My mystery lover novel (Richard and Amy)
Chapter 161 Picking Tea

"Wow, are all these tea trees?" Sherry exclaimed as she saw the green plants all over the mountain. She wondered if those were the tea trees which she had only heard and read about.

Even though Sherry was a big fan of Chinese tea, she only saw, smelled and tasted the finished product of tea. She also got some knowledge of tea from books.

She had been to China for three times, but she never saw what tea trees were like.

"That's right, Ms. Rose, Mr. Keller. I have contacted the owner of the tea garden. We will pick, bake, and taste the tea made by ourselves." Amy said to them.

"Really? We can pick tea leaves by ourselves today?" Sherry's eyes lit up as she heard Amy's words. She liked the plan very much.

"Yes, Ms. Rose, I have prepared clothes for you to work in the tea garden. Mr. Keller, you could also change your clothes. There are clothes for you, too. Our professional tea picker will show you how to put on those clothes." Amy asked a male tea picker to take Yuris to change into the professional clothes for tea-picking, and then, she took Sherry to change their clothes.

"Ms. Rose, we only need the tip of the shoot. The tip is the best and tastes better than the rest parts. So we don't use the rest part to make tea." Amy was picking the tips nimbly, and Sherry even felt dazzled as she watched.

"Amy, do you come here to pick tea very often?" Sherry could only pick one tip at a time, but she found it interesting.

"Yes. I used to come here to help during the holidays. I didn't do it for money. I just want the owner of the tea garden to teach me tea culture." Amy said to Sherry.

Soon, Amy had picked a handful of tea tips. She then put them in the basket.

"Ms. Rose, the taste of the tea varies if you pick it at different times of the year. Sometimes we pick it with the dew, and sometimes without the dew. There is also a difference in the tea picked before and after the Tomb-Sweeping Festival. Sometimes we will pick tea when there was a fog...." Amy introduced different types of tea to Sherry.

"I've heard about that. I know there are Mingqian Maofeng Tea and Minghou Maofeng Tea. They taste different." Sherry was talking to Amy joyfully.

They chatted with each other while picking tea, and they enjoyed themselves very much.

While Yuris was at a loss what to do. He didn't even dare to try touching the tea leaves since he thought the tea leaves were just too delicate.

"Mr. Keller, don't worry. You could just try as I tell you." The tea picker found it funny when he saw that a grown man like Yuris would still be afraid of tea leaves.

"No, I can't. I just feel that I might destroy the tea trees with my hands. Look! My hands are so rough! And the tips are so soft and tender. I feel it's so cruel to pick the tips." Yuris wanted to pick the tea leaves, but he just could not.

"Mr. Keller, everything in the world has its own value. For example, we feed chicken, ducks, fish, pigs, cattle, sheep, rabbits, etc. because we want to make them our food. And that's the same with the tea leaves. If we don't pick them in time, they can't realize their value. And no one will know their beauty, either." Yuris looked rough, but Amy knew he was a kind-hearted man. So she tried to comfort him. "Alright. I'll try my best now." Yuris finally gathered his courage and picked his first tip.

Yuris and Sherry were best friends. He was also a big fan of Chinese tea culture influenced by Sherry. No, that was not the most accurate way to put it. Yuris was in fact a big fan of Chinese culture. He was amazed by the extensive and profound Chinese culture.

After picking his first tip, Yuris put it into his mouth. He immediately spat it out after tasting it. He found it both bitter and astringent.

"It's so bitter." Yuris frowned.

"Mr. Keller, have some water. Tea leaves are supposed to be bitter. They are just like life. How can you feel the sweetness of life without going through difficulties first?" Amy handed Yuris a bottle of mineral

water.

Sherry liked the way Amy talked. Amy never showed off. She would only tell Sherry the allusion about tea at the right time.

Amy was carrying a small backpack with her. Sherry had no idea what was in Amy's backpack just now. She thought Amy had probably brought her cosmetics with her so she could refine her make-up. Sherry liked Amy even more as she saw Amy take out a bottle of mineral water from her backpack. Amy was such a considerate girl. She had even prepared water for her guests in her backpack, in case they were thirsty.

When Amy saw that Sherry was looking at her backpack, she thought that Sherry was thirsty. So she took out another bottle of water from her backpack.

"Ms. Rose, you're thirsty, aren't you? This is soda water. It's good for women like us." Amy had even paid attention to which type of water she should bring. Sherry could tell that Amy was used to taking caring of others.

Sherry's impression of Amy improved a lot. But this couldn't prove anything. Sherry still didn't know if Amy was good at business.

After taking a few sips of water, Amy took Sherry and Yuris to get on with their work again.

They worked in the tea garden for the whole morning. At noon, they all had a basket of tea tips.

"Alright. We've had enough tea leaves. We can go to bake the tea now." Seeing that they all had enough tea leaves in their baskets, Amy took Sherry and Yuris to the baking room.

Amy showed them how to make tea. They stir-fried the tea leaves first, and then they baked the leaves. And finally, they let the tea leaves dry in the sun.

"Amy, do you think the tea is ready for sale now?" Sherry had begun to call Amy by her first name without noticing it. She became even friendlier to Amy now. While Amy had noticed that. She felt that her efforts had paid off.

"It won't be competitive if we just sell it like this." Amy pointed at the tea leaves. It did not have any packaging or advertisement.

"Why? Isn't it natural and green like this?" Sherry felt amazed as she looked at the tea leaves. The green leaves had been turned into black and dry tea leaves.

"Of course, that is our focus of marketing. But it will look too plain if people want to give it to their friends and relatives as a gift. If we want to sell a product well, good packaging is necessary." Amy didn't explain a lot.

The tea leaves were almost finished now. They would be done when they dried up.

"Well, Ms. Rose, Mr. Keller, I think you must be hungry. It's time for lunch now. The owner of the tea garden has prepared a very special meal for us. Let's go to the dining room and enjoy our lunch there." Amy told the professional tea maker to perfect the tea they just picked and made. And she took Sherry and Yuris to the dining room.0000IIII