Chapter 245 Buying Tea
"I know, just ignore him."
Gu Yin glanced at them casually, then, as if remembering something, smiled and asked 001, "001, can you tell whether these things are real or fake?"
001 raised her chin proudly and said, "Of course, I am omnipotent!"
Gu Yin asked curiously, "Then can you help me take a look?"
001, hands on hips, said angrily, "Of course not! If you're interested in this, you can study it. The library has the best materials and the best teachers to help you. But if you want something for nothing! To reap the rewards effortlessly! That's not impossible, but I'll extract your lifespan, spiritual energy, or merit. Are you willing? There's no such thing as a free lunch! Whatever comes, will be taken back from somewhere else! To be fair, it might be an equal exchange; to be unfair, it could be your life, and you wouldn't be able to refuse!"
Gu Yin understood this principle: "I have no interest in this, so don't worry. I know better than anyone that there's no such thing as a free lunch!"
Otherwise, she wouldn't have always avoided 001's help. Unless absolutely necessary, she would do everything herself, because she didn't know if her rebirth, and her brother's rebirth, might have been achieved by someone else at some price!
If she used 001 less, would things be easier for the other party? This was just Gu Yin's guess, but she preferred to work hard herself. After all, what she learned was in her own mind, and no one could take it away.
Lu Jie teaches computer science, and Gu Yin wasn't sure what he liked, so she didn't buy antiques or other items that scholars usually prefer. Instead, she planned to buy tea.
The tea she wanted to buy was white tea. The longer aged white tea is stored, the better it tastes and the higher its value. There is a saying that it is "tea in the first year, medicine in the third year, and treasure in the seventh year!"
These "antique teas" can only be found in flea markets.
After wandering around for a while, Gu Yin found a tea shop that looked rather old-fashioned and went inside.
This shop is quite interesting. The wooden door is closed, and there are four words on the door that read "Please enter for tea." It seems that this shop is located here not to sell things, but to make friends.
Gu Yin knocked on the door, waited a moment and no one answered, so she knocked again. The stall owner next to the door saw her and said with a smile, "Little girl, do you want to buy tea?"
Gu Yin nodded.
He pointed inside the room: "You can just push the door open and go in. Old Zhao must have been listening to the opera inside and didn't hear anything. Most of the people here are acquaintances and know about this. Just push the door open and go in!"
"Thank you, boss." Gu Yin said thank you and pushed open the door to enter.
When the door was pushed open, a screen about four meters high blocked the way. Gu Yin had to walk around the screen. What came into view was not the conventional design, but an open-air courtyard.
There was a tea table in the courtyard, and next to it, an old man with white hair was lying in a rocking chair, swaying leisurely to the tune of "Mu Guiying Takes Command" that seemed to be playing from somewhere.
Gu Yin stood and waited for a while before smiling and saying, "Grandpa, I'm sorry to have bothered you."
Zhao Dewen opened his eyes, turned to look at the little girl standing on the stone steps, smiled, and sat up.
"Young lady, would you like some tea?" He gestured to the chair opposite the tea table, inviting Gu Yin to sit down.
Gu Yin nodded slightly, sat down, and smiled, "I'm here to buy tea."
Zhao Dewen was surprised: "Who recommended you to come here?" This place is different from other places. Without a recommendation from an acquaintance, no one would know that he has tea here.
Gu Yin asked in confusion, "There's no one here. Doesn't your door say 'Please come in for tea'? If you have tea to drink, you must also sell tea. Don't you sell tea here?"
Zhao Dewen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "That's right! If there's tea to drink, there's bound to be tea to sell!" Children are so simple-minded, unlike us old folks who always do things in a roundabout way!
Zhao Dewen poured Gu Yin a cup of tea and asked with a smile, "What kind of tea would you like?"
Gu Yin really didn't know anything about this. She picked up the teacup with both hands, took a sip, and then said apologetically, "I don't know anything about this. I looked it up before I came, so I want to buy some aged white tea for my elders. I heard that the older the tea, the better. Do you have any aged ones here?"
Grandpa Zhao was surprised and laughed, "What a coincidence!" He pointed to what Gu Yin had just drunk: "This is aged white tea. What do you think of it?"
Gu Yin hadn't expected such a coincidence. She picked up the teacup again, smelled it, and said, "It has a medicinal scent, strong but not murky. After smelling it, I feel less tired."
After saying that, Gu Yin tasted it carefully again: "The flavor is mellow, yet there is a sweet aftertaste in the mouth, which is very special. I can't taste anything else."
Gu Yin looked a little guilty after she finished speaking. In her previous life, the novels she read, while not all-powerful, featured reborn heroines who were proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, tea tasting, gambling on stones, and raising children. Unlike her, she knew nothing!
Zhao Dewen smiled and nodded: "Not bad, not bad. For someone your age to be able to say so much, you've obviously done your homework! Alright, I do have aged white tea here, 3 years, 6 years, 10 years, and even 20 years. The price is different depending on the year, and of course, the taste is different too. Which one would you like to buy?"
Gu Yin knew that the longer the aging period, the better the tea.
"I want both 10-year and 20-year vintages, is that alright?" Gu Yin was afraid of being scolded or accused of neglecting her duties if she gave away something too expensive, since she was of a certain age. As for the 20-year vintage, Gu Yin planned to keep it for herself, since it was not easy to come across one.
Grandpa Zhao didn't ask her why she bought so many things. He went inside and soon came out with two cardboard boxes.
The old man pointed to the cardboard box: "Aged white tea prefers dryness and cannot be stored in airtight containers like earthenware jars for long-term preservation."
After saying that, he opened the box. Inside was a layer of transparent plastic, the third layer was an aluminum bag, and the tea cake was at the very back.
"These two tea cakes, each weighing 375 grams, the 10-year-old one is 80,000, and the 20-year-old one is 180,000. Are you sure you want them?" The old man told Gu Yin the prices of the tea and smiled.
Gu Yin nodded: "Yes."
Old Master Zhao: "...Hmph, luckily you came to my place. If you had gone to those other shops, you would have been ripped off! The prices I mentioned were all auction prices. I can only give you two of them, that's all I have. Just give me 200,000 for these two."
Gu Yin had checked the prices before coming; she wouldn't buy it if the price exceeded her expectations. However, the old man did offer a significant discount.
Gu Yin smiled and nodded: "Thank you, sir! You're a good person!"
This was the first time Zhao Dewen had heard someone call him a good person, and he laughed loudly, "You're to my liking! Shall I get you some nicer packaging, or should we stick with these?"
"Let's use your original packaging. You know tea, so this kind of packaging is sure to be right. We don't need any of those fancy ones." Gu Yin was worried about ruining the tea, so she thought it was better to keep the original packaging.
"I like hearing that! Okay, I'll get it done for you."
After the packaging was finished, Gu Yin followed Zhao Dewen to the store to swipe her card. Seeing that it was getting late, Gu Yin was worried that Feng Jiangyue would be anxious if she woke up and couldn't see her, so she said goodbye to the old man.
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