Chapitre 30: Tea Blends
Fu Mei Li's period stopped the next day. It only lasted for two days. She was speechless.
While she didn't care for the cramps and pains, she was used to an average of five days of menstruation. The female friends she used to know in her past life also had similar durations.
Mei Li was now a little worried about herself and her reproductive health in particular. She should talk to Shufen about this later or maybe even consult his master, the village doctor.
She put that thought on hold as she made her way to the kitchen area. She really needed to get going with her herbal tea blends.
There was no digital weighing scale here so she had more work to do. She decided to use a wooden spoon and a cup for measurements.
She needed to standardize her measurements and experiment with the ratios of the ingredients.
Shufen joined her in the kitchen at some point. Seeing her so serious, he refrained from teasing her. She reminded him of himself when he gets busy in the medicine room. He would definitely be annoyed if someone bothered him when he's preparing medicine.
"Want some help?"
Mei Li didn't refuse. She figured she could use his skills. At the very least, an extra pair of hands will make things quicker.
"Shufen do we have a wooden board lying around? Not so big but enough to write things on and that we could easily see from the end of the room." Mei Li truly wanted a whiteboard but a discarded wooden board will do for now.
"I'll check our storage rooms."
A while later, Shufen came back with Longwei and they were carrying a wooden board that fit her purpose. They set it up at one side of the kitchen.
Since Longwei was already there, Mei Li immediately grabbed him to be the notetaker. Because there was no board marker, she asked him to get a piece of firewood with a charred end.
With that, the three-person tea blending team was formed in the Jin family's kitchen.
Mei Li and Shufen worked on different mixes of ingredients and Longwei took notes of the measurements on their makeshift board. Mei Li was glad that all her husbands were literate.
Shufen and Longwei could only follow their wife's instructions. They were amazed at how methodical she was.
Shufen was impressed at the way the little girl did her experiments. He even learned a few approaches and ways of thinking that opened new doors for him in his medical practice.
She was detailed and kept an eye on the overall procedure at the same time. He marvelled at her ability to focus and be creative. She was decisive and made a lot of intelligent decisions.
By noon, after five hours of experimenting, they came up with 15 tea blends that they thought was a good combination and have eliminated around 20 blends that they classified as failures. Their makeshift board was now filled with charcoal scribbles.
This was the scene that the other brothers and Aunt Li came upon. The table was messy with herbs and flowers scattered in various containers.
Mei Li had no glass saucers, jars, or beakers. So they used all the available plates, bowls, cups, and even big leaves from the trees outside.
There was a wooden board at the corner with indecipherable scribbles.
Everyone was confused but the trio had gratified grins on their faces.
They quickly tidied up the kitchen and set aside the 15 blends for final testing. Lunch was prepared and everyone ate quickly.
Afterwards, before the others went away to do their chores, Mei Li recruited everyone to taste test the tea blends.
Overall, they created two kinds today - one was an appetite and immunity booster and the other was for calming and relaxing.
Mei Li brewed the tea blends and poured 7 different options for the appetite and immunity booster. She then asked everyone to taste each cup and vote for the blends they liked.
Her plan was to narrow down the three best tasting of each type.
She did the same thing for the calming tea, with 8 options.
She only made them take small sips though and had them swirl the tea around their tongues first before swallowing.
After all, these were herbs with medicinal effects. She didn't want anyone accidentally getting a stomach ache or experiencing any other adverse reaction from drinking too much herbal tea.
After a lot of discussions wherein they described why they liked a certain taste and how the tea made them feel, Mei Li was finally able to select three successful options for each kind of tea blend.
She classified them into low, medium, and high grades according to taste, the quantity of harder to find ingredients, and the complexity of ingredient preparation.
Now that she has her tea blends, it is time to worry about the packaging.
"Big brother Mingyu, do we know anyone who makes wooden boxes? A small box would do. Also, someone who can do some carving?"
"Wife, I can do it!" Weimin announced. "Well, I'm not an expert, but I can still do a simple box. And if the carving isn't too intricate, then I can handle it."
Mingyu nodded. His third brother did have this skill. "Just describe to Weimin the box you need and he can get some pinewood from the woodcutter family from Downstream."
Mei Li rejoiced. It's so good to have such capable husbands.
Mei Li and Weimin didn't waste time. The latter ran off to buy some wood and Mei Li planned the size and carving of their brand logo and name.
Naturally, she had to brand their products. This was a crucial step to developing in the future.
Before nightfall, Weimin managed to polish two small wooden boxes that had a length of five inches and a width and height of three and a half inches. He made covers for these, too.
The measurements weren't exactly perfect as there was no ruler. They only used a stick to estimate the length, width, and depth of the boxes.
Due to the lack of herbs remaining, Mei Li only managed to fill the two boxes with the low-grade blend for each kind of tea. But that was okay; one step at a time.
Shufen recorded the composition and preparation methods of their successful blends on paper and hid them away, so she wasn't worried about future production.
Now, only the last step remains.
Mei Li drew a simple but cute depiction of a valley with a rounded tree in the middle. She then told Weimin where on the box cover he should carve it.
While he was doing that, Mei Li turned to Mingyu. "Big brother, you passed the imperial exam. Your calligraphy must be amazing, right? Would you do the honors in writing our product name?"
Mingyu looked at the woman smiling sweetly at him and found no reason to refuse her request. So he went to his study and retrieved a small brush, ink, and inkstone.
He went back to the busy kitchen and, while he ground the ink, he asked what he should write.
Mei Li smiled at everyone in the room. "Well, big brother Haoran helped me get the herbs from the mountain, Shufen and Longwei assisted with the creation of the tea blends, big brother Weimin is currently doing the boxes, and you will be doing the calligraphy. Aunt Li helped us all by cooking and cleaning."
"Since this is a family effort, our brand name should naturally depict that."
"Let's call it the JinMei Valley! From now on, we can sell JinMei Valley herbal teas. In the future, perhaps we can sell JinMei Valley flower teas, fruit wines, sauces, and more." Mei Li was super excited at the thought.
"It's a combination of your family name and my first name. Well, I don't want to use Fu because the only family I considered there was my mother. The rest have nothing to do with me now."
"Also, your Jin means "wealthy" while my Mei is "beautiful". Don't you think these two words together look so auspicious? We could live a wealthy and beautiful life in the future!"
Everyone was once again touched by Mei Li's considerations. She always had their family in mind, which made them feel genuine warmth.
Clearly, she did most of the work, but she never forgot them. Even if these herbal teas don't sell at first, the brothers resolved that they will do everything in their power to get them sold.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
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