Noria

Noria is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. She is 17 years old and lives in a village in New Qian with her mother Lian and father Mikoa at the start of the narrative. For as long as Noria can remember, she has been acting as an apprentice to her father, the local tea master. Therefore, even after she completes her compulsory Matriculation Tests when she comes of age, there is "never any question that [she] would remain in [her] current apprenticeship with [her] father instead of continuing [her] studies in the city” (6). She is attached to the tea master trade, and is therefore reluctant to pursue any alternative future and career. Her mother believes that there are more opportunities for her outside of the village. Lian even urges Noria to come with her when she takes a researcher position at the University of Xingjing...