My Manor

In fact, when it comes to tea, people in northern China originally didn't drink it much. The culture of tea originated from Shu. During the Han Dynasty, only the people of Shu knew how to properly drink tea.

In the period of the Three Kingdoms of the Later Han Dynasty, there was no such thing as tea in circulation. It wasn't until the Jin Dynasty that the wind of luxury and enjoyment spread throughout the country, as aristocratic families began to control the country's resources. It was during this time that tea developed.

However, the earliest form of tea was boiled tea, which is often seen in time-travel novels. To make it, goat milk, salt, and other ingredients were added before boiling. This method was intended to supplement essential nutrients like salt and iron.

It wasn't until the Song Dynasty that the practice of frying and brewing tea like modern tea truly began. From the Song Dynasty onwards, modern tea was passed down in its entirety.

Tea itself is also divided into green tea and black tea. Green tea clears the intestines, aids digestion, and brightens the mind, while black tea warms the stomach and removes cold.

With the opening of the Maritime Silk Road, black tea was introduced to Europe. The British considered black tea the most gentlemanly drink, but Jiang Hai himself did not enjoy it, as he wasn't fond of bitter flavors.

Zhang Di's collection of tea includes both black tea and green tea. The oldest tea trees here are nearly a hundred years old, with younger ones being ten to twenty years old. After all, it's not easy to import tea abroad in these years, especially tea trees. These plants were brought here by him a long time ago.

"This is West Lake Longjing tea, which I also brought from West Lake. This is Biluochun, produced in Dongting Mountain, Taihu Lake, Jiangsu Province—not Dongting Lake. This tea tastes great. This is Huangshan Maofeng, the best among Maofeng, produced in Taiping County, Anhui Province. This is Junshan Yinzhen, produced in Dongting Lake, Hunan Province... and this is Lu'an Guapian, produced in Anhui Province..."

As he led Jiang Hai through the tea garden, Zhang Lao introduced each of these teas. For him, they were treasures.

And Jiang Hai thought to himself, these are indeed treasures!

After following Mr. Zhang around, Jiang Hai had nearly seen all the tea trees. There were a total of fifteen varieties of tea trees, with more than two hundred trees in total. There weren't many of each kind, which showed that Mr. Zhang wasn't exaggerating. He really didn't have much tea.

"Then I'll take some branches and plant them back," Jiang Hai said with enthusiasm, confident that he could plant them. After listening to Mr. Zhang's introduction, Jiang Hai made up his mind. Although he didn't know much about tea, he remembered drinking bud tea in the past.

He didn't like tea that was roasted dry, and even less so fermented tea.

So, he finally decided on some West Lake Longjing and Huangshan Maofeng, as well as some Emei Zhuyeqing—just these three kinds of tea. He wasn't interested in black tea, not even the legendary national tea, Dahongpao.

With that, he reached for the tea tree in front of him, intending to take a branch back for planting.

But before his hand could reach the branch, Mr. Zhang swatted it away.

"Do you just break it off with your hands? Do you even understand? Forget it; I guess you don't. Stay aside!" Zhang Lao gave Jiang Hai a look, took a knife from the side, and walked over slowly.

Everyone knows that drinking tea is quite particular, but picking tea is also a delicate process.

Let's not even talk about the techniques and experience required for picking the tea, just the timing of when to pick it is crucial.

Take Longjing as an example. The best Longjing is harvested before Mingming, with the finest being harvested before the rain. After that comes regular Longjing.

Temperature also greatly affects Longjing. During the spring tea season, the higher the temperature, the worse the quality of the tea, while cooler temperatures result in better quality, though it makes the tea harder to grow. It's a delicate balance; otherwise, it's difficult to judge whether the tea is good or bad.

According to the climate and solar terms, tea leaves that grow to a size suitable for picking before the Qingming Festival are called Mingqian tea. These buds are precious, and picking just a few from each plant makes the price exceptionally high.

Tea picked from the Qingming Festival to the Grain Rain Festival is called pre-rain tea. It's slightly less refined than Mingqian tea but still much better than ordinary tea. Tea picked after the Grain Rain Festival is called spring tea, or new tea, and it has a more average taste.

