He raised his head and said,”little Xia, the next step is to shake the green stage. I’ll do it myself.” Ling Yun, Gen ‘er, you guys better watch out. How much you can learn will depend on your luck!”
Ye Lingyun felt fine. After all, li Zhifu taught him every day. Yang Shugen rarely had such close learning opportunities. Therefore, he was quite excited and didn’t even dare to blink.
Li Zhifu walked over and grabbed one side of the bamboo water sieve with both hands. More than three catties of Tea Green plus the bamboo water sieve weighed about six to seven catties. Moreover, the bamboo water sieve was very large, and it was not easy for ordinary people to control it. However, li Zhifu grabbed it firmly.
Li Zhifu started to shake the bamboo water screen with a strange hand gesture. The cool green leaves in the water screen kept rolling up and down.
Yang Shugen and ye Lingyun watched li Zhifu’s operation without blinking.
For this process, Xia ruofei had learned so principles of the process through searching on the internet. The fresh leaves of the Chinese razor clam rolled up and down in a spiral shape in the water sieve. The rolling leaves collided with each other and rubbed against each other, causing cell tissue injury and promoting the oxidation of ppenylic compounds, which could promote the formation of the color, fragrance, and taste of the rock tea.
However, knowing the principle was one thing, and how to operate it was another.
Xia ruofei knew that li Zhifu’s hand gestures and movents were passed down by word of mouth. They were the crystallization of the wisdom of many generations of tea makers. The number of tis he shook the tea, the frequency, and the control of the fire could never be replaced by machines.
Li Zhifu shook each sieve about 20 tis before he stopped.
Yang Shugen and ye Lingyun quickly moved the water sieve to the rack and placed it there.
The first ti he did it, he didn’t shake it too much, and he didn’t do it too many tis. Li Zhifu’s face wasn’t red, and he wasn’t panting. He looked like he was in the middle of a fight.
He said to Xia ruofei,”there are four rounds of shaking the green tonight. The first round has ended. We’ll start after dinner.”
Yang Shu hurriedly asked his wife to prepare dinner, while Niu Yusheng and Li Guizhi took their leave in advance.
......
After dinner, it was around 6:30 in the evening. Li Zhifu started to shake the green glass for the second ti.
This ti, he shook it about fifty tis.
At 9:30 pm, he shook the green for the third ti, lightly shaking it for about 150 tis.
The workload was getting heavier and heavier. Li Zhifu was finally panting after he finished, and beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.
Ye linyun quickly poured a glass of water for his master and let him rest at the side.
anwhile, Xia ruofei went to the car. On his way back, he took a bottle of “nutrient solution” and gave it to li Zhifu.
As soon as li Zhifu finished drinking, he felt that his sore arm started to recover quickly. His physical strength seed to have beco full again. Initially, he was a little worried about the fourth and fifth shake, but now he was full of confidence again.
After drinking the nutrient solution prepared by Xia ruofei, li Zhifu went to bed and rested for about an hour. He got up at midnight and started shaking the green glass for the fourth ti.
The fourth shake took a total of 200 tis, and there were also 60 tis of manual labor in between. Li Zhifu did not trust his disciple to handle this crucial step, so he did it all by himself. After processing two green leaves on the water screen, he was also drenched in sweat.
Fortunately, Xia ruofei’s nutrient solution was very magical. After drinking it, he recovered a lot of strength.
After the shake, li Zhifu went back to his bed to rest. He asked ye Lingyun to set an alarm to wake him up at three in the morning.
Xia ruofei also went back to the car and sat down to take a nap.
At threeo’ clock, li Zhifu got up on ti and carried out the last shaking operation.
Li Zhifu used the sa heavy shaking technique. This ti, he asked ye Lingyun to pour the tea leaves in the two sieves together. The total weight of the tea leaves was more than ten catties. Li Zhifu lifted the sieve and shook it 310 tis. He even did 80 tis in between.
Li Zhifu’s clothes were drenched in sweat after the whole operation. He did not even have the strength to speak. He could only gesture to Xia ruofei.
Xia ruofei quickly handed li Zhifu the nutrient solution that he had prepared.
Li Zhifu raised his head and gulped it down. He rested for a while before he said,””Well, the shaking green is almost done. Let’s fernt it!”
After that, li Zhifu turned around and went back to his room to rest.
Xia ruofei pulled ye Lingyun and asked,”Lingyun, why is the tea – making process so complicated?” How much have you completed?”
“Half!” Ye linyun replied. Master asked to wake him up at 5:30. There are still procedures such as stir – frying, kneading, baking, and so on, which are all quite important. He must do it himself ...”
Hearing this, Xia ruofei sighed in his heart. The process of making tea by hand was too complicated. No wonder those big tea factories used machines to make tea.
Fortunately, he had the solution of the spirit Heart Flower petals. Otherwise, with li Zhifu’s old age and physical condition, it would be difficult for him to complete the entire process.
Xia ruofei looked at the dim light in li Zhifu’s room and was full of respect for this old man who insisted on traditional tea – making skills.
At the sa ti, he was also filled with anticipation for the Da Hong Pao tea leaves that he would be able to produce the next day!
[PS: thank you for your support!]
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