Chef Hua

Wang Zhanrui stood stiff-necked in the center of the courtyard, his eyebrows furrowed and his entire body seemed wrapped in a giant fireball, burning fiercely as if he might explode at any moment and reduce the newly repaired Meng Family mansion to ashes.

Hua Xiaomai had originally held a grudge against him for frightening little Hetao to tears, but seeing him like this, she couldn’t help but laugh, coaxing him to sit by the table. Then she went to the kitchen to bring three kinds of tea snacks to him.

"You deal with tea leaves all day long, and shouldn’t you be the most concerned with maintaining a calm mind? I really don’t understand, how someone with such a fiery temperament could possibly brew such good tea?"

As she spoke, she placed a brass kettle on the small red clay stove in the courtyard and pursed her lips: "The tea you brought back from Lingquan Prefecture last time tasted quite good, but we don’t understand tea in our family, I’m afraid we haven’t brought out its true flavor. You also don’t often visit my house, so would you mind brewing some for us to try today?"

Wang Zhanrui, remembering she was the owner of Daoxiang Garden, had just lost his temper and shouted at her, but now that he sat down and his emotions had somewhat stabilized, he also felt a bit improper. Although he wasn’t in the mood to make tea, he still took the tea caddy she handed over.

"My home doesn’t have the complete set of tea-making tools, you’ll have to make do with what we have." Hua Xiaomai exhaled a long breath and also moved a stool to sit across from him.

The process of tea brewing requires a calm and steady mind. For a moment, no one spoke in the front yard, and the crying of little Hetao in the backyard subsided, gradually quieting the surroundings.

The water boiled and the tea steeped, Wang Zhanrui silently poured the jade-green tea into a bowl and passed it over, Hua Xiaomai smiled and then pushed a plate of Tubomi flower cakes towards him.

"Try these? Not only have they dried Tubomi petals added, but there’s also squeezed Tubomi juice in them; quite fragrant."

Wang Zhanrui brewed the tea, having calmed down considerably and indeed took a piece of cake to taste. His mind wasn’t really on it, and he ate a piece reluctantly, then frowned and said somewhat displeased, "Was Song Jingxi driven away by you? You knew she had been looking for me, yet why did you ignore it? Perhaps you think your culinary skills are so good that even if you lose a chef or two in your shop, there’s no need to worry?"

"Are you planning to leave?" Hua Xiaomai smiled and glanced at him.