稻田里有座咖啡馆There is a coffee shop in the rice field

图/长沙晚报全媒体记者 李锋 余劭劼 尹昊天

浏阳山间，稻子正在抽穗。风从山谷灌进来，把整片稻田吹成绿色的海。田埂边，有一间由鸡棚和老屋改造成的咖啡馆，门口立着四根木桩，木桩上是店名——“甲由咖啡”。主理人杨晶，52岁。三年前，她名下有23家咖啡连锁店。现在，她选择在这片稻田里，重启她的创业故事。

杨晶的咖啡人生始于2006年。当时，她在长沙人民西路开出第一家精品咖啡馆。此后十几年，店越开越多，长沙、贵阳、昆明，二十多家连锁店散落在不同城市的街角。每天精心打扮、巡店、喝咖啡、聊天——那曾是她习以为常的生活。

2020年，一切戛然而止。门店一家接一家关停，十几年的事业一夜跌入谷底。负债、迷茫。“从一个那么高的高度，到二十多家店全部没有了，那个时候心里很难受。”杨晶说。

转折发生在一片稻田边。她站在高处，望见了一片翠绿的稻田。翠绿的稻田里，“封存着”一幢夯土的老房子。房子荒废了多年，平时只当作鸡棚。“但这片稻田太美了！我当时就感觉到，城里的人就像花盆里的植物，当花盆打破，脚踩着泥土，根才可以无极限地生长。如果能躺在这片稻田上喝杯咖啡，多好。”杨晶说，那一刻她整个人忽然松弛下来。

没有商业计划书，没有融资方案。一个“我想喝杯咖啡”的念头，在稻田边扎了根。店名“甲由”，既意味着从一片稻田出发，向下扎根，向上生长，同时也谐音“加油”。杨晶说：“是啊，我五十多岁了，还要加油。”

原本，她做好了熬两年的准备。但稻田边的风比她想象的更急切。没做任何推广，两个月，咖啡店客流暴涨。最忙的时候，从早九时到晚十二时，一天做了几百杯咖啡，杨晶坦言完全没想到。从长沙驱车两小时赶来喝咖啡的市民刘女士说：“这里有城市咖啡馆没有的亲切感，而且现场比网图更美更‘出片’。”

在城市的咖啡叙事里，效率是核心：排队、扫码、取餐、走人。在这间“村咖”里，杨晶选了完全相反的路。她坚持人工点单，坚持让咖啡师跟客人讲述每杯咖啡的来历，坚持双手的温度永远是机器无法取代的。“这个地方一定是慢慢来的地方。慢慢来，才比较快。”

杨晶说，人们开车两个小时来到这里，不是为了快速喝完一杯咖啡，而是为了稻田、微风，和不必追赶时间的松弛。

意外的是，一群年轻人因为这间咖啡馆，选择留在了农村。“00后”员工小欧说：“我还有很多待完成的事，想在大自然中完成。”员工甜心说：“相比城市，我更喜欢乡间的自由。在这里可以把‘脑子丢掉’，开心就好！”

从一杯咖啡的香气弥散开来，浏阳市张坊镇上洪村沉寂多年的日常被悄悄点亮。荒废的老屋焕发了新的生机，僻静的村路有了络绎不绝的访客，曾经留不住年轻人的山乡，因为一间咖啡馆长出了新的可能。

稻浪还在生长，咖啡香会顺着山风飘向更远的地方。而关于“慢慢来”的故事，才刚刚翻开第一页。

Photo/Changsha Evening News Full Media Reporters Li Feng, Yu Shaojie, Yin Haotian

In the mountains of Liuyang, rice is heading. The wind came in from the valley, blowing the entire rice field into a green sea. On the edge of the field, there is a coffee shop that has been transformed from a chicken coop and an old house. There are four wooden stakes standing at the entrance, and the name of the shop is "Jia You Coffee" on the stakes. Director Yang Jing, 52 years old. Three years ago, she had 23 coffee chain stores under her name. Now, she chooses to restart her entrepreneurial story in this rice field.

Yang Jing's coffee career began in 2006. At that time, she opened her first boutique coffee shop on Renmin West Road in Changsha. In the following decade, more and more stores opened, with over twenty chain stores scattered on street corners in different cities such as Changsha, Guiyang, and Kunming. Every day, she meticulously dresses up, patrols the store, drinks coffee, and chats - that was once her accustomed life.

In 2020, everything came to a sudden end. One store after another closed down, causing the business to plummet overnight after more than a decade. Debt and confusion. From such a high altitude to the loss of more than twenty stores, it was very uncomfortable for me at that time, "Yang Jing said.

The turning point occurred by the edge of a rice field. She stood high and saw a lush green rice field. In the emerald green rice fields, there is a rammed earth old house "sealed". The house has been abandoned for many years and is usually only used as a chicken coop. But this rice field is so beautiful! I felt at that moment that the people in the city were like plants in a flowerpot. When the flowerpot broke, they stepped on the soil, and the roots could grow infinitely. If I could lie on this rice field and have a cup of coffee, that would be great, "Yang Jing said. At that moment, her whole body suddenly relaxed.

No business plan, no financing plan. A thought of 'I want to have a cup of coffee' took root by the rice field. The store name "Jiayu" means starting from a rice field, rooting downwards, growing upwards, and also sounds like "keep going". Yang Jing said, "Yes, I'm in my fifties and I still need to work hard

Originally, she was prepared to endure for two years. But the wind by the rice field was more urgent than she had imagined. Without any promotion, the coffee shop's foot traffic skyrocketed in two months. At her busiest time, from 9am to 12pm, she made hundreds of cups of coffee a day, which Yang Jing admitted she never expected. Ms. Liu, a citizen who drove two hours from Changsha to have coffee, said, "There is a sense of familiarity here that city cafes do not have, and the scene is even more beautiful and 'photogenic' than online pictures

In the coffee narrative of the city, efficiency is at the core: queuing, scanning codes, picking up meals, and leaving. In this' village cafe ', Yang Jing chose the completely opposite path. She insists on manual ordering, insists on having baristas explain the origin of each cup of coffee to customers, and insists that the temperature of her hands is always irreplaceable by machines. This place must be a slow place. Take it slow, it's faster

Yang Jing said that people come here after driving for two hours not to quickly finish a cup of coffee, but for the rice fields, breeze, and relaxation without having to catch up with time.

Surprisingly, a group of young people chose to stay in the countryside because of this caf é. Employee Xiao Ou, born in the 2000s, said, "I still have a lot of things to do and I want to complete them in nature." Employee Sweetheart said, "Compared to the city, I prefer the freedom of the countryside. Here, I can throw away my 'brain' and be happy

The aroma of a cup of coffee wafted out, quietly illuminating the long dormant daily life of Hongcun in Zhangfang Town, Liuyang City. The abandoned old house has regained new vitality, and the secluded village road has attracted a continuous stream of visitors. The once uninhabitable mountain village has opened up new possibilities due to a coffee shop director.

The rice waves are still growing, and the aroma of coffee will drift further along the mountain breeze. The story of 'take it slow' has just turned the first page.