Chapter 338 - 320: Boss, Can You Help Prepare the Sea Bass?

Chapter 338: Chapter 320: Boss, Can You Help Prepare the Sea Bass?

Li You stepped out of the kitchen and approached Wei Yang. He held out the tea leaves and said, "Director Wei, since you appreciate good tea, I’d like you to have this."

Wei Yang was utterly surprised, followed by an unprecedented wave of delight and excitement.

’I can’t believe Li You is actually giving me tea.’

’And he’s giving me so much of it.’

’This is the kind of tea money can’t buy!’

’This is too valuable.’ Wei Yang knew he ought to politely refuse.

But he just couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

Because he wanted it so badly.

Drinking this tea himself would be an incomparable pleasure. If he gave it away as a gift, he could probably get anything done.

Of course, for legal matters only. Just the normal give-and-take of social connections.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, Wei Yang accepted the tea with both hands. "Boss, I honestly don’t know how to thank you. All I can say is, if you ever need anything from me in the future, just ask. I’ll do everything in my power to help."

Li You smiled. "You’re too kind, Director Wei. It’s not that much, just a small token of my appreciation."

Wei Yang shook his head repeatedly. "No, Boss. This is a lot, a whole lot. Thank you so, so much!"

Li You once again told Director Wei not to stand on ceremony.

After thanking him again, Wei Yang carefully stowed the tea leaves away. He picked up his teacup and prepared to take his leave of Li You.

Even though Li You had given him a new batch of tea, he was still going to take the leaves from his cup with him. He could still get a few more infusions out of them in the car.

Li You nodded. "Take care, Director Wei. I’ll see you out."

The two of them walked out of the shop together.

A group of actors was waiting outside the door. They had seen the entire exchange when Li You gave him the tea leaves.

It made their eyes glow with eagerness.

’I wonder if we could get a little bit of tea from Director Wei?’

’Just a tiny bit would do. We could brew a cup and share it.’

’We really want to taste it.’

...

Two passenger vans slowly pulled out of the parking lot.

Wei Yang and his entourage were inside.

An actor said to Wei Yang, "Director Wei, Boss Li You just gave you so much of that tea. So... you know..."

Wei Yang sighed. "I knew you’d all have your eyes on my tea. Fine. I’ll be generous with someone else’s gift. I’ll give you a tiny bit. You can brew it and share."

All the actors were thrilled, thanking Director Wei profusely.

Wei Yang’s heart ached with every word. Of course, he was reluctant to part with any of the tea.

’But, oh well. Since I brought them here today, I might as well share a little.’

’Just a tiny bit, though. No more than that.’

Wei Yang took out the tea. The bag contained about a *liang*—50 grams. ’Alright, I’ll share one gram with you all.’

’One gram is plenty.’

He opened the bag, pinched out what looked like one gram of tea, and dropped it into a cup an actor next to him held out.

It might not have been much, but the actors were already overjoyed.

Time to brew.

The van was equipped with a kettle, so they could boil water and brew the tea right away.

"Don’t use water that’s just been boiled. It should be between 80 and 85 degrees Celsius," Wei Yang instructed.

’These guys don’t know much about tea. I can’t let them just pour boiling water straight into the cup.’

’They’d ruin this supreme West Lake Longjing Tea.’

’There are rules for this stuff?’

None of the actors knew that. They had, in fact, been planning to pour the water in the moment it boiled.

As far as they were concerned, the hotter the water, the better the tea.

It was a good thing Director Wei had warned them.

The actors thanked Director Wei once again.

Once the water boiled, they let it cool to just over 80 degrees before one of the actors poured it into the cup.

The tea leaves unfurled, one by one. It was a beautiful sight.

Once the tea had steeped, the actors divvied it up into their own cups.

They eagerly took a sip.

Its flavor was truly beyond words. Even those who normally had little interest in tea found it absolutely delicious.

That one sip alone made the whole trip worthwhile.

Truly the finest of all supreme West Lake Longjing Teas.

Wei Yang spoke up then. "We’re all very lucky to be drinking this tea."

The actors all nodded in complete agreement.

They added more water for a second infusion and passed the cup to the people in the other van, so they could share in the good fortune.

After both vans pulled over, the cup was passed to the other vehicle.

The people in that van also divided the tea among themselves.

After tasting it, they were just as surprised and ecstatic as the group in the first van.

They truly were fortunate!

...

After seeing off Wei Yang and his entourage, Li You returned to the front of his restaurant.

There were still a few customers playing games.

After watching for a while, Li You heard someone calling his name.

He turned to look and saw a villager named Liu Liangzhong, around fifty years old. He was carrying a bag filled with peaches.

"Uncle Liu, you’re here. Come in and have a seat," Li You greeted him.

He wasn’t sure why Liu Liangzhong was visiting, but politeness came first.

Liu Liangzhong took a few steps forward, handed the peaches he was carrying to Li You, and said, "Xiaoyou, these are peaches from my own tree at home. They’re ripe enough to eat now. I picked some for you."

Li You accepted the peaches. They were heavy, weighing at least ten pounds.

