"Feels like cooking tea with Fuli the fox spirit should count as all-natural flavoring..."

"Ah Qing shouldn't get a fine, right?"

After signing in with Old Chen, Ansheng walked from the back of the ancestral hall towards the front yard, pondering whether the finished tea leaves complied with the food law.

Also, how did the inherent fragrance manage to infuse into the tea leaves?

After a brief reflection, Ansheng felt that the tea he produced should conform to food laws. The raw materials came with certificates, he had dewormed internally and externally, and really, what bacteria could withstand being stir-fried in an iron wok?

Once the tea leaves are stir-fried, they can't be served directly to customers. After stir-frying, they need to be placed in a tea urn, where wrapped quicklime absorbs any residual moisture that might condense from the leftover heat of the tea leaves.

Of course, this step might not have much to do with most other teas.

As for the source of the fragrance...

Ansheng guessed it might be because he's too hygienic. Every time before frying tea, he washes his hands, and after washing, some moisture stays trapped in the fur. When put in the iron wok, through high-temperature stir-frying, the honey-like aroma infuses into the tea.

"Ah Qing... I'm very sorry to break this sad news to you. After evaluation by Old Chen, if you want to absorb An's fox yang energy in the future, you might have to scan a code to pay first. Old Chen says An's fox essence is valuable!"

Returning to the banquet hall, the little fox patted its little paws and jumped onto Yu Xueqing's lap, filled with joy, and began to complain to Ah Qing about the ridiculous event that had just occurred.

"Xiaolan... What do you need money for?" Seeing the little fox hop onto her lap and whimper, Yu Xueqing was taken aback but then said, "Oh right! You didn't even remind me; I almost forgot to give you your salary. Our streaming pay came through a couple of days ago, and I haven't even checked it."

These last few days have been so busy. Yu Xueqing had to take care of her summer assignments, assist the Tea Master, and maintain the stream's popularity, as well as plan a feedback event during the tea competition.

Salary was paid on August 1, but by the 3rd, Ah Qing hadn't had time to look at it.

Though there were text alerts, the four dollars per month for SMS seemed a bit steep. Ah Qing's income mostly came from praying to her parents on WeChat at regular intervals and didn't require a bank card.

Ah Qing opened the background of the Note app and glanced at the earnings from her last month's live stream.

Ansheng and Mo Yiqing were also curious and peeked beside the phone screen.

Ah Qing's income was divided into several parts.

First was the live stream rewards, then the surge of likes, comments, and heat during the stream, as well as the commission from sales during the stream.

After calculating these, the platform split the income fifty-fifty and deducted taxes, and what was left was the personal income salary.

Live stream rewards: 1639.

Sound wave amount: 324.

Sales income: 230.

Total Income: 2193.

"...Ah Qing, during the meal earlier, I remember someone at the next table mentioning that Jiule City's current minimum wage is 2195, isn't it?" Mo Yiqing gently quipped upon seeing the pay stub, "Do you need me to transfer you two bucks so you can escape slave status?"

"What slave status?" Yu Xueqing rolled her eyes at Mo Yiqing but was a bit happy, "Being able to earn two thousand is already impressive to me!"

"The professor at the animal college next to our school must be having a minor breakdown," Mo Yiqing teased.

Despite being an Agricultural Research Institute student, Ah Qing was highly favored by professors from the neighboring animal college.

Others went through their masters and doctorates like workhorses. However, the adjacent college wanted to poach Ah Qing, offering a cash incentive of one hundred thousand with a bunch of additional perks.

However, Ah Qing felt her path was set to return home for farming after graduation and didn't succumb to the neighboring college's enticements, as she didn't see what she could do after studying at an animal college.

She was a bit afraid of becoming a vet with a scalpel...

"Xiaolan! We split the salary half and half!" Yu Xueqing assuredly told the little fox.

The biggest part of the streaming salary came from the little fox's cute antics in the stream and the rewards they garnered.

Giving the little fox a salary was something Ah Qing had promised it before.

"I get a share of the salary too?" Ansheng eagerly spoke up, "A can of ice cola, thank you!"

"Of course you get a share, remember the big piggy bank we bought before? I'll help you save it in there. Future mortgage, pension, and medical insurance for Xiaolan can all come from it!" Yu Xueqing said.

Just having raised its head, the little fox turned around and leapt into Mo Yiqing's arms, covering its ears.

"Master, stop chanting, stop chanting. The apartment I had just finished renovating in my past life didn't even get six months of enjoyment before who knows which relatively unfamiliar relative inherited it."

"I've become a fox; you want me to buy a house too?"

"Do you believe I can dig up a 300-square-meter pure cage-style mansion from under your foundation?"

The fox earning for the fox is logical.

But Ah Qing worried that with Xiaolan's wit, this guy might turn around and head to the supermarket to buy a bottle of ice cola.

Saving it for more meals for the fox was the wiser course.

........

After the meal, the children each went back to their homes to await tomorrow's tea competition.

The adults stayed in the ancestral hall discussing the opening ceremony of tomorrow's tea competition.

This is Xia Dong, where one of the indispensable programs in collective activities is: [Celebrating with People and Gods].

To celebrate with people and gods, gods have to be invited to the scene.

Inviting gods means someone must carry the gods over, requiring advanced planning of the route and maintaining order.

The elders in the village were discussing these matters.

"Ah Qing, I'm going out to play!"

After the nap, Ansheng casually greeted Ah Qing as he usually did and prepared to go out shopping.

But this time, Yu Xueqing grabbed Ansheng by the scruff of his neck before he could leave.

"You can't go out today; there will be fireworks tonight and at midnight to ward off evil. If you go out today, you might end up charred all over."

"Also, you sneaked out for snacks, which scared me! I'm punishing you by making you help massage my shoulders tonight; they've been killing me..."

Yu Xueqing picked up the little fox, cuddled it in her arms, and took it to the front of the streaming room, telling it to behave.

With all the fireworks going off later, who knows if the little fox might get so scared it would hide in the deep mountains.

Ah Qing was not comfortable letting Xiaolan go out to play.

"This..."

Seeing Ah Qing's firm stance and her arms securely locked around her chest, Ansheng said resignedly:

"Alright, alright! I won't go out tonight. But going to the second floor should be okay, right?"

"Going to the second floor to find Momo? That's okay." Ah Qing agreed, letting Ansheng down on the ground.

Ansheng slipped to the storage room on the second floor, dug out the phone that Lin Ying had given him, and sent a message:

"...Ah Qing wants me to shoot some videos tonight, so I probably can't go out. We'll have to cancel tonight's plans."

Tonight, Ansheng had hoped to visit Hai Linglong to see if his weapon was ready.

He also wanted to take the hedgehog and speaker to Lin Ying to see if they could be replicated.

But tonight's plans seemed to need rescheduling.

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