Yuan Niang cried herself to exhaustion and drowsily fell asleep nestled against her teacher’s shoulder, just like when she first came to Su Mansion during the winter month last year.
The rain had stopped, but the wind still carried a chilly bite. Fortunately, she was completely shielded by her teacher’s wide sleeves, protected from the gusts.
“Yuan Niang, Yuan Niang!” The moment they entered Su Mansion’s gate, she was startled awake by Chen Ge’er’s boisterous shouts. Opening her eyes and looking down, she saw Chen Ge’er gazing up at her with a worried expression, while Golden Lion Cub bounced around nearby adding to the commotion.
“Second Brother.” Yuan Niang mumbled drowsily, her face still showing traces of embarrassment.
Chen Ge’er scratched his head. Usually a chatterbox, he now fell silent. After a moment of quiet, he clenched his fists as if making a solemn vow: “If that old man Song ever makes you compose poetry again, I’ll pluck out his beard and stick it on a sparrow.”
Yuan Niang jolted awake, shaking her head vigorously: “No, you mustn’t!”
Su Shi also cast a cool glance at Chen Ge’er, who immediately fell silent. But being naturally restless, he soon reflected: “It was my fault today for not protecting you properly.”
Yuan Niang replied: “It wasn’t your fault. You did give me the cheat notes, but I didn’t have time to read them before Scholar Song confiscated the paper.”
The two children were whispering openly in front of Su Shi, who listened quietly for a while before interjecting softly: “This matter was my oversight. Tomorrow I’ll accompany you to school and have a thorough discussion with Scholar Song.”
Chen Ge’er visibly relaxed: “I knew it! I’m the fish in the pond!”
Yuan Niang giggled behind her hand. By then the three had reached Bamboo Pavilion, where Ren Momo chanted a Buddhist invocation: “Thank goodness you’re back, thank goodness you’re back.”
Chao Yun brought a bowl of ginger soup from the adjacent room. Yuan Niang made a pained face, pinched her nose and gulped it down, then was led away by Fu Shuang to change clothes.
Wang Runzhi contemplated: “It was my lack of foresight. We really should get Yuan Niang a dedicated study companion. Otherwise, chaotic situations like today’s will keep us worrying.”
While changing his outer robe, Su Shi said: “I’ll entrust this matter to you, madam. The candidate shouldn’t be too old, just about two years older than Yuan Niang. She should be steady, pure-hearted, honest and reliable – ideally someone who can both accompany her studies and play with her.”
Wang Runzhi nodded in agreement.
The next morning, Yuan Niang drowsily felt a throbbing pain in her temples, her entire body devoid of strength.
Oh no! Yesterday she had been so upset, exposed to the chilly wind and rain by West Lake – she must have caught a cold!
She called out weakly: “Sister Fu Shuang…”
Fu Shuang entered and felt her forehead, immediately exclaiming: “Goodness! You’re burning up! Rest now, young mistress. I’ll inform the madam to summon a physician.”
Yuan Niang nodded drowsily and lay back down, falling asleep again with her head tilted to the side. After some time, she vaguely sensed a physician coming to check her pulse, Wang Runzhi visiting, Chen Ge’er and Golden Lion Cub coming too – the room filled with people before they all noisily departed.
When Yuan Niang fully woke again, it was already noon. The bitter medicinal soup made her grimace – heavens! It was like torture! She whimpered and whined, utterly unwilling to drink it.
“Be good, drink this and you’ll get better!” Yuan Niang suddenly heard her master’s voice. She cracked open an eye slit and protested helplessly, “This is simply too hard to swallow.”
Su Shi was extremely patient when coaxing children. He promised, “If you drink this, I’ll make you anything you want to eat.”
Yuan Niang blinked and asked, “Really?”
Su Shi spread two fingers apart as he vowed, “I never break my promises!”
Yuan Niang mustered her courage, took a deep breath, grabbed the medicine bowl and downed it in one go! So clean and decisive! Ah! Truly! Capsules and IV drips are such great inventions! She praised them! She missed them!
