Chen Tianpeng, who had already stood up, couldn't help but ask in confusion when he saw the large tin bucket in Father Lin's arms:
"Xiao Lin, is this the barrel you were talking about? Whoa, good gracious, it really is a barrel! This must be at least two or three pounds, right?"
"Haha, exactly three pounds. Well, to be honest with you, it cost me fourteen hundred yuan, and a thousand of that was my 'secret savings' saved over several months!"
Hearing Father Lin's joking words, the discomfort that Chen Tianpeng originally felt vanished, and he immediately thought of his own family's situation, bursting into laughter.
Fourteen hundred yuan for three pounds, which breaks down to just over forty yuan per tael. Tea at this price is totally acceptable.
"Haha, all the same, all the same, since that's the case, I won't stand on ceremony. I have an old friend coming over in a bit who's crazy about tea. Your tea is tastier than mine, so I'll let him try some as well."
Seeing the tea bucket in Father Lin's arms, Chen Tianpeng didn't hold back, casually taking a small box of tea and returning to his office with a cheerful grin.
Two hours later, while Father Lin was busy with production drawings in the office, someone opened his office door. Chen Tianpeng, who had just chatted with him in the morning, strode in, followed by an elderly man in traditional Chinese attire.
Seeing this, Father Lin quickly put down his work to greet them, but before he could speak, Chen Tianpeng, looking displeased, said:
"Lin Jianguo, what are you up to?"
Chen Tianpeng's tone was not nice at all. As he spoke, he placed a small jar of tea with a thud on Father Lin's desk.
This left Father Lin at a loss, unable to understand what his superior was upset about.
Seeing Father Lin's innocent expression, Chen Tianpeng became even more annoyed, pointing at Father Lin and questioning:
"Lin Jianguo, explain this tea to me! You spent fourteen hundred yuan on these three pounds of tea?"
"Yes, indeed. I just bought them yesterday. Is there something wrong with the tea? That shouldn't be the case—I just put them in this morning."
Looking at the cup of tea on the desk, brewed in the morning but forgotten due to busyness, even clever as Father Lin was, he still didn't understand what Chen Tianpeng was fussing about.
Seeing Father Lin's incredibly innocent expression, Chen Tianpeng began to feel unsure. Xiao Lin didn't look like he was lying. Could it be that Lao Wang made a mistake?
Thinking this, Chen Tianpeng looked at the elderly man beside him, his eyes filled with questioning curiosity, seemingly asking if the man had made an error.
But the elderly man in traditional clothing merely shook his head with a smile, then spoke with a chuckle:
"Hehe, Xiao Lin, right? You said you bought three pounds for fourteen hundred yuan. Could you bring over the rest of the tea for me to see?"
At these words, Chen Tianpeng immediately nodded in agreement. Lao Wang's method was indeed right. If Lao Wang's earlier assessment was accurate, this tea would undoubtedly be top-grade Imperial Qian Longjing, something sold by the photo rather than weight, making it impossible to have three pounds at this price.
If Father Lin couldn't produce the rest of the tea, it would mean he had been acting all along, and his acting skills were quite impressive, rendering it difficult for even himself to tell it was a lie.
Should it prove that Lin Jianguo intentionally bought such million-worth tea as a gift, it would confirm his ambition for the factory manager's position, though he'd be gravely mistaken if that's the route he's taking.
While Chen Tianpeng was imagining things, Father Lin was left speechless. It's just a pack of tea, after all. Even if it's not up to par, surely it's not worth making a fuss over. If you don't like it, just throw it away...
Despite feeling a bit unhappy, he had no choice; the other person was his superior, after all.
Thinking this, Father Lin got up and took the tea bucket out of the cabinet once again.
Seeing this, Chen Tianpeng couldn't help but twitch his mouth, thinking the old fellow was again using this barrel to deal with him. He should have opened it up and taken a look in the morning.
In Chen Tianpeng's heart, he now absolutely didn't believe that the tea in the barrel was the same as the one-tael tea he was given.
"Hehe, it's all here, President Chen. Although not much is left now, I drank a bit last night, and my wife took over a pound to make tea eggs this morning..."
Hearing this, not only Chen Tianpeng but even Elder Wang nearly collapsed to the ground. Is this something a person would say? If this really were top-grade Imperial Qian Longjing, and you used over a pound to make tea eggs? Are your tea eggs made of gold??
Of course, they didn't believe for a second that the tea in there was Imperial Qian Longjing.
Without replying to Father Lin, Chen Tianpeng directly took the tea bucket from him, sat down on the sofa somewhat angrily, placed it on the coffee table, and opened the sealed lid of the bucket.
As soon as the lid came off, a unique fragrance of tea drifted out instantly.
Elder Wang, who was peering over, immediately sniffed the air and felt puzzled in his mind, 'Hmm? Something's off about this smell!'
Thinking this, Elder Wang went ahead and snatched the tea bucket from Chen Tianpeng's hands, peered inside, and his heart instantly skipped a beat!
At the same time, he couldn't help but gasp:
"Hiss! How is this possible!!"
Seeing his old friend's expression, Chen Tianpeng curiously looked into the tea bucket himself, and immediately saw the small half-bucket of tea inside.
"Eh? The tea inside here is the same as the one in the small box?? Haha, got it wrong, didn't you, Lao Wang? I said Xiao Lin wouldn't do something so slippery."
Seeing that the tea in the bucket truly matched the small box, Chen Tianpeng's face lit up with a smile. He then looked at Father Lin, apologetically saying:
"Have a seat, Xiao Lin, don't mind what happened earlier. This old fellow insinuated that I should let him taste the tea you gave me. But he insisted it was top-grade Imperial Qian Longjing.
And he confidently told me that your tael of tea is worth at least four million!"
Hearing that, Father Lin finally understood what had happened. It seemed Chen Tianpeng thought he intended to bribe him. What a misunderstanding! Although he indeed wanted that position, he would never engage in underhanded schemes.
[To be continued....]