Her Entire Court Reborn with Her in the Modern World

Chapter 181: Chapter 180: Qian Qiu’s Old Profession, That Psycho Helan Jing

"This cup is called Broken Branch Overture, with a jasmine green tea base," Qian Qiu introduced. "And this one is Late Begonia Fragrance, with a base of begonia and red fruit tea. Please, have a taste."

Lu Mi looked at Qian Qiu eagerly. "Last time I was in Mingjing, I had a rose-flavored milk tea called Jinghong Fu. Is it gone? It was truly the best rose milk tea I’ve ever had!"

"Apologies." Qian Qiu shrugged with a hint of regret. "Jinghong Fu is a Mingjing exclusive. Besides, I’m the type who’s always looking for something new. Once a milk tea flavor has had its run, I don’t bring it back."

Shi Changying picked up the Late Begonia Fragrance. She took a small sip first, then downed the rest with a few loud GLUGs.

Qian Qiu looked at her with curving eyes and asked with a beaming smile, "How is it, little Changying? Does it taste good?"

"Sweet but not cloying, with a lingering fragrance," Shi Changying reviewed.

"Wow!" Lu Mi immediately clapped. "Our Yingying tosses around idioms... oh wait, four-character phrases so effortlessly! That’s amazing!"

Shi Changying was speechless.

She did enjoy being praised, but not like this. Only sycophantic officials would flatter her in such a way.

Lu Mi couldn’t wait to try her Broken Branch Overture. Her eyes lit up instantly. "This is delicious! I declare that its place in my heart has already surpassed Jinghong Fu."

Qian Qiu said with a chuckle, "You certainly change your mind quickly."

"Miss Qiu, there must be more than just jasmine green tea in this," Lu Mi said with absolute certainty. "I’ve had many milk teas with a jasmine green tea base, but none were as rich and mellow as this one."

"Little girl, if my secret recipe is stolen by other milk tea shops, how can I keep mine unique?" Qian Qiu raised an eyebrow. "Exclusive secrets are not to be shared."

"True." Lu Mi suddenly deflated a little. "If only I could drink such delicious milk tea every day."

Hearing this, Qian Qiu rubbed her temples in slight distress. "I couldn’t possibly develop new products every single day. After all, my inspiration is limited."

Shi Changying suddenly suggested, "Why don’t you try the method of making ancient steeped tea? You might find new inspiration."

Lu Mi asked, not entirely understanding, "What’s ancient steeped tea?"

"Ancient steeped tea could be considered the milk tea of the Xuan Dynasty. It was also flavored with extra ingredients rather than being pure tea," Shi Changying swirled the cup in her hand, speaking at a leisurely pace. "However, ancient steeped tea differs somewhat from modern milk tea."

"The teachers never mentioned this in class!"

"The base for ancient steeped tea mostly consisted of compressed tea cakes, coarse tea, or dark tea, which had a heavy flavor. For milk, they used cow’s milk, sheep’s milk, or ghee," Shi Changying continued. "The extra ingredients were salt, ginger, scallions, and peppers. They basically never added sugar."

"So you’re saying the Xuan Dynasty people were all fans of savory flavors?" Lu Mi asked blankly. "Then the Xuan Dynasty people and I are sworn enemies. I’m a standard sweet tooth; I can’t drink savory milk tea."

Shi Changying raised an eyebrow and drawled, "I think as long as it’s milk tea, it’s delicious."

"To think little Changying has such a deep understanding of Xuan Dynasty tea beverages," Qian Qiu was incredibly surprised. "That’s no simple feat. High school history classes only gloss over such folk cuisine."

"My dad taught me all of it. He doesn’t just study official history; he also has a profound understanding of folk customs and traditional culture." Shi Changying casually used Ming Chengli as her excuse without the slightest guilt. "My dad said that to understand a dynasty, you naturally can’t just study its institutional systems—the people’s livelihood is just as important."

Qian Qiu pondered for a moment before asking, "Do you want to try ancient steeped tea?"

Lu Mi clenched her fists. "Even though I have a sweet tooth, I still want to try the milk tea that the Xuan Dynasty people drank!"

