Chapter 188: Chapter 188 Whose Bad Peach Blossom Romance
She absolutely could not let anyone disrupt her plans.
So Jiang Nanshu’s expression turned cold, “Out! We don’t need a tea master here.”
Yan Yidan’s smile remained unchanged.
“Too much crispy meat can make one feel greasy. The Longjing tea I’ve brewed can cut through the grease. Longjing’s tea soup is clear, fragrantly aromatic, mellow in taste, and invigorating to the spirit. My sole duty as a tea master is to let esteemed guests taste the well-brewed tea. If a guest rejects me, I will lose this job.” Yan Yidan’s tea-colored pupils held a trace of loss.
Jiang Nanshu had never really had a proper tea drinking experience.
[Is it that good? Then I must try it!]
She smacked her lips, not really because she was greedy, but she didn’t want to see her lose the job.
Thus, she lifted her chin in a granting manner, “Then you sit to one side, don’t get close to my fiancé!”
Yan Yidan composedly sat next to Jiang Nanshu, “Okay.”
Lu Qingyan, “…”
Can’t she firmly send the person away?
Yan Yidan kept her eyes on her nose, her nose on her heart, her gaze on the tea set, moving like flowing clouds and water. Seeing Jiang Nanshu’s curious look, she explained softly, “The most important thing about brewing tea is the tea soup. The color of the tea soup is one of the important criteria for evaluating it.”
She placed the ingredients on the tea tray one by one into the tea vessel, adjusted the heat, and quietly waited for the tea to boil.
During this interval, Yan Yidan began to make small talk, “Miss Jiang, I have an immodest request.”
Jiang Nanshu’s gaze fixed on the teapot, vaguely replying, “Hmm, go ahead.”
“I have been entrusted to ask, could you let me have your fiancé?”
“Hmm, okay.” Jiang Nanshu agreed before she reacted, her eyes widening, “What?! You really did come to snatch him from me, you, you…”
Yan Yidan was still unhurried in temperament, “No rush, take your time to say it.”
Jiang Nanshu, “…”
There she was dancing in front of her, and yet she still gently told her to take her time!
Jiang Nanshu looked at Lu Qingyan with difficulty.
[Ah, should I just bear with it? Let me try this cup of tea first and see what it’s like.]
Then, puffing up angrily, “I tell you, don’t even think about it! The tea had better be ready immediately after boiling, then leave.”
“Okay, good.” Still unhurried, showing no signs of annoyance.
Jiang Nanshu felt like punching into cotton, somewhat deflated.
[Truly troublesome indeed, no wonder Su Ran lost to her. If it weren’t for that international tycoon coming back to help Su Ran, Yan Yidan would have already brought her down a peg.]
The atmosphere quieted down.
Yang Jiashu felt his worldview being assaulted again.
Why does every woman appear to revolve around Lu Qingyan? Are there no more men in the world?
Is he not suitable?
He felt like he was just a passerby, having had no girls chat him up his entire life, with all the attention going to Lu Qingyan. It was depressing him.
He is a rich second-generation too!
Exquisite dishes arrived one after another.
Yang Jiashu turned his sadness into hunger, deciding to eat more!
Yan Yidan’s gaze swept over the dozen or so dishes and after a moment of contemplation, said, “Later on I’ll brew some apple and hawthorn water for you. It helps with digestion.”
Jiang Nanshu felt a sting in her heart.
Is this what it’s like to be the male lead?
Such good treatment. Girls constantly flinging themselves at him, pulling out all the stops to please him.
“When will your blasted tea be ready?”
Yan Yidan glanced sideways, seeing Jiang Nanshu up close looking even more delicate, her beauty in anger pityingly captivating.
Her amber eyes deepened a bit, raising a hint of a smile, “It’s almost ready.”
She poured the tea into a small white porcelain bowl, gently rotating the bowl and swirling the tea inside, “There’s a process called ‘turning the bowl to shake the fragrance’ before tasting the tea. The poem says, ‘The stewed pistil takes on a yellow hue; the bowl turns like waltzing dust flowers.’ Each person shakes out a different tea flower, and there are slight differences in taste. Please give it a try.”
