Chapter 172: Shit, I

Old Chen was still evaluating the tea.

After the aroma assessment ended, when the stopwatch on his phone reached two minutes, the tea infusion that had steeped in hot water for two minutes was poured by Old Chen into a white ceramic tea bowl for the second step of evaluation.

The oolong tea made by An Sheng, before steeping, had leaves with a greenish hue; after the first steep and pour, the liquor turned orange-red, with faint tea fragments lightly floating at the bottom, overall clear and bright with no cloudiness.

"."

Seeing the color of the tea liquor, Old Chen's eyes flickered with a strange expression. He poured himself a cup to taste it, then added hot water to the covered bowl for a second, longer steep.

The orange-red liquor entered his mouth, its intense floral fragrance immediately drilling into his nostrils; even before it touched his tongue, he could already sense its tea character.

The first impression was the sweet richness of black tea, with a faint fruity note Old Chen couldn't quite name.

After swallowing, the black tea's sweetness and the fruitiness, along with the tightening sensation on his tongue, gradually faded; upon aftertaste, he detected intense floral notes and a crisp, refreshing quality reminiscent of green tea.

"."

Old Chen remained silent, smacking his lips, still deeply savoring the lingering aftertaste.

The unnaturally intense aroma, coupled with the indescribable fruity-malty sensation, left this veteran tea farmer—who had switched from tilling fields to cultivating tea gardens—utterly baffled.

The intensity was easy to explain: it could be artificial flavoring or other additives.

But flavored teas have drawbacks: any tea infused with artificial flavoring cannot be steeped in hot water, or it will produce obvious off-flavors and intense astringency, and the liquor will definitely appear cloudy.

But the tea roasted by Fuli Lao Ye had none of that—it was perfectly, classically pure fragrant oolong.

"How's it? Isn't my roasting awesome?" An Sheng beamed at Old Chen, eager for his evaluation of this fragrant oolong.

An Sheng truly had a gift for tea-making, but he often had sudden flashes of inspiration, inventing countless new technologies that left veteran tea masters speechless.

Especially that radiation-infused fragrant tea—even after seeing the nuclear radiation test report, the veteran tea masters would never dare drink it.

He had talent, yes, but it carried a tinge of heresy, a betrayal of ancestral traditions.

". I take back what I just said—this tea is definitely not flavored. But why is its floral aroma so unnaturally intense? It doesn't feel like it came from Ah Hong's tea bushes."

"If sold on the market, without brand premium, I'd pay between 1, 00 and 1, 00 yuan per jin for this intensely fragrant oolong."

After a moment of thought, Old Chen spoke the price he assigned to this tea in his mind:

"Especially the black tea-like sweetness, carrying a honeyed richness—it left a deep impression. The aftertaste brought no cloying sensation, only the crisp refreshment of green tea."

"?"

Hearing Old Chen's evaluation, An Sheng's head sprouted a question mark.

"How could there be fruit or honey notes? I've roasted this tea before in my past life—it's just oolong finished with floral processing to emphasize aroma. How could it possibly taste like black tea with honey?"

Skeptical, An Sheng poured a cup from the tea bowl and took a sip himself.

His reason for asking Old Chen to taste it was simple: he didn't know whether his taste buds had changed since becoming a fox.

What if the tea tasted perfect to him but bland or overpowering to humans?

So he specifically invited Old Chen to taste it—if there were flaws, twenty-four hours was enough time for An Sheng to roast new tea from the remaining ingredients.

"Mmmph, mmmph."

The fox's pink, glossy tongue extended, dipping into the slightly cooled tea liquor, curling naturally to draw some into his mouth. An Sheng smacked his lips, savoring the tea with his taste buds.

The honeyed, fruity aroma of black tea, sticky and clinging, appeared instantly in his mouth.

"Why does this honey note feel so familiar?" As he smacked his lips, An Sheng sensed something wrong—this fig-like sweetness could not be natural to oolong tea leaves, and it felt oddly familiar.

As if struck by a thought, An Sheng froze, turned his head, and buried his snout into his shoulder.

"I'm fucking kidding myself! I knew that feeling felt familiar!"

"Am I the tea flavoring?!"

Realizing the source of the strange aroma, An Sheng's smile stiffened, his face filled with bewilderment.

He swore!

He had washed his hands before roasting—but since he wore gloves, he couldn't feel the temperature well, and no tea master ever wears gloves during hand-roasting!

This tea received high praise from Old Chen.

For a veteran tea connoisseur like Old Chen, a tea he'd willingly pay around a thousand yuan per jin for.

On the retail market, branded and labeled with a master's certification, its price could easily triple to over three thousand yuan for a half-jin gift box.

The tea… might be good.

But it contradicted An Sheng's original intent.

He wanted to give Ah Qing's family a tea that was compliant, legal, and mass-producible—not one that required his own hands to make.

"No choice!"

"It's come to this—I'll have to use that trick." An Sheng's expression darkened, making up his mind.

This tea, praised by Old Chen, would surely break through the competition and reach the finals of the tea contest.

This tea would continue competing.

If it won a prize, he'd slap on a "Master-Certified" label, then casually roast a hundred jin or so for Ah Qing's family, selling it in stores and online simultaneously.

But this wouldn't be the main product—it was for building reputation, then launching identical raw materials and machine-made versions at two hundred yuan per jin, a staple price, which could work.

"Fuli Lao Ye, do you sell this tea? I only need three jin to register for the contest—I see at least five jin left in that burlap sack." After savoring the tea, Old Chen wanted to buy a jin to take home.

"Ying ying ying—"

An Sheng, sounding weak, waved his hand and typed on his phone screen:

【Forget the money—take a jin home if you like it. This tea isn't that good—it's just a trick. When you drink it, cover your nose first, and you'll taste something different.】

Old Chen, puzzled by the message, followed Fuli Lao Ye's advice: he pinched his nose before sipping.

Pinching his nose like drinking bitter medicine, he sipped the tea.

This time, without the intense aroma, his mouth naturally produced saliva and his tongue tightened.

As he tasted the sweetness, he also sensed the tea's astringency; gradually, his tongue grew numb and tingled, and after a moment, a faint green tea aftertaste emerged.

"The aroma…"

Drinking as Fuli Lao Ye instructed, Old Chen instantly perceived the tea's flaws. His eyes lit up—he understood now why this tea, made from mediocre leaves, could taste so premium.

The problem was the aroma: its intensity triggered a "plum-salivation" effect, stimulating saliva and a tightening sensation, combined with the lingering fragrance in the nasal cavity, temporarily fooling the palate.

Though deceptive, it didn't diminish Old Chen's sense that the tea's quality was genuinely excellent.

No—it was the tea master's skill.

This trick was truly cunning—who the hell invented this roasting method? Judging by the look of him, it was some heartless merchant who bought cheap leaves, roasted them hard, and sold them to gullible customers.

Of course!

Old Chen had never suspected Fuli Lao Ye—in his traditional view, Fuli Lao Ye was a legendary outlaw who dealt in international duty-free trade; he'd never care about the meager profits from tea.

He must have seen this technique before, which was why he could replicate it in Zhangxizhen.

"Fuli Lao Ye's tea is a lock—it'll rank in the top five, as long as the temperature stays high and the aroma doesn't fade."

【Just get it through. Register this tea under Ah Qing's name, alongside Lao Deng's tea, for the contest. They're from the same tea garden anyway—only the tea master differs. The certification can be identical.】

An Sheng let out a long sigh.

This was insane—he was literally acting as flavoring.

Shouldn't have been surprised—after all, he was a fox spirit.

(End of Chapter)