“Ah! What I need now is some milk tea to rinse my mouth.” Yuan Niang leaned against the pillow and sighed mournfully.
“Mil…milk tea? What is that?” Su Shi asked curiously.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Yuan Niang waved her hands repeatedly, “Master, I was just talking nonsense!”
Su Shi smiled patiently, “Since I promised you, I won’t go back on my word. Is this what you want to drink?”
A life without milk tea is incomplete! Yuan Niang was a hardcore milk tea addict!! She wanted to drink it, she really wanted to drink it! Especially after taking Chinese medicine, there was always this lingering bitter taste in her mouth that was utterly annoying!
Hearing her master’s question, Yuan Niang hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Afraid her master wouldn’t know how to make it, she explained, “Use white… crush sugar frost into powder and stir-fry it with tea leaves until they turn caramel-colored. Then add cow’s milk and simmer briefly. Strain out the tea leaves, keeping only the milk tea liquid. Put a layer of honey-sweetened red beans in a cup, then pour in the milk tea.”
“Alright.” Su Shi patted her head without questioning where this strange tea recipe came from, simply telling her to wait a moment.
As if remembering something, Yuan Niang hurriedly called out to Su Shi’s retreating back, “Master, don’t use your Pre-Rain Longjing tea! That stuff tastes too light – the milk tea made from it won’t be flavorful enough. Use tea with a stronger taste!”
Su Shi stumbled slightly. Ah, his treasured Pre-Rain Longjing was actually being looked down upon like this by this little one. He waved behind him without turning, “Don’t worry.”
After all, the tea bags used in modern milk tea were generally of ordinary quality, nothing like the premium Pre-Rain Longjing. The excellence of Pre-Rain Longjing couldn’t be appreciated unless one had been immersed in tea culture for years. Moreover, once diluted with milk, sugar, and other ingredients, you’d be hard-pressed to find any tea flavor at all!! What a waste of good tea!! Many milk teas claiming to use Pre-Rain Longjing either didn’t use pre-rain tea buds at all, or weren’t even made with Longjing tea, but rather used other methods to artificially create the ambiance of Longjing tea.
Yuan Niang had no particular preference for fine teas. She just wanted to drink sweet milk tea, and was afraid her master would be too indulgent and use up his precious collection – wouldn’t that be a terrible waste! She wouldn’t allow it!
Although cow’s milk was somewhat difficult to obtain in the Song Dynasty, it wasn’t particularly challenging for official families.
After taking her medicine, Yuan Niang felt much lighter in her body. As soon as she started feeling slightly better, she couldn’t stay lying in bed anymore. After dressing, she was just looking for a pair of beautiful pearl-embroidered shoes to go for a walk when the Golden Lion Cub came rushing in and immediately clamped onto her trouser leg with its mouth.
She reached out to pick it up, but the little creature quickly retreated two steps while keeping its mouth firmly attached, tugging at her trouser leg as if trying to lead her outside.
Yuan Niang was puzzled, so she hastily slipped on her shoes and followed the hurried little steps of the Golden Lion Cub outside. As soon as they left Guantang Residence, they saw Su Shi and his sons being ushered out of the kitchen by Ren Momo. Su Mai and his brother were even clutching their stomachs, looking utterly miserable.
Yuan Niang froze for a moment, glanced down at the Golden Lion Cub, and suddenly understood. She had explained every detail of brewing milk tea earlier but had completely forgotten to mention the heat control. Ah?! Had they been experimenting with the heat all this time?!
At this realization, Yuan Niang didn’t hesitate and dashed toward the study. The study was unusually quiet—even the attendants Yan Qiu and Yan Qing had been sent out. Anyone unaware might have thought the father and sons were discussing some earth-shattering scheme!
Yuan Niang crept in quietly, crouching slightly, but Chen Ge’er, as if he had eyes on the back of his neck, suddenly turned to look. She raised a finger to her lips, signaling him to stay silent. Chen Ge’er smiled and nodded.
Just then, Su Shi finished brewing another pot of milk tea and poured it into Su Mai’s bowl, watching him expectantly.
