The newcomer was a woman who looked to be under thirty. She was rather thin, but her back was ramrod straight, and she exuded a sharp and efficient air.
He first bowed slightly in greeting, and then introduced himself.
Her surname was Qin and her given name was Yuye. She was originally the daughter of a tea merchant in Chushan County. Later, due to a disaster in her family, she was forced to marry into Qingshi County.
Since she was named after tea, she must have a family background in tea. Meng Zhao didn't ask too many questions about her background, but said directly, "Madam Qin, since you've come to take charge of the management, please demonstrate your skills and let us see your tea art."
Although the teahouse was not yet fully completed, all the necessary tea utensils were in the room. After receiving permission, Madam Qin sat down at the table, lit the stove next to her, and picked up a tea cake to roast over the fire.
As time slowly passed, the moisture in the tea cake gradually dried out. Qin Niangzi broke the tea cake into small pieces, poured them into the tea grinder, ground them into fine powder, and poured them into a bowl for later use.
Next, he picked up the tea sieve next to him and poured in the fine powder that had just been crushed, taking only the finest tea powder.
After the tea powder was sifted out, the teapot on the stove had already started to boil. Qin Niangzi quickly pinched a little salt and sprinkled it in.
Meng Zhao was a little curious and couldn't help but turn to look at Song Wanyin. Song Wanyin answered her in time, "This Yunbi tea has a slightly bitter taste. Adding a little salt to the water can neutralize the bitterness in the tea leaves and make the tea more fragrant."
Seeing that Song Wanyin understood her intentions, Qin Niangzi nodded slightly. Different teas require different brewing methods to bring out their hidden aromas to the fullest extent.
Before they knew it, it was time to prepare the tea. Meng Zhao watched intently as Madam Qin held a tea whisk and quickly whisked the tea back and forth. With her movements, fine bubbles gradually rose in the tea soup in the bowl, and a bowl of tea was ready.
That wasn't all. Then, they used water to paint on the already frothed tea leaves. Before long, a faint landscape painting gradually emerged. Even more amazingly, two characters were cleverly hidden in the painting. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be the name Meng Zhao and Song Wanyin had given to the teahouse – “Mingxiang” (茗香).
After the tea was brewed, Meng Zhao picked up a cup and savored it carefully. As expected, the tea was fragrant and had a long aftertaste, quite different from the taste of tea brewed directly with hot water. She put down the teacup and couldn't help but sigh, "This kind of professional work should be left to professionals. Madam Qin, I see that your tea-making skills are quite proficient. Did you work in a teahouse before?"
After hesitating for a moment, Madam Qin said softly, "In recent years, I have been running a teahouse with my husband's family."
"Oh? Which teahouse is it?"
"It's Juxianlou in the county."
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao's eyes widened slightly. When she was preparing to open her teahouse, she had visited many teahouses to understand the market, and was quite familiar with the name Juxianlou, having even been there several times. However, she had never seen this Madam Qin before, so she couldn't help but be curious.
"Since you are from Juxianlou, why are you here to take our orders? As far as I know, Juxianlou is one of the top teahouses in the county."
Madam Qin lowered her head slightly, "I dare not hide anything from you, Madam. I just left Juxian Tower a few days ago..."
After listening to Qin Niangzi's explanation, Meng Zhao and the others finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that not long after Qin Niangzi married into Qingshi County, her husband died while performing corvée labor. After observing three years of mourning, Qin Niangzi remarried to a Yang family in the town through a matchmaker.
After marrying into the Yang family, Madam Qin almost single-handedly supported the entire household. She worked tirelessly for two whole years, transforming the Yang family's small tea shop into a two-story teahouse.
Not only that, she also took meticulous care of her parents-in-law while saving every penny to support her brother-in-law's education, managing everything inside and outside the home in an orderly manner.
However, fate is unpredictable. Less than a year after the teahouse opened, Qin Niangzi's husband passed away due to illness. Her parents-in-law and brother-in-law then blamed all the misfortunes on Qin Niangzi, accusing her of being a jinx and frequently beating and scolding her. But they knew in their hearts that the family's teahouse could not function without Qin Niangzi's management, so they dared not actually cause a death.
In order to weaken Qin Niangzi's control over the teahouse, they never allowed her to go to the front to greet guests, which explains why Meng Zhao had never seen her when he went to Juxianlou before.
Until recently, when her three-year mourning period was over, she made up her mind to break away from the Yang family.
But the Yang family was not about to let her go easily. They spread rumors that she was a jinx to husbands, trying to force her not to remarry. They also threatened her by saying that Juxianlou was her life's work, hoping that she would continue to work for the Yang family.
After several years of living together, Qin Niangzi had become completely disillusioned with the Yang family and was unwilling to stay any longer.
She happened to see a notice in the county that a new teahouse was recruiting a manager, and with a glimmer of hope, she came to apply.
After recounting her experience, Madam Qin lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry, ladies. If you feel that I bring bad luck to your husbands, I will leave immediately and will not disturb you."
Song Wanyin was a sensitive person, capable of writing such moving stories. She was furious after hearing the story of Qin Niangzi.
"Please don't say that! Your husband died of illness, what does that have to do with you? That Yang family is utterly shameless! If they really disliked you, they would have stayed far away from you long ago. But they can't bear to give up the teahouse's profits, so they let you work in the teahouse while not wanting you to go out and show your face to people. They are utterly despicable."
Meng Zhao nodded in agreement. "You can rest assured about that. My situation is somewhat similar to yours. On the day of my wedding, my husband was conscripted to guard the border and passed away not long after. If there really is such a thing as 'husband-killing,' then we really are destined to be the same."
Qin Niangzi looked up at Meng Zhao, surprised that Meng Niangzi had such a past, which made her feel a sense of sympathy. With reddened eyes, she asked, "Then, do you two ladies not mind me? Are you willing to let me stay and work?"
Meng Zhao's lips curled up slightly, revealing a gentle smile. "Whether you are a jinx to your husbands or not is none of my business. After all, I'm not going to marry you. What I value is your ability. You can stay and work in the teahouse for now, but we still need to reconsider the manager position."
Qin Niangzi's eyes glistened with tears as she looked at them with gratitude: "Thank you both so much! Don't worry, whether I'm a shop assistant or a manager, I will do my best and work hard."
Since Qin Niangzi didn't have a fixed place to stay at the moment, Meng Zhao arranged for her to stay in the backyard of the teahouse and go back to pack her things.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
