Lemon Tea of Love
A couple had an argument in a café, neither willing to compromise. The boy stormed out, leaving his girlfriend behind in tears.
Frustrated, the girl stirred the cool lemon tea in front of her, venting her anger by using a spoon to mash the fresh, unpeeled lemon slices in the cup. The lemon slices had already been crushed beyond recognition, and the tea now carried a bitter taste from the lemon peel.
The girl called the waiter over, requesting a new cup of tea made with peeled lemons.
The waiter glanced at the girl without saying a word, took away the now cloudy tea, and returned with a fresh cup of iced lemon tea. However, the lemons in this cup were still unpeeled.
Already upset, the girl became even angrier. She called the waiter over again. “I said the lemons in the tea should be peeled. Didn’t you hear me clearly?” she scolded.
The waiter looked at her with clear, bright eyes and calmly said, “Miss, please don’t be upset. Do you know that after lemon peel is soaked long enough, its bitterness dissolves into the tea, creating a refreshing, mellow flavor? That’s exactly what you need right now. So, please don’t rush. Don’t try to squeeze all the flavor out of the lemon in just three minutes—that will only make the tea cloudy and bitter, and everything will turn into a mess.”
The girl froze for a moment, feeling a sense of something inside her being touched. She looked at the waiter and asked, “Then how long does it take for the lemon to fully release its flavor?”
The waiter smiled and said, “Twelve hours. After twelve hours, the lemon will have released all its essence, and you’ll have the most delicious lemon tea. But you’ll need to be patient and wait for twelve hours.”
The waiter paused and continued, “Actually, it’s not just about making tea. Any trouble in life, as long as you give it twelve hours of patience and waiting, you’ll find things aren’t as bad as they seem.”
The girl looked at him and asked, “Are you trying to tell me something?”
The waiter smiled, “I’m just teaching you how to brew lemon tea and casually discussing if the same method might also help create something beautiful in life.”
The waiter bowed and left.
The girl quietly reflected as she stared at the cup of lemon tea in front of her.
Back home, the girl decided to make her own cup of lemon tea. She cut the lemons into round, thin slices and placed them in the tea.
She watched the lemon slices quietly in the cup, seeing them “breathe,” as if each of their cells was opening up, with tiny, crystal-clear water droplets forming on them.
She was deeply moved. She felt the life and soul of the lemons slowly rising and gently releasing. Twelve hours later, she tasted the most exquisite and delicious lemon tea she had ever had in her life.
The girl understood that it was because the lemon’s essence had fully infused into the tea that it tasted so extraordinary.
The doorbell rang, and when the girl opened the door, she found the boy standing outside, holding a large bouquet of roses, vibrant and fresh.
“Can you forgive me?” he asked, a little awkwardly.
The girl smiled, pulled him inside, and placed a cup of lemon tea in front of him.
“Let’s make a promise,” the girl said. “No matter what troubles we face in the future, we’re not allowed to lose our temper. Let’s take a moment to think about this cup of lemon tea.”
“Why think about lemon tea?” The boy was confused.
“Because we need to patiently wait twelve hours,” she said.
Later, the girl applied the concept of lemon tea to all areas of her life, and her life became lively and beautiful because of it.
The girl peacefully savored the wonderful taste of the lemon tea, as well as the wonderful taste of life.
Remember the words of the waiter: “If you try to squeeze all the flavor out of the lemon in three minutes, you’ll make the tea bitter and cloudy.”
Life is like tea—wait slowly and savor it carefully, and its taste is endless.
However, don’t wait too long. Tea steeped for too long becomes undrinkable; life, if waited out for too long, becomes bland and flavorless.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
