He was attracted to the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea yesterday and came in the morning to check it out, not expecting that the production had already begun.
"Yes, Mr. Zhao." Chen Han nodded with a smile.
In about an hour, Chen Dagou and Chen Shuisheng also took turns finishing the kneading of the bamboo leaves and bamboo leaf cores.
At this moment, the alarm on Chen Han's phone rang.
He immediately instructed his Little Uncle: "Little Uncle, the herbal cuisine needs some water added, go handle it, and make sure to add boiling water."
"Got it!" Chen Lin nodded and returned to his own courtyard.
This caught Zhao Kang's attention, and he felt a sense of anticipation. Whether it was the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea or the herbal cuisine, both piqued his curiosity.
At this time, Xiaoyu's voice sounded, and she was seen leading Lin Nan and a group of people on a tour of the ancient building complex. Five middle-aged women in Hanfu were with them.
Yesterday, five families in the clan received quotas, and those left behind were middle-aged and older. Since serving as staff wasn't suitable for middle-aged men, their wives had to come instead.
For the current stage of the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex, the age of the service staff doesn't really matter.
Xiaoyu was now leading Lin Nan's group on a tour while guiding them.
Standardized Hanfu work uniforms were Xiaoyu's idea from some time ago. They ordered the clothing and will standardize it later.
Some might say they should wear Daoist robes, but actually no. The Chen family belongs to the Zhengyi Sect, whose Daoists can practice at home in regular clothes. Being a non-direct family branch, they are essentially like ordinary people, and except for special occasions, no one wears Daoist robes.
In fact, the Chen family in this generation is no longer registered as Daoists, and non-main family members have no qualification to wear Daoist robes, primarily to avoid affecting the image of the Taoist sect with their words and actions. Wearing anything beyond the Taoist blue robe on special occasions is considered disrespectful to the sect.
The group naturally noticed what Chen Han and the others were doing.
Lin Nan, curious, approached Zhao Kang and asked, "Uncle Zhao, what are Patriarch Chen and the others doing?"
Zhao Kang explained, "Patriarch Chen and the others are making a type of Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea, a Chen family tradition."
Lin Nan didn't know what Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea was, but he had tried the Chen family's heritage herbal cuisine and knew how magical it was.
Now, since this Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea is also a Chen family tradition, it surely isn't simple, right?
For a moment, the group gathered around the Frying Pan Furnace, not in a hurry to tour the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex.
At this moment, Chen Han was reigniting the two large pots. Next, they would proceed with the final step of making Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea: frying and releasing.
Using the description from the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea game: "The Thunder Bamboo leaves and bamboo leaf cores have their lightning pattern defenses broken, with Spiritual Qi now having a place to release. Using a Frying Pan Furnace for refining allows the Spiritual Qi to release and attach to the surface, which can be infused when used."
In scientific terms: "After the previous processes, the bamboo leaves and cores have moisture evaporated, kneading breaks the cell walls, followed by frying, allowing beneficial substances from the cell walls to flow out, congealing on the surface, and dissolving into water when brewed, resulting in special effects."
This step isn't random; the heat needs to balance between civil and martial fire, where the pan is hot enough that water drops create a misty white steam without quickly evaporating the water.
Too much leads to scorched bamboo leaves, and too little can't achieve rapid congealing.
In this process, a special fragrance of the bamboo leaves naturally spreads, akin to the fragrance of tea leaves.
Moreover, Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea has a unique attribute of aromatic surround, far surpassing the fragrance of typical teas.
After several attempts, Chen Han finally adjusted the heat properly, then instructed Uncle Dagou to handle the frying. He was strong and robust, and this task required a lot of physical strength.
Chen Han again took out his phone to record a video: "We are now at the final step of refining Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea. The surface lightning pattern defense of Thunder Bamboo leaves and cores has been broken, Spiritual Qi has a place to release, and by using the Frying Pan Furnace to continue refining, the Spiritual Qi can release and attach to the surface."