’These peaches from Liu Liangzhong’s place ripened really early!’

Li You had a few peach trees in his Hundred Fruit Garden as well. They were one of the four types of wild fruit trees that had been on the property from the start.

Besides the peaches, there were also loquat, fig, and mulberry trees—all of which were wild and had been there originally.

Even though they were wild, after Li You applied some fruit tree fertilizer, the peach trees had become quite fruitful.

They just weren’t ripe yet. He estimated it would be at least another twenty days before they would gradually begin to mature.

But Liu Liangzhong’s peaches were already ripe, and they looked delicious too.

’But why would Liu Liangzhong bring over so many peaches? Does he need something?’

Li You asked, "Uncle Liu, is there something you need? If there is, just tell me. If I can help, I will."

"It’s like this," Liu Liangzhong began. "I heard from Lao Liu—that is, Liu Jialiang—that the steamed perch you make is incredibly delicious, Xiaoyou. He said even his family, who don’t normally like steamed fish, loved it. I’m having a few tables of guests over tomorrow, and one of the planned dishes is steamed perch. I’ve already bought the fish. I was hoping I could bring it over tomorrow morning and ask you to cook it for me. Would that be possible? I’ll pay a cooking fee, of course. What do you think would be a fair price?"

’So that’s what this is about.’

This was a small favor, so Li You would certainly help. And he had no intention of charging for it.

His kind gesture was enough.

So he said, "No problem, Uncle Liu, it’s a small thing. Just bring the perch over tomorrow morning. As for the cooking fee..."

At this, Li You lifted the bag of peaches and continued, "You’ve already brought me all these peaches. Consider this the cooking fee."

Liu Liangzhong was delighted that Li You was willing to help.

This way, his guests tomorrow were sure to praise the delicious steamed perch. It would make him look very good.

But treating a few peaches as payment was obviously not right.

So he said, "Xiaoyou, what are a few peaches worth? I insist on paying a cooking fee. Otherwise, how could I have the nerve to bring the fish over for you to prepare? You’ll be using your time and your own seasonings; you must charge me."

Li You said, "Uncle Liu, most peaches aren’t ripe yet. Yours ripened early, so they’d do very well on the market right now. Even here in our town, they would sell for at least five or six yuan a pound. You have at least ten pounds here, that’s not a small sum of money."

Liu Liangzhong smiled. "My peaches did ripen early, it’s true. And they taste pretty good. But these are just a gift for you to eat. We still need to settle the cooking fee. By the way, there are four perch in total, each about a pound and a half, to be made into four separate dishes. Is 100 yuan enough?"

Li You could see that Liu Liangzhong was serious about paying. If he kept refusing, the man probably wouldn’t feel right about bringing the fish over at all.

That would just make things awkward.

’Alright, I’ll just accept it then.’

So he nodded and said, "That’s more than enough. Thank you, Uncle Liu."

"No, no, I should be thanking you," Liu Liangzhong said quickly.

Liu Liangzhong was overjoyed. Now he could bring the perch over for Li You to cook tomorrow.

Otherwise, he would have felt too awkward to ask, and he wouldn’t get to have Li You’s steamed perch.

In his happiness, Liu Liangzhong added, "I’ll bring them over around 10 AM tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Li You nodded. "Yes, that’s fine."

Liu Liangzhong said, "Then around 10 AM tomorrow. Alright, I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll be going now."

After saying this, Liu Liangzhong waved and turned to leave.

Li You added, "Uncle Liu, thank you for the peaches."

Liu Liangzhong turned back. "It’s just a few peaches. Don’t mention it!"

With that, he turned and left for good.

Once Liu Liangzhong was a good distance away, Li You called out to the customers in the arcade area, "Hey everyone, come have some peaches!"

There were still about a dozen customers there. They had witnessed the whole exchange, so it was only natural for Li You to share the peaches with everyone.

The customers all laughed. "Well, don’t mind if we do!"

"These peaches look delicious! What variety is this? A fuzzy peach?"

"These peaches really did ripen early. They’re about a month earlier than most peaches, right?"

"How can there be peaches that ripen this early?"

"..."

Chattering about the peaches, the customers came forward one by one, each taking a peach from the bag.

Li You took one for himself, of course.

There was a tap nearby, so he gave it a wash.

After rinsing it off, Li You took a bite.

His eyes immediately lit up. The peach was crisp, fragrant, and sweet. It was truly excellent, absolutely delicious.

The customers were all full of praise as well.

"This peach really is delicious! It’s crisp, fragrant, and so refreshingly sweet. What kind of variety ripens this early and still tastes this good?"

"I’ve rarely had a peach with a texture this good."

"It’s really delicious. Boss, do you know what variety this is?"

"..."

Everyone was very curious about the variety.

Li You said, "It’s probably some type of fuzzy peach? I don’t know for sure. I’d guess even Uncle Liu himself doesn’t know."

’Even the boss doesn’t know?’

But it didn’t matter. Who cared about the variety, as long as it was delicious.

The customers happily continued to eat their peaches.

...