Chapter 249

"Very well." Waiting for the tea to cool slightly, Jin Ye took a small sip, and his eyes, which had been somewhat drowsy, instantly widened.

"This, this..."

Jin Ye had been sleeping soundly and was quite displeased at being woken up; if it hadn't been Zhang Ping'an who came in person, he wouldn't have bothered to get out of bed.

Now, his taste buds were directly conquered, and that trace of sleepiness was driven away; this was simply more fragrant than the Imperial Tribute Tea he used to steal from his grandfather, and the effect was even more astonishing.

"How is it, Jin Ye? It didn't disappoint you, did it?"

"Not disappointed, not disappointed at all, it's simply a surprise." Immediately, Jin Ye seemed to notice his loss of composure and coughed twice.

"Ahem, this Divine Doctor brother, how much of this tea leaves do you have?"

"This is from a tea tree my master painstakingly cultivated for forty years. The quantity is very small; the yield of dried leaves per batch is only a little over four catties, and we still have to keep some for ourselves to drink."

"Hmm." Jin Ye nodded without suspicion. He had stolen sips of the tribute tea bestowed by the emperors of the previous dynasty, but this was clearly of higher quality.

"That Divine Doctor brother, how do you intend to sell it? How much can you spare?"

"I can spare two catties. You name your price."

Zhang Ping'an also found it hard to set a price, fearing he would regret asking for too little, so he simply left it to him to make an offer.

After hearing this, Jin Ye was also conflicted. He knew that tea leaves weren't cheap outside, but tea of this quality couldn't be judged by market prices.

"Two hundred taels of gold," Jin Ye said, gritting his teeth.

Beside him, Tong Laosi opened his mouth in shock; this was equivalent to ten taels of gold for one tael of tea. Then, he quietly poured himself a cup as well.

"Slurp." This sound was somewhat jarring in the dark night.

"..."

"If you want to drink, drink properly," Jin Ye said, a black line appearing on his forehead.

"Oh, oh, okay."

Tong Laosi also looked embarrassed; he hadn't expected to make such a loud sound. However, this tea was indeed better than anything he had ever drunk before, though he felt it wasn't worth that price.

"Fine, then we shall go by Jin Ye's word."

"Good, good, good." He immediately had Tong Laosi go fetch the Big Yellow Fish, while he himself slowly sipped tea with Zhang Ping'an.

"Divine Doctor brother, are you planning to earn enough money to go out and live it up?"

"Yes."

"Do you have an ideal destination?"

"Mostly Xiangjiang, perhaps the Beautiful Country."

"Hmm, those are indeed both good places."

Jin Ye nodded, expressing his agreement. He had already sent people ahead to pave the way in the Beautiful Country, and he estimated that in another three to five years, after laying a foundation there, he would be ready to leave as well.

"And you, Jin Ye?"

"Me? I suppose it will be much the same as you, Divine Doctor brother."

Zhang Ping'an nodded and didn't ask further; if you ask people, they won't tell you much, and you'll only be asking for trouble.

After Tong Laosi returned, Zhang Ping'an took the Big Yellow Fish and prepared to go home, but Jin Ye's voice came from behind him.

"Divine Doctor brother, send over more of this tea in the future."

"Will do. There is only one plant at the moment, but there might be more next year."

"Good, I will wait for your news, brother."

"Good."

After Zhang Ping'an left, Jin Ye hurriedly poured the tea leaves from the kraft paper into his dedicated porcelain jar and sealed it tight before letting out a long sigh of relief.

"This is clearly freshly stir-fried, definitely not more than three days old. There is no place to grow tea in Sijiucheng; where did he get it from?"

This was a lapse on Zhang Ping'an's part; he should have waited two days. Fortunately, he had placed it in his space to settle right after stir-frying; it would have been worse if he had left it outside.

Jin Ye tapped his fingers. He had just drunk a cup of tea and was wide awake, but after thinking for a long time, he had no leads. So, he drank while he thought, until the sky began to brighten, yet he still couldn't figure out the reason, and he had run to the toilet several times.

"Jin Ye, up so early today?"

