Chapter 323

Chapter 323: Preaching and teaching (1)

Xia ruofei struck while the iron was hot and said,””Mr. Li, my farm is so isolated. It’s so boring for you to stay here. I’ll let Ling Yun accompany you more. If you’re interested, you can give him some pointers and kill time!” Li Zhifu was finally convinced by Xia ruofei’s words. He looked at ye Lingyun and asked,”Little ye, are you willing to learn how to make rock tea from me?” Ye Lingyun scratched his head and looked at Xia ruofei.””If brother Xia wants me to learn, I’ll learn.” Xia ruofei said angrily,”what are you saying?! You’re the one who really wants to learn tea – making from old Mr. Li!” “Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Li, I’d like to learn how to make tea from you!” Ye Lingyun quickly replied. Li Zhifu couldn’t help but roll his eyes and said,”Alright, alright! He couldn’t even act it out! Xiao Xia is right. I have nothing to do anyway, and I don’t have many days left. If someone is willing to learn, I’ll teach them ...” As li Zhifu spoke, he couldn’t help but reveal a trace of desolation. Xia ruofei saw it all. Although he knew that li Zhifu would not “not have many days left”, he would not expose him. Li Zhifu then said seriously,”Xiao Ye, since I’ve promised you, I’ll definitely teach you well. But you must also learn it seriously. The production process of Da Hong Pao has been passed down for hundreds of years. It’s still a National Intangible Cultural Heritage now. There are many details in it. It’s impossible to learn it in three days.” “Yes!” Ye linyun quickly replied. I’ll definitely study hard. ” Li Zhifu nodded and said,”yeah, I’ll give you a general overview today!” If you really want to learn it, every process will require a lot of effort!” “Old Mr. Li, please sit down and talk slowly!” Xia ruofei said hurriedly. Xia ruofei led Li Zhifu to the stone bench in the courtyard and sat down. He then said to ye Lingyun,””Ling Yun, why don’t you go and get some water for old Mr. Li?” Ye Lingyun jogged back to the mansion and poured li Zhifu a glass of water. Li Zhifu took the cup and put it on the stone table beside him. Then, he motioned for ye Lingyun to sit down. He cleared his throat and said,””Da Hong Pao is a type of rock tea. The production process of rock tea is between black tea and green tea, and it is also the most complicated one. Our older generation has summed up five sentences of smooth – spoken eloquence. You can remember them first.” Ye Lingyun immediately perked up his ears to listen. “First pick, second pour green, third shake, fourth circle water, fifth stir – fry, sixth rub gold, seventh dry, eighth pick stem, nine times ten sieve.” Li Zhifu said slowly,”every sentence in these few sentences contains complicated procedures. Specifically, there are nearly 20 procedures such as picking, pouring, drying, making, frying, kneading, re – frying, re – kneading, primary baking, raising the dough, drying, picking, re – baking, stewing, wrapping, adding fire, packing the tea leaves, carefully screening, piling, and so on ...” Although ye Lingyun was confused by these complicated processes, he still listened carefully and tried hard to remember. Li Zhifu was quite satisfied with ye Lingyun’s learning attitude. After a brief introduction of the tea – making process, he said,”Little ye, it doesn’t matter if you can’t remember it now. Later on, I’ll teach you the procedures one by one. At that time, you’ll naturally master it.” “Yes, I understand,” ye linyun nodded. Li Zhifu continued,”the harvesting of Da Hong Pao is different from that of ordinary red and green tea. The standard for picking fresh leaves is for the new shoot and leaves to mature. There are no leaves, no damage, fresh, and uniform.” The fresh leaves could not be too tender, or the tea would have a low fragrance and a bitter taste. It can’t be too old either, otherwise the taste will be light and the fragrance will be poor ...” Li Zhifu explained, and ye Lingyun listened very carefully. When the honest – looking 90 – year – old farmer talked about the tea – making process, he had a very solemn expression on his face. The process was deeply imprinted in his mind, and it seemed like a sacred ceremony to him. Xia ruofei looked at the old man and the young man. He did not disturb them. He quietly got up and quietly returned to the villa. He went straight to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast. In the past, this was ye Lingyun’s job, but today, Xia ruofei did it personally as he did not want to disturb ye Lingyun’s class. When Xia ruofei placed breakfast on the table, he saw that the old man and the young man were still sitting on the stone bench in the courtyard. It was mainly li Zhifu who was talking. Ye Lingyun would occasionally ask a few questions. Considering that li Zhifu had to take his medicine after dinner, Xia ruofei walked over and said,””Old Mr. Li, let’s have breakfast first! You can continue after you’re done. ” Li Zhifu didn’t even turn his head as he waved his hand and said, “There’s no rush to eat. I’ll tell Xiao Ye about the green cooking process first.” Xia ruofei could not help but smile bitterly. This old man was a little reluctant to teach just now, but why couldn’t he stop now? Xia ruofei said,”old Mr. Li, let’s eat first!” You still have to take your medicine after dinner!” Then, Xia ruofei gave ye Lingyun a look. “Teacher, let’s continue after dinner!” Ye linyun said hurriedly. Ye Lingyun had already changed the way he addressed li Zhifu to “teacher”. At first, he wanted to address him as “master”, but li Zhifu said that acknowledging a master was a very formal matter. He had yet to decide on taking ye Lingyun as his disciple. To put it bluntly, li Zhifu still wanted to observe ye Lingyun! If ye Lingyun didn’t have the talent in this area, or if his learning attitude wasn’t correct, li Zhifu would rather bring his own unique skill into the yellow Earth than take in a disciple casually. Hence, ye Lingyun decided to compromise and called li Zhifu “teacher”. Li Zhifu also knew that these two young men were doing this for his own good. He could only shake his head helplessly, stand up, and mumble,””It doesn’t really matter if you take medicine or not ...” However, he still returned to the restaurant with Xia ruofei. After breakfast, li Zhifu finished the Chinese medicine prepared by Xia ruofei in a few gulps. Then, he pulled ye Lingyun to continue his lesson. “Teacher, I ... I should go to the farm to patrol ...” Ye linyun said with a troubled expression. “Ling Yun, just focus on your lessons with old Mr. Li. Cao and the others are all around the farm during the day. You don’t have to patrol,” Xia ruofei said hurriedly. “Brother Xia, how can we do that?” “What’s wrong?” Xia ruofei said,”I’ll let lightning out. It’s smart! If any bad guys break in, it will definitely be able to deal with them!” Since Xia ruofei had already put it that way, ye Lingyun could only agree. Hence, li Zhifu treated the living room as a classroom and continued to teach ye Lingyun. Ye Lingyun took out a notebook from his room and jotted down the key points of li Zhifu’s lecture. Xia ruofei quietly left the villa and was ready to go to the greenhouse and the construction site for an inspection. Just as he walked out of the villa, the phone in his pocket rang.