could you sell it?”

“Then what are you going to do with it? Is it for the owner of the homestay to drink?”

Wei Zhengrong didn’t answer.

In fact, the production team had already booked the tea garden. They could do whatever they wanted with the tea leaves.

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Wei Zhengrong obviously had other plans.

The seven of them didn’t ask much and followed the villager to the village chief’s house for a free lunch.

In the afternoon, Song Qingyou, Xu Xingzhou, and Jiang Xuyan continued to pick tea leaves in the tea garden, while the other four went to the villagers’ houses to help.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the production team suddenly informed everyone, “At four o’clock in the afternoon, guests will arrive. Please be prepared to entertain them. You must show the style of White Tea Village.”

Once it was declared to be in the name of the village, Song Qingyou and the others really couldn’t take things lightly..