Chapter 171: Old Chen, Stop Working! Come Drink Tea!

What's there to win! You're past your prime! Still playing wordplay games every day—what's the point? Come trick An into wishing you good luck before the match!

Qing, don't hold me! Put me down! I'm going to grab his crotch!

The little fox, scammed by a strange old man, whimpered nonstop in the ancestral hall banquet hall and burst into curses.

An Sheng's past life was as a sales rep; later, he saved up some money and opened his own tea shop.

Though he didn't run a huge business, any merchant, when talking business or during holidays, always placed great importance on auspiciousness or good omens—no matter how the omen came about, the intent had to be positive.

On the eve of the competition, the little fox was scammed, nearly making An Sheng lose his temper and fight the stranger.

There's no way around it: unless the fox curses aloud, every sound it makes is basically "yīng."

Or else, a crisp, bell-like laugh.

"If the local dialect's auspicious, use dialect wordplay; if Mandarin's auspicious, use Mandarin. Pfft! Old man!"

Though held tight by Yu Xueqing, the little fox still couldn't help cursing the beggar in human skin.

"Xiao An? What did you just eat?"

Yu Xueqing hugged the little fox from behind, her arms naturally resting on its belly. Normally, foxes have slender builds, but for some reason, Xiao An's belly was round and plump.

Yu Xueqing gave it a gentle shake—no sloshing sound came from inside; the fox was solid.

Yu Xueqing looked at Xiao An with suspicion, as if suspecting he'd snuck out to steal food.

"."

The little fox turned its head and saw Yu Xueqing's face—suspicious and stern.

"This question is very complex. I might need to draw an auxiliary line, solve a geometric equation, then combine psychology and folklore to explain."

"But in short, I begged for food!"

"Yīng yīng! Master, master! Someone hung a giant fish in front of our door—I ate half of it, jumping up to nibble it, eating while moving, not fat."

Yu Xueqing: "."

"Xiao An, are you trying to die? You dare eat random stuff off the street! What if it had rat poison? Spit it all out right now!"

After a moment of stunned silence, Yu Xueqing panicked and grabbed the little fox, shaking it violently, nearly reaching in to force its throat to vomit up the stolen food.

An Sheng's head felt like it was being shaken into mush—he quickly raised his hand, signaling Old Chen to come rescue him.

Old Chen stepped over to mediate, pointing out that An Sheng's stolen snack was likely the dried mackerel left outside by villagers to dry.

The village distributes rat poison uniformly—it's never just tossed randomly on the streets. Relax, Qing.

…………

"Cough cough—Old Chen, don't mind it. It's normal for kids to be mischievous at home; it's just that Qing is the extreme type."

As the ancestral worship ceremony neared its end, An Sheng secretly invited Old Chen to join him behind the ancestral hall's exhibition area. On the way, An Sheng couldn't help explaining.

In Qing's home, his overall family status was still very high.

But Qing was an extreme outlier in the group.

"Yīng yīng yīng! Yīng yīng—" The little fox stared solemnly at Old Chen, telling him not to spread the story.

He had no shame at all—every day he acted cute, begged for food, and mooched off others.

But An Sheng felt he had principles—he just wanted everyone to know how adorable the Lucky Fox was.

"Lucky Fox, why don't you just type?"

Hearing the yīng yīng sounds behind him, Old Chen scratched his head and spoke.

He didn't understand. He completely didn't understand what the Lucky Fox had just said.

【Nothing much—just come drink tea. Tell me what the Lucky Fox's tea tastes like, and help me get registered under Qing's household to join the tea contest.】

Seeing Old Chen hand over his phone, An Sheng typed two lines, then pointed to the temperature-controlled room nearby.

Inside the temperature-controlled room, nearly thirty catties of fresh tea leaves, after days of deep processing by An Sheng, had been reduced to less than eight catties of finished tea, stored in a burlap sack.

The tea had been processed, but one final step remained—it wasn't yet ready for packaging.

"You actually made it?"

Old Chen untied the burlap sack, staring at the coarse, tightly rolled leaves shaped like bird beaks, sniffing the bag's mouth—no off-odors, only a powerful, fragrant aroma—and couldn't help showing a look of astonishment.

Though Old Chen hadn't tasted it, just from the uniformity and neatness of the tea leaves, he could tell the tea master had real skill.

Otherwise, after so many dehydration steps, the leaves would've turned to powder.

Light-fragrance oolong tea doesn't require roasting, so its aroma can be smelled directly.

Old Chen smelled only rich floral notes—no burnt wok odor or other off-notes.

From smell and sight alone, the tea made by the Lucky Fox had already met production standards.

"But… the tea stems here seem to be more than twice as many as in normal oolong tea?"

While evaluating the Lucky Fox's tea, Old Chen noticed a strange phenomenon: these tea stems were clearly added artificially, not natural.

Old Chen knew the Lucky Fox's tea-making process—he'd heard it straight from the Lucky Fox's mouth, who told him to teach Qing how to make it—but what about these stems?

Though puzzled, Old Chen still took a measured amount of tea from the burlap sack, went to the adjacent tea room, boiled water, and prepared to taste.

Normally, people brew oolong tea with eight to ten grams per serving.

But this time, Old Chen didn't use much—he precisely weighed out five grams using an electronic scale.

Daily tea drinking is always about comfort and pleasure.

But this was a formal tasting—standard national protocol required five grams.

Old Chen first soaked the lidded bowl in hot water; once warmed, he placed the oolong tea inside, poured in hot water, and waited.

As he poured the water, he also opened the stopwatch app on his phone.

One minute passed.

Old Chen lifted the lid, brought it to his nose, and began the first step of tea evaluation: smelling the aroma.

The steaming bowl released an intensely rich floral fragrance and tea essence that rushed straight into Old Chen's nostrils. He sniffed lightly, froze, and slowly a giant question mark appeared above his head.

Old Chen covered the bowl again and looked at the Lucky Fox, seated on the tea table, and said:

"Lucky Fox, how much artificial flavoring did you put in this tea? How can it be this fragrant? I haven't even tasted it yet, and I can already feel the tea's depth and floral notes?"

Tea essence sounds mystical, but in simple terms, it's the sensation the tea broth gives your taste buds.

Tea essence depends not just on the tea itself, but also on water quality and teaware.

An Sheng's tea made Old Chen's mouth water and his tongue tighten—even before he'd taken a sip.

"Tightening" meant his tongue went slightly numb; his mind already imagined the flavor.

Oolong tea often carries floral notes—that's why some oolongs are named after flowers.

"Hehehe, this is my special blend—crafted specifically for the judges' standards."

The little fox grinned proudly, gesturing for Old Chen to taste the broth.

Evaluating oolong tea comes down to aroma and the rich, thick sensation upon tasting.

(End of Chapter)