Chapter 37: Acting as a Middle-Aged Elegant Civil Servant
Chai Heng tried to explain himself hastily, but Mrs. Chai didn't believe him. Ji Shubai came out to smooth things over: "Okay, sister-in-law, don't you know that Brother Chai doesn't make a fuss about this?"
"He used to be a quiet guy, but now he has met a bunch of unknown people who take him out to play all day long. Who knows where he ended up going."
Mrs. Chai was also very aggrieved, she leaned on the table and cried, "I have been married for so many years, and I know that he has abandoned me. He used to think about his daughter outside, but now he even thinks about his son."
"I didn't..." Chai Heng saw his wife crying and immediately jumped out from behind Ji Shubai, "I haven't been in contact with them for several days. Don't you know everything?"
Mrs. Chai ignored him and continued to cry on the table. She had a loud voice, and when she scolded someone, she was full of energy, and when she cried, it was earth-shattering.
When Ji Shubai heard the crying, his brows furrowed slightly. Just when he didn't know what to do, Chai Heng rushed over to comfort her.
"Okay, my lady, don't cry. I will cut off contact with them from now on. Can I stay at home with you more?"
The situation turned around so quickly that Ji Shubai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he was used to this kind of scene, so he simply turned around and left, leaving the two of them here to talk to each other.
At this moment, Song Jin had already happily run away holding those pieces of Dehua white-glazed porcelain.
For Song Jin, she didn't care about this "scandal" at all. She was completely focused on how much reward money she could get after the successful performance of Kung Fu Tea, so practicing the art of tea was the only important thing for her.
The set of porcelain in his hand was more suitable for Kung Fu tea performance than the one he borrowed and broke before, so Song Jin simply hardened his heart and increased the difficulty.
Her fingers couldn't stand the heat, so she forced herself to hold a cup of boiling water and burn them again and again. Several times, Song Jin felt that the flesh on her fingers was almost burned to death because she had no feeling at all.
He practiced like this until the beginning of August, when someone from the Chai family came to inform him that the date had been set. It was a private banquet, and it had to be held quietly, not to be publicized. They also sent him the cloth clothes that had been cut that day and asked him to wear it that day.
Song Jin agreed to all of them and promised to be there on time that day.
It was near the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the streets of Suzhou were filled with the fragrance of osmanthus, which smelled very pleasant.
Although the time was set in the afternoon, Song Jin arrived at Chai's house in the morning, wearing a newly tailored white chrysanthemum bud dress.
Song Jin rarely wears such light-colored clothes, not for any other reason, but because they are not resistant to dirt and are inconvenient for servants to wear, so this is the first time she wears them. At first glance, she feels that she looks very fresh.
Manager Song told her that Ji Shubai and Lu Junnian would also come today, along with the Censor and Chai Heng, making it a small family dinner for four people in total, but the guests had not arrived yet.
Song Jin had an idea in mind, so he went to the kitchen to prepare the dishes first, and then entered the inner courtyard under the guidance of the servants.
It is called an inner courtyard, but in fact most of it is a garden. Song Jin met Chai Heng in the octagonal pavilion on the lake. He didn't have any requests, just to practice a few more times.
Fortunately, this time Chai Heng didn't grab her hand or look down on her hand, which made Song Jin feel much better.
The censor came over in the afternoon near the hour of You, accompanied by Ji Shubai and Lu Junnian. Although Song Jin had some understanding of the officialdom here, it was very macro.
She knew Hai Rui, Xu Jie, and Zhang Juzheng, but she didn't know what a certain censor was going to do when he arrived in Suzhou in a certain year and month. She only saw Chai Heng ready for battle.
She couldn't ask too much about this kind of connection between officials and businessmen, so she had to pretend to be dumb and not ask anything, just hoping for a generous reward.
Before dinner, the servant beside Chai Heng came to call Song Jin to the inner courtyard. Song Jin knew it was because of the tea.
Still in the same small pavilion, Song Jin's mood was not as leisurely as that day. After all, she dared not neglect someone whom Chai Heng took seriously. Therefore, she felt anxious and followed the servant, and no longer had the leisure to enjoy the scenery.
When Song Jin arrived at the pavilion, he saw a set of tea sets on the table and realized that Chai Heng had already made arrangements.
"Lord Luo, this is the shopkeeper Wen I just mentioned. Not only can he cook Cantonese dishes, he is also said to be good at tea art. I specially invited him to make tea today."
It was rare for Chai Heng to be so formal, so Song Jin did not dare to neglect him and hurriedly bowed. Before he could stand up straight, he heard a deep and elegant voice saying, "Today we are reminiscing about the past, so let's not talk about those empty formalities. Since you want to make tea, come and sit down."
The speed of speech was slow and the voice was clear and low. Song Jin felt very comfortable listening to it. After thanking him, he couldn't help but look up at the man. He was wearing a straight-cut suit with auspicious cloud patterns on a crane-gray satin background. Because he was sitting, he couldn't see the belt and shoes clearly. He wore a Tang scarf on his head, had narrow cheeks, and was about forty years old. His eyes were not big, but they showed a kind light. The whole person didn't look very eye-catching, but his beard was very eye-catching, which was quite like the meaning of a handsome man.
Song Jin had determined in his mind that this was a middle-aged elegant civil servant. Usually, this kind of person would not embarrass others in person, so he sat down in the reserved seat.
The tea utensils, tea leaves, boiling water and charcoal stove had already been prepared, Song Jin just had to take them out and use them one by one.
A bowl of fruit that was originally placed on the table was quietly moved away by the servants. A familiar fragrance entered Song Jin's nostrils. Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind. She raised her eyes to follow the fragrance, and a strange thing came into her sight.
