PCJ – Chapter 353 Incomparable

“This is a very magical green tea, made using a very special handcrafted process without any added non-natural substances. But when you steep the tea leaves in water, you will witness a magical transformation,” Ji Jiaxin walked over and instantly captured everyone’s attention.

“Oh my God, is this an angel sent from heaven? She’s adorable! Right, she’s talking about tea leaves.”

“This girl is so cute. Which tea company had the brilliant idea to have such a young angel introduce their tea? So creative!”

Ji Jiaxin looked adorable in her traditional Tang-style outfit, making her seem like a fairy who had just stepped out of a painting. At this moment, Ji Jiaxin had shed her earlier pampered demeanor, radiating a natural innocence. This kind of beauty was not something that could be feigned.

Ji Jiaxin began to demonstrate tea art on the spot, but her process was different from the usual tea ceremonies. She started by pouring hot water into the pot first.

A well-meaning spectator immediately chimed in, “Beautiful girl, you’re doing it in the wrong order. You should put the tea leaves in the cup first.”

Ji Jiaxin smiled at the person, “That’s exactly what I want to show you about the uniqueness of this tea. Whether you add the leaves first or the water first won’t make much of a difference. In fact, by adding the water first, you’ll see a more magical process.”

She smiled as she dropped a piece of tea leaf into the water. “Everyone, watch.”

The surrounding audience, intrigued, gathered closer, curious about what magic this young girl was talking about.

To make it easier for the audience to see, Ji Jiaxin was using a glass pot, already half-filled with water. After she added the tea leaf, they immediately saw the dark black leaf dissolve into a misty green cloud, slowly spreading through the water. The once clear water turned into a vivid green, and when the mist dissipated, there was no residue left at the bottom of the pot.

For many people unfamiliar with tea art, drinking tea isn’t a simple matter and requires patience—something considered essential in tea culture. However, some find tea drinking cumbersome. The floating tea leaves in the cup, in particular, are bothersome for those who are impatient. If there were a type of tea that could completely dissolve in water without affecting the taste, it would be an excellent choice.

“Is this really tea?” someone couldn’t help but ask.

“You can try it.” On the table were some clean disposable cups, which, although they slightly diminished the tea’s experience, allowed everyone a chance to taste this magical green tea.

Ordinarily, Westerners don’t favor green tea much. They prefer bright-colored black tea, and nutritionists claim that red stimulates the appetite, while green is not an appealing color for food. But at this moment, no one was rejecting this green tea.

Soon, the first person to taste the magical green tea exclaimed, “Oh my! It’s incredible, unbelievable. Just as the name ‘Jade Fairy Brew’ suggests, this is a tea fit for immortals. It has none of the bitterness typical of regular tea, but its sweetness is even more lingering and delightful!”

“Indeed, this fragrance will stay with me! After this, I don’t think I’ll be able to drink any other tea.”

“There’s absolutely no tea leaf residue at all. For me, making tea and trying to avoid drinking tea leaf bits is always a hassle. But with this tea, there’s no such problem, and you don’t need to use a tea bag, which would spoil the tea-drinking experience. There’s no better tea than this Jade Fairy Brew.”

…

The praise was unanimous, making it clear that Meizi’ao Tea Factory’s promotion was a great success.

Although Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t understand what these people were saying, their thumbs-up gestures made it obvious they were complimenting the Jade Fairy Brew.

Zhao Jinyuan and Shen Jinmao smiled as well, knowing that this exhibition was already half a success. The remaining half depended on the soon-to-be-announced awards. If they could win a gold medal, this exhibition would be a complete triumph.

“Brother Jiaohua, how did I do today?” Ji Jiaxin was already seeking praise from Zhang Jiaohua.

“You did great! I had no idea you could not only speak English but also perform tea art.” Zhang Jiaohua gave her a thumbs-up, admitting he couldn’t do any of it.

“Hmph, someone was doubting my abilities just yesterday.” Ji Jiaxin pouted, as if saying: Apologize to me!

Zhang Jiaohua scratched the back of his head. “Uh, I didn’t know your English was even better than foreigners’.”

Though it wasn’t an apology, the compliment was good enough. Ji Jiaxin happily accepted it. “Brother Jiaohua, how about I teach you English?”

Zhang Jiaohua nodded. “Sure. But I don’t know anything.”