Shi Changying nodded. "Can Miss Qiu recreate ancient steeped tea?"

"I can try," Qian Qiu smiled. "But little Changying, you’re right. The base of ancient steeped tea is different from modern milk tea, so I’ll need to do some research."

Whether it was making perfume, brewing wine, or preparing tea, Master of Art Qian Qiu had extremely strict standards for selecting her raw materials. Especially when it came to tea leaves, even the slightest difference in sunlight exposure would affect the taste—something she absolutely could not tolerate. Qian Qiu was a perfectionist. Naturally, she had to do everything to the best of her abilities. Although making ancient steeped tea was her old profession, if she were to start researching it again, she would first have to select the right tea leaves.

Before they parted ways, Qian Qiu stuffed a large bag of her secret-recipe snacks into Shi Changying’s hands, telling her to take them back to school to share with her classmates.

"Tagging along with Yingying today was a real treat! I got to drink Qian Qiu’s new products!" Lu Mi said proudly. "It was also my first time meeting the proprietor of Qianqiusui. I can’t believe she’s such a gorgeous beauty."

Class 17 of the senior year immediately became restless.

"Senior Sister, I want a drink too!"

"Yingying, you can’t play favorites!"

Shi Changying began passing out the snacks to her classmates. She poked Shaoyuan, gesturing for him to hold out his hand.

Before Shaoyuan could react, Song Qingmu interjected, "Senior Sister, the Young Master never eats snacks with strong smells."

So Shi Changying directly stuffed a snack down the collar of Shaoyuan’s school uniform. Her movements were smooth and effortless, without the slightest hesitation, yet they scared Song Qingmu out of his wits.

Shaoyuan slowly looked down, then raised his eyes.

Shi Changying had already moved on to the next desk, continuing to pass out snacks to the other students, as if she truly was just striving for fairness and distributing her favors equally.

Song Qingmu spoke up tentatively, "Young Master, if you aren’t going to eat it, you can..."

Before he could finish, Shaoyuan had already slipped the snack into his pocket. "I can what?"

"Nothing at all." Song Qingmu shut his mouth.

After evening classes ended, Shi Changying lazily waved a hand at Shaoyuan. "I’m leaving. Your day of loving me has come to an end."

"..."

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

Song Qingmu immediately looked at Lu Mi and accused, "You’ve been teaching her nonsense again!"

Lu Mi was furious. "I didn’t teach her that!"

She always owned up to her actions. If she hadn’t done something, she wouldn’t confess to it even under torture.

Song Qingmu didn’t believe her for a second. "Who else but you would teach Senior Sister this kind of so-called ’high-EQ’ language?"

"I’ll say it again: I didn’t teach her that!"

"Alright then. Tell me, who taught her?"

Shaoyuan raised his voice nonchalantly. "I did."

Song Qingmu was speechless.

Lu Mi was equally speechless.

Thank goodness it was modern society. If this were ancient times, hearing something she wasn’t supposed to hear would definitely get her beheaded!

***

In a hotel suite, Cui Jinghan received two messages.

[Little Jiang]: Dear, can you really not provide any more information?

[Little Jiang]: People who fit these three criteria you mentioned can be found by the handful all over Jiuzhou, let alone the whole world.

Cui Jinghan fell silent. He truly couldn’t provide any more information. Because after being reborn into this life, their appearances had changed, and their names had changed.

[Little Jiang]: Dear, if you get any more information, please provide it right away.

Cui Jinghan rubbed the spot between his eyebrows tiredly. He was just about to put his phone down when a new message popped up on the screen.

[You have been invited to a group chat by "Pei Xuan."]

[You and "Xie Lin" are not friends yet. Please be mindful of protecting your personal privacy.]

[The group name has been changed to "Mahjong: Need One More."]

[Cui Jinghan]: ?

Cui Jinghan frowned, wondering if Pei Xuan from four hundred years later had grown even crazier, or if he was simply so lonely and miserable that he could only relieve his boredom by playing mahjong.

[Pei Xuan]: @Xie Lin, Xie Qingshi, change the group name back.

[Pei Xuan]: Good. Now we’re just missing that lunatic, Helan Jing.