The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Immediately, an attendant came over and served the tea.

The nine judges drank the tea…

Ishii said, “In front of Hiei Premium Tea, there is no other tea!”

The first little old man picked up his teacup and took a sip. His brows furrowed as if he was thinking about something, but he seemed to be suspecting something. Then, he took another sip…

Upon seeing this, Ishii smiled. “As I’ve said, there’s no tea before Hiei Premium Tea. No matter how good your tea is, you’ll have to wait until Hiei Premium Tea’s taste is gone. Unfortunately… there’s not much time for that.”

However, Song Xian chuckled and asked, “Is that so?”

One of the members of the Hiei family smiled and said, “Just by looking at the judges’ expressions, you can tell that they are probably suspecting if they had drunk tea. Usually, a sip of tea would be enough, but after taking so many sips, they keep taking more. It can only mean that your tea is tasteless.”

Just as he said that, the host suddenly walked over and said, “Well, Master Song, do you still have any tea? The judges need another cup.”

Upon hearing this, Ishii was even more delighted. “Haha… Wanting another cup of tea after having one? How light is this tea?”

Song Xian ignored him and poured another cup for the judges. After pouring the last glass, he said, “This is the last cup. You should leave me some, right?”

The host laughed, and the judges’ clearly blushed. However, no one saw it due to the lighting.

Upon hearing this, Ishii curled his lips and said, “When you lose, you can slowly drink your tea.”

On the other side, the host signaled for the attendant to serve the tea. However, a hand reached out first. It was a tea master from France!

This person said in fluent Chinese, “Let me do it myself.”

As soon as he said that, there was a commotion. The judges who had been sitting motionlessly all stood up and ran over. All of a sudden, their demeanors as masters were gone.

One by one, they gathered in front of Song Xian and took a cup of tea and began tasting it with narrowed eyes.

Only one little old man downed it immediately while others were sipping!

Then, he put down his teacup and said, “Brother Song, can I have another cup?”

When the others saw this, the few masters who were still concerned about their manners when tasting the tea quickly tipped their heads and finished the tea in their cups. Then, they put down the teacup and licked their lips. “Brother Song, another cup please. I didn’t taste it just now…”

“That’s right. It’s just that… we drank too fast.” The French tea master nodded as well.

The others echoed.

Upon seeing this, everyone felt that something was amiss. Was this tea sampling or were they thirsty?

Tang Chen said, “No way? Why do I feel that there’s something fishy here?”

Tang Ze smiled bitterly. “I’ve underestimated the charm of Frost Bamboo Tea. If I had known earlier, I would have been a judge too. Sigh… It’s a pity that as a Chinese, I should recuse myself to prevent any possibility of a conflict of interest.”

Tang Chen’s eyes lit up when he heard that. “Master, do you mean that these old fellows are using this opportunity to drink more tea?”

Tang Ze nodded and said, “What else do you think they’re doing? As a tea-sampling master, they can tell the age of the tea leaves, the location, and whether there’s enough sunlight, if the tea-making process was adequate, or which part had gone wrong with a single sip… If they lack such skill, how could they have the cheek to say that they’re a tea sampler? And to be a judge? These old guys are obviously trying to get more tea in a shameless manner. Song Xian had already seen through them, so he asked them to leave some for him… In the end… Sigh…”

Tang Chen clicked his tongue. “They’re being a little too shameless by doing this.”

Tang Ze said, “If it were you, you would be this shameless as well.”

Tang Chen was speechless for a moment before asking, “Master, what if it were you?”

Tang Ze thought for a moment and asked, “Can face be drunk as tea?”

Tang Chen shook his head.

Tang Ze said, “Then I don’t want it…”

Tang Chen was speechless.

Seeing the judges staring at him with their covetous eyes as though they would fight him to the death if he did not give them a cup,

Song Tian said with a bitter smile, “Don’t look at me like that. This tea is really precious. We only have this little. Taking two cups is enough! Quickly announce the results.”

“How are we going to announce the results when we can’t taste it?” The eyes of the French judge darted around.

The German judge nodded and said, “That’s right. I guarantee I can sample the taste with another cup.”

The Brazilian judge said, “Yes, I do need another cup.”

…

Seeing that these old fogies were about to drink the tea shamelessly, he said helplessly, “Can’t you just leave some tea for me? I won’t treat you next time!”

When the judges heard this, they all laughed.

Ishii also noticed that something was amiss. Upon hearing the judges’ words, he immediately went forward and said, “This is unfair! You only drank a cup of Hiei Premium Tea while you drank so much of this tea. This has already affected the fairness of the competition!”

The little old man who had just spoken Chinese immediately turned around to look at Ishii. Then, he said in Japanese, “Little kid, even your old man doesn’t dare to speak to me like that. If we aren’t representative of fairness, then tell me, who is?”

Ishii’s face turned red when he heard that. Others might not know these people, but he knew the origins of these judges. None of them were simple figures!

Tang Chen asked Tang Ze in a low voice, “Master, what’s the background of these judges? Ishii seems to be a little afraid of them. The Hiei family’s status in the international arena isn’t low.”

Tang Ze said, “That little old man with the goatee is from the royal family of a Southeast Asian country. That old man from France is the elder brother of the prime minister. That man with short blonde hair and in a western suit is a grand duke in England. It’s said that he’s a guest of the queen. He’s one of the most established aristocrats. Even the Prime Minister has to entertain him whenever he meets him… That’s the father of Brazil’s richest man… That’s a prince from the Middle East…”

Hearing the background of these people, Tang Chen subconsciously grinned. Thinking back to his rude words, his head broke out in cold sweat. He said, “Oh my god, these people when put together are simply…”

Tang Ze said, “They are the representatives of all the aristocrats from all over the world, and they also represent the entrance to the high-end tea market. Only tea that wins their praises is qualified to enter the high-end market. This competition happens to determine which tea leaves—Chinese or Japanese—will reign supreme. If it’s another situation, we won’t be able to invite them. At least, we won’t be able to invite all of them.”

Tang Chen clicked his tongue. “It’s no wonder Song Ming keeps saying that this is extremely important. It turns out that the results of this competition are so authoritative.”

Tang Ze chuckled and said, “Speaking of which, it’s quite interesting. To be able to invite so many people to the competition this time, the Hiei family had put in a lot of effort. They had given quite a lot of good tea that they had kept for many years, which allowed for today’s competition. In the end… Heh heh…”