PCJ – Chapter 230 The Master is Indeed Different

Han Guixian suddenly looked up, shocked, and stared at Ling Yushu, “Old Ling, where did you get this tea?”

“Old Han, you’re already so old, how can you still be so impatient like a young boy?” Ling Yushu sneered.

“Old Ling, don’t laugh at me. I believe when you first got this tea, you weren’t much better than I am now. Forget it. You should first taste this tea. If you had mentioned this good tea earlier, I wouldn’t have bothered to have breakfast. Now, there’s still some leftover taste in my mouth that will definitely affect the enjoyment of such an exquisite tea.” Han Guixian rinsed his mouth several times with mineral water but still felt unsatisfied. However, there was no other way.

“Old Han, don’t worry. This tea was brought to me by a younger relative. I think I can still use my old face to ask for more in the future. My younger relative said he sent an invitation to the owner of this tea to come to the evaluation meeting. They should be here.” Ling Yushu smiled.

Han Guixian glared at Ling Yushu, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” He left Ling Yushu aside and started tasting the tea on his own.

Not only Han Guixian, but all the provincial tea experts who had received the freshly brewed tea also began to taste it.

“Good tea! Good tea! No wonder Old Ling recommended it as an extraordinary tea. Compared to this, the tea I’ve drunk before is like soaking tree leaves in water.”

“Tea leaves are tree leaves, aren’t they?”

“Why do you always have to contradict me? That’s not what I meant.”

“Good tea, indeed good tea. Every time Old Ling comes, we are in for a treat.”

“Of course, Old Ling is a highly respected expert who enjoys special state allowances. The top-grade Dahongpao tea, which others might never taste in their lifetime, is something Old Ling can drink anytime he wants. I’ve had it many times when I visited his home.”

“How does this tea compare to those national treasure-grade teas?”

“Those national treasure-grade teas are top-grade, but this tea is celestial. Such tea should only exist in heaven, how many times can one drink it in the human world?”

The people in the audience could only watch as the tea experts on stage savored the tea with great enjoyment.

Zhao Jinyuan, who attended the tea evaluation meeting every year, explained to Zhang Manyin and Zhang Jiaohua, “The one who spoke just now is the leader of this evaluation meeting’s expert group. He is a nationally renowned tea expert. If he says the tea is good, then it is really good. Brother Zhang, are you alright?”

Zhao Jinyuan thought Zhang Manyin might be having a medical issue.

Zhang Manyin, a bit embarrassed, said, “It’s nothing, it’s just that I think the tea that expert had is from our farm. Jiaohua, did you see clearly?”

“Impossible!” Zhao Jinyuan was again shocked. Today, he had been surprised several times by Zhang Manyin’s words. Zhao Jinyuan felt a bit awkward, “I mean, the tea introduced by Old Ling surely isn’t ordinary tea.”

Zhang Jiaohua said, “The tea he had is indeed our tea. The bamboo tube was carved by the bamboo craftsmen from our village, it’s not available elsewhere.”

“Is it really from your farm?” Zhao Jinyuan’s eyes were full of confusion. Could it be possible that a horticultural farm from a village he had never heard of could produce tea that a renowned tea expert would praise highly?

Zhang Jiaohua was very proud. The tea was brewed by him personally. Zhang Manyin sat up straight; at first, he felt very self-conscious sitting in such a grand conference hall. This place was really fancy, much more impressive than the town’s hall.

After all the tea experts had tasted the tea, Ling Yushu continued his earlier topic, “Now, I think all of you tea experts must agree with my previous opinion. We thought that after decades of effort, we had fully discovered all the local specialty teas and traditional processing techniques in Hunan Province. But now it seems we need to continue our efforts. Bamboo tube black tea is the greatest discovery of this evaluation meeting. Does anyone have a different opinion on this?”

“Professor Ling is right. I also believe we need to continue to intensify our efforts to explore the tea tree resources, local specialty teas, and traditional processing techniques throughout Hunan Province. Some processing techniques might have been lost, but we can uncover them through various literature and by visiting different places.” Han Guixian also stood up and said.

“Professor Ling, is the owner of the bamboo tube black tea here? Can we have him come out and meet everyone?” An expert stood up and asked.

“Yes, yes. It would be best if the owner of the bamboo tube black tea could come out and introduce the processing method of this tea. By the way, I’m not trying to scheme anything, I just want to meet the person. I believe the processing method of bamboo tube black tea is absolutely not simple.”

“Yes, just meeting the person is enough. After tasting this tea, other teas have no flavor for me anymore.”

Ling Yushu raised his hands and pressed them down to signal everyone to be quiet. After everyone quieted down, he slowly said, “Earlier, I did send an invitation to the owner of the bamboo tube black tea, but I’m not sure if they have arrived.”

Host He Donglin came over, “Old Ling, the person you asked us to find has indeed arrived. But…”

Seeing He Donglin hesitating, Ling Yushu asked curiously, “Is he unwilling to show up?”

“No, we haven’t asked yet. But the Zhang Jiaohua you mentioned is just a child. We are not sure if there was a mistake. The elderly Mr. Zhang Manyin, who came with Zhang Jiaohua, is more likely to be the owner of the bamboo tube black tea.” He Donglin, worried about a potential mix-up, hurried back to confirm with Ling Yushu after checking the attendees.

“A child? How is that possible?” Ling Yushu also couldn’t believe that such a celestial tea could come from a child’s hands. He suspected that the tea master was doing this on purpose.

“I specifically went to see, and the child is probably seven or eight years old.” He Donglin smiled wryly.

“What should we do?” Ling Yushu, despite being a tea expert, felt at a loss in this situation.

He Donglin rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, if I knew what to do, I wouldn’t have come to ask you. But he couldn’t say this out loud and had to think hard, “Why don’t we invite both the grandfather and grandson onto the stage and ask them directly?”

“Do as you say.” Ling Yushu had no other choice and reluctantly nodded.

“What happened?” Han Guixian, who had been sensing something was wrong, asked.

“The owner of the bamboo tube black tea might not have come, and sent a child instead.” Ling Yushu whispered.

“What!” Han Guixian exclaimed, his face showing a strange expression. A true master indeed acts differently.