Chapter 64: Tea Leaves and Eggs
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
“Take it easy grandpa. The egg definitely deserves to be matched with the black tea,” Yuan Zhou said in a peaceful and indifferent tone.
Looking at the grandpa’s rude actions, without any intention of letting him off, Yuan Zhou became speechless. He felt he had been treated unjustly. Since the tea was provided by the system, even he himself had never tasted it. How did he end up risking his life while selling dishes?
Yuan Zhou felt he was now taking a bullet for the deceitful system.
However, the grandpa was triggered by the indifferent tone of Yuan Zhou and thus said, “You brat, come out now. Let me teach you not to waste food.”
While speaking, the grandpa rolled up his sleeves and prepared to jump over the table with the aim of beating Yuan Zhou up. All he lacked now was a decent weapon in his hands. Nevertheless, Vice Division Chief Lee reacted quickly and held the grandpa from aside.
“What’s the matter? Everybody, calm down, calm down, please.”
“You’re asking me to calm down? You don’t seem very young, don’t you drink tea?” the grandpa said angrily while untucking his shirt.
“So it’s true. That dense fragrance of orchid mixed with the scent of sugar is indeed the Keemun Black Tea, isn’t it?” Vice Division Chief Lee was quite familiar with various teas. It could be said to be a necessary knowledge for all civil servants in this country.
“Please excuse me.” After drinking up the last gulp of the broth, Division Chief Lin said to the grandpa solemnly. Then, he held up the small plate and began to observe the Herbal Tea Egg inside it.
“What’s wrong with them?” a customer beside them asked curiously.
“I believe it's because the Herbal Tea Egg served by Boss Yuan is not as simple as it seems.” somebody else said affirmatively.
“That is pure nonsense. Look at the serious manner of those three old men. I smell nothing special, merely feeling that it is extremely fragrant,” said another customer who didn’t know much about tea.
“How could you say it is nothing special? The Keemun Black Tea is not ordinary.” a voice suddenly chipped in, appearing to know something about it.
Nevertheless, the chirping discussion of the surrounding people didn’t affect Division Chief Lin’s observations.
After a long while…
Division Chief Lin set down the plate, heaving a sigh and said, “This young master used the spring tea leaves of the Keemun Black Tea. The color, that authentic smell and that sweet honey taste have proven it beyond any doubt.”
“This young man is recklessly wasting the precious resources, isn’t he? With such a top grade tea, he actually used it to make Herbal Tea Eggs?” While speaking, the grandpa started getting agitated again.
Actually, almost every customer that had a little knowledge about tea wanted to beat Yuan Zhou up. What is the Keemun Black Tea? It is number 1 among the top three black teas in the world.
The top three most reputable black teas in the world include Keemun Black Tea produced in Mount Huangshan of Anhui Province of China, Darjeeling Black Tea from India and Uva Black Tea from Sri Lanka.
“Yes, only the freshly-picked spring tea leaves of Keemun Black Tea would contain such a sweet honey taste along with that mild and refined orchid-like fragrance.” Yuan Zhou firmly revealed his reason for choosing the tea leaves.
“Why would you ruin such precious tea if you knew about it?” The grandpa felt that he had been brought up too well. It was a good time for him to drop all pleasantries and give Yuan Zhou a good beating. It might have been endurable if Yuan Zhou didn’t know about tea. Yet, he knew about the true value of Keemun Black Tea but still continued to do so. It was absolutely unforgivable, making the grandpa feel a pain in his heart.
“If you ask me which boss I admire the most, it’s definitely Boss Yuan. He can lavishly use the spring tea leaves of the Keemun Black Tea to cook the Herbal Tea Eggs.” the people surrounding murmured quietly.
“I feel suddenly that… the price 888 RMB deserves a 0 in the end… It really is a special offer.”
“Boss Yuan, we cannot be friends if you don’t act so cool.”
“That’s awfully true. Even if the spring tea leaves of Keemun Black Tea are not produced from Likou, Shanli and Pingli areas of Qimen County, they are still quite expensive. I really admire Boss Yuan now.” From another customer who also wanted to beat Yuan Zhou up.
“Oh, my god. Keemun Black Tea. My heart is aching.”
“Don’t touch me. My liver is aching.”
“You are wrong, young brother. The tea leaves used by Boss Yuan now are indeed the spring tea leaves from Likou area,” Division Chief Lin said with a complex feeling welling inside him while holding the Herbal Tea Egg in his hand.
