When I was eighteen, I was picking tea in Jiangnan.

Member of Qi Business School, signing author of Qi Wei Journal.

It's the season when new tea is on the market again. My friend in Jiangnan sent me a pack of green tea. Her family planted a whole mountain of tea trees. This tea tree is planted halfway up the mountain, gathering the light of heaven and earth and absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon. It grows in the misty mountains without any pollution. In March, when the partridge calls, new buds are pulled out. When they just grew two new leaves, her parents invited tea pickers.

It is said that the green tea in front of Tomb-Sweeping Day is the best in tea. After receiving the tea leaves, I can't wait to open the package, pick up two grams of tea leaves with a clip, put them in a white glass, add boiling water, pour half a cup, and then add some boiling water when the tea leaves are scattered. I saw pieces of green tea like two green leaves in full bloom, revived in the cup, and a smell of tea came to my face. I couldn't help but take a sip. Ah, that fragrance goes straight through my heart, the essence of the whole person.

A cup of green tea brings me good memories. I remember when 18 years old, I used to be a tea picker.

It was in the mid-1980s, and people in rural areas said that Jiangnan had beautiful mountains, beautiful water and beautiful houses. The mountains are full of tea, and my income is high when I pick tea.

With a curiosity, Xiaolan and I went to xiaohe village, Shitai, Jiangnan to pick tea (there was an old master with a class and a group of seven or eight little girls).

The traffic was inconvenient at that time. Remember to take the bus from your hometown to the Yangtze River Pier, and then take the boat to Chizhou. When I arrived in Chizhou, I changed trains at Xiaohe Station.

I got off the bus and walked a lot of mountain roads before I got to the owner. It's already eight or nine o'clock in the evening, and the host cooked dinner for us. We had a good meal and slept in the same bed, but we couldn't sleep. We are a little homesick and regret going out into the mountains.

The next morning, when I was sleepy, I opened the boss's door and wanted to enjoy the scenery outside, so I went out. There is a mountain in front of me, full of green, and the clouds turn around the mountain, as if I saw the fairy in the book. I wonder if there is an old gentleman and a fairy playing chess on the top of the mountain.

I don't remember the owner's last name. His home is located halfway up the mountain, with white walls and black tiles and upturned corners. There is a stream in front of the door. The stream runs far away and you can clearly see the pebbles at the bottom of the water.

I was fascinated by the beautiful scenery in front of me and forgot that I had come to pick tea. I was intoxicated by the beautiful scenery and attracted by the smell of rice. I turned back to the house and saw an uncle cooking. There is a barrel in the iron pan on the stove, from which rice fragrance wafts.

Uncle said softly, "Girl, get up. Breakfast will be ready soon. Have a good breakfast later. Your aunt took you, Xiaolan and my daughter to the mountains to pick tea. "

The first time I ate in Jiangnan, I still can't forget those bowls of dishes: bacon roasted bamboo shoots, pheasant roasted fungus, braised small miscellaneous fish, and scrambled eggs with Toona sinensis. It was 1986. Jiangnan people had so many small dishes, which showed that the living conditions were very good at that time.

Later, I heard that it was not the people there who had good family conditions, but that the family was kind enough to entertain the tea pickers with their good dishes.

It is the custom of Jiangnan people to eat rice three times a day. Every year, chickens, ducks and pigs raised at home are slaughtered and pickled in the twelfth lunar month and stored in special tanks, which will not change their taste for one year.

For the first time, I went into the mountains to pick tea with my boss's aunt. I kept asking questions all the way. What worries me most is fear of snakes. Aunt said, don't be afraid to have her around.

Memory of the aunt, long square face, ear-length short hair with a black hairpin. Curved eyebrows, big eyes and loud voice.

When she saw me, she said directly, little girl, why did you think of picking tea? You are not afraid of the sun, you have to pick it all day long. Can you stand it? I said, aunt, to tell you the truth, I just graduated from school for a year, mainly because I want to go out with Xiaolan and play in Jiangnan. Now that I'm here, I'll try. If I can't stand the pain, I'll go back.