The first bowl shaken was placed in front of Jiang Nanshu.
She poured two more cups and, without shaking them, placed them directly in front of Lu Qingyan and Yang Jiashu, “Please taste the tea.”
Yang Jiashu: “…”
He looked down at the clear tea, must the differential treatment be so obvious?!
He even suspected that this woman who suddenly appeared was really here to snatch someone, or to pursue Jiang Nanshu, outrageous!
Sipping the tea with a gloomy expression, his eyes lit up, and he whispered to Lu Qingyan, “Brother Yan, this is really good.”
Lu Qingyan’s face remained bland as he took a sip. The aroma of the tea was overflowing; her skill in the art of tea was at the pinnacle.
Jiang Nanshu just gulped it down—she didn’t taste anything particular.
But the flavor was still pretty good; it alleviated her feeling of greasiness.
She handed over her empty cup, “I’ll have another.”
Yan Yidan took the cup, poured more, then gave it a shake for her, “Drink up.”
After taking a few sips, Jiang Nanshu shifted her attention to the dishes. She was so hungry that her eating speed also picked up significantly.
Such behavior would certainly be deemed impolite at a banquet of a great family, and it was precisely the kind of behavior that Lu Mother disliked most. No wonder she was adamant about changing her son’s wife.
She stood up and said to everyone, “I’m going to step out for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
“Ow.” Only Jiang Nanshu responded.
The other two paid her no attention.
Once she was gone, Yang Jiashu immediately couldn’t hold back, “I don’t see how she seems like she’s here to steal someone.”
He glanced at Lu Qingyan, “Does she have some other sly scheme? I don’t see her liking you.”
Lu Qingyan raised an eyebrow, what a coincidence, he felt an oncoming malice and smiled, “Just a stranger, no need to bother with her.”
As one of the parties involved, Jiang Nanshu felt the need to say a few words.
She swallowed the food in her mouth before indignantely saying, “With me here, I won’t let her succeed.”
“Hmm.” Lu Qingyan sipped his tea nonchalantly, “Then I’ll leave my safety in your hands.”
“…”
Yan Yidan left and returned with a new tray containing hawthorn, sliced apples, and a few pieces of rock sugar.
“Apple hawthorn water aids digestion.”
She cleaned a teapot and poured the ingredients in, then added spring water.
After waiting quietly for about ten minutes, the boiling water was ready.
She then served it in the porcelain cup that Jiang Nanshu had used.
Through the thin mist, Yan Yidan’s eyes looked like whirlpools, and she said in a gentle tone, “Drink up, careful it’s hot.”
Jiang Nanshu: “…”
[Is this a show of strength? Flaunting her skills to outdo a klutz like me, and she’s so gentle and cultured about it too, I’m so rolled over!]
She replied expressionlessly, mumbling, “Thanks, yeah.”
Yan Yidan then poured two more cups and passed them over, filled with cooked apple residue, not as clear as the one Jiang Nanshu drank.
It was like they were just an afterthought.
Yang Jiashu felt more aggrieved with every sip.
Seeing Lu Qingyan drinking pleasantly unfazed,
“So you’re actually enjoying this!”
Lu Qingyan chuckled lightly, his eyes cool and genial as they rested on Yan Yidan, “She’d have to succeed in stealing you first, right? Miss Yan.”
Yan Yidan burst out laughing, “Shall we try?”
Jiang Nanshu silently sipped her hawthorn water in the middle.
[You two are really polite huh, do you even consider me at all!]
“Cough.” Jiang Nanshu spoke out, “Even if your tea ceremony skills are great, I won’t let you have my fiancé.”
Yan Yidan packed up the tea tray, stood up to leave, and at the door, delivered the classic line, “I won’t give up.”
Everyone: “…”
[I’m just so sweetened by this; it kills me with envy. If I could drink her tea every day, I’d be willing to marry her on the spot!]
Lu Qingyan gazed at her with a look of tragic longing.
Whose problem this rotten luck with romance was… he didn’t know.