Chapter 173

Cao Yilang brought Li Xin to the tea room, and Cao Yixiong was already waiting for him at the tea room door.

Li Xin took the gift from Yao Yang's hand, placed it in Cao Yi Xiong's hand, and laughed: "Cao Yi Xiong team leader, this is wild black goji berry."

"It has special effects for middle-aged men; you can try it, and if it works well, give me a call—I'll send it over anytime."

On Cao Yi Xiong's stern face, a look of astonishment appeared.

After a moment, he recovered and took the gift box Li Xin had sent over.

He laughed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Li; this gift is exactly to my taste, I won't stand on ceremony."

He turned sideways, extended his hand in a 'please' gesture, and said, "Please!"

The two came to the tea room; Cao Yi Xiong knelt on one side of the tea table, while Li Xin sat cross-legged opposite him—uh, this old thing is making him kneel!

Cao Yi Xiong poured tea into the two cups and said, "Please, Mr. Li, try our Japanese tea ceremony and see if it differs from that of Gangdao."

Li Xin picked up the cup, took a sip—it was okay, he could drink it.

Cao Yi Xiong introduced: "The origin of Japan's tea ceremony can be traced back to the Heian period; it was first brought back by envoys to Tang China from the Tang dynasty."

"During the Heian period, the tea ceremony was popular mainly among the aristocracy, an elegant social activity closely linked to Zen Buddhist culture."

"Over time, the tea ceremony gradually spread from the aristocracy to the warrior class and became widespread among the masses in the Edo period."

"The development of the tea ceremony went through several stages, including the introduction of matcha, the rise of domestic tea ceremony, and the warrior tea ceremony of the fifteenth generation represented by ground chrysanthemum, etc."

"The tea ceremony is not merely a way of drinking tea; it is a cultural tradition that integrates architecture, gardening, calligraphy and painting, flower arrangement, cuisine, ceramics, and other art forms, pursuing the spiritual realm of 'harmony, respect, purity, tranquility.'"

Li Xin listened with a bewildered expression—drinking tea involves so many particulars?

He only knew that the Sage of Tea was Lu Yu, and really hadn't learned much else about it.

Li Xin asked, "Cao Yi Xiong team leader, I heard that besides bringing back tea leaves, they also brought back many other things, right? For example… not a few were brought back by Japanese noblewomen, right?"

Cao Yi Xiong's face darkened a little; he knew what Li Xin was referring to—that was an eternal humiliation Japan could never wash away.

Japan, starting from the Tang dynasty, attempted to raise the average height of its people through intermarriage with Chinese; this plan continued until the end of WWII.

During the Song dynasty, exchanges between Japan and China became more frequent; Japanese noblewomen went to China to seek tall partners in order to improve the nation's genes.

In the Meiji era, Japan began encouraging marriage with Western peoples, hoping to further improve its genes through this means.

After WWII, Japan tried again, seeking to improve its genes by intermarrying with peoples of other countries; this time the target was American soldiers.

These attempts reflect Japan's persistence and effort across different historical periods to increase national height and improve the race.

However, as time passed, they gradually realized that the main factor affecting Japanese height is diet, not genetics.

Li Xin even brought up their dark history, which made his mood complicated!

He cannot deny this; even now, many families acknowledge having Chinese blood.

Liu A Zhi is considered the second generation of Xu Fu, leading his family eastward to Japan, becoming a 'settler' in Japanese history.

Liu A Zhi's descendants rose to prominence in Japanese society; some were enfeoffed as 'To-ka kings,' bringing textile technology and contributing to Japan's agriculture, architecture, carving, and so on.

Present-day politician Yu Tian Zi openly acknowledges that he is a descendant of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang; his ancestors changed their surname from 'Qin' to 'Yu Tian' two hundred years ago.

The Jiu Shan family, the only one among Japan's five major political dynasties that did not participate in the invasion of China, also acknowledges having Chinese blood.

A few years ago, a Japanese man named Men Tian Xiu visited Taiyuan, Shanxi, claimed to be a descendant of the Wang clan of Taiyuan, and was indeed recognized by the Wang family; this made news in Japan.

Japan's Teng Yuan clan numbers over ninety thousand; they consider themselves descendants of China's Xu clan and have received recognition from the Xu family.

Other surnames—such as Yuan Tian, Gao Qiao, Da Cang, Jiang Shang, and Bo Duo Jiang—among Japanese people, when tracing their roots, all say their families might be connected to ancient Chinese royalty.

This is no secret in Japan; many people know it, and Cao Yi Xiong certainly knows as well.

Moreover, these families still wield considerable influence in Japan—some even owe their existence to 'borrowed seed'!

He feels embarrassed about this!

He shouldn't have brought up the origin of the tea ceremony; in the end, this kid gave him an embarrassing situation!

He picked up his tea cup, took a sip, quickly changed the subject, and said, "Mr. Li, those are all past matters; bringing them up now is pointless—let's talk about something substantive."

How could that work?

Li Xin surely disagreed, asking bewilderedly, "What's wrong, Cao Yi Xiong team leader? Any problem? Aren't we discussing the two countries' cultures?"

Without waiting for Cao Yi Xiong to respond, he continued, "These are all history! Forgetting history is a betrayal of the nation—Cao Yi Xiong team leader, you wouldn't want to betray your Yamato people, would you?"

"Let me tell you, this is exactly Cao Yi Xiong team leader's fault—how can you forget your roots? Never speak such words to others in the future."

"It's only because we're on good terms; if it were someone else, they'd have nothing to do with you thereafter—forgetting your ethnic history, what's the difference from beasts?"

"You agree, right? Cao Yi Xiong team leader!"

Li Xin's words directly infuriated Cao Yi Xiong half to death—this bastard, hitting where it hurts, every cut draws blood!

He couldn't yet counter his fallacious reasoning; his words were correct—one must not forget one's roots.

But hearing it come from his mouth just feels awkward.

Not a single word sounded pleasant!

Moreover, he said it solemnly, with not a trace of mockery on his face, as if he were doing it for Li Xin's own good—this really feels suffocating!

After chatting idly for a few sentences, he hurried to end today's talk; they couldn't continue, or else Cao Yi Xiong would be committing treason!

Li Xin came to the door, shook hands with Cao Yi Xiong and Cao Yi Lang, and said goodbye.

He still wore a smile as he said to Cao Yi Xiong, "Cao Yi Xiong team leader, I'm quite satisfied with today's reception and talk; let's meet again another day—don't shut me out!"

Cao Yi Xiong gritted his teeth and said, "Welcome back, Mr. Li; I'll clear the mat and await you."

Li Xin waved goodbye to them, got in the car, and thought to himself.

"I hope you're speaking sincerely; whether what you say is true or false, I will certainly take it as truth."

He still hasn't had enough talk!

When he has time later, he definitely wants to come chat about the borrowed seed matter—what a great topic!

As for other topics?

He'll bring them up when he feels like talking; for now, he can't hold an equal conversation with Cao Yi Xiong.