He assumed learning a foreign language would be as easy as learning spells. Since he could remember all those complex spell chants, how hard could it be to learn English? Zhang Jiaohua clearly didn’t understand the difficulty of learning a language system.

Ji Jiaxin, however, wasn’t going to teach him the traditional way, starting with the alphabet, followed by writing and sentence structures. For her, it was enough to teach him to speak.

Ji Jiaxin started with “Good morning” and “Have you eaten yet?”

“Foreigners don’t say, ‘Have you eaten yet?’ They prefer to talk about how sunny the weather is, hahaha.” As she said this, Ji Jiaxin giggled.

Zhang Jiaohua had a good memory, so remembering a few daily phrases wasn’t difficult for him. However, he was memorizing the pronunciation by ear, so if he saw the words written down, he wouldn’t recognize them. But for now, that was enough.

Because the earlier demonstration was so magical, and the tea’s flavor so extraordinary, the attendees had many questions. Ji Jiaxin, acting as their translator, didn’t have much time to teach Zhang Jiaohua English.

Ji Jianming and his wife, though initially worried about their daughter’s role as a translator, quickly relaxed when they arrived near Meizi’ao Tea Factory’s booth. The small booth had become the hottest spot in the tea exhibition, drawing a crowd of spectators, especially from other tea factories in the area.

“It seems our worries were unnecessary. Our precious daughter is doing an excellent job,” Ji Jianming said with a smile.

“Of course, after all, she’s our daughter,” Shen Bing proudly remarked.

“Indeed, it must be those excellent Ji family genes,” Ji Jianming joked.

“She was born from my womb, you know,” Shen Bing said, dissatisfied.

“And I played a part too, didn’t I?” Ji Jianming said, a little embarrassed.

Shen Bing blushed and playfully hit him on the shoulder.

“Should we go over?” Shen Bing asked.

Ji Jianming shook his head. “Since Jiaxin is doing so well, why should we disturb her?”

“I remember you mentioned a new Chinese restaurant in Chinatown with great food. How about…” Shen Bing gestured outside.

“How about we enjoy some alone time?” Ji Jianming smiled. The two of them turned around and left.

Back at the booth, Ji Jiaxin continued enthusiastically promoting Meizi’ao tea to the captivated audience, completely engrossed in her presentation.

“Lovely little lady, I’m very interested in your tea. Will it be available for sale in London? I think I’ll become your most loyal customer,” a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and blue eyes asked.

“Of course. After the awards, we’ll sell all the tea we brought with us, and we’re also looking for distributors in the UK to keep Meizi’ao tea available,” Ji Jiaxin responded with a smile.

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d never believe these words came from such a beautiful little angel. Are you confident that you’ll win an award at this tea competition, which is why you’re waiting to sell the tea afterward?” the woman asked again.

Ji Jiaxin smiled, “A soldier who doesn’t dream of becoming a general isn’t a good soldier. Although our tea factory is small, we have big dreams. Who knows? Maybe they’ll come true.”

“Well said. Good luck to you. After the awards, I’ll be back at your booth,” the woman said, giving Ji Jiaxin a thumbs-up.

The surrounding audience couldn’t help but applaud for Ji Jiaxin’s inspiring words.

Meanwhile, the food quality evaluation committee’s tea group was in heated discussion about the rankings. Many of the participating teas were familiar faces, but there were also some new ones, like the “Jade Fairy Brew,” which was currently the center of attention.

“I won’t deny that Jade Fairy Brew’s quality is extraordinary, making it the biggest discovery of this competition. But I’ve also noticed that this tea is making its debut here. It lacks the test of time, and the company producing it is small, raising doubts about its ability to maintain consistent quality. Our evaluation doesn’t just assess the current quality but ensures that the products we award can consistently deliver. Unfortunately, I don’t see that potential with Jade Fairy Brew,” tea expert Sebastian argued, clearly against awarding Jade Fairy Brew.

Another tea expert, Mikalis, immediately stood up. “You’re a tea expert, not a quality control expert. Your job is to assess the quality of the tea, and that’s it. Are you saying this tea isn’t good?”

“I’m not denying that the tea is excellent. But…” Sebastian started, but Mikalis cut him off.

Mikalis waved his hand. “As tea experts, we are responsible for judging the tea’s quality. Everything else should be left to the professionals. In terms of quality, Jade Fairy Brew is truly incomparable!”