draw

When Xu Feifei looked at the stage again, the teacher used a tea whisk to quickly whisk the tea up and down. After whisking out a dense white foam, the teacher poured more tea and continued whisking.

After several infusions, the tea foam in the cup becomes dense and lingers for a long time, and the tea foam no longer sticks to the whisk, at which point the whisking stops.

He picked up a brush, lowered his head slightly, and concentrated intently on painting on the foam in the teacup. After a moment, he put down the brush and showed everyone the pattern in the teacup.

The teacup is decorated with orchids, and the orchids in the cup are pure and delicate, no less beautiful than the orchids in the painting.

Throughout the entire tea ceremony, the teacher's movements were elegant and fluid, a feast for the eyes and ears.

The audience in the front row cheered when they saw the design, and the host thanked the teacher for the exhibition.

Following the next steps, lucky audience members will be selected to come on stage and participate in the experience.

Upon hearing this, Xu Feifei eagerly raised her right hand, wanting to go on stage and try it out. However, before the host could even make a selection, an old man in the front row shouted loudly, "Me! Me!"

After saying that, he went straight to the desk.

Seeing this, the host didn't dare to stop them and smiled at the audience in front, saying, "It seems that tea performances are still very popular. This enthusiasm is beyond my expectations."

Xu Feifei watched anxiously from the back row. The chances of her sitting there getting to experience the stage were extremely low. The corner seats were like the back row in school – the very frontier.

"Feifei, come with me." Lin Yuan walked to her side and said softly.

Xu Feifei turned around and saw that she had returned. She couldn't wait to ask, "The host just selected people to go up and experience it. Do you think we have a chance to go up and experience it?"

Lin Yuan said again, "Okay, come with me."

Xu Feifei looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked, "Where are you going? Aren't you going to see the performance?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "You'll know when we get there."

After she finished speaking, she stepped forward, took Xu Feifei's hand, and led her through the crowd up to the second floor. There was still one table of people eating on the second floor, while the other table had gone downstairs to watch the performance.

Passing through the curtain, Xu Feifei walked forward, curiously looking around at her surroundings. She stopped in front of a small private room, and Lin Yuan pushed open the door, revealing a small tea room inside.

Xu Feifei looked at the private room in surprise. In the center of the room were the same tea utensils as those used in the performance on the first floor, and even the small stove next to the tea table was burning charcoal.

The window next to it was half open to allow for air circulation.

Xu Feifei skipped over to the coffee table and sat down, picking up her cup and tea whisk to examine them. Her eyes lit up as she looked at her, surprised and delighted, "Didn't the waiter say we were fully booked for tonight? How come there are still seats available?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "I asked again when you watched the performance."

"This is so lucky!" Xu Feifei exclaimed happily.

Xu Feifei looked towards the door and asked expectantly, "Will a teacher come to teach us?"

Lin Yuan shook her head and said, "The teacher won't come over here. If you don't know how, I can teach you."

Xu Feifei looked at her in surprise and said, "Wow! Have you studied this before?"

Lin Yuan shook her head honestly and said, "No. But I just looked downstairs and also got a general idea of ​​it on my phone. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to put it into practice."

"Amazing, I believe you." Xu Feifei gave Lin Yuan a thumbs up. It seems that top students can learn anything very quickly.

Xu Feifei tried hard to recall the first step of her teacher's tea-making process, muttering, "What was the first step again? I remember the teacher rinsed the teacups with water..."

"Warm the teacup. Be careful not to burn yourself." Lin Yuan took the water that was heating up next to her and poured it into the teacup. She rinsed the teacup and tea whisk with the water and then poured it out.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Xu Feifei nodded in agreement as she watched Lin Yuan’s actions.

Lin Yuan stood the tea whisk upright and stepped back to the side of the tea table, saying, "Feifei, you can try now."

"Okay, I'll give it a try." Xu Feifei excitedly moved over, looking at the teacups and whisks that had been heated in front of her.

Her eyes scanned the table, and she muttered, "I remember the second step is to add tea powder."

Xu Feifei picked up the small jar next to her and exclaimed happily, "Found it!"

She picked up a teaspoon, scooped out two spoonfuls of tea powder, and turned to ask Lin Yuan, "Are two spoonfuls enough? Is it too little?"

