A Love Trap

Chapter 385 Making Tea

Ashley thought she wouldn't be able to fall asleep because normally, she wouldn't be able to on a bed that she wasn't used to.

When she first moved into the Golden Palace, it also took her a while to get used to the bed there. However, here in Andrew's old room, she fell asleep right away as she snuggled in Andrew's arms.

When she woke up, she felt dizzy probably from sleeping too long.

Andrew was still sleeping so Ashley carefully slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water to collect herself.

When she looked at the time, she found that it was already four in the afternoon. She had slept around 1 p.m. which meant she'd been asleep for hours.

She rubbed her cheeks to get some color in her face then headed downstairs so she could help Bertha prepare dinner.

When she got to the first floor, she found someone sitting on the couch.

Upon looking closer, she realized it was Chant.

When Chant saw her, he waved to her to come over and sit with him. Ashley hesitated for a moment before walking over to him.

Chant saw that she was alone so he asked, "Is he still sleeping?"

Ashley nodded and said, "Yes, Andy's still sleeping. He's probably tired because he's been working so hard lately."

Chant snorted, "You do care about him."

Ashley felt a little embarrassed.

Chant called out to Porter who appeared out of nowhere. "Yes, Master?"

"Please go to the study and bring the tea set here. The porcelain one. Please be careful when you bring it."

"All right," Porter responded.

Chant turned to look at Ashley who was seemingly puzzled. He said, "Didn't you bring me tea? Well, I want to taste it and I want you to make the tea for me."

Ashley was a little uneasy. "Grandpa, I don't know how to make tea."

Chant looked at her as if he was displeased. "It's fine. I can teach you."

Since Chant had gotten older, he only liked two things:

tea

and playing go.

Ashley pressed her lips together and said, "Okay."

Soon, Porter had arrived with the porcelain tea set.

He had also brought a pot of boiling water.

Chant washed the tea set with the boiling water and then looked at Ashley and said, "Watch carefully first, then you can make tea for me later."

Upon hearing this, Ashley watched him closely, making sure she didn't miss any particular hand motions or gestures.

The tea set that Chant had used was porcelain with blue and white patterns. It looked quite expensive.

Ashley didn't know much about tea or tea sets but she could tell how expensive it must be.

As she watched Chant make the tea, she started to wonder what would happen if she broke the tea set when it was her turn to make the tea.

Thankfully, her mind was quickly drawn from it because Chant started to speak as he made the tea.

"You see, the tea set is very important in tea making.

Porcelain pots and cups are most preferable. If you're making green tea, you should use cups with a lid; if you're making black tea, you should use a purple clay set and for flower tea, you should use a glass tea set."

As he spoke, he didn't stop or pause his tea-making.

However, he still slowed down his movement so Ashley could see better as he knew that Ashley hadn't done this before.

"Water selection is important too. Natural mineral water is a good choice. If you want the tea to taste good, you have to have good water. The scent of tea will be brought out by good water."

He glanced at her through the corners of his eyes as he spoke.

Ashley listened to him attentively all the while closely watching his hands. Sometimes, she would repeat Chant's words to herself silently.

Chant nodded with satisfaction so he withdrew his attention from her and focused on the tea he was making.

"One more element is water temperature. It's critical that you're able to control the temperature of your water. If the temperature reaches over 80 degrees Celcius, the nutrition of the tea leaves will decrease. Moreover, the tannins and other toxic elements will be released into the water. So it's vital that the water temperature be controlled between 70 to 80 degrees Celcius,"

Chant continued.

Ashley felt as if she was listening to a lecture in school.

She made sure she didn't miss any of what Chant did as well as remember what he said.

She looked quite focused and didn't seem to show any impatience at all.

She could tell that Chant was genuine in teaching her the art of tea making. She realized she didn't mind learning the skills of making tea.

She thought she could make tea for Chant in the future as a way to spend time with him. Andrew preferred coffee and coffee wasn't as healthy as tea. She figured if she learned the art of making tea, she could make Andrew drink tea instead of coffee.

As she thought of this, she then realized that

she had forgotten to watch Chant. She hadn't realized that Chant had raised his hand.

Bang! Chant had knocked on Ashley's head with his hand. Ashley was puzzled and she looked at him in confusion.

'What's going on?

Why did he knock on my head?'

She rubbed her head. While it didn't hurt at all, the sound was still quite loud.

Chant pulled a long face and asked, "Did you remember all the steps I mentioned?"

Ashley was still a little shaky and she said rather guiltily, "Yes, Grandpa."

Chant poured two cups of tea and placed one in front of Ashley. "Try it."

The tea cup was made of pure white porcelain and the light green tea looked nice in contrast to the white color of the cup. This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

Ashley picked up the cup carefully. It was still too hot. She blew on it before taking a small sip.

Ashley didn't like tea and normally didn't drink tea. As she took a sip, she tasted bitterness but when she had swallowed it, some sweetness lingered on her tongue.

Porter had tasted the tea too. When he noticed Ashley take two sips, he asked, "How is it?"

Ashley put down the cup and smiled at him sweetly. "It tastes great. I'm so lucky to have the chance to taste the tea made by Grandpa, a tea expert."

"Cut the bullshit. I know you can't taste anything," Chant said.

He had said it with a smile so it was difficult to tell what he really meant.

Ashley stuck out her tongue playfully and smiled. 'Chant is actually quite friendly, ' she thought to herself. Maybe, it wouldn't be too difficult to get along with him after all.

Chant washed the tea set with the hot water carefully again and then he pushed it to Ashley. "Now it's your turn to do it. Make some tea for me."