Ancient Tea Fragrance - Thai Nguyen Electronic Newspaper

Every afternoon my father sits next to the small teapot, which he calls a pair of teapots. Perhaps he always wants to have a drinking partner, so he chose this pair of teapots.

My mother passed away twenty years ago. My father raised my siblings and me like that. The older I get, the more I understand that those were extremely difficult and miserable years for any man. That's why I always hope that in his twilight years, my father will live a peaceful and leisurely life.

I am very happy that my father enjoys tea. I often go to places that sell the best quality tea such as Tan Cuong, La Bang, Trai Cai… to buy tea for my father. There is no famous tea place in Thai Nguyen that I have not visited. Sometimes I also spend time sitting and enjoying tea with my father.

Once, I asked:

- Are you satisfied with the tea I bought, Dad?

Dad thought for a moment and then said slowly:

- It's delicious, honey... But...

Before he finished his sentence, his eyes suddenly looked into the distance as if searching for something in his memory.

I am worried:

- But what, dad?

As if realizing his mistake, he quickly said:

- Oh… No! The tea is delicious, don't think about it…

I didn't dare ask more. Dad's "but" made me wonder. Was he not satisfied with the tea I bought?

In the following days, I saw my father, after each cup of tea, looking out at the blue mountains on the horizon. His eyes were a little sad.

I asked:

- What do you see when you look into the distance?

Dad smiled and replied with a philosophical sentence:

- My child, what you see is not important. In life, it is what you cannot see that matters.

Dad didn't say it, but I guessed that maybe in his past there must be some deep sadness.

But then Dad's secret was revealed. That afternoon, he came home from the city, holding a magazine in his hand, and excitedly said to me:

- Dad found it. It's golden flower tea!

I was surprised, guessing that my father had found a type of tea that I had not collected for a long time. I quickly asked:

- If I find the tea I like, just give me the address and I will go buy it.

Dad shook his head:

- No! The teas you buy are already excellent. This is a different story.

I picked up the magazine. A bold headline read: “Rare yellow flower tea in Thai Nguyen”. It was an article about the extremely precious yellow flower tea, a very effective traditional medicine. In the past, this tea species grew abundantly on the eastern slopes of the Tam Dao mountain range in Thai Nguyen province. But unfortunately, it is almost extinct.

I put the magazine down:

- What's so special about the article that... Dad has to...

Without keeping me waiting long, my father told me everything.

… In 1954, our army won Dien Bien Phu and returned to take over the capital. On the way through a deserted village on the eastern slope of Tam Dao mountain range, my father suffered from a terrible headache. The unit had to leave my father with the family of a famous Tay ethnic medicine man in the area for treatment. Here, my father was treated wholeheartedly by the medicine man and his son.

The daughter was only seventeen years old at that time, beautiful as a mountain fairy. Every day she went into the forest to pick herbs to boil for the young soldier. In addition to the traditional family medicine that she took regularly, every day after meals, the girl also made a pot of tea in a small pot, then sat down to drink it with the sick man. The girl said that it was yellow flower tea picked from the forest, which was also a medicine to cure her father's illness.

A month later, Dad was completely healthy again. But from then on, Dad became addicted to tea. Before returning to his unit, the girl gave Dad a few kilos of dried tea, but when the tea was gone, Dad suddenly felt an indescribable hunger. After that, he enjoyed many types of tea, but he did not find any like that yellow flower tea. So even though the teas you brought back were all special, Dad still felt that there was a certain flavor that was hard to name…

I joke:

- Maybe that's the taste of first love, right dad?

Dad glared:

- You writers are just imagining things. Now through this article, I remember more clearly that the type of tea that the village girl gave me to drink was the yellow flower tea that the author of the article described. It's just a pity that this type of tea is becoming extinct.

Dad turned to me:

- Can you take me to visit that village once?

* * *

That is the land located on the eastern slope of Tam Dao, the origin of the yellow flower tea.

Hearing me recall the story of how my father had been treated by his family, the herbalist's adopted son (the young girl back then) welcomed my father and me as if we were family. Perhaps he had heard everything from his adoptive mother. He said:

- My mother is the most beautiful in the village but she never got married. I am an orphan and have been raised by my mother since birth.

My father's eyes were a little sad. I quickly asked:

- Does your family often go up the mountain to pick yellow tea flowers to drink?

The boy shook his head gently:

- Where are the yellow tea flowers left on the mountain to pick?

Seeing my father and I's disappointment, he quickly said:

- But don't worry, uncle and brother. Decades ago, every day my mother climbed the high mountains to find yellow tea flowers to plant in a garden. Therefore, in this whole province, my family is the only one who can preserve this tea variety. Later, I will take you and brother to the tea garden.

My father stood silently before hundreds of tea trees in bloom, their golden petals silently hidden in the foliage. He secretly wiped away his tears.

Before parting, I suggested buying some yellow tea plants to plant, my adopted son was a bit displeased:

- Why did you buy it? I think my mother planted this tea garden for you. Bring it back to plant and try to keep it from becoming extinct.

* * *

For more than half a year, dozens of yellow tea plants in my small plot of land have entered the bud stage. My father picked the tea and personally roasted and treated each tea leaf.

He said in a cheerful voice:

- So the yellow flower tea species is not extinct. Dad is very happy, son.

I also dropped a flowery sentence:

- It is thanks to the taste of first love that it is not extinct, dad.

Dad glared again:

- That's your business, writers.

A few years later, my father died.

The yellow tea garden behind my house blooms every cold season, the yellow petals quietly hiding in the foliage.

My heart suddenly felt at ease when I thought that perhaps in the afterlife, my father would have the chance to drink with his old lover again.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202502/huong-tra-xua-06f1c5c/