Give Her a Chance to Flirt! - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Where are my tea leaves?”

Lin Jiu gave her a look.

Although Lin Jiu didn’t say a word, Yu Yihan distinctly read the confusion in those speaking eyes: How can you ask such a strange question? Aren’t you asking what you already know?

Lin Jiu took out a pair of chopsticks and pushed the round tea eggs aside, revealing the dark brown ingredients underneath:

“There.”

Yu Yihan laughed, a laugh that felt like it had spiraled down from an iceberg—chilly and sharp:

“You asked me for tea leaves just to boil tea eggs?”

For a moment, Yu Yihan thought Lin Jiu had found a new way to annoy her, one much more effective than her previous verbal provocations.

She looked at Lin Jiu after speaking, only to see the girl’s eyes filled with silent accusation and words left unsaid.

Being a woman herself, Yu Yihan noticed immediately that Lin Jiu’s makeup was pure and natural, as if unadorned. The red-toned eyeshadow was applied very lightly, making her look as if she had just finished crying, a faint flush that evoked pity.

Coupled with Lin Jiu’s innocent face and shimmering gaze, even though Yu Yihan knew it was a makeup effect, her displeasure dissipated by half before it could even fully arise.

Lin Jiu had no idea that her “Tea Art” makeup—which she personally despised but couldn’t escape—had invisibly helped her dodge a disaster. Her entire focus was now on:

How could Yu Yihan look down on these tea eggs?

Contained within these eggs were business opportunities and a wealth code!

She was just about to roll up her sleeves and give Yu Yihan a piece of her mind when the system suddenly intervened.

“Host Reminder: The Hongran Project is a prime opportunity for you to gain the upper hand. Now that you have a new idea, you should use it as leverage to gain more benefits for the Lin family, rather than just informing Yu Yihan.”

“Your behavior has severely deviated from the main storyline. One warning issued. If three warnings are ineffective, the system will initiate punitive measures.”

The system’s voice turned cold. As luck would have it, Lin Jiu was born with a rebellious streak.

She gave a careless smile, looking somewhat free and easy:

“I’m happy to live a second life with a different identity, but don’t take yourself too seriously.”

“Living happily and comfortably is the only way to truly be alive, understand?”

The system went silent.

“Why the sudden smile?” Yu Yihan asked.

She had just seen Lin Jiu flash a smile, and compared to her usual reserved and gentle smiles, this one was far more radiant. It was… stunning.

Lin Jiu didn’t answer. She scooped a steaming tea egg into a small bowl and served it to Yu Yihan.

Yu Yihan paused and took the bowl. Her good upbringing prompted her to offer a polite “Thank you,” but her face held absolutely no expectation.

“Try it?” Lin Jiu encouraged.

Perhaps good things truly come to those who wait—just as Yu Yihan was about to take a bite under Lin Jiu’s sincere promotion, the office door was pushed open. A woman entered and blurted out:

“What delicious thing are you guys eating?”

Without waiting for an invitation, the newcomer walked over and craned her neck to look:

“Tea eggs? Just tea eggs? President Yu stood me up just for these few tea eggs?”

She looked up at Lin Jiu: “Oh, I see. It’s the beauty’s tea eggs.”

She emphasized the word “beauty,” instantly changing the flavor of the sentence. It was a teasing remark, as if there were something going on between Yu Yihan and Lin Jiu.

Yu Yihan set down her chopsticks and introduced them:

“This is Ruan Meng, my friend.”

“Lin Jiu, of the Lin family.”

After speaking, she gave Ruan Meng a cold glance. Ruan Meng huffed and restrained herself significantly, muttering:

“I just wanted to see what exactly you stood me up for. And it’s just this?”

She looked at the tea eggs with disdain:

“The last Culinary Competition had a tea egg category. I tasted a bite of the one made by Master Chef Lu Wen using his prized black tea. It was delicious, but the tea flavor was mostly covered by the sauces. It was meaningless.”

