When Li Qingmu was ten, the leaky roof of her home still hadn't been repaired. Her father couldn't go without his medicine, and her mother's embroidery by lamplight was never finished.
A mountain storm brought a distinguished guest seeking shelter. Li Qingmu served them a cup of ordinary tea and earned herself an opportunity to go to the capital for work.
Before she left, her mother straightened her collar and told her to do her work properly and take care of herself. Qingmu remembered every word, tucked her employment contract into her clothes, and walked through the deep gates of the Minister of Rites' residence.
She had simple hopes: make good tea, send her wages home every month, and return once the family could afford a better life.
But life in a grand household involved far more than watching the water and timing the tea. Some people treated her sincerely; others smiled as they handed her difficult problems. Some gifts could be accepted, but other "kind gestures" required her to find a way to refuse.
Fortunately, people beyond the courtyard walls were always thinking of her.
Her younger brother's letters grew better with each one, and the boy who had grown up by her side was gradually developing feelings of his own.
Across mountains and rivers, in the steam rising from a cup of tea, lay the life she dreamed of and the people she could never stop thinking about.
Excellent! Great book!