Lin Yuan looked at the small amount of tea powder in the teacup and said, "You can add some more."

Xu Feifei nodded, then added another half spoonful, saying, "That makes sense, then I'll add another half spoonful."

After adding some hot water and stirring it to form a paste, I asked, "Is this okay?"

“Okay.” Lin Yuan helped add hot water from the side.

"When you're mixing, you stir back and forth, right?"

Xu Feifei didn't know much about tea making and wasn't very confident in herself. She couldn't help but ask Lin Yuan for confirmation at every step before continuing.

Lin Yuan gently guided her from the side, saying, "You can rotate or move back and forth the first time, but afterwards you only need to flick back and forth."

After receiving confirmation, Xu Feifei began to whisk. Perhaps her movements were too vigorous, because the tea spilled along the side of the teacup right away.

Xu Feifei immediately stopped what she was doing when she saw the tea spilled on the table. Lin Yuan took a few tissues from the table to wipe her hands and clean up the water stains on the table.

Xu Feifei casually wiped her hands. "Was that too hard? Let me try again."

"Try again," Lin Yuan said.

This time she was a little gentler, but the tea still spilled. Xu Feifei was annoyed. "What happened? The teacher seemed so relaxed."

The sound of tissues being pulled out rang out again, and Xu Feifei took the tissues and wiped herself.

"Your hand gesture is wrong. When you hold the teacup, try placing your thumb below the spout and holding the bottom of the teacup with your middle and ring fingers spread apart," Lin Yuan said, correcting her posture as she held the teacup.

"When you exert force, you should pay attention to using your wrist and try not to use your arm as well," Lin Yuan pointed out some issues she had just observed.

Xu Feifei nodded as if she understood, "Okay, I'll give it a try."

This time, the tea didn't spill out; instead, as the tea was whisked, white tea foam slowly appeared.

Xu Feifei's furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and joy slowly appeared on her face.

When the soup had been poured until it resembled pearls, Lin Yuan said, "That's enough. Now you can add the soup."

After hearing Lin Yuan's words, Xu Feifei stopped talking. Looking at the white tea foam in her eyes, she said with a sense of accomplishment, "It feels like beating egg whites, hahahahaha."

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "It does look somewhat similar."

After adding the soup, Xu Feifei continued whisking. As more and more soup was added, Xu Feifei's hands began to sway, and eventually the water spilled out again.

She tried several times but still couldn't get it to work, and looked at Lin Yuan helplessly, saying, "I feel like there's too much water, I can't hold it anymore."

"Take your time, there's no rush," Lin Yuan encouraged from the side.

Encouraged by her, Xu Feifei tried again, but still spilled it. Frustrated, she gave up and said, "Lin Yuan, you do it. I'll watch from the side and see how you handle it."

“That works too,” Lin Yuan nodded.

Xu Feifei made way for her to sit, and Lin Yuan sat down and took the tea whisk to continue whisking.

Xu Feifei rubbed her aching wrists while obediently watching Lin Yuan's movements, trying to figure out a technique to prevent the tea from spilling.

Lin Yuan's movements were gentle yet powerful, and the tea foam always stopped precisely on the edge of the teacup, without spilling a single drop.

When the foam in the teacup had settled and remained still, Lin Yuan stopped stirring and said, "That's enough."

"All done? Is this the final step?" Xu Feifei asked in surprise.

“Yes, you draw it,” Lin Yuan said with a smile.

Xu Feifei took the calligraphy brush from Lin Yuan and stared at it in surprise. Painting had never been her forte; in fact, she knew absolutely nothing about it. Even drawing a leaf was quite difficult for her.

The white, dense foam on the teacup was perfect. It was a work she and Lin Yuan had completed together, and she really couldn't bear to touch it and ruin it now!

So Xu Feifei shoved the brush back into Lin Yuan's hand and said, "I can't paint, you do it."

"Hmm? It's okay if you can't draw. Whether it looks good or not, you'll end up drinking it anyway," Lin Yuan said.

"No, no, you draw it." Xu Feifei still disagreed and insisted that Lin Yuan draw it.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan compromised and asked, "What pattern do you like?"

