HISTORY OF NHỊ ĐỘ MAI TEA HOUSE – CHAPTER 1: THE ROAD TO TEA

The question was like a wave of incense arousing me to return to myself, to the flower garden and fragrant tea terrace in Duc Pho village. The garden was originally owned by the Pham family many generations ago, along with many large estates that King Dong Khanh gave to Minister Pham Xu when he retired to his hometown. Mr. Pham Xhap was a Minister of King Tu Duc’s court, and was awarded the rank of first-class scholar of Dialectics by the king. My grandfather enjoyed the pioneer land of living and worshiping. At that time, my grandfather was a great gardener. From outside the gate to the yard were two rows of neatly cut green tea trees with short beams; When it’s small, there are a lot of flowers: Dahlia, Gladiolus, Gerbera, White Rose, Velvet Rose, White Chrysanthemum, Yellow Chrysanthemum, Marigold, Quynh, Apricot… are planted in plots, according to Extremely beautiful road.

 

 

I don’t know when I started paying attention to scents, maybe I was a wanderer looking for scents in many past lives. But in this life, perhaps the scent of flower tea is an exception. He has a habit of going to the garden early in the morning to visit and talk about the flowers, plants, and trees. I still remember clearly, his arm holding the white rose, then gently shaking it, letting the dew or last night’s rain fall, so that the flower stays fresh for a long time, then his pure white rose leaned down next to the flower. , breathing heavily, his face showing extreme joy and happiness. At that time, I could not understand what was so interesting about the job of cherishing each flower and leaf. What I’m waiting for is that when he finally visits the flowers in the suburbs, he will choose a flower that is still fragrant and put it in his morning teapot. I remember so much the smell of Rose flowers, Jasmine flowers, Ngau flowers, then Wolf flowers, Chrysanthemum flowers, Apricot flowers… fragrant in the scent of tea. Drinking a cup of tea feels like hearing the whispers of tea, flowers, wind, dew, and the vastness of heaven and earth.

 

 

During those morning tea sessions, by soaking in the steam, people read to me Nom stories like Nhi Do Mai, Luc Van Tien, The Tale of Kieu…. I most remember Grammy’s voice when reciting the sentence: “The curtain contrasts with the wind.” Sandalwood/ Fragrance evokes the smell of tea, dry voice of love/ Because of the fate of the three births/ Why do floods turn into unicorns? How can a child who is only eleven or twelve years old understand the so-called “incense is dangerous?” miss”, “tea with a voice of love”, “debt to the father”, “habit of becoming”, but the painful thing is the image of my grandmother holding up a cup of tea, clicking on each small step, then behind, reading Kieu, His eyes were like a club entering a region far away, making the grandchild at that time willing to trade all his favorite toys to travel to that world just once.

 

 

That day, every time Quyen Phong flower garden fell on a bright moonlit night, it was like there was a festival in the house. Inevitably, he would invite his grandchildren to come and drink tea, listen to the moon, and listen to flowers. Since childhood, our children and grandchildren have enjoyed the luxury of: “When drinking wine, when playing chess / When watching flowers bloom, when waiting for the moon to rise” (The Story of Kieu – Nguyen Du). Because in those festive nights waiting for the moon and flowers, in addition to teas flavored with foreign flowers such as chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine, apricot…, each grandchild is still small but also has a drink like the adults. cup of wine soaked in grass. Usually during the first week of tea, everyone waits to see the flowers bloom, but wait and wait and wait, only to see that the petals are still green, lazy with the waiting of the children. During the second, third, fourth and fifth weeks of tea, everyone forgot while talking. When I looked back, the flowers bloomed to tell me the time. Like, flowers bloom, then refuse to look like a young woman changing into beautiful clothes to go to a spring festival. Waiting for that fleeting moment feels like breathing and witnessing the birth of a living being, of Beauty.

 

How could I forget, under the spring porch, my grandmother sat peacefully making us a pot of Mai tea. From early morning, people went to the garden to pick the apricot flowers that had just bloomed in the morning, then placed the flowers neatly and carefully on small, fragile white ceramic plates. Then, they heated each cup and placed the cup on the plate. ceramic plate so that the flower can fit inside. We children were nervous, anxious, and anxiously waiting for the scent of the flowers to scent the bowl, not knowing that we would only later realize that we were also being scented with some strange scent. soul from a small corner. At that time, except for using wood to take bits of dried apricot tea from the box, put it in the kettle and then put it on the shelf. At first, the scent of Mai was deeply and evenly embedded in the cup, so the person gently poured the tea and then slowly added the tea. Grandma told me to do this so that in the cup of tea, there will be a deep scent of tea mixed with the scent of apricot flowers from previous times, there will be the fresh scent of apricot blossoms this morning mixed in, and there will be beautiful flowers to admire while enjoying tea. . Every time I think about my grandmother, the sweetness and fragrance of Apricot tea still ooze out in my mouth, in my memories, it’s truly like “Standing in the shadow of the architecture, I suddenly drew/soaked the plum blossoms in my mouth” (Cao Ba Quat ). Under my grandmother’s porch, a strange fairy tale world with many layers of incense