Aunt said, "You can't joke about such things. You can't miss my tea picking time. New tea grows fast and gets old easily. Tea is sold at a price every day. "

I said, since I am here, I will overcome the difficulties. I still remember working at that time. Xiaolan and I share a room. We got up at dawn in the morning, and both of us were awakened by the birds singing on the mountain in front of our host's house. After getting up, we went to a stream in front of the door to wash clothes. The water in that stream flows down from the mountain behind the master's house. The water in the stream is crystal clear, and small fish and stones are clearly visible.

The weather in the mountains is still a little cold in March. Xiaolan is more diligent than me. She packed our clothes and washed them by the stream. As for me, sitting on a big rock by the stream, listening to birds singing, staring at the endless green hills in a daze, thinking about where the other side of the mountain is, and sometimes going to the roadside to pick wild flowers, I am particularly curious about everything there.

After washing clothes and eating breakfast, my aunt took Xiaolan and my aunt's daughter up the mountain to pick tea.

After walking through a winding mountain road and turning a hill, we arrived at the foot of Chashan Mountain, and looked up at the foot of the mountain. The eyes are full of green barriers. We walked around the mountain road to the mountain. They walked faster than me, afraid of falling behind and a snake crawling out of the grass. They were so scared that they shouted "Aunt, wait for me" and felt a little like crying. Aunt had to slow down, and I stepped up. Gasping with fatigue, I finally came to Chashan, my aunt's house.

I saw rows of tea trees on the Chashan Mountain, like terraces, arranged on the mountain layer by layer, with tender branches and leaves dripping with water, and the fog filled the Chashan Mountain, adding a bit of mystery to this Chashan Mountain. I was so shocked that I forgot that my legs were sore when I went up the mountain.

The tea mountain in front of us is like a paradise, so beautiful that people can't open their eyes. "Hey, little girl, what are you thinking?" Aunt's voice woke me up. I hurried to the tea tree. menstruation came to me and told me how to pick tea. Only two leaves of tender tea were allowed.

Auntie said, "Be careful of the weeds on the tea tree, some of them have thorns, and don't cut your hands." I nodded, feeling that my aunt was very nice. I was humming a tea-picking song while picking tea.

My aunt, who is close to me, said with a smile that the little girl sang tea songs very clearly (in local dialect)

Aunt said, I can sing folk songs, too, and I will sing them to you later. I said yes, the lunch at noon was brought from home by my aunt in the morning, and there was tea. The basket is made of grass in the mountains, and the crock full of rice is covered with linen. At noon, the meal was still hot.

Aunt always puts more good dishes in my bowl. In the evening, Xiaolan told me that my aunt is really good to you. Maybe she wants you to be her daughter-in-law I told Xiaolan not to talk nonsense. I'm not going to get married in this remote forest far from home.

I picked tea at my mother's house for a month. My aunt never mentioned such a thing. Xiaolan threatened me. Maybe I'm a man of vision, born gentle, and I'll meet good people from young to now.

Aunt is a cheerful person. I like picking tea with my aunt. Aunt's folk songs are particularly nice. She often sings folk songs while picking tea. So far, I can still sing a paragraph.

Tea-picking girls go to Chashan, and tea songs fly in the clouds.

The hare ran across the slope in the grass and the thrush left the nest.

Jiangxin carp jumped out of the water and wanted to listen to the sisters picking tea songs.

Tea picking girls go to Chashan, white clouds and blue sky …

Thinking about that wonderful time is a picture in my heart.

Auntie can also sing love songs. I still remember a few words, "My sister is combing her hair in the room. I heard that Brother Qing went to Yangzhou. Brother Qing, you took your sister, packed the package and slipped away, and then went through the back door ... "My face flushed when my aunt sang. That folk song is really nice.

Picking tea with my aunt for a month, not tired at all, very happy. My aunt's kind, caring and capable personality has warmed me for many years. Later, with the passage of time and busy life, I gradually forgot. I used to remember my aunt's surname, but I always remembered her daughter's name was Xiao Ai.

More than 30 years have passed, and my aunt is estimated to be almost 80 years old. I wonder how her old man's life is now? In the cycle of years, I often think of that wonderful time of picking tea.

Everything is divided into success and failure, and only growth is irreversible.

Investing in yourself is always the wisest thing.

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Sister Xue Mei is in Shanghai.

Member of Qi Business School, signing author of Qi Wei Journal.