Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 26 Searching for People

The old servant's surname was Song, and he was known as Uncle Song. When he saw a pretty young girl coming over, he immediately smiled and ordered her to make tea.

Meng Shu was taken aback, as she had never learned this before, but she was just worried about not having a chance to learn it, so she immediately agreed in a crisp voice.

"When the master returns to rest, prepare the Jingshan tea that the old lady sent." Uncle Song pointed to the multi-treasure pavilion on one side of the flower hall.

Meng Shu obediently served the tea. Uncle Song had a sharp eye and noticed that she was quite efficient at boiling water, but when it came to the actual tea preparation, she immediately gave herself away.

Interestingly, this girl remained completely calm, her movements gentle and her posture extremely elegant. However, what was both amusing and absurd was that she only followed two steps in making tea: putting the tea leaves into the teacup, then pouring in hot water, and then staring at you with bright, sparkling eyes.

Uncle Song couldn't help but chuckle, but he wasn't angry. He had lived to a ripe old age and had seen all kinds of people, but this girl in front of him was unusually not intimidated, which was better than many others.

So Uncle Song picked her up and said, "I'll only teach you once, so watch carefully."

Song Bo knelt before the couch, washed his hands, and then proceeded to wash the cups, pour the tea, brew the tea, stir the foam, pour the tea, and add the tea to the tea. He then carefully explained how to control the water temperature and brewing time, and demonstrated several brewing techniques, such as "Guan Yu patrolling the city" and "Han Xin commanding troops," displaying a refined and elegant demeanor.

"You shameless old man, showing off in front of a little girl."

When the voice came, Meng Shu was watching Song Bo prepare tea in the manner of Han Xin commanding troops. Upon hearing this, she immediately composed herself, turned around, and bowed to her second uncle.

Uncle Song's voice was unhurried, "This is the finest Jingshan tea, would you like to try it, sir?"

The second uncle seemed to have a great interest in Meng Shu, saying, "This little girl is the one who saw through Xiao Qian's (Manager Qian's) intentions, isn't she? She's meticulous and quick-witted, quite good."

Meng Shu then understood why Uncle Song had been so kind to her; it was because the two of them were still thinking about this matter. Manager Qian's room was next to her second uncle's, and if Meng Shu hadn't noticed in time, she might have been caught in the crossfire.

Seeing Meng Shu nod, the second uncle sat upright in front of the single-panel screen, picked up the teacup on the incense table, and said, "Old Song just demonstrated how to brew tea, but the art of tea also requires knowing how to appreciate tea and, more importantly, how to drink it. Sit down and have a taste."

Given their different social statuses, Meng Shu wouldn't overstep her bounds and quickly declined, saying, "Uncle Song is kind-hearted and has already instructed this servant..."

Knowing that the master liked clever people the most, Uncle Song pulled Meng Shu to sit down with him, saying, "Listening to the master talk about tea is your task for today."

Second Uncle laughed, stroking his white beard with his left hand and holding a teacup in his right, speaking with no small amount of pride about the wonders of tea tasting: "Sip it slowly while it's hot, first smell its aroma, then taste its flavor, sip and smell at the same time, and drink it slowly and carefully."

He then instructed Meng Shu on how to examine and distinguish tea. Meng Shu remembered everything he heard. Taking advantage of the two elders' good mood, she immediately brewed two more cups of tea based on her memory. This ability to comprehend tea amazed Uncle Song.

Although Meng Shu was dressed in a blue maid's gown, her every move was polite and proper, which made her second uncle nod in approval.

Soon, footsteps came from outside. Meng Shu looked up and sure enough, Dong Gua and Lv Liu brought tea and snacks. The two were somewhat shocked to see Meng Shu sitting in the flower hall, especially Dong Gua, who thought to himself, "As expected of the one praised by Mother An, how dare she?"

