Chapter 43
"Why is he sending me several boxes of tea?"
"This servant doesn't know either."
Yu Lifeng examined the tea boxes, frowning. After a long while, he said, "Then let me ask you, were these given to you on Young Master Qiao's orders, or on Fang Yu's?"
The servant was puzzled."Why does the Young Master ask this? Aren't they ultimately from the same place?"
Yu Lifeng shot a sidelong glance at the servant: "Why do you have so many questions? Just answer what I ask."
The servant seemed to grasp something. Though he didn't want to dampen his master's spirits, the fact was: "It was Fang Xiucai who had them given to you."
Upon hearing this, Yu Lifeng's expression indeed dimmed. He tossed the tea box aside: "He's quite generous, isn't he?"
A moment later, he sensed something was amiss and retrieved the tea again. "I recall the Qiao family also produces Biluochun tea."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Are you truly stupid or just pretending?" Yu Lifeng turned the tea over in his hands, as if having seen through some subtle trick. His tone held a faint ripple: "Why not send me tea from another family, but specifically the tea produced by the Qiao family? Only Hezhi knows I love drinking their tea. Fang Yu wouldn't know. Hezhi must have prepared this long ago. He really does still care for me..."
Servant: ?
Yuncheng was overflowing with the Qiao family's tea. As the Qiao family's son-in-law, Fang Yu's home was naturally stocked with his father-in-law's product. Selecting a few packages as a gift was both a respectable and effortless choice—it fulfilled the obligation gracefully. Sending tea from a different family would likely seem more out of place.
He said weakly, "But Biluochun isn't the tea the Qiao family is famous for producing. They produce very little of it. Isn't Young Master's usual favorite Fangrui Xueyue tea?"
"Scarcity makes it precious. What's special about gifting tea found all over the streets? It's naturally special tea for a special person." Yu Lifeng said impatiently, "Go on, go on, what do you know? I think you're bewitched today, understanding nothing yet contradicting me on everything."
The servant tasted bitterness: "Please calm your anger, Young Master."
"Take the tea and brew a cup for me."
Seeing Yu Lifeng still had the leisure to drink tea, the servant, risking another scolding, couldn't help adding more: "The Master has written again. When does Young Master plan to set off and return?"
Yu Lifeng's gaze sharpened slightly: "I have my own plans. No need for your extra words."
...
After the beginning of spring, the number of people going out for leisure increased, but since the unpleasant incident during their last outing, Fang Yu and Qiao Hezhi hadn't gone out for amusement again. Their outings were limited to riding horses together in the countryside on the city's outskirts.
Recently, with spring scenery flourishing, many street vendors selling flowers and wild vegetables appeared in the city, as if bringing spring inside the walls. When Fang Yu went out early and saw buds about to bloom in the countryside, he would bring a handful back for Qiao Hezhi. These days, many people also drank and enjoyed themselves by the lakes in the city. Fang Yu turned down several such invitations. He spent his days meandering through the city's streets and lanes, focused on preparing the next edition of the Book and Tea House's guidebook.
He noticed city folks quite liked buying wild vegetables dug up from the countryside. His own family had bought quite a lot recently, making soups, stews, and cold dishes with varied flavors. The city folks seemed determined to savor spring in every way possible, as if they wished to immerse themselves completely in the season. Inspired by this, Fang Yu decided to compile a special feature on wild edible plants.
Five types of wild vegetables were common in the market: shepherd's purse, capillary artemisia, dandelion, sow thistle, and one that didn't sound like a vegetable—goji berry. Country folk would pick the tender shoots of goji plants as vegetables, their taste also very fresh and tender.
Recently, Fang Yu had eaten shepherd's purse soup, capillary artemisia in noodles, cold dressed dandelion, sow thistle stewed with meat, etc. In short, he had tried these wild vegetables prepared in various ways and recorded the flavors of each...
Qiao Hezhi added some tea for him. Seeing the great effort he was putting into this issue, he said, "When you go out traveling, I've seen you write guides. The last travel guide for the Lingxuan Dongshan Mountain Villa was quite popular with patrons. Why haven't you written about Luoli Village this time?"
"That was indeed my initial plan," Fang Yu replied with a sigh, "but I simply haven't found the time. Preparing the next issue of the booklet has kept me fully occupied."
Fang Yu sighed to himself. While the guidebook had undoubtedly drawn many patrons to the Book and Tea House, his own increasingly busy schedule had made the process of creating it more challenging. To produce the guide, he still needed to personally explore new places, sample the food, and enjoy the experiences before he could write about them. Writing wasn't the main issue; it was that being busy left less time for leisure outings, making it hard to consistently meet the publication deadlines.
"Today, the shopkeeper from the Book and Tea House delivered the account ledgers," Qiao Hezhi mentioned, setting down his brush. "He said many regulars have been complaining. They feel the guidebook updates are too slow, and that the last issue wasn't as detailed as previous ones. Some have even joked they've nearly memorized the current edition from rereading it while waiting for the new one."
He paused, knowing Fang Yu had been swamped lately—between managing the new farm hires and his own academy studies, the guidebook had fallen two days behind schedule. Understanding the pressure, Qiao Hezhi offered gently, "I've helped write a bit for previous publications. I also wrote a few lines about the last outing. I can add some more, and you can revise it. That would be faster. What do you think?"
"That would be perfect." Fang Yu was delighted to hear this. He quickly made room for Qiao Hezhi and even personally ground the ink: "I'm aware of the Book and Tea House situation. Students from the academy often go there, and I've heard their complaints a few times too. I'm rushing to write now, but Master Zhang watches closely, so I can't openly write in the classroom."
"No, you mustn't let these matters delay your studies." Qiao Hezhi said, "It's fine to do it in your spare time, but you must be careful during class. In the blink of an eye, the provincial examinations in the eighth month will be here."
"My fulang is right."
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