When I was eighteen years old, I was picking tea in Jiangnan

It’s the season when new tea comes on the market again. A friend from Jiangnan sent me a bag of green tea. Her family planted a mountain of tea trees. This tea tree was planted halfway up the mountain, absorbing the light of heaven and earth. The essence of the sun and the moon grows in the mountains surrounded by clouds and mist, without any pollution. In March, new buds were picked out amidst the cries of partridges. When they had just grown two new leaves, her parents invited tea-picking workers. , pick them home before the Qingming Festival, and use traditional hand-made green tea.

It is said that the green tea produced before Qingming Festival is the best among teas. After receiving the tea leaves, I couldn’t wait to open the package, pick up two grams of tea leaves with clips, put them into a white glass cup, and add boiling water. Pour half of it into the cup, wait for the tea leaves to unfold, and add some boiling water. The green tea is like two green leaves in full bloom. It comes to life in the cup. The aroma of tea comes to your face. I can't help but take a sip. , the aroma penetrates directly into the heart, and the whole person's energy and spirit are improved.

A cup of green tea brings back wonderful memories. I remember when I was 18 years old, I became a tea-picking girl.

It was the mid-1980s. I heard from villagers that the mountains and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River were beautiful and the houses were beautiful.

With curiosity, I went to Shitai Xiaohe Village in the south of the Yangtze River with Xiaolan to pick tea (there was a master teacher and a group of seven or eight girls).

Transportation was inconvenient at that time. I remember taking a bus from my hometown to the Yangtze River Pier and then taking a small boat to Chizhou. When I arrived in Chizhou, I transferred to a bus and went to Xiaohe Station.

We got out of the car and walked a lot of mountain roads before we arrived at our host’s house. It was already eight or nine o’clock in the evening when we arrived. Our boss prepared food for us. We had dinner and slept in the same bed. But I couldn't sleep, I felt a little homesick, and I regretted that I shouldn't have gone out and ran into the mountains.

The next morning, I was completely sleepless, so I opened the door of my employer’s house and wanted to enjoy the scenery outside. When I walked out of the door, I saw a mountain in front of me. When I got to the fairy in the book, I wondered if there was Taishang Laojun and the gods playing chess on the top of the mountain.

I can’t remember the last name of my employer. His house is located halfway up the mountain. It has white walls and black tiles, and the corners of the house are upturned. There is a stream in front of the door, and the stream flows clearly into the distance. You can see small stones on the bottom of the water.

I was so mesmerized by the beautiful scenery in front of me that I forgot that I was here to be a tea-picking girl. I forgot about myself and was admiring the beautiful scenery, and was attracted by the smell of rice. I turned back to the house and saw an uncle cooking rice. There was a round wooden barrel in the iron pot on the stove, and the smell of rice wafted from here.

The uncle said gently: "Girl, get up, breakfast will be ready soon. Have breakfast later, your aunt will take you, Xiaolan and my daughter to the mountains to pick tea."

It was the first time I ate at a Jiangnan restaurant. I still can’t forget the bowls of food there: braised bamboo shoots with bacon, roasted fungus with pheasant, braised small fish with braise, and scrambled eggs with Chinese toon. It was 1986, and people in Jiangnan had such rich side dishes, which shows that their living conditions were very good at that time.

Later I heard that it was not that the conditions of the people there were good, but that the family was kind enough to serve their good food to the female tea pickers.

It is the custom of Jiangnan people to eat rice for three meals a day. Every year during the twelfth lunar month, the chickens, ducks and pigs raised at home are slaughtered and pickled, and used in special earthen pots. Stored and eaten for a year, it will not lose its flavor.

The first time I went to the mountains to pick tea with my boss’s aunt, I kept asking questions along the way. What I was most worried about was that I was afraid of snakes. The aunt said, don’t be afraid as long as she is here.

The aunt in my memory had a long, square face and short ear-length hair with a black hairpin. Curved eyebrows, big eyes, and a loud voice.

When she saw me, she said directly, "Little girl, you are so thin and tender, why do you want to come out to pick tea? You are not afraid of the sun, and you have to keep picking tea all day long. Can you bear it? I said, aunt, to tell you the truth, it has only been a year since I graduated from school. The main reason is that I want to go out with Xiaolan and come to Jiangnan to play. Now that I am here, I will give it a try. I can’t bear this hardship. , I will go back.

