Chapter 96: Participation [Third Update, Request Subscription]

7:30 p.m.

With Mo Yiqing’s expert driving, during rush hour, Yu Xueqing reached her front door in just over ten minutes.

But.

When she arrived at her house, Yu Xueqing froze upon seeing the pickup truck parked outside, her face filled with surprise.

“Huh? Why did Dad come to the old house?”

The pickup truck parked at the door was an old Foton, and Yu Xueqing recognized it immediately as her father’s.

“I’ll take a wild guess—it’s Old Chen. He came over to discuss entering the tea contest.”

The sharp-eared, keen-eyed fox, even from a distance, heard the voices of Yu Zhenghong and Chen Fengshui inside the house. An Sheng spoke with a peculiar expression.

“Your dad’s home too?”

Mo Yiqing had just parked when she heard Yu Xueqing muttering. She glanced around the entrance and asked:

“Aqing, where’s the nearest supermarket? I’d like to buy two bottles of wine and some cigarettes for your dad. It’s my first visit—I can’t show up empty-handed.”

“No need, no need. My dad gets jaw pain from smoking, and you’ve already bought so much for Xiao’an—how could you spend more?”

Yu Xueqing shook her head, helped Mo Yiqing unload the clothes she’d bought, and carried them inside.

Inside the courtyard, Yu Xueqing saw her father and mother smiling warmly. The village chief sat on a single sofa, muttering:

“Let’s settle this: for our village’s tea contest, the summer and autumn oolongs are slightly inferior to spring tea. Pay closer attention to the harvest period. By the way, if you can’t find a good tea maker, I can recommend one.”

“Autumn and summer teas are already in a tricky position. Without a skilled tea maker, breaking through will be hard.”

“Also, wild boars have been causing trouble on the mountain lately. All households with pets or who’ve invited the Master—”

Stare—

An Sheng, perched on Yu Xueqing’s shoulder, stared fixedly at Old Chen inside the house.

Old Chen sensed it, glanced sideways, and instantly stiffened—but pretended not to notice. He spoke sternly to Yu Zhenghong and Chen Peipei: “In short, when walking your pets, be careful. Give them plenty of snacks so they don’t get depressed and make noise from being cooped up.”

“Dad, Mom, I’m back. Hello, Uncle Chen.” Yu Xueqing walked in with the fox on her shoulder, beaming as she greeted her parents, then turned to Old Chen.

“Mom and Dad, come look—our school’s most beautiful female classmate came to visit us!”

Yu Xueqing took Mo Yiqing’s small hand and led the campus beauty inside to introduce her to her parents.

“Uncle, Auntie, nice to meet you! I didn’t have time to prepare a gift, but I happened to bring a box of foreign liquor for Uncle.”

Mo Yiqing’s face flushed slightly with embarrassment as she handed a plain black box to Yu Xueqing’s father.

Earlier, Yu Xueqing had said no one was home—only she lived in the old house.

She and Yu Xueqing’s relationship didn’t require gifts, but Mo Yiqing hadn’t expected elders to be present.

Luckily, at last night’s KTV gathering, Mo Yiqing had brought a few bottles of wine in her trunk.

Though sending whiskey felt odd, it was better than arriving empty-handed with shopping bags.

“What’s this? You came, that’s enough—why bring gifts?”

Seeing the wine Mo Yiqing offered, Yu Zhenghong refused outright, quickly pushing it back.

“Classmate? Campus beauty?” Chen Peipei stared at Mo Yiqing’s appearance and figure, gasped softly, and quietly asked Yu Xueqing: “Aqing… isn’t your school just about farming and transplanting rice? Your classmate—”

“Mo Mo studies agricultural resources and environment. We’re in the same dorm, and aside from some major courses, our general curriculum is pretty similar.”

Yu Xueqing explained to her mother Chen Peipei: “And Mo Mo’s really nice—she often treats me to food.”

Yu Xueqing introduced Mo Yiqing to her parents, recounting how Mo Mo frequently fed her at school.

Across the table, Old Chen sat in awkward silence, staring at the fox seated on the table—the Master Fuli.

Man and fox locked eyes. An Sheng scrutinized Old Chen with suspicion.

Old Chen sat upright, face stern and righteous—completely unlike someone preparing to tattle.

“Stop pretending!”

An Sheng rolled his eyes and whimpered: “We foxes are proper foxes. Yesterday’s incident was purely an accident.”

“I had no idea the stuff was that potent.”

“We foxes never break the law. But our village has produced someone talented—you remember Chen Nian, the guy who used to wander around taking videos and waving his hands? He’s gone to study martial arts now.”

“What kind of martial arts? Obviously, American traditional martial arts: large-caliber revolver sheathing slash.”

Though Old Chen didn’t understand fox speech, and the living room was crowded so the fox couldn’t type easily, An Sheng still delivered good news.

Our Changxizhen has produced talent. When we gather for the ancestral feast, remember to tell our ancestors.

………

Despite feeling like needles pricked his back under the Master Fuli’s watchful gaze, Old Chen remained diligent, explaining the tea contest details to Yu Zhenghong.

He spoke earnestly, recommending several veteran tea masters.

For Yu Zhenghong’s participation, Old Chen sincerely hoped his family would stand out and win—ideally, surpass the Lin family and become the village’s richest household.

Otherwise—

The Master Fuli was too terrifying—he even got his hands on automatic rifle core components.

Even if the Hong family stayed poor, Old Chen couldn’t imagine what the Master Fuli might do next—selling planes and tanks on the international market to earn dollars for Hong’s household.

“It’s just a village-level selection contest. Isn’t that something anyone can do? Why make it so serious? Tea companies and big tea farmers don’t enter village contests.”

An Sheng lay in Mo Yiqing’s lap, tapped Yu Xueqing’s arm with his tiny foot, and declared confidently:

“Aqing, trust me, An. My strongest cybernetic tea-making technique is sealed, but I did learn a few tricks from that old man.”

“One fox, one cast-iron pot, three bottles of ice cola, two roasted chickens—no matter when you pick the tea, I can roast a hundred tons of king-grade tea and crush every judge in one truckload.”

“But you’ll need Old Chen to train with me for a few days. After all, tea roasted by a fox? No way it passes food safety certification.”

“Better if Old Chen learns from me, then teaches Old Hong. Old Hong has high blood pressure—I’m worried he’ll have a stroke seeing a fox roast tea.”

“Mmmmm—”

“Master, Master~ Fox knows this. When our stomachs hurt, we eat grass. Fox knows where the super-spiritual grass grows…”

Even though An Sheng’s ultimate tea-making technique couldn’t be used due to safety risks, he remained confident he could win the village autumn tea contest.

Yet An Sheng’s confident words, after being filtered through Yu Xueqing’s mental translation, sounded strange.

“Good good good—our little An is the best. Then we’re counting on little An to find the best tea leaves.”

Wish fulfilled: Fox Master makes tea (The tea tradition is ancient and profound; each school competes in a divine battle phase. The price of tea reaches thirty to fifty thousand per jin, leaving onlookers stunned and wary—so they punch it.)

“Huh? Old Hong, why are you butting in?” An Sheng rolled his eyes as his wish refreshed.

Greedy middle-aged Old Hong.

Still wants to enter provincial contests? If you don’t mind a 500,000-yuan fine, An could pull out his Qianshi -developed true nuclear-radiation-grade tea-making technique.

“Aqing, ignore Old Hong—he’s insane.”

(End of chapter)

(End of chapter)