"This process requires mastering the true fire temperature of the refinement and demands great strength, so a family expert, Chen Dagou, personally handles the refining."
These words instantly captured the attention of Zhao Kang, Lin Nan, and the others.
In this era of short videos, creating content about traditional culture through short videos is common, allowing more people to know about it.
However, the way Patriarch Chen spoke seemed off, more like dialogues from a cultivation novel rather than traditional cultural promotion.
This...
Xiaoyu felt embarrassed for her senior brother just listening to it.
She actually watched her senior brother's Dog Demon videos and was too embarrassed to mention it.
At this moment, she received a phone call, and after answering, she said inside, "Okay, Mr. Sun, there's a parking lot in front of the Chen Clan complex; I'll come out to meet you."
A few online ticket buyers had arrived, so she hung up and went out to meet them.
In Shangyuan Village, two taxis could be seen gradually driving into the village. Sun Xin hung up the phone and said to his girlfriend, Liu Yuanyuan, beside him, "Babe, the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex is in this village."
Previously, they were attracted by the 'Xiaoyuzha' videos of the ancient buildings, and since his girlfriend was a photographer who loved taking photos of ancient buildings, they promptly arranged with a few friends to book tickets for the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex together.
Liu Yuanyuan nodded and said, "I hope so. Nowadays, ancient building promotions are full of filters and effects, just deceiving people."
As they spoke, the car entered Shangyuan Village. When the car stopped in front of a cluster of ancient buildings, her eyes were completely drawn in.
Before her was the ancient building complex, with its ancient and aesthetic appeal exactly like in the videos.
She quickly got out of the car, holding her phone to capture the ancient buildings in front of her. In the lens, the antique quality and aesthetics were undiminished, truly natural pieces of ancient architectural art.
Her companions, upon getting out of the car, were equally full of disbelief.
"These ancient buildings are indeed beautiful."
"Indeed, isn't this Chen family a Taoist sect family? But this ancient charm surpasses places like Wudang."
"Exactly, the ancient buildings in Wudang don't have this captivating antique charm."
"..."
Xiaoyu had been waiting and quickly stepped forward to greet Sun Xin and his group: "Welcome, everyone, to the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex. Please come with me to complete some procedures and I will arrange your accommodation."
Sun Xin and his group naturally recognized Xiaoyu, the internet celebrity, as it was her 'Xiaoyuzha' channel promotion that led them here, so they followed Xiaoyu inside.
Shortly after, Sun Xin's group smelled a rich and enchanting fragrance that was very captivating.
"What is this smell?" Liu Yuanyuan asked, curious.
Others were equally curious:
"This aroma is delightful!"
"Yes, it's a light, plant-like smell, very pleasant."
"..."
Xiaoyu explained with a smile, "This is our Chen family frying our heritage Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea!"
"???" Sun Xin's group paused in confusion.
Everyone was familiar with tea since they've all had it before.
But what was Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea? They couldn't be sure whether it was tea, and this pleasant fragrance was clearly not the scent of usual tea.
The name of Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea, in particular...
What kind of tea has such a casual-sounding name?
With curiosity, they had only taken a few steps when Sun Xin and the others noticed a group of people gathered in an open space, seemingly where the fragrance was wafting from.
This intrigued them, and they walked over to investigate the scene.
Who knew, when they got closer, they saw a handsome young man holding a phone towards a large pot on the stove, saying: "Our Patriarch and family experts endured countless hardships, picked Thunder Bamboo leaves and cores from the Thunder Bamboo Forest, and finally succeeded in refining Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea."
"When the Spirit Tea was successfully refined, Spiritual Qi wafted everywhere, and the fragrance spread around, astonishing everyone."
Sun Xin and Liu Yuanyuan's group were completely dumbfounded.
Were they filming a mindless and embarrassing short skit?