“After the competition, I pestered my dad for ages to remove all tea egg dishes from the menu. Many regulars agreed. Do tea eggs even deserve to be called tea dishes?”

“No one asked you to eat it, and no one said they’d give you any,” Yu Yihan said coldly, successfully silencing Ruan Meng.

Yu Yihan turned to explain to Lin Jiu:

“Ruan Meng runs a tea restaurant; her criticism is directed at the dish of tea eggs itself.”

Yu Yihan’s explanation was concise and to the point. Lin Jiu understood that Ms. Ruan meant: I don’t look down on your tea eggs specifically; I’m saying all tea eggs in the world are trash.

The reason being: you can’t taste the tea in a tea egg.

In Lin Jiu’s original world, people ate tea eggs for the savory flavor; no one cared if the tea used was good or not. But here, the trend of “tea-infused cuisine” was flourishing, giving birth to a new culinary genre: “Tea Dishes.”

Ruan Meng’s restaurant was a genuine “Tea Restaurant,” where every dish was related to tea.

Lin Jiu smiled: “It’s fine.”

She wasn’t angry or bothered. Why?

When you see a round-faced “moe” girl under 160cm running over, whose naturally soft voice makes her harsh words sound like a lamb bleating, it’s really hard to stay serious and angry.

Besides, this Ms. Ruan owned a tea restaurant? And didn’t have tea eggs? Wasn’t this a ready-made sales channel and business opportunity?

Lin Jiu’s gaze turned affectionate. With a flick of her wrist, the small bowl she had intended for Yu Yihan was delivered directly to Ruan Meng.

Ruan Meng: “?”

Putting herself in Lin Jiu’s shoes, if her own cooking were criticized like that, she wouldn’t be happy even if the other person was right. She had just failed to control her mouth, and she actually regretted it the moment she finished speaking. However, she couldn’t bring herself to apologize immediately and was currently brooding in anger at herself.

Suddenly, a small bowl appeared before her, and a sweet, clear tea fragrance wafted into her nose. Her nose twitched in surprise.

Ruan Meng looked up. Lin Jiu, whom she had just met, had a smile like a spring breeze. The light caught her cheek, and her pupils were clear, lively, and full of emotion.

Just looking at her made Ruan Meng feel as if spring buds were swaying in the wind in her heart—an indescribable sense of relief.

“I really envy Sister Yu for having a friend like you. Not only are you cute, but you’re also so capable. You handle family business so rigorously, and your suggestions align so perfectly with the customers’ hearts.”

She finished and lowered her gaze to the bowl in her hand:

“Unlike me, I can’t do anything right. I wanted to show off a bit in front of Sister Yu, but even after doing my best, this is all I could manage.”

At first, Ruan Meng’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, and her face grew redder. No one has ever praised me like this before!

But the moment the beauty lowered her eyes, appearing infinitely dejected, Ruan Meng instantly snapped out of it. She felt she had been a complete jerk, saying so much crap to such a gentle lady.

Ruan Meng regretted her previous arrogant words immensely. She wished she could “unsend” them like a messaging app and replace them with “bestie” emojis.

But she was too embarrassed to apologize, so she tried her best to remain composed:

“That’s not true. Ahem. You worked hard on the cooking too. Do you mind if I try it?”

Partly to change the subject, and partly because she was genuinely curious—at least it smelled good.

“Of course, please enjoy.”

Ruan Meng took it and picked up the chopsticks, her expression becoming much more serious as she scrutinized the dish.

Inside the pearly-white bowl sat a light-brown tea egg. The shell had been carefully removed, allowing the dark brown cracks to be seen directly. Based on the color, Ruan Meng could tell at a glance that it was boiled with black tea. Black tea liquor is bright, producing the best-looking tea eggs.

However, in terms of appearance, all black tea eggs look the same. What Ruan Meng was curious about was the taste—the most important part.

She took a light bite of the egg white.

After chewing twice, Ruan Meng’s eyes widened.

