Chapter 292: You and I Unseal Together

The New Year's Eve dinner was extremely lavish.

Zhang Shen heated the kang until it was warm, and pushed the two kang tables together.

Everyone, dressed in everyday clothes, sat around the kang.

Shitou and An Qinghe had just built a snow doll outside the gate, arguing and competing to show off their contribution to Gu Xixi.

Shitou: "Sister Xixi, I was the first to say you like snow dolls and wanted to build one, but he butted in!"

An Qinghe: "Many hands make light work; without my help sweeping the snow, could you have piled it so high?"

Shitou: "It was still me who built it!"

An Qinghe: "I built it too!"

Shitou: "I found the nose!"

An Qinghe: "All the decorations in its belly were done by me!"

Shitou: "I don't need your help; I can do it myself!"

Zhang Shen glanced at the two and couldn't help laughing, then told Lao Langzhong, "Now there are more and more people in the house, and the chatter makes it lively."

Lao Langzhong chuckled, picked up the heated liquor, and said, "So if you want liveliness, you still have to look to the youngsters."

Gu Xixi looked helplessly at the two still arguing and said, "Brother An, arguing with a kid like that—what's the point?"

"And Shitou, Brother An is a guest; he kindly lent you a hand, so don't be so nitpicky."

"I appreciate your intentions; later, when we set off the firecrackers, I'll go out to see the snow doll."

Hearing Gu Xixi say that, An Qinghe and Shitou turned to look at her at the same time.

An Qinghe said, "That's wrong; I and Shitou are opponents in a fair contest—how could it be meaningless?"

Shitou also frowned, "Sister Xixi, Brother An is one of us; we built the snow doll seriously—how could we not be particular?"

Gu Xixi pressed her lips together speechlessly, "Fine, keep arguing, keep making a fuss—I see now that your feelings are forged in rivalry. I won't interfere."

Zhang Shen and Lao Langzhong both laughed out loud.

After the meal, everyone went outside to set off fireworks—just some simple sparklers and firecrackers.

Gu Xixi stepped over the threshold and saw a huge snow doll.

Round head, round face, round body—its height was almost catching up to An Qinghe's.

Shitou lifted the lantern to illuminate it, his face full of pride.

"This is a surprise we racked our brains to prepare—do you like it, Sister Xixi?"

Gu Xixi leaned in for a closer look, and when she could see the snow doll's shape clearly, she couldn't help laughing.

Yellow wheat stalks were braided into two thick plaits.

The eyes were dried jujubes dyed with ink, the mouth carved from pumpkin, and the nose a scallion leaf.

Even more creative was what the snow doll held in its arms.

A bundle of dry wheat stalks, with two strings of copper coins dangling from it.

Several thin bamboo sticks were threaded respectively with wheat-flour buns, red-date filled pastries, and hawthorn berries.

Zhang Shen chuckled, "I was wondering why the buns and pastries in the basket were missing."

She made a motion to slap An Qinghe twice, "You two are playing with food!"

An Qinghe knew Zhang Shen wasn't really hitting him, yet he pretended to dodge, begging for mercy, "Auntie, I know I was wrong!"

"These are frozen outside, but if we steam them later they'll still be edible—I'll eat them, I won't waste them!"

Gu Xixi laughed until she was spent, then said, "What were you two thinking, making all this?"

An Qinghe glanced at Shitou and gestured for him to speak.

Shitou cleared his throat, swayed side to side, and said, "The wheat stalks, pumpkin, and scallion are all homegrown from our fields—we're celebrating a bumper harvest."

"The jujube eyes are a wish that Sister Xixi will see more money‑making paths sooner next year!"

"These goodies in its arms—copper coins tied to the wheat stalks—are naturally a wish that Sister Xixi will make big money from farming; the rest are just things she likes to eat."

An Qinghe summed up, "It's a custom‑made snow doll just for Gu Xixi!"

Gu Xixi smiled, "Not bad—I really like it; I'll borrow your auspicious words."

She smiled, looked around, bowed slightly, and said, "Next year, I'll also trouble everyone to take care of things."

Tonight we keep the vigil; it's not advisable to sleep too early.

Everyone played dominoes in the main room until midnight, then came out to go back to their rooms to sleep.

An Qinghe voluntarily moved some heavy items back to the kitchen, and when he came out he happened to meet Gu Xixi returning from the toilet.

An Qinghe still lived in that little house in the rear courtyard; he recalled an important matter and smiled, "We don't know how our fu tea turned out—why not go take a look while we have the chance?"

Gu Xixi happened not to be sleepy either; after a moment's thought, she agreed.

"I checked once in autumn—the tea cakes had already fermented successfully, so I wrapped each piece."

"At this point, whether the fermentation succeeds and whether golden flowers appear in the fu tea is left to fate."

"So after that I never opened them again."

The two walked into the dispensary while talking.

An Qinghe lit the oil lamp, gazed curiously at Gu Xixi, and said, "Guess—did we succeed?"

Gu Xixi thought, "I won't guess; with a fifty‑fifty chance, what's there to guess?"

An Qinghe blinked and smiled, "But I have a feeling—tonight's festive occasion, we just happened to decide on the spot to open the seal together; double luck, double luck, we're bound to see a good result."

Gu Xixi naturally didn't believe it, chuckled, "Then let's try—if it all fails, you'd better not cry."

The tea cakes and bricks on the shelf were numbered according to tea‑tree variety.

An Qinghe first took down a round tea cake, pressed one hand against the soft paper of the outer wrapper, and lifted his eyes to Gu Xixi.

Gu Xixi, helpless, could only extend her right hand and press it onto the tea cake as well.

An Qinghe said, "The opening seal ceremony is done; we can undo it."

They unwrapped the soft paper together.

Seeing the pitch-black tea cake inside, Gu Xixi couldn't tell whether she felt disappointed or relieved that, since this was the first experiment, failure was in line with conventional expectations.

She comforted An Qinghe, "It's normally fermented black tea, not spoiled, and this is also the first step toward success."

An Qinghe, however, furrowed his brows and said, "Wait!"

He carefully brought the oil lamp close to the tea cake, his eyes slowly widening as he showed an expression of ecstasy.

"This isn't ordinary black tea! Xixi, look more closely!"

Gu Xixi startled, then quickly bent down to examine it closely.

An Qinghe cooperated by gently swaying the lamp stand.

Finally, Gu Xixi saw the lamp light reveal golden specks.

An Qinghe excitedly urged, "Now you see it, right? Are these truly golden flowers?"

Under the warm lamplight, Gu Xixi gazed at the tea cake, feeling as if tiny flowers were blooming one after another in her heart.

"I see them, they're golden flowers!"

"Although there aren't many, possibly because the fermentation time is still short."

An Qinghe, upon receiving confirmation, his face lit up, "Does this show that our method is correct?"

"Plus the water and climate of Huachi Du Cun—this is what makes it possible to produce fu tea!"

Gu Xixi straightened up, firmly nodded at An Qinghe, and said, "Mm, preliminarily it's a success."

The two continued to unwrap the different test samples.

Basically, they all had golden flowers, more or less, indicating that the depth and speed of fermentation varied among the different tea types.

But more important still was the taste.

Next came selecting the tea with the best overall quality.