I have always heard that the ancients regarded incense as elegant, but burning incense in the yard in August is not only a bit hot, but also really destroys the aroma of tea. So some people developed the habit of using fresh fruits instead of incense, and that's how the aroma of lemon comes from.
Song Jin recognized at a glance that the sticky thing on the plate was a relative of lemon. It was a good thing, but now was not the time to focus on lemons. Song Jin had to suppress his thoughts temporarily and concentrate on preparing to perform Kung Fu tea.
"When I was in Guangdong, the locals loved drinking tea, so I also developed this habit. But I didn't expect that in Suzhou, there are still people who know how to make tea in Guangdong. It's surprising."
Song Jin was preparing to get some tea, her hands were busy but in her heart she was impressed by how nice his voice was. She guessed that he should be twirling his beard while talking, like in the costume movies she had seen in her early years.
Unfortunately, she didn't dare to be serious and focused on preparing the tea.
After the tea bowls were placed, Song Jin showed off a little skill. He pressed the tea lid against the edge of the tea bowl and twisted it hard. The tea lid then spun quickly along the edge of the bowl, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
"Oh, you can play it this way, hahahaha——"
Lord Luo sighed, and everyone's eyes fell on Song Jin's hands.
When the lid was about to lose power, Song Jin slowly grabbed the handle, placed it sideways on the edge of the bowl, and poured boiling water into the tea bowl from the side of the lid to ensure that the temperature inside and outside was the same.
He held the tea lid tightly with his fingers, shook the tea bowl filled with water left and right, then lifted the lid and the tea bowl together.
Song Jin proudly held the handle of the covered bowl and showed it off in front of everyone, causing Lord Na Luo to laugh: "You are quite good at it."
Put the tea bowl back in place, open the lid, pour out all the water, and then add a handful of the best Wuyi tea.
"In the past, when I heard people brewing tea, I thought it was an elegant thing. But now, when I see Shopkeeper Wen putting tea leaves in it, it seems a bit more elegant. Not bad, not bad, quite interesting."
Lord Luo kept praising him, and Song Jin guessed that Chai Heng must be smiling brightly. He was also happy in his heart, and his hands moved more and more vigorously.
When pouring water into a tea bowl, keep pouring until the water overflows the bowl. Use the inside of the tea lid to circle the edge of the bowl, and the water on the surface will flow out along the inside of the tea lid.
"This is called scraping the foam." Song Jin began to demonstrate and explain at the same time. Before he finished speaking, he twisted his fingers vigorously and the tea lid began to rotate again along the edge of the bowl. This time it even turned back.
“This is called good fortune.”
"Oh, that's interesting." Lord Luo was no longer as elegant and calm as he was at the beginning. He was quite surprised at this moment.
Put the lid on the teacup, press it tightly and shake it in circles.
“This is called shaking incense.”
After shaking it twice, Song Jin did not stop, opened the lid and pressed down most of the bowl mouth, and poured the tea into the deep cup with a slanted mouth.
“This is called going out to sea.”
There was tea in the cup, but Song Jin was not in a hurry to pour it. Instead, he filled it with water again and repeated the previous actions, but stopped after shaking the tea and let it simmer with the lid on.
The tea in the deep cup was poured into the teacup and not passed to each person, but poured out one by one.
“This is for washing cups.”
Song Jin didn't dare to give you the water used to wash tea leaves. He just waited for the second cup of tea to come out before handing it to the masters.
"I have been in Guangdong for many years, but I have never seen such a meticulous way of brewing tea. From your accent, you don't seem to be from Guangdong either. Why do you brew tea like this?"
When Song Jin heard that he was coming again, he had no choice but to continue lying.
"When I was young, my family had a servant from Guangdong. This was the common way of making tea in his family. He later taught me, so I know a little bit about it."
While he was washing the cup and talking, the tea had already finished brewing. Song Jin poured the new tea into the deep cup, and then from the deep cup into the teacup.
The best Wuyi tea has bright red tea soup and white porcelain teacup. When the two are put together, the red becomes redder and the white becomes whiter, which is very pleasing to the eye.
Four cups of tea were handed to each person one by one. Song Jin saw Chai Heng reaching out to grab the cup to drink, but halfway through, his pupils suddenly dilated, the cup was quickly put down, and his hand retracted under the table, obviously burned.
Song Jin lowered her head and suppressed her smile. She herself was not in much better condition. Her left hand was tightly pinching two fingers of her right hand under the table to cool down.
The other two were not as anxious as him and seemed much more respectable. However, Lord Censor Luo seemed to be accustomed to the scorching temperature.
He picked up the teacup, put it under his nose and sniffed it, then said, "Yes, it's the new Wuyi tea this year."
Then he put down the cup and continued, "Speaking of brewing tea in Guangdong, the green tea that people in Jiangnan are used to drinking is rare. In addition to Wuyi tea, they have a kind of Dancong tea produced locally, which is also very fragrant if you are used to it."
"Are you talking about the Phoenix Cone?" Song Jin interrupted at a very inopportune time.
"Oh, you also know about Phoenix Dancong?"
Song Jin smiled and said, "I heard it from my family." The family member was naturally the old servant mentioned earlier.
When Lord Luo heard someone talking about Guangdong tea, he became interested: "I didn't expect to meet someone who knows so much about Guangdong in Suzhou. I underestimated Suzhou. I heard from Master Chai that you can also cook Guangdong dishes. I wonder what you will prepare for me today?"
Song Jin said, "You will know once you have tasted it."
She didn't dare to say it, for fear that Chai Heng would scold her.
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