Chapter 104: Fragrant Golden Osmanthus
The autumn sun has become warmer, less scorching than in summer, and shines generously on the tea mountains.
After the rapid growth in summer and the settling in autumn, the leaves of the tea seedlings become thicker, with an oily sheen in the dark green.
Shen Lingning was leading a few women in the tea garden to carry out the last weeding and topdressing in autumn, preparing the tea seedlings for wintering.
The air was filled with a mixture of earth, grass, and a hint of fertilizer.
During a break from work, Shen Lingning straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
Suddenly, an extremely familiar and unusually rich sweet fragrance drifted over with the mountain breeze.
That fragrance... is sweet but not greasy, rich and long-lasting, with a Jiangnan charm engraved in the bones.
Osmanthus fragrans? !
Shen Lingning's heart skipped a beat, and he almost thought he was hallucinating.
How could there be osmanthus flowers in this mountain valley in southern Qin?
She stopped the hoe in her hand and sniffed carefully...
That’s right!
It was the scent of osmanthus! And it wasn't the light scent of the more common silver osmanthus. This scent was overbearing and long-lasting, more like the scent of the old golden osmanthus tree in her grandfather's courtyard in Shanghai!
"Ling Ning, what's wrong?"
Liu Jinfeng, who was standing next to her, saw that she was in a daze and asked.
Shen Lingning did not answer. She seemed to be drawn by the fragrance and involuntarily looked in the direction of the wind.
The fragrance seemed to be wafting down from the higher hillside.
"Sister Jinfeng, you guys go ahead and do it first, I'll go up and take a look!"
She said nothing more and without bothering to explain, she quickly climbed up the terraced path that they had built with hoes and pickaxes.
"Hey! Lingning! It's steep up there! Be careful!"
Liu Jinfeng shouted behind her.
But Shen Lingning didn't care. The fragrance was like an invisible hand, pulling at her mood.
Fortunately, after more than half a year of working in the tea mountains, her physical strength has improved significantly, and she can now climb the mountain with light and steady steps.
The higher you go, the stronger the fragrance becomes, almost filling your entire nasal cavity and evoking memories buried deep in your heart.
In a Shanghai Western-style house, grandpa sipped tea under a sweet-scented osmanthus tree, holding a purple clay teapot. Grandma smiled and served sweet-scented osmanthus cake. Her uncle took her to pick sweet-scented osmanthus flowers, and her mother gently pinned sweet-scented osmanthus flowers in her hair.
Those distant and warm images, along with the rich and indissoluble sweet fragrance, came flooding back, making her eyes sore.
She missed them so much that her heart ached.
Finally, she found the source of the fragrance on a slightly steep platform close to the edge of the cliff.
It was an old tree with a strong posture, vigorous branches and thick green leaves.
At this moment, the most eye-catching thing is the densely packed clusters of golden flowers blooming among the layers of green leaves!
The sunlight poured down unobstructed, making the flowers, smaller than rice grains, look as if they were hammered out of gold, shining brightly and dazzlingly!
The entire crown of the tree looks like a huge canopy dotted with golden stars, which is breathtakingly beautiful.
It’s really golden osmanthus!
Shen Lingning stopped, looked up, and stared blankly at the golden osmanthus tree that was blooming alone in the autumn mountains and smelled of fragrance.
The afternoon sun shone through the gaps between the branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on her face.
She took a deep breath, and the extremely sweet smell rushed into her lungs, almost drowning her.
She stood there, looking up for a long time, until she felt a soreness in her neck, then she slowly walked forward.
She reached out her hand and very carefully picked a small bunch of golden osmanthus flowers and spread them in her palm.
The tiny flower lay in the palm of her hand, which was a little rough from work. It was so delicate that it made her heart tremble. She lowered her head and sniffed it gently. Finally, a tear slipped from the corner of her closed eyes and quickly sank into her collar.
Hometown, relatives, past times... are all contained in this familiar fragrance.
Suddenly, an idea flashed into her mind like lightning!
The fragrance of osmanthus is so rich and long-lasting, and its nature is mild. Isn’t it an excellent natural fragrance?
What if... what if the sweet scent of osmanthus could be incorporated into tea seed soap, or... or as the old stubborn guy mentioned occasionally, scented it into tea leaves?
This thought instantly excited her, and the sadness just now was replaced by great excitement!
This was a pleasant surprise.
It is another precious treasure bestowed upon her by this tea mountain!
She turned around suddenly and almost ran down the mountain, her steps so light that it seemed like she was flying.
"Sister Jinfeng! Aunt Sun! Hurry! Call a few people, bring the largest sheets and bamboo baskets in your home, and follow me up the mountain!" As soon as she returned to the place where she was working, she shouted breathlessly and excitedly.
Everyone was confused by her impetuous behavior.
"Lingning, what's wrong? What happened?"
"What treasure did you find?"
"Baby! Such a big baby!"
Shen Lingning's eyes sparkled: "There's a huge golden osmanthus tree on the mountain! It's in full bloom! Let's go pick the flowers!"
Although they didn't understand what a big deal picking flowers was, everyone had an inexplicable trust in Shen Lingning, so they immediately put down their hoes and went home to get something.
Soon, seven or eight women brought their belongings and followed Shen Lingning up the mountain again.
When everyone saw the old osmanthus tree shining with golden light and spreading its fragrance all over the fields, they were stunned and marveled.
"Oh my God! How come this tree blooms so much? It smells so good!"
"This flower is golden and beautiful!"
The stubborn old man was also startled and came up strolling with his crutches.
He walked around the tree twice, twirling his beard, his eyes showing a rare eagerness: "Hey! It really is an old golden osmanthus tree! It's a rare quality! And the fragrance is so good!
From now on, we will have a source of high-end golden osmanthus black tea! This is a good ingredient that is hard to buy even with money!"
Hearing this, Shen Lingning became even more excited!
It works!
"Hurry! Everyone, be gentle and don't damage the branches."
Shen Lingning directed, "Spread the sheet around the tree, make it wider! Let's shake the tree to make the osmanthus flowers fall down. This way, it will be quick and clean!"
The two nimble young wives carefully climbed up the tree, grabbed the thick branches and shook it gently.
In an instant, countless golden little flowers appeared, as if a dense, fragrant and dazzling golden rain was falling!
It rustled down onto the spread white sheet, quickly forming a thick layer. A rich, sweet fragrance instantly erupted, enveloping everyone.
The women laughed, exclaimed, and carefully collected the golden "raindrops".
The children were also running around under the tree, their little faces flushed with excitement as the petals fell.
Shen Lingning looked at this bustling scene and the golden osmanthus flowers piling up on the sheet, his heart filled with longing for the future.
Osmanthus soap, osmanthus tea... a series of new products have already taken shape in her mind.
However, she did not notice that someone was watching all this with a gloomy face behind the bushes on the distant hillside.
She curled her lips and whispered to a woman next to her with a flickering look in her eyes, "Humph, she's really capable of making a fuss! She thinks a few broken flowers are treasures? I wonder what kind of magic she can come up with!"
Just wait and see, if you keep messing around like this, sooner or later you'll squander all the money that Cha Shan has! "
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