Xu Feifei thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, how about drawing a landscape painting?"

"Okay, I'll give it a try." Lin Yuan dipped the brush in water, held it up but didn't bring it down, and recalled the landscape painting in her mind.

Xu Feifei waited expectantly for Lin Yuan to start painting. Seeing how seriously she was thinking, she couldn't help but wonder if Lin Yuan was brewing something big, and that she was sure it would be a big production.

The suspended brush finally came down, and Lin Yuan meticulously and methodically outlined her strokes.

Xu Feifei stared intently at the pattern that was slowly appearing in the teacup, but something seemed off about the pattern.

He glanced at Lin Yuan's expression again, noticing her serious and focused drawing.

There shouldn't be any problem. Given Lin Yuan's strong learning ability, she can learn from what she's seen and immediately put it into practice. Drawing shouldn't be difficult for her; it'll be a breeze.

"It's finished."

Lin Yuan's voice rang out, pulling Xu Feifei back to reality. Looking down at the finished drawing, she thought, "What is this?!"

Two triangles, with a straight line in front, many curves around them, and several points on top.

Xu Feifei exclaimed in shock, "What are these? Two triangles?"

Lin Yuan laughed and said, "What triangle? These are two mountains. Didn't you say you wanted to draw a landscape painting?"

Xu Feifei's lips twitched, and she continued to ask, "Then what is this curve, this wavy curve, and these dots?"

Lin Yuan said with a serious face, "Straight lines are boats, curves are rivers, waves are winding, and these dots are birds."

Xu Feifei's lips twitched even more, and she asked uncertainly, "Lin Yuan, can't you draw?"

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, that's why I used the technique of plain description."

Xu Feifei looked up at Lin Yuan, stared at her for a while, and then Lin Yuan couldn't help but laugh, "You didn't ask clearly beforehand, and I just painted it like this. Doesn't it look like a landscape painting?"

“Uh…” Xu Feifei looked down at the teacup on the table, stared at it for a long time, and finally lied and praised, “This, this, is beautiful.”

"Really? You have good taste," Lin Yuan said with a smile.

Xu Feifei looked at her, their eyes met, and she couldn't help but laugh, "You asked me what I was drawing before, so I thought you were a good artist!"

"If I were to draw on your artwork, I would definitely ask for your preferences first. Besides, you asked me to draw on your work, so how could I refuse?"

Xu Feifei joked, "I thought the top student was good at everything!"

Lin Yuan looked at her and smiled, "That's a stereotype."

The two chatted for a while, and the tea foam in the teacup began to sink slightly. Xu Feifei noticed this and said, "Look, isn't the tea foam a little sunken? We should drink it quickly."

Lin Yuan looked at the foam in the soup in her cup and said, "Indeed, you should drink it."

Xu Feifei didn't stand on ceremony and picked it up to drink. The first thing she tasted was the tea foam, which was smooth and creamy. Then the tea water slid into her mouth, with a refreshing aroma and a slightly bitter taste. After swallowing, there was a sweet aftertaste.

After taking a sip, Xu Feifei smacked her lips, savoring the tea she had just drunk, and said with bright eyes, "Delicious! Lin Yuan, do you want to try some?"

Lin Yuan looked at the teacup handed to her, hesitated for a moment, and then took it.

He stared thoughtfully at the rim of the teacup where he'd been sipped. His lips touched the spot, and he took a sip, saying, "Very delicious!"

Xu Feifei took the cup of tea, took another sip, and then gave it to Lin Yuan. She walked to the shelf with the tea set and picked up an empty teacup.

"I've decided to make another cup. Lin Yuan, you can drink that one."

The hot water was kept warm, so there was no need to boil it again. This time, Xu Feifei already knew the general procedure, so she could just get started.

Lin Yuan watched Xu Feifei working on the tea, focused and carefully engaged in the process. She glanced down at the teacup in her hand, her eyes darkening; they had met again in this tea-drinking place. She looked at Xu Feifei, then at the scenery outside the window.

The moonlight is bright at night, and the tall buildings on the riverbank are brightly lit, but the river is dark, and the bright spots are merely luminous reflections.

However, for Lin Yuan, the moonlight tonight was truly beautiful.