Enamel-painted cup with overlapping floral patterns

A process that gradually gets better

While chatting with friends, I looked back on my tea-drinking journey and suddenly realized that drinking tea is like a process of gradually getting into a better state.

When eating sugarcane, the end is sweeter than the tip, so some people can't eat any more after reaching the tip.

When Gu Kaizhi ate sugarcane, he would first eat the less sweet top part, and then the bottom part. Someone asked, "Why do you eat it like that?"

Gu Kaizhi replied, "It's gradually getting better."

"Whenever Kaizhi ate sugarcane, he always ate it from the tail to the top, which some people found strange. He said, 'I'm gradually getting into a better state.'"
Excerpt from "Biography of Gu Kaizhi" in the Book of Jin

Most people, when they drink tea for the first time, may only taste the bitterness and wonder how anyone could drink something so bitter.

The second time I drank tea, perhaps to quench my thirst, I drank several large cups and felt quite refreshed.

After that, I could occasionally drink tea and gradually became attracted by its charming aroma.
Then came every step of the process of developing a love for tea.

Drinking tea is like reading a leisurely essay.

Like a movie that unfolds gradually, like a flower that blooms quietly.

Like a soothing melody, it allows one to willingly immerse oneself in the tranquil flow of time.