How did Lin Jiu process this? She couldn’t wait to find out.

To put it simply, a tea egg is a type of marinated egg. For that flavor, ingredients like cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise, peppercorns, rock sugar, and soy sauce are essential. Otherwise, it won’t have any flavor—and if it doesn’t have flavor, why not just eat a healthy boiled egg?

That was the contradiction. If the tea egg is flavorful, the tea is almost completely masked by the sauces, making it uninteresting to eat.

But this tea egg… Ruan Meng swallowed and almost impatiently took a second bite. This time she chewed very slowly, analyzing the flavors in her mouth one by one.

That’s it. It was the taste of black tea.

The rich, mellow sweetness of the black tea had charged through the defenses; the various heavy sauces could no longer hide its brilliance and had all become its foil.

As she chewed, the dense tea fragrance overflowed between her teeth. After swallowing, the characteristic fresh sweetness of black tea rose from her throat. One breath out was half tea fragrance.

For someone like Ruan Meng who grew up eating tea dishes, she was incredibly picky. But once she encountered a great dish, it was like meeting the love of her life. She didn’t even care to speak and just kept her head down, eating away.

Yu Yihan had been waiting for the professional’s evaluation. Seeing Ruan Meng eating non-stop without a word, she understood everything.

She felt amused and surprised in her heart, though she didn’t show it. Recalling Ruan Meng’s earlier words, she asked coolly:

“Don’t just eat. Tell us, what do you think?”

Ruan Meng finished the last half-bite in a few gulps. Holding the empty bowl, her round face was a picture of satisfaction:

“So fragrant.”

“It’s the taste of black tea. Truly fragrant.”

Yu Yihan’s lips curled.

Ruan Meng immediately said to Lin Jiu:

“Miss Lin, I solemnly apologize to you.”

Lin Jiu waved her hand gently: “No need. Did you like it?”

Ruan Meng nodded like a chick pecking at grain and immediately followed up:

“If Miss Lin is willing to sell the exclusive recipe, you can find me for a detailed talk.”

Before Lin Jiu could explain that this was thanks to the quality of the tea, Yu Yihan dismissed the guest first:

“Go back after you’ve finished eating. We have things to discuss.”

Ruan Meng looked at Yu Yihan indignantly, daring to be angry but not to speak out. Not only did Yu Yihan stand her up, but she also didn’t share such a great tea egg until now. Ruan Meng noted this grudge and vowed to take revenge in the next life!

Ruan Meng asked for Lin Jiu’s contact information and cast a lingering, longing gaze at the thermal container, as if looking at a lover:

“There are four left. You guys won’t be able to finish them, right?”

“Lin Jiu, let me tell you, Yu Yihan doesn’t understand tea eggs at all. Giving them to her is a waste.”

Ruan Meng looked at Lin Jiu pleadingly:

“How about splitting two for me to let my parents taste? Our family are the true soulmates of tea eggs.”

Yu Yihan: “…”

In the end, Ruan Meng left contentedly and carefully with two tea eggs.

Yu Yihan massaged her brow. Only now did she have time to taste the tea egg. Once she actually tasted it, she understood why the dish had surprised Ruan Meng. Of course, this was also a surprise Lin Jiu had brought her.

She hadn’t forgotten that this was the experimental result Lin Jiu made using Hongran No. 77. The excellent performance of Hongran No. 77 in tea eggs was enough to show that, compared to other black teas, it possessed a strong advantage in culinary application.

Right now, it was just a tea egg. What if all the tea leaves in other black tea dishes were replaced with their product?

How much profit was hidden in that?

Yu Yihan’s focused gaze rested on Lin Jiu. This time, her eyes held respect and appreciation. She savored the tea fragrance on her tongue while thinking about how to speak. But then she noticed that Lin Jiu’s cheeks… seemed to be flushed with a light red.

President Yu was puzzled. Her sharp brows quirked slightly, and she tilted her head a little, looking very sincerely confused:

“Why are you blushing?”