"Is the quality of the tea leaves really this bad? The tea trees at Ah Qing's home must have been growing for quite some time, right?"
Ansheng arrived at Old Chen's place, ignoring the flattery of the old Tea Master. Every Xia Dong person cannot resist the auspicious intentions presented through puns.
"Uh... Fu... Fox."
Old Chen saw Ansheng coming but, due to the presence of others, couldn't smoothly call out "Master Fox" like usual. He pondered for a while and awkwardly squeezed out a phrase in awkward Mandarin.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo. What kind of pill did you take?" Without waiting for Ansheng to speak, the Tea Master beside him was the first to express dissatisfaction, "Can't you see Master Fox is at the doorstep? Why are you driving the luck away?"
"......."
Old Chen forced a bitter smile, hurried to venerate Changxi Town's Master Fox, and attended to the old Tea Master and his apprentices, preventing them from speaking nonsense.
Our Master Fox in Changxi Town is not just some pun-induced auspicious sign; he is a real White Fox Immortal.
Please, everyone, say few words, make fewer wishes in front of Master Fox, and do Old Chen a favor.
Old Chen first settled Master Fox before heading to the courtyard to help out.
Even though it was evening, the sun in the Xia Dong Region wouldn't set until after seven.
The tea leaves, after going through the withering step, due to the evaporation of mist on the leaf surface and absorption of a lot of heat, were piled directly into a mountain, or rather, needed cooling.
They were moved to a cool place, where the tea leaves were flipped to let their temperature drop, preventing the leaves from turning yellow or fermenting due to high temperatures.
Old Chen, the old Tea Master, and those apprentices were all busy, and only after finishing spreading the tea leaves on circular bamboo sieves and placing them in Old Chen's withering room did the first day's work of tea picking end.
"The process of making oolong tea is really troublesome..." Ansheng remarked, watching Old Chen, who had just shoveled the tea leaves and was rubbing his old back, looking painfully distressed.
Withering, cooling, and drying are just the first steps in the oolong tea process.
Steps like shaking, frying, rolling, and charcoal roasting are where the real trouble lies.
The so-called shaking is when workers use a circular bamboo sieve, about 1.2 meters wide, shake the tea leaves inside, causing them to collide and promote oxidation.
While the tea leaves are tossed inside the sieve, the workers responsible for shaking are also exhausted throughout the process.
"Sigh....."
Old Chen sighed deeply, rubbed his old back, approached Master Fox and said, "Temporarily sorted out."
"Master Fox, you must have come for the tea workshop matter, right?"
"Whimper whimper whimper—"
The little fox sitting at the tea table looked at Old Chen, who had just picked up a teacup for a drink, with a serious face, raised its paws towards Old Chen, and made a prohibitive gesture.
Old Chen paused, showing a puzzled expression.
"Puff—"
And in the next second, two tails suddenly grew from behind the little fox that had been sitting at the tea table.
Three fluffy snow-white tails fluttered in the wind in front of Old Chen, with the little fox showing a proud expression.
"!?"
Old Chen's eyes widened suddenly, his mouth unconsciously opened, and the tea he had just sipped slowly trickled down to his pants.
Old Chen stared in shock, speechless, trembling and raising his hand:
"Fu Fu Fu... Master Fox! How many people did you eat to cultivate! You've reached three tails!"
"Spit! How many demons did you eat to cultivate?"
Though Old Chen rarely visits Ah Qing's home, he knew recently about the tea competition that Master Fox had traveled with Yu Xueqing and a classmate.
Now, not seeing him for three or four days, Master Fox had grown an extra tail.
Old Chen was stunned; he remembered seeing only dual ponytails before!
"Whimper whimper! Whimper whimper!"
The little fox, originally proud, turned dark-faced upon hearing Old Chen's remark, and with continuous whimpering angrily retorted:
"Mischief! I shelter the region, subdue evil spirit beasts, and earn Wish Power!"
"Special Wish Power granted from the heavens, foundation solid as a rock!"
"Petty Old Chen, stop uttering nonsense; else I'll take you to the association and then report you to the police, letting you reflect in the custody!"
Seeing the little fox jump up to curse, Old Chen showed an embarrassed look, knowing he misspoke, slapped his mouth, and punished himself with three cups of Frosted Oolong tea as compensation.
"Ahem... Congratulations, Master Fox, on your extraordinary achievements. Shall we go to the tea workshop now? I've picked all the tea leaves you wanted."
Old Chen took the towel on the table, wiped the tea spilled on his pants, and subtly changed the subject.
"Whimper whimper!"
Unhappily grumbling, the little fox wrote on Old Chen's phone screen:
[I understand it's a careless mistake, and besides, how could I possibly eat humans! Someday, I'll take you to see the real dark forces in Jiule City.]
[For now, accompany me to withering and cooling the leaves, then later call Ahhong and ask what's going on; not seeing him during tea picking, even if absent when working, he should at least show up for foot massages, right?]
Ansheng unhappily wrote that he, Ah Qing, and Old Chen are all busy with the tea matter.
Yu Zhenghong, as the main person, hasn't been seen nor helped; he should at least make a gesture, right?
Later, not talking about anything else, he should start with two 3000 credit cards at the foot spa, covered by Yu Zhenghong.
"Uh... it's not like that, not like that. Ahhong just called and said he got the report and is coming over with groceries to treat us to dinner."
Seeing high-end foot spa associations on the phone screen, places he'd heard of but never visited, Old Chen's eye slightly twitched, unable to imagine Master Fox's previous lavish lifestyle.
The Hailinglong Association, entering costs 3000 and leaving costs another 3000, Old Chen would never go.
Old Chen rode his electric scooter, placed Master Fox in the basket where he usually bought groceries, heading to the ancestral hall.
Now, tea farmers with tea fields or those with tea workshops are preparing for the upcoming tea competition, ready to promote their tea and sign deals there.
Master Fox wants to borrow a tea workshop, which isn't easy, especially during the tea picking season, as those workshops operate around the clock.
However, securing a small workshop isn't too difficult.
Old Chen rode his electric scooter to the ancestral hall, where there's a structure normally used for display, now available for Master Fox.
"Whimper? Whimper whimper whimper—"
The little fox lay in the bike basket, enjoying the evening's hot breeze, and passing the ancestral hall plaza, sharp-eyed Ansheng spotted a huge burlap bag hanging at the hall's entrance.
Ansheng was slightly puzzled, raised a paw to point at the horizontal beam in front of the ancestral hall.
"Hmm? Oh... You want to ask about the burlap bag, right? It's from when Chen Zhi and others blew up cow dung. Our village hadn't seen such a precedent before, so those three guys treated the whole village to dinner to apologize."
"But later, we discussed it and, after a village committee meeting, decided this wasn't acceptable, so we agreed on a monkey warning sound method."
"Whoever disturbs the ancestors' peace will be hung in a burlap bag, rotated with bamboo poles, and spanked to amuse the ancestors."
"For this, our village committee funded a second-hand movie projector and an 8K HD TV..."
Ansheng: 6