Sheffield wore a sky blue casual shirt today, and the smile on his face was still that rakish smirk he always wore, a grin that hinted at danger. And he looked none the worse for Evelyn's harsh words, as if nothing happened yesterday. He was still so happy when he saw her.
His generosity embarrassed Evelyn. She nodded slightly and apologized, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" he asked in confusion.
"About yesterday…" she explained uncomfortably. "I had no clue the old woman's backpack was filled with dangerous goods."
"I've dealt with her kind before. Don't worry. Just be careful from now on. I have to go! See ya later!"
Before Evelyn could respond, Sheffield had already returned to his buddies.
Evelyn was a little disappointed when she saw him with his colleagues; talking, laughing, clapping each other on the back.
She shook it off and walked into the tea plantation with a wicker basket.
The plantation was located on a mountain. Evelyn's new sneakers were soon stained with clay, dirt, and who knew what else.
She took out a wet tissue and tried to clean them. A futile gesture, as after two minutes, they were muddy once more. At last, she gave up and decided to clean them after getting back to the guesthouse.
At the top of the mountain, a female tea leaf picker waited for her. She took her to a high-class tea plantation and taught her to pick the tender sprouts. The process involved finding the young and juicy leaves with a portion of the stem and a bud at the end. Then when she found that, she carefully picked it and placed it in her basket.
Evelyn really enjoyed this. It was relaxing, Zen-like. She stayed on the hilltop a while longer, her mood much improved.
Soon enough, her basket was half full. A familiar voice suddenly said behind her, "Hey! Need a break?"
It was Sheffield.
She didn't know how long he had been standing there. When she turned around, he was smiling at her, a green tea leaf in his mouth.
Evelyn cast a glance at her basket of leaves and answered in a soft voice, "Not yet."
He walked up to her and looked at all the tea leaves she had picked. "Mind if I join you?"
"Do you know how to pick tea leaves?" Actually, she was having problems when she started. She had just begun to get the hang of it.
"Piece of cake!" It seemed he knew everything, and he didn't brag. It turned out that he was better at it than she was.
"Fun fact: ever heard of lip tea?" he asked.
"Lip tea?" The name sounded strange. "No," she answered honestly.
"According to folklore and historical records, the lip tea was a tribute to the Royal Court. It was collected by teenage girls and stored in a wicker funnel. The young girls picked the tea leaves using their mouths, and warmed them with their body heat. So the pickers were also the brewers. Generally speaking, they were all girls."
Evelyn cast a sidelong glance at the serious expression on his face and asked, "So?"
"I just thought of this story all of a sudden and wanted to tell you." He looked into her eyes and smiled at her mischievously.
"How about I pick some tea leaves with my mouth so that you can collect them?"
Evelyn rolled her eyes at him. "Cut it out."
Sheffield drew closer to her. "Okay, fine. How about you pick some for me like that? I swear I'll be the only one drinking it."
Evelyn popped a handful of tender tea sprouts in his mouth while he was talking, and ordered, "Shut up!"
Chewing the sprouts, he said cheerfully, "Mmm, these are really good. You picked these yourself? Not bad for a novice. Much yummier than mine. Tell you what: if you pick them with your mouth and then use your body heat to warm them up… Okay, okay, don't glare at me. I'll shut up now."
Staring at a tender sprout, Evelyn said, "You said the leaves were plucked by teens? With their mouths? I'm not a teenager. I'm almost 30. See if you have any better luck asking someone of that age."
"I don't like girls who are more childish than me. I like women like you—mature, steady, lovely…."
'Lovely?' She thought about it for a while and said, "No one's said that to me in about 20 years. And they called me 'cute.' You weren't even born then, were you?"
She grew up with her grandmother and father, and so put on a tough front to deal with them. The cute little girl didn't exist anymore.
Neglecting what she said about her age, Sheffield shrugged and said, "They don't see you like I do. I mean they don't know you. You are completely hot. And savvy. A smart man would marry and put you on a pedestal."
Joshua had once said that there was one kind of woman that was born to be admired, and men wouldn't have the heart to let her do any work.
So what did he say? That was before Evelyn. He said he'd never met a woman like that.
If he had that conversation with Joshua today, he'd say he met one. More than that, he'd yell it from the rooftops.
Evelyn continued what she was doing. "Hah! You're just saying that to get into my pants."
"You wound me. Other women have asked me to marry them. To admire them, put them on a pedestal. But they're not worth it. You, on the other hand… Evelina, if you want to get married one day, just tell me. I'd do it in a heartbeat!"
'If you want to get married one day, just tell me. I'd do it in a heartbeat!' Evelyn's mind was a mess.
She stopped what she was doing, looked at the man who was looking at her seriously, and said softly, "I want to get married now."
Sheffield immediately straightened himself, threw the tea basket aside, grabbed her hand and walked back. "Do you have your ID card? Did you bring your residence booklet? I brought my ID, and now I'm taking you back with me to get my residence booklet. We can do this quickly!"
Evelyn was amused. She struggled and said, "Knock it off. Bring the tea leaves. Let's get off this mountain.
Sheffield's face instantly turned bleak. "Oh my God! You lied to me. I thought that we'd be married as soon as possible!"
The man looked desperate as if he had been abandoned after having a good time with her.
Evelyn pulled her hand back and curled her lips. "When I want to get married, you'll be the first to know."
"Okay. What's your number? I'll call you later." He took out his phone to save her number.
Evelyn looked at him and said flatly, "Look. I like you, but this can't last. After we go back home, we'll live our own lives, so maybe we shouldn't talk to each other."
Sheffield was speechless. He held his wounded heart sadly.
He must have turned down too many women in the past. Now he had to pay for it. Evelyn was his punishment.
After they reached the base of the mountain, they handed the tea leaves they picked to the workers and went into the tea house together.
The air in the tea house was thick with a pleasant smell.
He took Evelyn's hand and led her to sit down in front of a tea specialist. "What flavor do you want? I'll ask the tea expert to brew us a pot."
Evelyn looked at the different selections in the room and replied, "The kind we picked just now."
"Great. Could you brew up some oolong tea for us?" Sheffield asked directly.
However, the tea specialist seemed to be in a dilemma. "Sir, the top tea leaves here cost more than $50, 000 a kilo, and there is no tasting it first…"
