Chapter 250 - 249: The Moon Abroad Is No Rounder

"Don’t just stand there gawking. Want some tea? I’ve got plenty of good stuff over here." Yvonne Lowell jerked her chin toward the display shelf beside her.

Hearing the two words "good tea," Charles Lowell, a die-hard tea enthusiast, hurried over to see for himself.

The more he looked, the brighter his eyes grew. "Huh, Golden Bud? Whoa, Taiping Houkui? Wow, Imperial Eighteen? Hey, Mother Tree Da Hong Pao? And... Golden Melon Tribute Tea?!"

There were other precious and rare teas as well. He had tried many of them before and even had a collection of some at home.

But he didn’t have nearly as many or as complete a collection as his daughter. And she just kept them casually on a shelf! What was the difference between that and just tossing gold onto the street? It was an outrageous waste!

Yvonne Lowell couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of her mouth. ’Is Dad performing a comedy routine? And is this whole act for my benefit?’

"If you see anything you like, just take it with you when you leave. I don’t drink them often anyway."

Most of these teas were things she had won at auctions. She figured they would appreciate in value, and she sometimes used them as gifts.

Charles Lowell turned to her, a conflicted look on his face. "Oh, I couldn’t possibly. Besides, I like all of them. Why don’t you set a limit for me? That way I can choose carefully."

"Tsk. Just take them all. I’ll have someone come in and pack them up for you in a bit."

Yvonne Lowell waved her hand dismissively. She really couldn’t stand her dad’s cringey acting. Best to leave him for Ms. Sutton to deal with alone.

Charles Lowell’s smile instantly stretched from ear to ear. "Having a daughter is the best! So good to her parents. In that case, don’t mind if I do!"

Yvonne Lowell: ’Yeah, right. I really don’t see how you’re holding back.’

Caleb Lowell and Yancy Lowell: ’Who do you think you’re dissing? We’d just like to know, who are you dissing?!’

"But let’s get one thing straight first. You have to share some with Grandpa and the others. I don’t care how much you share or with whom later, but at the very least, the patriarchs of our five families must all get some."

Yvonne Lowell glanced up at him, her voice deceptively light as she spoke.

Charles Lowell a minute ago: Tee-hee.

Charles Lowell now: No more tee-hee.

Making him give away the precious tea he’d just gotten his hands on was more painful than telling him The Lowell Group was about to go bankrupt.

Seeing the reluctance written all over his face, Yvonne Lowell decided to add fuel to the fire.

"When you get good tea, you can’t help but show it off. If word gets around that I gave it to you, but the other elders got nothing, what will people think of me? Aren’t you basically just roasting your own daughter over an open fire?"

With that, she covered her face and leaned against Leo Grant’s shoulder, her own shoulders starting to tremble.

Leo Grant couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of his mouth. He went along with it, pulling the little drama queen into an embrace to play his part. Otherwise, he’d be the one getting caught in the crossfire.

"Alright, alright, stop the act. I’ll share, I’ll share, okay?! Besides, when have I ever gotten something good and not shared it with them?"

Even though he knew she was faking, Charles Lowell fell for her act every time.

His wife, his daughter, and his mother—the three women who had Charles Lowell wrapped around their little fingers his entire life (in no particular order).

’Anyway,’ he thought, ’when the time comes, I’ll just give each of them a couple of ounces, and they’ll be as happy as if it were the New Year.’

’Even though this ordeal cost him at least a few pounds of tea, he still had over ten pounds left. It didn’t hurt one bit, not at all,’ he told himself, gritting his teeth while tears streamed down his face.

"There we go! I knew my dad was a man of high integrity who always does things by the book."

Yvonne instantly switched back to her normal self, not forgetting to give her dad a big thumbs-up.

"Hmph. Spare me the flattery. I just finished eating, and now I’ve swallowed a bellyful of frustration on top of it. I’m feeling stuffed. I need to brew a pot of Taiping Houkui to help me digest."