The aunt said: "You can't joke about this. You can't delay the picking time of my tea leaves. New tea grows quickly and gets old easily. Tea leaves are sold at a price a day." ”

I said, since I am here, I will overcome the difficulties. I still remember the scene when I was working. Xiaolan and I slept in the same room. In the morning, we both got up at dawn. We were both woken up by the birds in the mountains in front of our employer’s house. After we got up, we went to a creek in front of the house together. I went to wash my clothes. The water in the stream flows down from the mountain behind the owner's house. The water in the stream is clear to the bottom, and you can see the small fish and small stones clearly.

The weather in the mountains was still a bit cold in March. Xiaolan was more diligent than me. She wrapped our clothes and washed them by the stream. As for me, I sit on the big stone by the stream, listen to the birdsong, look at the endless green mountains in a daze, and wonder where is the other side of the mountains. Sometimes I pick some wild flowers on the roadside, and I am very curious about everything there. .

After washing my clothes and having breakfast, my aunt took me, Xiaolan and my daughter to go up the mountain to pick tea.

After walking through a series of winding mountain roads and turning a hill, we arrived at the foot of the tea mountain of my eldest mother's house and looked up at the foot of the mountain. It is full of emerald green barriers and can be seen as far as the eye can see.

We walked around the mountain road towards the mountain. They walked faster than me. They were worried about falling behind and were afraid of a snake crawling out of the grass. They were so frightened that they shouted from behind: "Auntie, wait for me", and almost wanted to cry. My aunt had no choice but to slow down her pace, and I also quickened my pace. I was so exhausted that I finally arrived at my aunt’s tea mountain.

I saw a row of tea trees on the tea mountain like terraces, arranged layer by layer on the mountain. The tender branches and leaves are still carrying water drops, and the mist fills the tea mountain, adding a bit more to the tea mountain. Mysterious and hazy. I was so stunned that I forgot about the pain in my legs from going up the mountain.

The tea mountains in front of you are like a paradise, so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes away. "Hey, little girl, what are you thinking about?" My aunt's voice woke me up. I hurried to the tea tree, and my aunt also came to me and told me how to pick tea. I was only allowed to pick tender tea with two leaves.

The aunt said: "Be careful with the weeds in the tea tree. Some of them have thorns, so you don't get scratches on your hands." I nodded, feeling that the aunt was very kind. I hummed a tea-picking song while picking tea.

The aunt who was very close to me said with a smile that the little girl’s tea singing was crisp and clear (local dialect)

The aunt said, I can also sing folk songs, and I will sing them later. Let me tell you, I said yes, the lunch meal was brought out from home by the aunt in the morning, and the tea was made from a basket woven from grass in the mountains, and the earthen pot with rice was wrapped in cloth in the basket. , when we had lunch, the rice was still hot.

Auntie always puts a lot of good food into my bowl. At night, Xiaolan said to me, Auntie is so kind to you. Maybe she wants you to be her wife, I said to Xiaolan , don’t talk nonsense, I won’t marry in the mountains and forests, so far away from home.

I have been picking tea at my aunt’s house for a month. My aunt has never said anything like this. It was Xiaolan who scared me. Maybe I am a predestined person, born small and gentle, and I have always met good people from a young age to now.

My aunt is a cheerful person. When I pick tea, I like to pick it with her. My aunt’s folk songs are very nice. I often sing them while picking tea. I can still sing a verse.

The tea-picking girl walks through the tea mountains, and the tea song flies up to the white clouds.

The hares in the grass scurried across the slope, and the thrushes in the trees left their nests

The carp jumped out of the water in the middle of the river to listen to the tea-picking songs of the sisters

Tea-picking sisters Going up to the Tea Mountain, one layer of white clouds and one layer of sky...

It was so beautiful when I think about that time, it is like a painting in my mind.

My aunt can also sing love songs. I still remember a few lines: "Sister is combing her oily hair in my room. I heard that brother Qing is going to Yangzhou. Brother Qing, please take your sister with you. Let's fight." Get up and slip the package out, then go out the back door..." When the aunt sang, I felt blushing, that folk song was so nice.

I picked tea with my aunt for a month, and I didn’t feel tired at all. I was very happy. My aunt’s kind, loving and capable personality warmed me for many years. Later, as the years passed and the changes in life As I was busy, I gradually forgot about it. I used to remember my aunt’s last name, but later I couldn’t remember it, but I always remembered that her daughter’s name was Xiao Ai.

More than thirty years have passed, and my aunt is probably almost eighty years old. I wonder how she is living now. As the years go by, I often think of that wonderful time of picking tea.