Looking back on that day, she vaguely remembered asking Master Ge if he knew any tea masters who were familiar with fermented dark tea and could introduce them to her.
Master Ge had been making tea for many years and was highly prestigious throughout the world. However, without hesitation, he flatly refused, simply saying that he had no clue.
At that time, Li Ying clearly saw a fleeting look of evasiveness in his eyes. Now it seemed that the person he had been trying so hard to hide must be this Aunt Lan.
"Senior, if I'm not mistaken, you and Senior Lan must have studied under the same master. The reason she refused to come to the capital no matter what was probably to avoid you, right?"
With just a few words, Li Ying had exposed the secret that Master Ge had carefully hidden for most of his life.
Even though he was usually an open - minded person, being reminded of that ill - fated love affair from his youth by a junior made his old face flush with embarrassment.
"Miss Li, you're truly amazing. Caiwei has been hiding her whereabouts and wandering the world for many years, with no news at all. Yet you managed to dig her out."
Li Ying smiled and said, "Senior, are you blaming me? Although I was desperate to find a solution for the golden - flower dark tea, I would never dare to disturb Aunt Lan's peace. This was really just a coincidence."
She told Master Ge in great detail how A Ying had accidentally met Aunt Lan on the way to the capital and how she had persuaded her to make the first piece of golden - flower dark tea. After hearing this, Master Ge finally sighed and said, "It's all fate!"
He drained the cold tea in his cup and then finally began to talk about the old events.
The Ge family had been making tea for generations. By the time it came to Ge Zhengliu's generation, the family's reputation had soared. There were many people who came here, hoping to be apprenticed to him and learn this good craft.
Lan Caiwei was one of them. As the only female disciple in the master's school, she was extremely intelligent. When making tea, she often had ingenious ideas, which even made him, as the senior brother, look at her with admiration.
Later, this admiration gradually turned into secret affection. They grew up together, privately promised to marry each other, and made solemn vows.
After that, Ge Zhengliu was framed and fell seriously ill. He needed a very rare medicinal ingredient to save his life.
He and Lan Caiwei knelt in the snow outside the pharmacy all night, begging the shopkeeper for the medicine. At dawn, the shopkeeper finally sent a message, saying that the daughter of his master had taken a fancy to the young and talented Master Ge and intended to marry him. If he wanted to save Ge Zhengliu's life, he should quickly submit a marriage certificate and become a son - in - law. If he delayed for a few more days, Ge Zhengliu might not make it.
Most of the highly profitable sugar, tea, grain, wine, and medicinal material shops in the capital were actually controlled by the female relatives of the court officials. As the saying goes, the common people should not fight against the officials. Lan Caiwei knew that she was just a helpless orphan with no influence. She simply left the four words "Farewell Forever" and then disappeared without a trace.
Li Ying had already guessed most of it. Now that she heard Master Ge finally expose the past events that had been weighing on his heart for many years, she was not really surprised.
"Miss Li, it's not that I deliberately played tricks on you or made things difficult for you. It's just that the way I parted with Caiwei back then was really not decent. She thought I was a person who curried favor with the powerful. She thought I had already married a beautiful wife early on and regarded me as a heartless man. Now, how can I have the face to see her?"
"I'm already an old man on the verge of death. After living most of my life, the only thing I have left is my old face. Miss Li, how can you expect me to go and see her shamelessly?"
As Master Ge spoke, his voice began to choke a little.
Li Ying knew that just like Yan Lianzhi, Master Ge had never married or had children in his life. There must be other hidden reasons.
"Senior, think about it. If Aunt Lan really hated your Ge family father and son, why did she specifically choose Wulipo on the outskirts of the city and respectfully pay homage to your father's memorial tablet? I heard that Aunt Lan also remained unmarried all her life. There must be many misunderstandings between you that haven't been cleared up. Isn't this a good opportunity this time?"
Li Ying coaxed him patiently. Master Ge showed a look of embarrassment on his face. After thinking for a long time, he still shook his head.
"Since she's already used to this kind of life, why should I, an old and useless man, bother her peace?"
"Moreover, there are many things between us that can never be explained clearly..."
Master Ge's expression dimmed. After a long while, he finally sighed and slowly said, "Miss Li, I don't mean to make things difficult for you. I also know that the golden - flower dark tea is something you value very much."
He steadied himself, picked up a pen, wrote down a recipe, and solemnly handed it to her.
"This Taiji tea soup was made by her with her own hands when my father took her as an apprentice and was served at the apprenticeship banquet. Since you said that she specifically paid homage to my father's memorial tablet this time, she must still cherish the old feelings for the master's school. You're very good at cooking. You can take this soup and go to see her again."
"Maybe, out of the feelings for this bowl of soup, she will agree to see you. As for whether you can persuade her to come out of seclusion and work with me, it will depend on your eloquence."
Master Ge had said all he wanted to say. Li Ying carefully held the thin piece of paper with the ink still wet, thanked Master Ge as if she had found a precious treasure, and then rushed straight to her own kitchen.
The ingredients for this Taiji tea soup were not very complicated.
First, take fresh fish, remove the bones, and make it into fish paste. Season it with sugar, salt, and pepper, then thicken it with cornstarch and boil it into a thick soup in the broth.
Brew the tea, strain out the tea leaves, grind them together with the fresh and tender straw mushroom eggs into a fine light - green tea paste. Boil it with the tea soup, thicken it, and then drizzle a few drops of clear oil to make it more shiny.
Take a large white porcelain bowl. Hold a bowl of soup in each hand and slowly pour them in at the same time. The soup will automatically form two distinct "fish" shapes of yin and yang. Then use a little bit of the remaining soup to complete the two dots of the Taiji pattern, and it will be a success.
The faint bitterness of the tea soup removed the fishy smell of the fish. The sweetness of the fish and the aftertaste of the tea leaves were perfectly matched, as if they were a match made in heaven.
The unopened straw mushrooms were extremely delicious. The rich mushroom aroma and the smooth taste were unforgettable.
A bowl of Taiji tea soup, the green was as beautiful as jasper, and the white was better than winter snow. They were intertwined with each other, complete and harmonious. Maybe it was just like the relationship between Master Ge and Aunt Lan when they were young, in love and deeply attached to each other.
Li Ying steadied herself, thought for a moment, and then added an extra handful of extremely pungent pepper to the Taiji soup. Tasting it while it was still hot would make people cry from the spiciness. Only then was she satisfied. She packed the food box, carefully warmed the warm tea soup with charcoal fire, and went to Wulipo.