As he spoke, he grabbed the Taiping Houkui from the shelf and sat down at the coffee table.

"Whoa! This tea set isn’t half bad, either. A lot of work went into the carvings. And this material... *hiss*... is this... top-grade Di Cao Qing clay? Marvelous, simply marvelous!"

Sparkle, sparkle. Someone’s eyes were sparkling again.

Wendy Sutton could tell what he was thinking with a single glance and couldn’t resist kicking him.

"Put away those little schemes of yours. Are you here to rob the place?!"

’He’s so old, yet so shameless. What kind of elder tries to snatch things from his juniors?’

"How can you call this robbery? I’m just discussing tea culture with our daughter," Charles Lowell muttered under his breath.

"This set isn’t that valuable. I have better ones I can give you when we’re back in Aurelia. Just hurry up and make the tea. Otherwise, that bellyful of frustration of yours will be all digested before you even get a sip."

’If she didn’t put a stop to this, she was afraid she’d end up losing the huanghuali wood display shelf as well.’

Charles Lowell: ’Hmm? For real? In that case, don’t mind if I do!’

"Well now! Since my daughter is being so filial, it would be rude of me to refuse! I’ll be waiting for that better tea set, then. See? Didn’t I say that a daughter is a father’s little comforter?"

Charles Lowell’s hands didn’t stop as he washed the tea set, and he chattered on endlessly.

"Let me tell you all, there’s a real art to brewing tea. The water temperature is crucial. Different teas require different temperatures. And Taiping Houkui, being a green tea, should be steeped in water that’s..."

Oh, great. Here he went again. Wendy Sutton’s foot seemed to shift casually to the side, then appeared to grind into the floor a few times.

Caleb Lowell’s expression twisted in pain for a moment, and he abruptly shifted his sitting position.

DING! Your friend has received your message and recalled one foot.

He looked at Yvonne Lowell and asked,

"By the way, Nola, I noticed earlier that in some of Pluto’s core departments, it seems like everyone is of Chinese descent?"

They had just toured all of Pluto, including its core areas, so the observation was still fresh in his mind.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with it. And in fact, there really wasn’t.

However, logically speaking, an international conglomerate like Pluto with its headquarters overseas shouldn’t have too many restrictions on nationality. Shouldn’t it be a meritocracy where the most capable people get the jobs?

’His sister couldn’t have possibly poached every talented person of Chinese descent in all of Country M for Pluto, could she?’

Yvonne Lowell raised an eyebrow. "To be precise, they are all Aurelian citizens."

They are of Chinese descent, and more importantly, they hold Aurelian citizenship. Born and raised in Aurelia.

Pluto handled their visas, accommodations, and travel, bringing them over from Aurelia to the headquarters in Country M as a complete package.

"This..." For once, Caleb Lowell was at a loss for words.

’It wasn’t that he was a conspiracy theorist, but while there were many good people in the world, there were plenty of bad ones, too.’

’Even for the sake of preventing confidential leaks, just filtering by nationality wouldn’t solve the problem at its root. After all, there are plenty of traitors who leak trade secrets within domestic companies as well.’

"Brother, you want to ask why I’m so certain they’ll remain loyal, don’t you?"

"Yes. Aren’t you afraid they’re just using Pluto to get to Country M, only to turn around and do anything for a green card...?"

Yvonne Lowell looked toward Charles Lowell. "President Lowell, what are your thoughts?"

Charles Lowell was still skimming the foam from the tea. He spoke in a placid tone without even looking up.

"People change. Is there anything you can ever be one hundred percent certain of?

If I’m not mistaken, it’s probably deep background checks beforehand plus periodic monitoring, right? Besides, as long as you provide sufficient benefits and incentives, do you really need to worry about them betraying you?

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. If they were that kind of person, your sister probably wouldn’t have wanted them in the first place."