He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at the sky. There was still plenty of time before dark, so He Zhiran told Mo Jiuye to pick some tea leaves to take back.
She could try researching tea frying to pass the time. He Zhiran took out a back basket from her space. Mo Jiuye filled the basket full of tea leaves before they went back down the mountain.
Madam He originally thought her son-in-law had taken her daughter out for a walk. She didn't expect they hadn't returned even by lunch time, and worried something might have happened to He Zhiran. She stood at the door, looking out for them.
Seeing the couple's figures in the distance, Madam He went up to meet them.
"Zhiran, Jiuye, did you go into town? Why were you gone for so long?"
As she spoke, Madam He carefully looked over He Zhiran to see if she was hurt, worried something might have happened to her.
He Zhiran knew her mother truly cared for her. She had been gone for quite some time, so she quickly pulled her mother's arm.
"Mother, Jiuye and I just went for a walk. We got carried away playing around, which is why we took so long to get back."
At this time, Madam He noticed the back basket behind Mo Jiuye's back.
"You went up the mountain?"
After living in Xi Ling Village for some days, Madam He understood that the villagers often carried similar back baskets when going up the mountains.
Mo Jiuye put the basket on the ground.
"Mother, Zhiran and I just wandered around. We accidentally discovered some tea leaves and picked some to bring back, which is why we took longer."
As an aristocrat from the capital, Madam He naturally knew a lot about tea.
In her opinion, the best tea in the capital came from the south. She had also only seen processed and roasted final tea products.
Seeing Mo Jiuye carrying a basket of unknown leaves, she couldn't help asking doubtfully: "Zhiran, Jiuye, don't tell me those are tea leaves?"
Madam He's question didn't surprise He Zhiran at all.
Tea was already scarce in Da Shun. Coupled with its rarity, tea prices were very high.
Not only that, tea farmers would roast the tea leaves before selling them elsewhere. The only form consumers saw was the dried, roasted tea.
Moreover, ancient tea frying techniques were backward. No matter the tea variety, the roasted tea leaves looked blackish-brown. Even when brewed, one couldn't discern the original shape of the leaves.
Most importantly, when He Zhiran first let Mo Jiuye try Tieguanyin tea, she had specially asked if Da Shun had such tasting tea.
Therefore, Madam He mistaking random plant leaves for tea was understandable.
"Mother, don't worry. This is absolutely tea leaves. I once read about this kind of tea in a book. It's extremely rare and has exquisite flavor. I'll research tea frying tomorrow. You'll know after tasting it."
Seeing her daughter's enthusiasm, Madam He didn't want to dampen it. She could only nod perfunctorily.
As long as her daughter was happy, it didn't matter whether these were actually tea leaves.
The next day, Mo Jiuye took Liang Hao, Tao Ran and others up the mountain to prepare. He Zhiran went to her own courtyard's small kitchen.
After picking those tea leaves, she had bought a book on tea frying techniques from Taobao. She now grasped the frying method and had nothing to do at the moment. It was just right to practice with those mountain tea leaves.
Not only that, to prepare for yesterday's plan, He Zhiran planted large quantities of tea saplings in her space.
The seeds came from her space. Like other crops, they weren't picky about climate or soil. Let alone growing well on the Tieguanyin mountainside, they wouldn't even be affected by saline-alkali soil.
After a busy day, He Zhiran successfully shocked Madam He speechless.
"Zhiran, this is real tea?" Madam He held a small ball that looked slightly inferior to the Tieguanyin He Zhiran had bought online. Her eyes shone brightly.
Although He Zhiran wasn't very satisfied with the tea's appearance, its taste proved her roasted tea had nearly succeeded. As long as she practiced more, she firmly believed she could roast Tieguanyin like her previous life.
She happily responded, "Mother, it should have succeeded."
She then instructed Yu Er, who was helping by the side, to brew several cups for everyone to taste.
Lan Er and Yu Er were maidservants who had grown up beside the Fourth Princess. They were naturally quite familiar with Da Shun's fine tea.
As soon as Lan Er lifted the lid of her cup, she deeply inhaled the aroma.
"Ninth Madam, in Lan Er’s opinion, this tea can absolutely be called the finest of the finest. Even the palace tributes pale in comparison."
He Zhiran knew Lan Er was knowledgeable. Her high appraisal meant the future tea business would earn them barrels of money.
Madam He nodded continuously as well. "I didn't expect that such delicious tea could be produced in this barren land of the northwest."
She never imagined the tea had nothing to do with where it grew. Its deliciousness completely came from her daughter's frying technique.
Madam He's assumption saved He Zhiran the trouble of explaining.
When Mo Jiuye returned from the mountain with the others at dusk, everything had been properly arranged there.
He Zhiran didn't bother asking what excuses he had used. In any case, Liang Hao and the others didn't notice anything wrong after coming back.
Not only that, Mo Jiuye had brought everyone to pick more tea leaves.
Last night, he had watched his wife learn tea frying methods in her space.
He originally thought it would take her many attempts to grasp such a complicated process. Hence, he decided to pick more tea leaves for her practice.
Unexpectedly, his capable wife succeeded after only a day. The taste was just as good as the Tieguanyin bought online.
This made Mo Jiuye realize one thing — aside from jewelry making in the future, the tea business would also become a major source of income for the Mo family.
In fact, Mo Jiuye still underestimated his wife.
Although He Zhiran wasn't very interested in business and lacked Tang Mingrui's business savvy, she truly possessed insight from a millennium in the future. With that alone, even without business smarts, she could still earn barrels of money in ancient times.
Dinner was still in Old Lady Mo's courtyard, except for the Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran household.
Considering that Madam He had travelled far to the northwest to accompany her daughter's childbirth, and the He family had so many sons, Old Lady Mo knew Madam He still wasn't completely accustomed to rural customs despite the Mo family shedding many aristocratic rules.
She worried the mother-in-law would feel uncomfortable dining like this. So she sent Yu Er to He Zhiran's courtyard to handle her meals daily.
By now, Madam He had completely fallen in love with the meals from her daughter's home.
