Thereās no way "wasting a heavenly gift" could describe Jane Sampsonās tea egg today; Old Master Black felt like he was bleeding for James Black from his very heart.
"Jane..." Old Master Black quietly clutched his chest, "is it because youāre afraid I, this old man, would discipline you now that youāve become an actor?"
Jane Sampson was caught off guard by Old Master Blackās direct question and paused for two seconds before nodding honestly, "Iām sorry, grandpa; I shouldnāt have kept it from you all, I shouldnāt have lied to you."
"Iām not angry, really, Iām very open-minded as an old man, and not at all upset," Old Master Black tried his best to smile genuinely.
But he had grown accustomed to being stern in his youth, and that smile seemed somewhat forced.
"But this morning..." Jane Sampson toyed with the tea egg in her palm.
"This morning I was just trying to scare you," said Old Master Black hastily. "So, can you tell me how much tea leaves you used to cook this tea egg?"
The flavor is so strong, it must have been a lot, right?
Who knows how much of that box of tea leaves survived.
Jane Sampson held up a hand, "A full five packs. The flavor of these tea leaves was much weaker than what James Black had someone deliver back home to me today. Even for the same cooking duration, these tea leaves just donāt make tea eggs as delicious as the other kind."
After Jane Sampson gave her frank criticism, she cautiously assessed whether Old Master Black was truly as untroubled as he claimed.
Old Master Blackās heart skipped a beat at the mention of five packs but then he was relieved at the thought that his wife hadnāt thrown all of them into the pot to make tea eggs.
Old Master Black called the nanny and asked her to put the tea eggs into the refrigerator.
"They must be well looked after every day, donāt let the eggs spoil, take one out every morning for my breakfast," Old Master Black instructed carefully.
Seeing Old Master Black act this way, Jane Sampson knew he must like them, so she quickly said, "Grandpa, eggs canāt be kept too long; they will go bad. If you like them, I will cook them for you again next time."
"No, no, no, donāt cook anymore, Iām afraid it might raise my old manās high blood pressure," Old Master Black shook his head repeatedly. "You didnāt throw away the soup you used to cook the tea eggs at home, did you? If you havenāt, Iāll have someone fetch it later. The tea eggs need to be reheated every day, and using boiled water will cook out the flavor of the tea leaves."
"Grandpaās always more thoughtful," Jane Sampson nodded and pointed to a small bag nearby, "The other tea eggs were made with different tea leaves; you can try those too, grandpa. I personally like the ones with deeper coloring. Oh, and the food box is for Peter Gingery. Grandpa, could you find someone to deliver it to the team base for Peter, and maybe do it now? That way, it might still be warm when it arrives."
"Are these all egg whites youāve peeled out?" Old Master Black was aware of the extraordinary hobbies of Jane Sampson and Peter Gingery, one loving the egg yolk, the other the egg white; whenever they got together, they would certainly end up eating many eggs in cooperation.
Seeing Jane Sampson nod, Old Master Black furrowed his brow and asked, "Why donāt you deliver them yourself? Itās not like you havenāt done it before."
"James Black wonāt let me." The complaint came out swiftly as Jane Sampson said, "He doesnāt like me bothering him at the team base."
"Did he say that to you himself?" Old Sirās anger flared on the spot.
"Yes, grandpa, I understand him. Itās the guard teamās base, and ordinary folks canāt just approach it willy-nilly; itās the rules." Anyway, thatās how Jane Sampson understood the essence of what James Black had told her last time.