Chapter 80: One Thousand Yuan is About Right

The situation in Old Sun's household is as follows—

Every morning, Old Sun's wife drops their granddaughter off at school, after which she goes to do free "health" sessions with a few other aunties.

This hobby has lasted for many years, from the initial "Sun God" brand to the later "Quanjian," and now she's doing something called "Xiangmei."

Old Sun went from being indifferent to her hobbies, to gradually becoming vigilant, and then to letting it be. This is all because no matter what his wife does, she always manages to be that miraculous woman who doesn't spend a single cent in the midst of a thousand-strong crowd!

However, this takes up time, so for many years, the responsibility of grocery shopping has fallen to Old Sun.

From the beginning, when he would return from buying vegetables only to be nagged because he didn't know how to haggle, he has now reached the point where he can tell at a glance whether pork is good or bad, and whether the edamame in the shell is tender or not.

But men, after all, tend to be spendthrift. If his wife didn't control his grocery money every day, he would want to try anything fresh he saw; he could be considered a trendy old man.

This time, seeing a girl selling wild vegetables and noticing a group of peers queuing up, he spent twenty yuan on a whim to join the fun.

From then on, there was no stopping him!

From scanning the QR code to join the group, to actively responding, and then to waiting there at a fixed time every day, the household can no longer do without these vegetables.

Because of these vegetables, Old Sun became a die-hard fan. The day Song Tan posted about the tea leaves in the group, he was instantly hot-blooded and spent a huge sum to buy this one liang.

Of course, he didn't regret it when tossing and turning at night, but he was a grown man, after all—could he really go back on his word after paying the money?

This regret instantly turned into wild joy the next morning at the vegetable market, just by peeling back a corner of the paper to take a sniff.

In short, the coincidences and fate involved are impossible to explain in detail.

But setting all that aside, the fact remains that the tea cost one thousand yuan per liang. Now, facing his wife's seemingly casual question, Old Sun's face instantly turned bitter.

Just then, one of the old buddies sitting on the sofa spoke up:

"Well... uh, about that..."

He held his cup steadily with one hand and stood up:

"Sister-in-law, don't bother preparing anything. I just remembered I have something to do at home tonight, so I have to head back now."

Then, seemingly casually, he looked at the tea in his hand: "This tea is quite fragrant. Since it's already brewed, it would be a waste to leave it here... I'll take it with me! I'll bring the cup back to you later."

As he spoke, he turned and left. His other hand was carefully shielding the mouth of the cup to prevent any dust from getting in.

With him taking the lead, the others looked at each other, stood up one after another, and politely said:

"Sister-in-law, well... you see... my place... that thing... in short... I'll be heading back too."

In the blink of an eye, the group of people had left completely, and even the teacups were taken away.

The only thing left for Old Sun was the tea he had for himself, plus a cup of the tea-washing water that had been pooled together.

Old Sun's wife had been smiling, but the moment the door closed, her expression instantly dropped.

"You! You buy tea, so buy tea—why the secrecy?"

"I've only nagged you about it once a year, and you actually took it to heart? Drink as much as you want; how many jin of tea can you drink in a year anyway!"

She rolled her eyes: "I wouldn't even mind if you bought the three or five hundred yuan per jin kind!"

Hearing this, Old Sun was happy for a moment, then immediately felt dejected again.

At this moment, the tea buds before him were fresh and tender, the soup was clear and green, and the fragrance was curling upward.

But for him, the surprise and anticipation of drinking good tea had vanished.

He sat there with a drooping face, stammering:

"This... this... I have a bit of taste when it comes to tea... always drinking those cheap ones isn't really..."

The more he said that, the more Old Sun's wife felt a thud in her heart.

She stared at him intently:

"You didn't actually splurge and buy it for a thousand yuan per jin, did you?"

Old Sun instantly felt relieved, then hurriedly nodded:

"About that... one thousand yuan is about right."

One thousand yuan.

Old Sun's wife was clearly pained.

She walked over, took a sniff of the tea, and finally nodded:

"True, you get what you pay for. If the tea is of this quality, a thousand yuan isn't impossible."

She blew on it, took a small sip, and then her eyes lit up. Without the slightest hesitation, she took the teacup away!

"It's really good. I'll taste this cup—by the way, don't just keep such good tea for yourself. Pack some for me tomorrow; I'll treat my old sisters to it. They took me for a pedicure today."

Old Sun had a mournful face. Holding the cup of tea-washing water left for him, he felt as if he could already see the tea leaves flying away.

Downstairs, the few men holding teacups looked at each other. After smelling the fragrance again and feeling the wild spring wind outside, they hesitated:

"Otherwise... shall we drink this cup first? It'll be easier to bring some home."

Everyone blew on their tea and took a sip without hesitation—

"Mmm!"

Late at night.

Perhaps because of the tea, Old Sun tossed and turned, unable to sleep, feeling full of energy.

He looked at his wife lying motionless on the bed. Thinking about how the little tea he had left was going to be shared, he felt a pang of heartache. He quietly got up and started rummaging through the freezer in the kitchen in the middle of the night.

That small bag of tea leaves was taken out again. He found a bag in the kitchen and started dividing it, a pinch at a time, feeling more heartache the more he divided it.

Finally, after thinking and thinking, he poured half of the divided tea back.

But after a careful look, if he did that, there would only be a tiny pinch for his wife to take tomorrow, and she would definitely laugh at her.

So he started dividing it all over again.

Just as he was struggling, his phone suddenly rang.

Opening it, he saw a message from an old buddy in the group:

"Old Sun, where did you buy that tea? Good heavens, it's keeping me so energetic tonight, I feel like I could climb a mountain!"

With that, four or five others in the group also popped up.

Because they were old and it was late at night, it was inconvenient to type, so they almost all sent voice messages:

"You can't sleep either? Oh my, this tea is really strong. I've been drinking tea for so many years, and I'm usually not affected."

"Exactly! Old Sun, where did you buy this tea? Hurry up and take us there!"

Old Sun was instantly proud and sent a voice message back:

"That's right! It's one thousand yuan per liang. If it wasn't good tea, would I be so willing to spend the money?"

"Let me tell you, I told you before that there's a vegetable stall at the market that sells delicious food, but you didn't believe me. If you had stayed last night, I guarantee you wouldn't have been able to put your bowls down!"

By the end, his tone was quite passionate.

But listening carefully, there was no other movement in the room, and he instantly felt relieved.

Just then!

A figure walked slowly out of the shadows of the living room:

"Old Sun, is this tea one thousand yuan per liang, or per jin?"

－－－－－－Author's Note－－－－－－