Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 521 - Chapter 521 521. Cutting tea leaves and tea bricks_1

Chapter 521: 521. Cutting tea leaves and tea bricks_1 Chapter 521: 521. Cutting tea leaves and tea bricks_1 After everyone left, Seventh Uncle pondered for a moment, “Tantan, is your mom still picking tea leaves on the mountain? Give her a call, and when she comes back, have her bring a few tea branches for me to look at.”

“Sure.”

Song Tan didn’t even ask why and sent the message straight away, only Zhang Yanping wouldn’t let any changes at home go unnoticed, and hurriedly inquired, “Seventh Uncle, what do you need the branches for?”

Seventh Uncle didn’t hide his intentions, “I was thinking, if the tea leaves grow well, then the old branches and leaves must also be fragrant. It would be such a pity to just cut them and throw them on the ground or use them as firewood when they come back.”

“Let’s try it when it comes back, and if the taste is okay, we could maybe make–”

“I get it now!”

Zhang Yanping clapped his hands in realization, “You’re thinking of making tea bricks or tea dust, aren’t you?”

That kind of cheap tea bricks, or the bits of broken tea mixed in with scented tea, are made by crushing those old branches!

Seventh Uncle: …

His expression complex, he then sighed, “Yanping, having you in charge of sales, it’s really the right fit for your expertise.”

“I was just thinking of using the dried tea branches to smoke some ducks and pork, but you, you’re even thinking of crushing them to make tea bricks… You’re more calculating than Shen Wansan himself!”

Zhang Yanping didn’t feel embarrassed by his incorrect guess and instead laughed openly, “I couldn’t compare to him, after all, he was a rich man, and me, I’m just an ordinary worker, still making a salary of 2,500 to this day!”

And his meals were much too good. Even if there were no salary, he wouldn’t bear to leave.

Moreover, because he was so satisfied with his food, his other desires had diminished. With his current salary, aside from paying for his phone bill and spending on game microtransactions, there was simply nowhere else he needed to spend money on…

If things continued like this, saving up twenty thousand by the end of the year wasn’t a dream!

Seventh Uncle was just teasing, but after saying that, he fell into deep thought, “But you’re right, the tea is so good, making tea bricks or tea dust should be very aromatic… I’ll have to look into it.”

When it came to kitchen matters, Seventh Uncle was always decisive and efficient.

Wu Lan came back at midday carrying a basket, indeed pulling out a large bunch of tea branches, and even on one branch, there bloomed a quail egg-sized tea flower.

The snow-white petals were slightly closed, revealing the pale yellow pistils inside, exceptionally refreshing and charming.

This did excite Qiaoqiao, “Mom, does this mean the tea tree is about to bear seeds? If there are seeds this year, can I continue to pound out tea oil?”

Pounding out tea oil–

Song Tan also fell into reminiscence.

In her childhood, this was a skill known to every kid in the village.

They’d use a small wine cup and find a pen that was no longer needed, ideally one with a cap. You would peel open the ripe tea seeds from the mountain, the round milky fruit would be crushed and placed into the cup, and you’d use the pen to keep pressing down…

After a long time, the crushed tea seeds would turn into a dark brown, semi-transparent substance, and a layer of yellow tea oil would rise to the surface.

When she was little, her classmates would often compare their progress, and even during classes, they would constantly be pounding with their pens…

After all, back in those rural days, there wasn’t the wide variety of entertainment that exists today.

Who would’ve thought that when it came to Qiaoqiao, because he lacked playmates, he would end up playing with these too.

“Sure.” For Qiaoqiao, the family had always been permissive, and Wu Lan was even more accommodating this year, “You can buy yourself a nice wine cup, and then use the tea oil you pound out for cooking and let everyone taste it.”

Qiaoqiao’s eyes immediately lit up!

Turning tea oil into a fun activity was one thing, but now it could be used for cooking–he was instantly filled with passion!

“Are there any tea fruits on the mountain now? I’ll go right away!”

You couldn’t say there weren’t–among the endless tea bushes, there were always one or two that were flowering or had already borne fruit. But…

“It’s too hot now, they spoil easily, better wait a bit longer, until autumn or winter. Pick out a nice little cup for yourself first, mom will give you the money!”

“Okay!” Qiaoqiao blinked–after all, his money had already been spent on travel funds!

This time, he was determined to study hard during his trip, and if he managed to save up money afterward, he would take his parents on a trip when there was no work in the winter!

Meanwhile, Seventh Uncle had already started smoking the tea branches over the fire–with limited facilities at hand, he just placed the branches away from the flames to smoke them slowly, then took them out to smell the aroma–

“This smell is quite nice, just not sure what flavor it will give the meat when smoked.”

People with skills like theirs usually knew just from a quick sniff what kind of flavor pairing it would result in, but it wasn’t always accurate.

To play it safe, Seventh Uncle decided–“Tantan, let’s slaughter a couple of ducks later for a trial.”

The ducks at home were at an awkward in-between size, just right for making roasted duck.

Song Tan pondered, “Let’s not. Our chickens and ducks are still young, and they are definitely tasty. If we mix things up, you won’t be able to tell which is more prominent by the smell.”

“I’ll go to the market and buy an old duck to bring back. That’s the only way to tell if the flavor works.”

Seventh Uncle thought it made sense: “Alright, smoking duck should use an old duck for more chewiness. I’ll smoke a dry duck for you to snack on.”

Then he beckoned Qiaoqiao over: “Come here, fetch the large shears, and cut these into small branches, a little bit smaller, one to two centimeters is fine, but be careful not to hurt your hands.”

“Okay.”

Without a word, Qiaoqiao grabbed the shears used for trimming branches and started cutting the tea branches into pieces over the prepared stainless steel basin.

At the same time, Seventh Uncle asked, “Wu Lan, does anyone else in the village raise chickens? Go and ask if they have any eggs for sale, let’s buy some.”

“Just now, Yanping made a good point, our tea leaves have a good aroma, and I want to try if old tea branches are suitable for making tea eggs.”

After all, their tea was too expensive to use for boiling tea eggs; no one could bear to do that.

Let alone fresh tea leaves, Seventh Uncle wouldn’t even spare the yellowed leaves–after all, he needed his two cups a day!

“Sure.” Wu Lan immediately picked up a basket: “I’ll go right now.”

In previous years, the trimmed tea branches were either given to factories that collected old tea branches or picked up by other elderly villagers to use as kindling.

They were only good for starting fires, not for long-term burning. Since their household didn’t have enough labor, they never bothered to collect them properly.

By chance, before Wu Lan could leave, her phone rang.

She answered the call, and the loud voice on the other end could be heard throughout the courtyard:

“Wu Lan, a factory has come to the village to collect old tea branches. Are you trimming any? Come register quickly if you are! They say the first ten households will each get two boxes of beer!”

Wu Lan hesitated for a moment.

Zhang Yanping was curious: “This factory seems pretty decent, offering gifts on top of home service. How much are they paying for a pound of old tea branches?”