Chapter 65 (1/2)

Chapter 65: Herbal Tea Eggs

Concerning chicken eggs, the grandpa had quite a bit of knowledge. For example, the color of the eggshell depended on the types of feed the hens ate at some specific periods. The hens laid eggs with different color eggshells based on the type of feed they ingested.

Therefore, just by using common sense, one could tell that those chicken eggs with dark-colored eggshell on the market that were said to come from cage-free chickens were a bunch of bullsh*t.

The Herbal Tea Egg in front of the grandpa was larger than ordinary eggs, with an oval shape and a perfect figure.

After he peeled off the eggshell, the grandpa discovered something odd. Usually, there would be an egg membrane covering the egg. The harder it was to peel off, the fresher was the egg. For this one, on the contrary, the membrane was peeled off quite easily.

“Don’t tell me this young brat used top grade tea leaves to cook a stale egg?” the grandpa couldn’t help feeling suspicious.

Angrily, the grandpa finished peeling off the eggshell quickly. It was only then did he realize the Herbal Tea Egg could be said to be a work of art.

Actually, there was always an odor of gypsum when Century Eggs were peeled, which smelled rather offensive. Nevertheless, the cooked egg white was extremely beautiful. It seemed to have white snowflakes scattered around its dark blue background, just like the stars in the sky, appearing extraordinarily spectacular.

Compared to the Century Eggs, this Herbal Tea Egg appeared as if a skilled master had painted a drawing on the egg white. The patterns and lines blended well together with the egg white, as if they grew on it. If one looked carefully, he would see an exquisite calligraphy painting of a natural village household.

They were both deep and shallow print marks all over the egg white. Furthermore, the Herbal Tea Egg contained an alluring fragrance in particular, which stirred one’s appetite.

“Zi”

As he slightly rotated the plate, the fragrance of the Herbal Tea Egg mingled with the delicate orchid fragrance of the black tea wafted upwards. As the plate rotated, the calligraphy painting on the egg white seemed to come alive. Moreover, the smoke drifting from the egg gave the painting a mystical feel.

“The young master’s Herbal Tea Egg is like a work of art,” the grandpa heave a sigh, saying.

“Absolutely,” Division Chief Lin looked at the small egg in the plate as well and then added.

On the other side, Yuan Zhou finally got the official explanations from the system.

The system read: “The eggs are laid from the Langshan White Chicken of the Langshan breed.”

“The history of rearing Langshan Chickens goes as far back as 1000 years.”

“The Langshan White Chicken is a variant of the Langshan breed. There is only one Langshan White Chicken in every thousand Langshan Chickens, thus they are very few of them. The Langshan White Chicken has spotless white feathers and a bright red chicken crown. With the two colors in contrast, it appears quite pleasing to the eyes.”

“Langshan Chickens can be used for their meat and eggs but the Langshan White Chicken is only used for laying eggs. All the Langshan White Chickens or Langshan Chickens that exist on the market now are no longer of pure breed. The pure breed Langshan White Chicken lays huge eggs and in large amounts.”

As for the tea leaves, Yuan Zhou had gotten sufficient knowledge about them. The attitude of the several customers including the grandpa just now had well proven that.

How Herbal Tea Egg are eaten differed from man to man. Some people liked peeling off half the eggshell and holding the other unpeeled half egg to eat; some others prefer to peel off the entire eggshell and poking it with chopsticks to eat. The grandpa, nevertheless, liked splitting the egg apart with chopsticks to eat.

The chopsticks that Yuan Zhou had prepared for the grandpa were specially used for the noodles, with a tall, slender body and a sharpened point. Therefore, the grandpa split the Herbal Tea Egg apart quite easily.

The egg yolk inside was a soft orange color and had just solidified. After being split apart, the fragrance given off by the Herbal Tea Egg became much stronger, rushing up the grandpa’s nose.

Only now did the grandpa feel that the egg barely deserved to be matched with the Keemun Black Tea.

While holding up the first half egg, the grandpa stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it with an enjoyable “ba ji ba ji”. His face revealed a blissful and enjoyable expression.

The intense fragrance of tea mingled with the fragrance of the egg itself left no doubt that it was the number 1 among the black teas. The fragrance smelled terrific but yet, it didn’t overwhelm the scent of the egg. The grandpa could feel two distinct but complementing tastes at the same time in his mouth. Even when the egg was swallowed, the faint fragrance of the orchid still lingered in the mouth.

Just as if he had eaten an orchid.

Now, the grandpa finally experienced how the ancient people described their beauties that breathed out the fragrance of orchids.

Right now, he was exactly exhaling the fragrance of an orchid.

“Grandpa, is the Herbal Tea Egg delicious?” the man in glasses beside him asked curiously after observing for a long while.

When the grandpa had almost fought with Yuan Zhou because of the tea leaves, the man in glasses also watched like he did now. The grandpa had declared then that the egg couldn’t deserve the tea leaves but now, it did not seem that way. His expression full of enjoyment already proved it was tasty indeed.

“Young kids knows nothing but it was indeed delicious.” the grandpa understood what the man in glasses was implying but for him to say the Herbal Tea Egg was not delicious… that was impossible. At the very beginning, he just felt that it was a pity and, moreover, a painful thing to use those top-graded tea leaves to cook the Herbal Tea Egg.