Of course, now that it's passed both the Qingming Festival and the Grain Rain Festival, the tea leaves aren't as valuable or as tasty, but Zhang Lao still treated them with great care.

In the end, with Jiang Hai's insistence, Zhang Lao cut thirteen branches for him: six of Longjing, three of Huangshan Maofeng, and four of Emei Zhuyeqing. Jiang Hai loved Longjing tea, which reminded him of his father. His father had brought many Longjing tea trees from China, though most died within the first year of transplantation. After many attempts at reproduction, only a few remained, some of which were still in California. But the stock was still decent, so Zhang Lao gave him a generous portion.

As for Huangshan Maofeng and Emei Zhuyeqing, Zhang Lao was reluctant to part with more. When they had talked about the beef business earlier, he didn't show this kind of hesitation, so it was clear that these tea branches were truly dear to him.

After obtaining the branches, Zhang Lao led Jiang Hai to a room on the third floor. As soon as the door opened, Jiang Hai was greeted by a strong alcohol scent. In front of him were large plastic barrels, likely filled with alcohol.

These must be the grain alcohol that Zhang Lao had helped him procure.

"Boy, you know these wines are hard to get. Real grain wine is rare in China now, let alone abroad. These were specially selected from an old friend of mine and shipped from San Francisco three days ago. Take them. Two barrels for you." Zhang Lao's eyes gleamed as he looked at the wine, clearly excited. These were pure grain wines, all 70 degrees. Though the taste might not rival packaged wines, they were perfect for making wine.

"No problem!" Jiang Hai said, equally pleased. Today had indeed been a fruitful day.

He had 17 deer whips in total, planning to make four jars of wine, two barrels per jar. With nine left, and having brought five, he could carry five barrels of wine back. He walked into the room, already imagining the process.

Zhang Lao, ever particular, had the wine stored in large barrels capable of holding 50 kilograms. Each barrel would produce a jar of wine. Zhang Lao had ten such barrels, and if one didn't work, he could always make another.

Each barrel was labeled with Chinese characters indicating its contents. There was a variety of grains: sorghum, corn, rice, glutinous rice, barley, wheat, millet, and highland barley. Jiang Hai, however, wasn't fooled. Rice and glutinous rice wines were rice wines, which couldn't be used for soaking. As for highland barley, though produced in the west, Jiang Hai was unfamiliar with it and decided against it. Ultimately, he chose sorghum, corn, and barley—four barrels of sorghum and three of the others.

With the help of Zhang Lao's servants, the ten barrels were loaded into Jiang Hai's car. Thanks to his preference for driving large vehicles, he was able to fit all the barrels. After loading the wine and tea branches, he took a package from the car, opened it, and handed it to Zhang Lao.

"Uncle Zhang, take care," Jiang Hai said with a smile.

Zhang Lao, after receiving the package, smiled in return. "At my age, it's normal to drink these, but are you sure you want to drink them so young?"

"Just curious," Jiang Hai replied with a sheepish smile. Zhang Lao, as always, was tough to outwit.

Nonetheless, Jiang Hai left with what he came for, feeling content. After bidding Zhang Lao farewell, he drove back home. Upon arrival, he asked Robbins and the others to help move the ten barrels of wine into a separate room. Though they were curious about the contents, once the lid was lifted and the strong smell of grain alcohol filled the air, their interest waned. Robbins and the others preferred foreign wines that smelled pleasant and tasted good, not grain wines like those from Huaxia.

After securing the wine, Jiang Hai opened up a plot of land behind his house, setting up a rain and snow cover with a rack. He carefully planted the tea leaves and other plants he had gotten from Zhang Lao. Jiang Hai had invested a lot of time and energy, worried that the tea trees might not survive. To ensure their survival, he injected each tea plant with spiritual energy.

As for the kiwis and beans, he wasn't as familiar with them, so he only injected two pieces of spiritual energy into them and asked Philemon to help his wife plant them. (To be continued...)