"Hmm? It's already dawn?" Jin Ye didn't feel the slightest bit of fatigue; on the contrary, he was still full of vigor.

"Truly miraculous. This is eight hundred times better than that coffee stuff."

"If only he could leave with us in a few years. Should I give him a heads-up then?"

Jin Ye also wanted to keep a Divine Doctor by his side so he could enjoy a few more happy years and go see the foreign women.

Zhang Ping'an knew nothing of this and was busy stretching and exercising. At six o'clock, he woke up the four little ones—Dongzi, Donglai, Bang Geng, and his younger brother—and began teaching them Body Refining.

"Xiao Ling, you come and teach them; I'm going to cook."

"Okay."

When Zhang Ping'an first got up, he had closed the kitchen doors and windows tightly, stewed Lamb Soup, and made Steamed Buns; now he was going to add some Medicinal Cuisine.

"Sniff, sniff."

"Why do I smell the scent of Lamb Soup? Whose family is enjoying themselves so much early in the morning? How extravagant," Yan Bugui said indignantly.

At this time, Yan Bugui's house was directly opposite Zhang Ping'an's, separated only by the span of the Middle Courtyard.

"Head of the house, why didn't I smell anything? Are you dreaming about drinking Lamb Soup?" Yang Ruihua looked suspicious; she hadn't smelled a thing.

"Is that so?" Yan Bugui sniffed carefully again, but the scent was indeed gone, and he began to doubt himself.

Zhang Ping'an would never have guessed that in the brief moment he opened the door, Yan Bugui had smelled it; once he entered the kitchen, he drew all the scents into his space.

"Forget it, forget it, it's past six, time to get up," Yan Bugui muttered as he put on his clothes; he wanted to go to the courtyard to check.

It must be said that in the show, Yan Bugui was definitely a diligent person; he got up early almost every spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

After getting dressed, Yan Bugui wandered around the entire courtyard and didn't smell any scent of Lamb Soup, so he finally gave up.

At seven o'clock, the four little ones finished their morning exercise, and Zhang Ping'an called them to eat. At the same time, Yan Bugui, who was eating, seemed to smell the lamb scent again...

"Jiecheng, your father is obsessed. On your day off, go buy some lamb and stew some soup for your father to drink," Yang Ruihua whispered.

"Oh, alright." Yan Jiecheng didn't feel surprised either; after all, it had indeed been a while since the family had eaten meat.

"From now on, you must come over to exercise every morning. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Uncle (Great-Uncle)."

"Mm." Zhang Ping'an filled their water bottles with Space Water again before letting them go to school.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year again; the festive atmosphere this year was much stronger than the previous two years.

The number of fattening pigs at the pig farm had also broken through the five-thousand mark. Nie Hansheng was highly praised, and Zhang Ping'an, as the Logistics Director, naturally had his share of the credit.

On the Northern Little New Year, Zhang Ping'an sent three Wild Boars to each of the two Sub-bureaus, along with a certain amount of Big Bone as a bonus.

"Hahaha, Ping'an, you're a stand-up guy! We'll be able to have a prosperous New Year again."

"Hahaha, that's right, Ping'an is our timely rain every year."

In fact, Zhang Ping'an had been sending a hundred or eighty catties of these Big Bone to the two Sub-bureaus almost every month; they were all trimmed off when he sent meat to the remnants of the old regime, and there was still plenty of meat on them, just so they could drink some meat broth every day to maintain their strength.

"We are wearing this uniform, after all; I have to provide some benefits for the brothers, don't I?"

"Hahaha."

Everyone felt grateful in their hearts; in this day and age, even bones picked clean weren't given away for free, let alone the ones Zhang Ping'an sent, which still had quite a bit of meat on them.

After settling the accounts, Zhang Ping'an went to Wang Weiguo's office for a stroll to deliver some New Year goods.

"Wang Shu, are you busy?"

"Yeah."

Wang Weiguo didn't even lift his head, burying himself in writing documents and scratching his head from time to time, which made Zhang Ping'an want to laugh.

They were all rough men who had transferred from the military; reading documents and writing summaries was truly difficult for him. Zhang Ping'an brewed him a cup of tea, left the New Year goods, and went back.