Chapter 64

Yeyu, who was doing something both pleasant and helpless in the side room, had no idea that someone far away in Lin'an was already thinking about him.

"Master, use a little more force!" A worried voice came from inside the room, belonging to Qiulan.

"Hey, Qiulan, I'm already trying my best..." Yeyu's voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of helplessness.

"Master, you're lying, it's not fun at all, look, it's bleeding!"

Yeyu glanced at Qiulan, pouted, and said, "You were the one who initiated it; I didn't force you! Besides, the bleeding is because you were careless!"

"Master, it's because you poked me with that thing..." Qiulan said, looking aggrieved.

"You're making a big fuss over nothing. Didn't I say it was unintentional?" Yeyu, facing the unreasonable Qiulan, muttered to himself, "Playing with mud, and you're making such a fuss..."

Seeing that Master was no longer paying attention to her, Qiulan thought he was angry with her. She felt a bit unreasonable herself and squatted down, tugging at Yeyu's sleeve and said softly, "Is Master angry?"

"Hey, don't move around, be careful the bamboo skewer doesn't poke you again!" Yeyu raised his left eyebrow, glanced at Qiulan, and said helplessly, "If you keep moving, the model won't be completed, and all our efforts will be in vain!"

Qiulan, reminded by Yeyu, quickly let go of his hand and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Master. I didn't help you but only caused trouble..."

"It's fine. I was just fiddling around. Look at this clay model, it's all crooked. It doesn't look like a teapot at all; it's more like a chamber pot!"

"Hehehe! Master, you really know how to joke. I once heard you tell the story of 'drawing a tiger but ending up with a dog.' Now, Master, you've 'failed to make a teapot but ended up with a chamber pot'..."

"Ha ha ha! You really know how to apply what you've learned!" After laughing, a hint of disappointment appeared on Yeyu's face, "I can't even shape clay properly; how can I call myself a descendant of the Ye family!"

Seeing Master's dejected expression, Qiulan felt a pang in her heart. She took Yeyu's arm and comforted him with her gentle voice, "Master, didn't your father fail many times when he set up the kiln to make porcelain? Why blame yourself for this? Besides, in the businesses your father managed, there were none like the silk and cloth, or soap industries that you manage!"

"Hmm? That's right. Why should I be so stubborn? If I did everything myself, I would work myself to death!" Yeyu, reminded by Qiulan, suddenly realized this and smiled at her, "A word to wake the dreamer. Thank you!"

Although Qiulan didn't know how her words had helped Master, she was content as long as he was happy. Seeing Master smile, she laughed along with him.

At this moment, a fast horse came galloping to the gate, stopping and neighing. Shetongcheng dismounted in one swift motion.

He then hurried into the courtyard, where he met the steward, Uncle Sun. Despite his urgency, Shetongcheng still stopped to greet Uncle Sun, "Uncle Sun, is my brother at home?"

"Oh, it's Tongcheng. The young master has been waiting for you for a long time..." Uncle Sun, recognizing Shetongcheng, smiled and said, "Come with me!"

The two walked to the side room, and Uncle Sun knocked on the door, "Young master..."

"Is it Tongcheng? Come in!" Before Uncle Sun could finish, Yeyu had already known in the room.

The door opened, and Uncle Sun led the dusty Shetongcheng inside. As soon as Shetongcheng entered, he asked, "Brother, Uncle Sun hadn't even spoken, how did you know I was back today?"

"I heard the sound of your galloping horse. Besides, calculating the time, you should have returned by now!" After laughing, Yeyu pointed at the bundle on Shetongcheng's back, "Did you find it?"

Shetongcheng immediately untied the bundle, presented it to Yeyu, and said solemnly, "According to the place you mentioned, I managed to pick this thing!"

Yeyu only nodded without a word, gently placing the bundle on the table, and then opened the special cloth bag.

The cloth bag was called special because the fabric was not ordinary. The threads were slightly loose and incredibly smooth.

After opening the cloth bag, a pile of emerald green leaves stacked like a small mountain appeared. If you gently fanned the air above them, you could smell the fresh scent of the leaves and a faint fragrance.

"Master, you sent Brother Shetongcheng all the way to Huizhou just for a bag of leaves. That's not worth much, is it?" Qiulan, looking at the green leaves, was puzzled.

"Not worth much?" Yeyu was amused by Qiulan's words and pointed at the bundle, "Just the cloth bag used to carry these leaves is worth more than a hundred taels of silver!"

"Ah! Master, this cloth is worth a hundred taels of silver?" Qiulan, hearing this, opened her mouth in shock.

Yeyu ignored Qiulan and turned to Uncle Sun, who had been silent, "Uncle Sun, how does the color of these leaves compare to the tea leaves my father planted?"

Uncle Sun looked at the leaves on the table, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Young master, the tea leaves from these tea trees are better than the ones your father planted!"

"Good! Uncle Sun, give this bag of tea leaves to Lu Fan. Now it's up to his skills!"

