Chapter 55: Tea Quality

Chapter 55: Tea Quality

Song Sancheng quickly responded, "I'm here, just wait!"

He hurriedly grabbed his shoulder pole and headed down the mountain.

Standing at the entrance was Zhou Maozhu, a fellow villager. This time, the family had entrusted him with the tea roasting.

Roasting tea depends heavily on controlling the heat; if it's too intense, it burns, and if it's too light, it stays raw. The resulting product often fails to meet expectations. Only Zhou Maozhu, who had worked at large tea factories for a long time in his youth, possessed the most stable technique now.

They had originally agreed to deliver the tea in batches every evening so he could process it overnight.

Unexpectedly, the tea crop was exceptionally lush this year, resulting in a large volume even for five tea pickers. Since Zhou Maozhu didn't have a tea-roasting machine at home, he would likely have to pull an all-nighter.

However, in this village, he had the best skills and still kept a traditional tea-roasting stove.

Other places were either too far away, or they used collective tea-roasting machines now, making it difficult to process small, individual batches.

When he saw Song Sancheng, a smile broke through his weathered face

"Sancheng, the Earth God has truly blessed your family this year. Come and look at this tea!"

He opened the transparent plastic bag he was holding, and a sudden, nose-filling fragrance instantly permeated the air!

"Yesterday, we sent over a total of twenty-five jin and two liang of Maojian. You said there was no need to sieve it, so I didn't. I saw that the picking was quite pure, with very few leaves attached."

The most popular local tea was Maojian, which consisted of only a single bud. Next were those with one leaf, and the more leaves there were, the less valuable the tea became.

Farmers specializing in tea would strictly categorize the grades and set different prices, but since Song Sancheng only had one small plot of land, there was no need for such complexity.

Zhou Maozhu reached in and grabbed a handful of dry, dark green tea covered in a layer of white fuzz to show him

"Three and a half jin of raw tea yields one jin of finished product. After roasting, it comes to a little over seven jin. But since you mentioned you want to sell it externally, I specifically roasted it a bit drier to make it easier to preserve."

"Because of that, we ended up with exactly five jin of dry tea this time. When you have time later, you can just sort through the leaves."

As fellow laborers, once Zhou Maozhu gave the numbers, Song Sancheng knew exactly how reliable they were.

Smelling the refreshing tea aroma, Song Sancheng felt a sudden dryness in his throat. He nodded and quickly ushered him into the house

"Come, come, let's brew two cups first to check the color of the soup!"

High-quality Maojian must never be brewed with boiling water. Fortunately, the water in the thermos had been boiled early this morning. It was an old thermos with mediocre insulation, so the temperature was likely just right by now.

Song Sancheng pulled out two glass cups, grabbed two pinches of tea at a time, performed a simple rinse, and began the tasting with eager anticipation.

—It wasn't about being professional; it was all based on experience.

As the crystal-clear water poured in, the dark green dry tea instantly swirled in the water, then slowly expanded, revealing a vibrant, succulent emerald hue.

A subtle fragrance slowly filled the room. Song Sancheng couldn't help but take two deep breaths. This time, he truly felt the Earth God had opened his eyes and manifested in their fields!

In all his life, he had never smelled tea this fragrant.

Looking at the upright buds in the cup, Zhou Maozhu's eyes also shone with pride and joy

"Sancheng, your family's tea is truly extraordinary this year!"

"As soon as it hit the pan yesterday, that aroma just exploded! Even while I was fixing the tea (killing the green), the scent made me feel refreshed and more and more comfortable."

"As the roasting progressed, it became even more fragrant; the whole courtyard smelled invigorating. It's just that the stimulating effect is a bit strong. I haven't even had a chance to taste it yet—maybe it's because I smelled it too much while pulling an all-nighter, but I'm still not sleepy."

The "fixing" (killing the green) Zhou Maozhu referred to wasn't a movie term, but the initial step in their local tea-roasting process, primarily used to trigger the tea's aroma, evaporate moisture, and soften the leaves for rolling.

Generally, during this process, the tea emits a damp, earthy fragrance that is quite unique.

But for the aroma during the roasting process alone to be this stimulating—and for someone like Zhou Maozhu, who had worked in large tea factories, to say such a thing...

Smelling the nose-filling fragrance throughout the room, Song Sancheng couldn't help but beam with joy.

It was then that Zhou Maozhu asked sheepishly, "Sancheng, how do you plan to sell this tea? Once the roasting is done, could you set aside one jin for me?"

How to sell it?

Song Sancheng didn't know either!

He only knew that his daughter was capable—she could turn wild vegetables from the field into twenty-one jin. As for this tea... he didn't dare to imagine.

But at this moment, Zhou Maozhu's request was not unreasonable.

He thought about how the yield was small and roasting wouldn't take many hours; the wage they had discussed with Zhou Maozhu was 120 yuan a day. With his level of skill, if he went out to work elsewhere, it might be tiring, but he could earn at least three or four hundred yuan a day!

No matter how expensive this tea was, just as a butcher would take something home, he should give what was due!

Song Sancheng made a decision

"Old Zhou, I think our tea mountain will produce quite a lot this year, so you'll probably be pulling all-nighters every night for a while. As for the tea, sure, that's fine."

"But we can't be certain about the weather and the yield. If it stays roughly the same as today, then I'll decide—"

"How about this: I'll give you one jin of Pre-Qingming tea!"

"And two jin of Pre-Rain tea."

"If there's more later, then a total of five jin of Summer and Autumn tea, how does that sound?"

Most Maojian tea is most expensive during the period before Qingming, followed by the period before the Rain, while Summer tea drops down a significant level in value.

Of course, there is also Summer tea during the heat of the season and White Dew tea in the autumn, each with its own unique flavor. It all depended on whether this year's tea was worth such a long investment.

Song Sancheng's gift was quite generous.

It was entirely out of respect for Zhou Maozhu's dedication and honest character. If it were anyone else, they might have secretly skimmed a jin or two a day during the roasting, which would add up to quite a bit over a month.

Song Sancheng smiled sheepishly, "As you know, my Tantan is the one managing everything now. We parents are just here to lend her a hand."

The implication was that he couldn't give more, nor could he make the final decisions.

Zhou Maozhu was already satisfied, even overjoyed.

"Good, good, good! I know your tea will definitely sell for a high price! Don't worry, I'll roast your tea perfectly; I won't waste a single bit."

"Oh my," he began rubbing his hands together, sighing with emotion, "With so much good tea, I'll have to save that Pre-Rain tea to sip slowly by myself."

"If the Summer tea is of this quality, giving it to my son as a gift would be better than those ones costing thousands of yuan outside."

Song Sancheng laughed, "You're choosing Summer tea to give your son as a gift? Why not choose the Pre-Rain tea?"

However, Zhou Maozhu shook his head

"You don't understand. In my whole life, I've never had tea this good. Why would I give such an exaggerated gift!"

Most importantly, with five jin of Summer tea, he could give one jin at a time. If the recipient liked it and wanted more, it would be easy to strike while the iron was hot!

"For a family like ours, we just need to act within our means. Summer tea is fine."