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Chapter 184: Immortal Mist
Samuel Hughes had to weigh at least 130 or 140 pounds, even on the skinny side. And yet, here was a tiny girl carrying a man a head taller than she was, running so fast over the reflexology path that she left afterimages. She zipped across the fifteen-meter path in an instant. Was... was she even human?!
Someone noticed that the tense look on Samuel Hughes’s face first gave way to astonishment, and then to the faint hint of a smile.
...
The show’s recording took nearly four hours. After leaving the recording studio, Best Actress Sherman invited everyone to dinner.
Note: "Everyone" did not include Miles Ford.
Given Miles Ford’s current reputation, any TV station should have been avoiding him like the plague. But as luck would have it, he was on good terms with a vice president at Dragonspire TV, so he had other plans for the evening and wasn’t around.
Felix Sherman didn’t think Samuel Hughes would agree, since the man was notoriously fussy.
But to his surprise, the man actually agreed!
He agreed!
Felix Sherman seriously suspected the guy’s brain had been jiggled into mush.
So, the five of them from the show went to a Chinese restaurant near the station.
Director Miles cheerfully ordered a cup of chrysanthemum tea, sneaking glances at Riley Perry as he did.
’That girl... so inconsiderate. She gives the good stuff to Old Quinn but doesn’t think to give me any. I may be a coffee drinker, but for tea that good, I could knock back three big cups!’
’My hints today were obvious enough, right?’
’So why hasn’t she offered me half a pound of tea yet?’
Riley Perry, of course, noticed the director’s expression. She asked in surprise, "Director Miles, I thought you only drank coffee?"
"Ahem. The last time I was at Old Quinn’s place, I tried his new tea and got hooked instantly. Too bad you can’t buy it anywhere..."
Riley burst out laughing. "You should have just said so if you wanted my tea." She grabbed her backpack and took out a packet of tea.
Of course, it wasn’t something she just happened to have in her bag. She had actually retrieved it from her personal storage space.
"Waiter, cancel the chrysanthemum tea. Could you brew this for us? On second thought, just bring us a pot of hot water."
Director Miles rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Is this the same tea you gave Old Quinn? Riley, my dear, let’s talk..."
With that, Director Miles got up and moved to the seat next to Riley, his eyes glued to the yellow paper packet of tea she had placed on the table.
Riley was sharp; she knew exactly what he was after. She simply pushed the paper packet toward him. "If you like it, it’s yours. I only grabbed a small packet on my way out today, though, so there isn’t much. I hope you don’t mind that it’s just a little."
"Not at all, not at all! I don’t mind in the slightest." Director Miles happily scooped up the packet of tea and immediately turned to call the waiter, asking for a proper tea caddy.
The others were all curious about how good Riley’s tea could possibly be, but they were too polite to ask. The waiter soon returned with hot water and a tea caddy.
Riley took it upon herself to brew a pot of tea for everyone.
’Well, all she did was put the tea leaves in the pot, pour in some water to rinse them, pour that out, and then add more water. Just like that, the tea was brewed.’
But the aroma... it instantly filled the entire private room!
"Riley, what kind of tea is this?"
Felix Sherman couldn’t help but ask. He’d had plenty of fine teas in his life, but he’d never smelled an aroma so rich and intense.
’This is just a common Spiritual Tea from the Cultivation Realm,’ Riley thought. ’But it looks like I’ll have to come up with a name for it today.’
"Immortal Mist Tea."
Wendy Carr’s eyes lit up. The name alone told her this tea was extraordinary. She eagerly lifted her cup and took a sip. In the next moment, she had drained the cup and was already grabbing the teapot to pour herself another.
Her way of drinking might have been as crude as an ox chewing a peony, but when something was this good, every extra sip you could get was a victory!
Others might not have noticed, but for someone like her, who had practiced martial arts since childhood and was riddled with old injuries, the tea’s effects were astonishingly clear.
Her injured right wrist, which usually felt perpetually cold, began to radiate a gentle warmth after she’d had two cups.
Director Miles grew anxious. "Wendy, don’t hog it all! Can’t you slow down?" The restaurant’s teapot was small, holding only six or seven cups at most. If she kept going at this rate, there would be nothing left for the rest of them.
Wendy Carr gave an embarrassed smile, but her eyes were already locked back onto the teapot in Director Miles’s grip.
Samuel Hughes took a delicate sip of the warm tea. For a brief moment, his mind felt perfectly clear, the day’s accumulated fatigue melting away from his nerves. ’This truly is a fine tea!’ he thought.
"Riley, I know this tea must be incredibly precious, but I’d still like to buy some from you. I’ll pay whatever it costs."
’I can’t believe this difficult guy is actually talking to me,’ Riley thought. She loved money, it was true, but she’d never considered selling her tea.
Wendy Carr chimed in, "Riley, me too, me too! I don’t have much money, but I could buy just a little bit."
Director Miles downed the tea in his cup, then carefully tucked away the tea caddy.
’Yep, better keep this safe,’ he thought. ’Just in case they can’t buy any from Riley and decide to come after my share.’
Felix Sherman also looked at Riley with anticipation. He wanted to buy some too—who wouldn’t want something so wonderful?
’So, my dear guests, are we just drinking tea tonight?’ the waiter standing nearby wondered. ’Are we ever going to order any food?’
"The tea’s not for sale," Riley said. "But I can give you all a little as a gift. I have some more in my car. I’ll bring it up, and you can split it. I’ll go get it now."
Only then did Felix Sherman remember that he was the one treating them to dinner and hadn’t even ordered any food yet.
"There’s no rush! You can grab it when we all head down after dinner."
But Riley was already on her feet. She couldn’t very well retrieve it with them, since the tea wasn’t actually in her car.
’Her bag wasn’t big enough to plausibly hold ten or twelve ounces of tea leaves. That would be completely illogical. But taking it out of a car was perfectly normal. Lots of people kept things like gift boxes in their cars; tea wouldn’t be out of place at all.’
After she left, Director Miles asked Samuel Hughes, "Samuel, how much do you think Riley’s tea would be worth on the market?"
Samuel Hughes raised an eyebrow. "...Some things have a price but no market. Some have a market but are priceless. Her tea has neither a price nor a market.
Besides, some things simply can’t be measured in money.
You saw it yourself. She’s willing to give it away but not sell it. That means it’s not for sale at any price, which paradoxically makes it even more valuable."
Felix Sherman asked, "What about compared to the Da Hong Pao from the mother trees on Mount Althean?" He had never actually tasted the legendary tea himself.
Samuel replied, "I’ve had the Da Hong Pao from the mother trees. This... is not in the same league."
The Immortal Mist Tea is just as its name implies; it seems infused with Spiritual Energy. Da Hong Pao, as exquisite as it is, is ultimately a product of the mortal world.
How can one even compare the immortal to the mortal?
"Now that you put it that way," Felix said, "I almost feel too embarrassed to accept it."
"The auction record for Da Hong Pao from the mother trees hit the eight-figure range. If Immortal Mist Tea is better, a single catty of it would be worth at least that much. And if Riley is giving each of them one tael... doesn’t that mean she’s giving them a gift worth at least a million apiece?"