Division Chief Lin’s current feeling was as if he had tried his best to buy and taste something which was nevertheless bought in large quantities and lavishly consumed by another. Furthermore, that person had thrown it away before even finishing it. The more he thought that way, the more he felt unwilling to acknowledge that.
“Yes, he’s right. Only good tea would bring out the best taste in the Herbal Tea Eggs.” Yuan Zhou said, acting seriously.
“Fu*k your Herbal Tea Egg. Give me your remaining Keemun Black Tea. I’ll buy them all.” Hearing the annoying remarks by Yuan Zhou, the grandpa felt severe pain in his heart.
“I’m sorry, I don’t sell tea leaves here.” Yuan Zhou, nevertheless, refused without the slightest hesitation.
“Just tell me how much. Of course, I have some information on it. It’s approximately 3000 RMB for every 50 grams of spring tea leaves of the Keemun Black Tea. I offer 3600 RMB.” The grandpa was rather generous with his bid.
Despite the high price offered by the grandpa, Yuan Zhou wasn’t moved at all, except for a slight constricted feeling in his heart. He quickly calculated the total price in his mind, 36 thousand RMB for half kilo and 360 thousand RMB for 5 kilo, equivalent to half month’s net profit.
Even if his heart was tightening, Yuan Zhou still said coldly, “No, it’s not for sale.”
“Why won’t you brat listen to me? It’s completely a waste to use this tea to cook Herbal Tea Eggs.” the grandpa said anxiously.
Customers surrounding them to watch all believed that the grandpa must love tea from the bottom of his heart. They could see a physically and mentally fit grandpa almost going crazy, thus they requested that Yuan Zhou to sell the tea leaves to him, instead of wasting tea like this.
Therefore, Yuan Zhou could only say, “Can’t you first taste the Herbal Tea Egg? You’ll understand after you eat it.”
“Grandpa, I think this young brother truly won’t sell them to you.” Division Chief Lin also began to appease the grandpa after clearing up his bad mood.
“Yeah, don’t insist on it anymore.” Vice Division Chief Lee followed the Division Chief Lin, saying that.
“Yes, I know, I know. I just feel it’s such a pity. I didn’t manage to buy the spring tea leaves of the Keemun Black Tea this year. They said that the yield is too little this year and just the order from last year took up most of the yield. What’s more, the other tea leaves were sold out the moment they were picked. It’s so hard to buy some.” The grandpa collapsed onto his chair in great disappointment.
“That’s just the way it is. Spring tea leaves are originally difficult to obtain. Yet, who would imagine that we couldn’t get even a single piece this year?” Division Chief Lin felt the same way as he said that sentence.
Watching those several customers heaving their sighs over there, Yuan Zhou merely remained silent. As a matter of fact, what he had described just now were only the ordinary ones. The tea leaves provided by the system were far better and more precious. Not only just the origin of the tea leaves, even the harvesting time and specific people who pick them were strictly regulated.
This time, for example, the tea leaves provided by the system were actually picked by virgins who had just turned 18 years old and had beautiful looks in order to maintain the purest conditions of the tea leaves.
To that, Yuan Zhou could only respond with a “Hu Hu” laughs.
As the farce came to an end, the crowd began to queue normally, awaiting their meals. Of course, there were still numerous discussions about that.
“Hey, if the tea leaves used by Boss Yuan are so wonderful, where exactly do the eggs come from?” someone asked curiously.
“In my opinion, the eggs are definitely not ordinary ones. It might be the eggs used to cook the Egg Fried Rice.” Immediately another one joined in the topic.
“Those truly are fantastic eggs. The taste is absolutely unique. Not only do they not contain the bad smell of eggs but also carry about an unutterable fragrance. God knows how Boss Yuan gets them?” As he spoke, he began recalling the taste of the Egg Fried Rice.
On the other side, the grandpa couldn’t get his spirits high enough to eat that single Herbal Tea Egg. Only when he finished the Clear Broth Noodle Soup did he feel better and begin to prepare for tasting the Herbal Tea Egg. As for abandoning it due to his anger at Yuan Zhou, that was impossible.
Let’s not mention the price first, just for the sake of the Keemun Black Tea, the grandpa would eat it up without the slightest hesitation.
The Herbal Tea Egg appeared quite conspicuous on the small plate with white background. Beneath the egg was a pool of dark brown oily broth which emitted the fragrance of tea. If anyone nearby smelled it, he would surprisingly find that there was no fragrance of the egg at all.
To the grandpa’s surprise, the cracked eggshell seemed to have an order. He reached for the egg and peeled the eggshell off. At that moment, the scent of the egg mingled together with the fragrance of the tea drifted about...