The Master of Tea

LIU JIANCHAO

People call him Cha Ye， literally meaningMaster of Tea. His ancestors， for threegenerations before him， ran teahouses onOld Street， which is well-known in westernHenan.

He doesnt seem to care how much moneyhe makes， nor does he love the business.The reason Cha Ye insists on running a teashop， he says， is nostalgia， i.e.， the breath ofair from his ancestors that seems to lingeraround the place.

Cha Ye is familiar with The Book of Tea ，but never praises tea too highly. Once， hewas invited to talk on a TV program aboutthe Chinese tea culture. Smoothing hisbeard， he leisurely commented that tea is akind of plant that soaks in water， and drinkingit often is beneficial， but not as fantasticas the ads say. He pointed out that Lu Yu，the great tea master from the Tang Dynastywho wrote The Book of Tea ， drank tea all hislife， yet enjoyed a life of only 71 years.

Cha Ye sells a wide variety of tea， includingblack tea， green tea， yellow tea， whitetea， dark tea， and oolong tea. However， heonly drinks Maojian tea.

He uses a large glass teacup filled withhalf tea and half water， and carries the cupwith him everywhere. Cha Ye makes a cupof tea in the morning and sips on it untilthe end of the day， drinking and refilling，drinking and refilling， without changingthe leaves in the cup. Then， before going tobed at night， he takes out the tea leaves andlays them out to dry. When enough of theseleaves accumulate， he uses them as dumplingfilling.

Cha Ye is hospitable， often invitingpeople to drink tea. However， everyone onOld Street knows how particular he is aboutinviting people to tea.

He has two methods. One is to raise hiscup and say to you： “Come to my house fortea when you have time.” This is being polite.You can go， but you dont have to go.

His second method is more direct： “Cometo my house， lets have tea.” With this method，you are destined to follow him. Needlessto say， Cha Yes great prestige and seniorityon Old Street makes you feel it is a greatprivilege if he asks you to tea.

It was a sultry day in July. As Cha Yestrolled down the street， he noticed a noise.It was Mr. Hu， boss of the Heshengzhai AntiqueShop.

Cha Ye walked into the antique shop，where he saw Hu holding onto a strongmans arm， not letting him go.。

Hu explained that the strong man hadcome in and browsed around. When heturned to leave the store， the clerk noticedthat an ancient gold coin was missing andprevented the strong man from leaving.

The strong man， with his neck straightenedin an air of confidence， spread out hishands and said： “Look at me. Do I look like Itook anything？”

Cha Ye looked at the big waist and bellyof the husky man. He was stripped to thewaist， wearing only a pair of simple shorts.

The strong man looked at Cha Ye andsaid： “Cha Ye， if its not too embarrassing， Illtake off my shorts and let them check.”。

The clerk mournfully muttered that， indeed，it was after the man came in that theancient gold coin disappeared.。

Cha Ye took a sip of his tea， screwed thelid of the cup back on， looked at the strongman， and said： “Forget it. Go. Come to myhouse and have tea.” With these words， ChaYe turned to leave first.

Hu opened his mouth， but decided notto say anything. The clerk attempted to holdthe strong man by the arm， but the manshook him off and followed Cha Ye outside.

Cha Yes house was next to the octagonalbuilding， a typical courtyard house on OldStreet. There was a root carving tea table inthe center of the courtyard.

He led the strong man into the courtyard.The two of them sat in front of the tea tablewhile Cha Yes wife placed a large copper potof tea and a big white porcelain bowl patternedwith orchids， on the table.

Cha Ye filled the bowl with tea and said：“This herbal cool tea is especially preparedin my house. It includes prunella vulgaris，honeysuckle， lotus leaves， mulberry leaves，licorice， honey， and rock candy. It can clearup pathogenic heat in the heart， soothe theliver， and ease anger. Here， drink it.”

The strong man， who had large beads ofsweat trickling down his cheeks due to beinghot inside， the hot weather， and walkingfast， took the bowl and eagerly gulped downthe tea.

Cha Ye smiled slightly and filled the bowlagain. “Come on， drink more. Take your timeto speak.”

The bowl went bottoms up， again.

As the two men drank and talked， the potof herbal tea was soon drained， solely by thestrong man.

The strong man rubbed his chubby belly and said： “Cha Ye， I need to use your toilet. I cant help it any longer.”

Cha Ye pointed in a direction and said：“Go ahead.”

As the strong man stood up， there camea small rustle of noise. A golden ancient coinfell out of the strong mans pants and rolledto Cha Yes feet.

Cha Ye bent down to pick up the coin andsaid： “Hands are slippery in such hot weather.Look， you didnt even notice that thiscoin slipped to your waist. Go give it backto Hu. Then， come back and drink more teawith me.”

The strong man stood motionless andblushed. He took the coin from Cha Ye andbowed to him before he left.

Cha Yes wife cleaned up the tea set andsaid： “I immediately knew he had hiddenthe coin in his belly button. Otherwise， hewouldnt have pulled up his shorts so high.He couldnt hide the coin there any longersince he drank so much tea.”

There is another story.

Hua Wen and Hua Wu were twin brotherswho ran a photography studio on Old Street.When their mother died last year， theyinherited property from her. However， thetwins fell out with each other in a disputeover distribution of the demolition compensation.They even fought.

To resolve the dispute， Cha Ye invited thebrothers over for tea and said： “This pot ofmy green tea helps clear your eyes and mind.A clear mind can remind you of something.Do you remember anything from the summerwhen you were seven years old？”

One day during the summer， when thebrothers were seven years old， they wereplaying on the bank of a gurgling river. Theyounger brother， Hua Wu， accidentallyslipped into the river and began flailing andscreaming in the rapid current.

Seeing this， the elder brother， Hua Wenimmediately jumped into the river andgrabbed his brothers hand. Hua Wen washolding onto Hua Wus hand when， fortunately，Cha Ye passed by and pulled them out.

“You cant swim，” Cha Ye said to Hua Wen?that day. “Why did you jump in the water？”

“Im the elder brother. I wont let my?younger brother die，” Hua Wen said.

Cha Ye asked the two of them： “How can?you forget such a story about your own flesh?and blood？”

The two brothers drank their bowls of teaand then gazed at each other， held each othershands， hugged， and wept silently untilthey ended up wailing in each others arms.

Cha Ye took a sip of tea， stood up， andwalked out the gate with his hands behindhis back.

Selected from A World Away from FairyTales ， compiled by China Flash Fiction Society，and published by New World Press.