"It seems the young master has a plan. I'll take care of it right away!"

"By the way, remember to bring the cloth bag back undamaged. I borrowed it from Old Master Pan, and it must not be damaged in any way!"

"Yes!"

After Uncle Sun left the side room, Yeyu turned to Shetongcheng with a meaningful look, "By the way, Tongcheng, I heard that Dahu also knows about my connection with Yushan. Is that true?"

Shetongcheng, hearing this, was startled and stammered, "Well, once when I was drunk..."

Yeyu, hearing Shetongcheng's admission, thought he was still honest. Yesterday, during his leisure time, he went to Wang's noodle stall on the street. Wang, the noodle maker, was always honest, so Yeyu often visited his stall.

However, yesterday, he accidentally overheard some gossip from Wang. This gossip was about what Shetongcheng and Dahu had said when they were drunk.

Wang, of course, didn't believe that the well-respected Ye Xiaoren would be a bad person who conspired with bandits, so he told Yeyu the story as a joke. After hearing it, Yeyu realized that Shetongcheng had revealed the truth when he was drunk.

"I've repeatedly reminded you that this matter should only be known by you. The more people who know, the worse it is! Although I, Yeyu, act uprightly, if others find out, how will I handle the situation?

Although Brother Li robs the rich to help the poor, disregarding the law is not tolerated by the court. If the authorities find out, do you think I could still sit here and talk to you?"

"Brother, I..." Shetongcheng didn't know what to do and stood there, looking uneasy.

When setting up the trap at Longshan Temple to make Lu Kun confess, Yeyu didn't involve Shetongcheng's men to keep the secret. He originally planned to exclude Shetongcheng as well, but later decided to let him participate.

The reason was that Yeyu felt Shetongcheng had a grudge against Lu Kun. Even if he couldn't kill Lu Kun himself, seeing his enemy fall in a trap he participated in would be a consolation.

Afterward, Yeyu had reminded Shetongcheng, but he didn't expect the secret to leak. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but the most annoying part was that it was Dahu, who had been expelled.

This made Dahu a ticking time bomb, potentially affecting Yeyu at any moment. Yeyu now regretted his kindness in letting Dahu go.

After a moment, Yeyu waved his hand and sighed, "Forget it, I won't pursue this matter further. In the future, watch your mouth! Rest at home for two days, and then secretly go to Yushan!"

Although Yeyu's tone was calm throughout, it still made Shetongcheng break out in a cold sweat. Seeing that Yeyu wasn't pursuing the matter, Shetongcheng breathed a sigh of relief, "Brother, what do you need me to do?"

"The first thing is to ask Brother Li for help to find Dahu, who has left Qingliu County. I want to see him alive or dead! As for the reason, you can tell him yourself."

Yeyu glared at Shetongcheng, annoyed that he wouldn't have known about the leak if he hadn't been eating noodles.

Shetongcheng, feeling ashamed, remained silent and listened to Yeyu's instructions.

"Give this letter to Brother Li. It contains a summary of what I need. Don't lose it!" Yeyu took a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Shetongcheng with a serious expression.

"Since this letter is so important, I'll ride to Yushan immediately!" Shetongcheng put the letter in his chest and hurried out of the side room.

After Shetongcheng left, Uncle Sun returned to report.

"Uncle Sun, what did Lu Fan say?"

Uncle Sun looked pleased and said, "He said the young master is indeed a tea connoisseur. Using ice silk to wrap the tea leaves ensures that even over a long distance, the new tea won't spoil!"

"Really? He can tell the tea is from a thousand miles away. It seems I've found the right person!"

Yeyu didn't expect Lu Fan to have such insight. The ice silk cloth was specially borrowed from Old Master Pan.

He knew that although Huizhou's Huangshan wasn't too far, the new tea could still deteriorate during the journey. That's why he used this ventilated and cold material to wrap it.

"Old Sun has been with the master for a long time and knows a bit about tea, but he's not an expert! Lu Fan said that once this tea is out, it will become a famous tea. Being able to make a tea that will be famous for generations is an honor! He asked me to thank the young master for this opportunity."

Becoming a famous tea, Yeyu had no doubt about this. Huangshan Maofeng is one of China's top ten famous teas, and it just hadn't been discovered yet.

Now, with the best new tea and a tea-making expert like Lu Fan, how could it not succeed?

"Uncle Sun, I remember your distant cousin once worked as a foreman in the Ye family's kiln. Is he still working there?"

"He's still working there, but he recently wrote to say he's being squeezed out and wants to leave the kiln to find another job." Uncle Sun hesitated for a moment but then said, "He asked me to put in a good word for him with the young master, hoping to find a job here..."

"Since Uncle Sun has spoken, how can I refuse?"

"Young master..."

Yeyu waved to interrupt Uncle Sun and smiled, "Listen, take five thousand strings of cash from the account and give it to your distant cousin. Tell him that I will give him the job of kiln master in the future! Use this money to smooth things over with the workers. When the time comes, I won't forget his share..."

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