Su Mai took a small sip with a pained expression and shook his head. “It’s much better than the previous batches, but there’s still a noticeable astringency. Yuan Niang’s taste is truly peculiar—why would she enjoy drinking this?”
“Ahem.” Yuan Niang cleared her throat softly.
Su Shi and Su Mai spun around in surprise. Su Shi asked gently, “Why are you out of bed?”
“After taking the medicine, I felt much better and wanted to stretch my legs,” Yuan Niang replied. “Lying around all the time isn’t enjoyable.”
She stepped forward and noticed Su Shi washing the pot and cups, preparing to brew another batch of milk tea.
Su Mai fetched a fresh cup, poured some of the newly brewed milk tea, and handed it to her. “Yuan Niang, try this and see how it tastes.”
Yuan Niang took the cup, blew on it to cool it, and took a small sip. Even with her cold, she detected an unmistakable astringency. Setting the cup down, she glanced at the milk and tea leaves set aside and slapped her forehead. “I must still be feverish—I forgot a key trick!”
She put away the fragrant Guangzhou tea and rummaged through the tea cabinet but couldn’t find any black tea. Ah! Seriously? The Song people are obsessed with tea, yet they haven’t invented black tea?!
Muttering to herself, Yuan Niang finally settled on the Guangzhou tea again. She ground the leaves briefly in the tea mill, then added them directly to the pot with water and brought it to a boil. Silently counting to one hundred twenty, she removed the pot from the heat. After counting to four hundred fifty, she strained the tea to remove the leaves, added slightly less milk than tea, and stirred in a few spoonfuls of honey. Pouring it into a cup, she took a sip and remarked, “Though still a bit mild, it’s quite drinkable.”
Su Shi helped himself to some, took a sip, and nodded. “Indeed, much better. What kind of tea were you looking for earlier?”
Since white tea was most common at the time and black tea was unheard of, Yuan Niang thought for a moment and said, “Fully fermented tea leaves.”
Su Mai blurted out, “Ah? Is that even drinkable?”
Su Shi looked at her with a subtle expression. “That shouldn’t be too difficult.” He then stepped out and gave Yan Qing some instructions. Yan Qing acknowledged and left.
About half an hour later, Yan Qing returned carrying a small bamboo basket and presented it to Su Shi.
Su Shi opened the bamboo cage, retrieved the porcelain jar and sniffed it, then handed it to Yuan Niang saying, “Is this it?”
Yuan Niang took it and brought it close to her nose. Her eyes widened in astonishment. Though it still differed somewhat from the black tea of later generations, it was remarkably close! Good heavens! She felt as if she had stumbled upon something extraordinary!!
Su Shi explained, “Biancai Fashi excels in tea art. He processes various tea leaves using different methods.”
Yuan Niang nodded delightedly and prepared milk tea again using the previous method. This time, she managed to recreate Hong Kong-style milk tea with about eighty percent accuracy, with the remaining twenty percent discrepancy lying in the tea leaves and evaporated milk!
Holding the teacup with a satisfied expression, she said, “Finally, the taste is right!!”
Su Shi touched the tip of his nose, too embarrassed to tell her the truth: these were all discarded scraps from Biancai’s failed tea experiments. Still, this milk tea had its own unique charm. He could brew it for friends at their next gathering.
Even though Chen Ge’er’s belly was already round and full, he still clung to his teacup, taking small sips: I love this! I love this!! Yuan Niang’s brew is far better than Father’s—this is truly the world’s best tea!! The sweet red beans inside are delicious too!!
Red bean milk tea—the easiest way to win a child’s heart!!
“I want to drink some too,” Little Taotie woke up, rubbing its paws and hopping around in Yuan Niang’s mind.
Yuan Niang chuckled coldly, “You want to drink? You shady Taotie who swindled me out of two hundred wen still dare to ask for my tea?” The mere mention made her blood boil!!!
The golden Little Taotie turned red with fright and immediately pledged its loyalty, “I’ll give you benefits! Great benefits!”
That’s more like it!