Meng Shu hurriedly got up to greet him, and turned to her second uncle with a smile, saying, "Today, I am honored to have the favor of you and Uncle Song and to have tasted such fine tea. I would like to use my sister's skills to offer you some tea pastries made with winter melon."

Upon hearing that it was tea pastry, Second Uncle and Uncle Song exchanged bewildered glances. They had eaten all sorts of pastries, but they had never seen pastries made with tea leaves before. They couldn't help but look at the pastry in Meng Shu's hand.

Second Uncle took one, smelled it, and exclaimed in surprise, "What a waste! There's actually Tianmu Longjing tea inside!" He thought to himself, "What a waste!"

Uncle Song took one from the plate beside him and, without even smelling it, knew it was black tea. "Excellent! Using black and green tea to make a dessert is truly ingenious."

He took another bite, his eyes brightening slightly. After savoring it carefully, he exclaimed, "If teahouses could serve this kind of snack, they would be guaranteed to be packed with customers."

Seeing the old man's praise, the second uncle also took a bite. After finishing the whole round tea pastry, he slowly said, "It is indeed ingenious. Drinking tea and tasting tea pastry together is very flavorful."

Donggua was initially very nervous, but seeing that his skills were appreciated, he was quite happy. Uncle Song pointed to two kinds of tea pastries and asked Donggua to make a few more batches. Donggua accepted the reward and happily left with Green Willow.

"What does this little girl want from us two old men?" Second Uncle put down his teacup and straightened his expression.

Meng Shu first apologized, admitting that she did have something to ask of him. Seeing that her second uncle had an "I knew it" expression and did not seem offended, she felt much more at ease.

She then briefly explained her uncle's disappearance and the fact that he might have come to Lin'an to sell tea four years ago. Her second uncle laughed and said, "Little girl, you've come to the wrong person. Our Tang family business is involved in most industries. If it's related to tea, you should go to Lu boy."

Uncle Song, the head steward of the second uncle, pondered for a moment and said, "Manager Lu did not attend the council meeting. He has a very good relationship with our master. If your uncle really came to Lin'an, there must be some traces related to tea."

Meng Shu hurriedly told her uncle's name, age, and appearance. Since she hadn't seen him for four years, she didn't know if his figure had changed. Fearing that there might be a mistake, Meng Shu pointed out that her uncle's accent was slightly distinctive, with a strong Jinan County dialect flavor.

Uncle Song noted everything down, and Meng Shu felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders. She knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude. Uncle Song didn't care about this small matter of finding someone. He wanted the recipe for the tea pastry, but felt it would be taking advantage of her, so he didn't ask.

"If we're talking about finding someone in Lin'an, our Tang family business is all over the place, so it's the most convenient. But it's been four years, so don't have too high expectations. At the latest, we'll send someone to deliver the message when we receive the letter."

Meng Shu nodded and said, "I know the chances of finding my relatives are slim, but this is my only living relative. As long as I live, I will not give up the search."

On a side table were writing brushes and ink. Having nothing to thank her for, Meng Shu wanted to write down the recipe for the tea pastry, having already obtained Donggua's permission. Seeing her looking at the brushes and ink, her second uncle told her to do as she pleased.

A moment later, everyone present was overjoyed. Second Uncle had obtained the prescription, and Meng Shu had hope. Only Uncle Song, looking at the handwriting in his hand, secretly sighed that this girl was surprisingly skilled in calligraphy at such a young age; although her handwriting was still immature, it was quite delicate and neat. However, Uncle Song had no intention of prying into the other party's family affairs, so he simply left the prescription and let Meng Shu leave.

After returning home, Donggua asked Mother An for permission and spent nearly two hours in the small kitchen making a lot of tea pastries. She delivered them to Langya Courtyard before dark and received many rewards. She excitedly ran to Meng Shu's room and, seeing that Lvliu was not there, excitedly whispered, "I'm rich! I'm rich!"

"We'll split it in half when we meet. This is an idea you came up with with your little brain. You've received two rewards, so let's split them evenly."