After chatting a bit more, the young couple left with satisfied expressions.
Chen Yan, having received his first perfect feedback, was also in a good mood.
Although only two tickets had been sold this morning, his years of experience had long taught him one thing: having few tourists wasn’t scary; what was scary was having a bad reputation.
As long as the reputation was solid, supplemented by today’s powerful social networks, it was hard to say whether Ning’an Ancient City would go viral, but it definitely wouldn’t return to its previous state of obscurity.
And things turned out exactly as he expected.
In the afternoon, two more groups of guests arrived at the scenic area: three young people carrying cameras who looked like students, and a middle-aged couple.
Chen Yan didn’t know exactly what they experienced on Qinghe Street.
He only knew that after these tourists left the Ancient City, they all returned to the ticket office without exception.
They either animatedly praised the highly immersive tea house and ancient street, or marveled at the incredibly low prices in the scenic area that felt unreal.
And finally, they didn’t forget their purpose for returning to the ticket office: first, to confirm the exchange rate for copper coins, and second, to ask if the Ancient Street would open more shops in the future.
Chen Yan’s answer to this was yes, and not just new shops.
The Ancient City would soon open new streets, new scenes, and even True Master NPCs, all matching the quality of Qinghe Street.
Upon getting his affirmative reply, the three young people were fine. But the middle-aged couple was thrilled, repeatedly saying they would go back and help promote the Ancient City, letting more young people come here to experience authentic Hua Country ancient culture.
Chen Yan didn’t take this too seriously; he was just running a scenic area. In the future, he might indulge in some sentimentality, but right now, he only considered three things: making money, making money, and making fucking money!
Finally, at the end of the day, after the scenic area closed, Chen Yan and Sun tallied things up. They found that a total of 7 tickets had been sold today. Although it hadn’t returned to the peak level of a week ago, it was much better than the previous few days.
Yongtong Bridge’s appeal was still constantly radiating.
Compared to before, when only Yongtong Bridge attracted tourists, Ning’an Ancient City now had Qinghe Street as a new selling point.
Once the first batch of tourists’ reviews started trending on Notes in a few days, Chen Yan felt that it would only be a matter of time before the Ancient City’s foot traffic returned to its peak, or even surpassed it!
"It might be a bit busy over the next few days. Cut back on your gaming for now, get plenty of rest, and recharge your energy, got it?"
The Ancient City had closed, and Chen Yan no longer needed to keep an eye on the ticket office. After giving Sun a few instructions, he left.
Walking along the gravel dirt road into Qinghe Street, the glow of the setting sun paved the entire street in gold.
At Li’s Tea House, not far from the memorial archway, Si was taking down the tea banner at the door. Seeing Chen Yan, he called out, "Boss," from a distance.
But Chen Yan didn’t respond.
[DING]
[The second batch of native residents has been successfully invited and will arrive in 12 hours. Please prepare for their reception, Host.]
This system notification appeared the moment he stepped onto Qinghe Street.
In the morning, the system had indicated that the invitation was still in progress, yet in just a single day’s time, the second batch of native residents had already been successfully invited?
"You’re really coming through, System," Chen Yan praised in his heart. Giving the system a mental thumbs up, he snapped back to reality, nodded at Si, and walked toward the tea house.
"Boss, you’re here?" Shopkeeper Li hurried over as soon as he reached the door. "Come in and have a seat? I’ll have Si whisk a bowl of tea to moisten your throat, Boss."
Hearing this, Chen Yan, still preoccupied with his thoughts, planned to refuse. But just as he raised his hand, he felt his throat was indeed a bit dry. After all, he had been watching the ticket office all day and had barely drunk any water.
"There’s no need for whisked tea." Thinking for a moment, he asked Shopkeeper Li, "Do you have something simpler? Like the kind directly brewed with hot water?"
Hearing his words, Shopkeeper Li was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "I understand. It turns out the Boss doesn’t like that foamy tea..." Saying that, he shouted directly at Si, who was closing up the shop. "Si! Hurry to the inner cabinet and fetch my Wood Leaf Bowl, and get the Shuangjing White Tea!"
As Si ran off to fetch the tea, Shopkeeper Li turned back and cupped his hands. "Since the Boss dislikes whisked tea, I’ll have Si brew a bowl of the loose tea I brought with me when I came, so you can taste its original flavor!"
"This... is there a need to go through so much trouble? Isn’t there tea and water right here on the table?" Seeing Shopkeeper Li go to such lengths—even taking out his personal stash—just because of a casual remark, Chen Yan felt a bit embarrassed. He pointed at the few tea cakes in the flat bamboo basket on the table and asked.
"There’s something you don’t know, Boss."
Shopkeeper Li cupped his hands again, then pointed at the tea cakes on the table as he explained. "This brewing method is different from whisking tea. The marvel of whisking tea lies in the skill of the whisking itself. Even with an ordinary tea cake, as long as the technique is right, one can whisk up a fine bowl of tea with milk-like white foam.
"But with this loose leaf brewing, the tea leaves are thrown directly into boiling water. You can see its true quality at a glance; it can’t hide its flaws at all.
"If the tea leaves have even the slightest coarse, stale taste, the boiling water will bring it all out. If a picky customer takes a sip, they’ll immediately know something is wrong. Only premium loose tea like Shuangjing White Tea can yield a top-tier brew."
"I see." After patiently listening to Shopkeeper Li’s explanation, Chen Yan couldn’t help but feel his eyes were opened.
It turned out that brewing tea already existed in the Song Dynasty. However, from what Shopkeeper Li meant, this method wasn’t very popular in their era—or at least, it wasn’t the mainstream.
Soon after, Si brought over Shopkeeper Li’s treasured Wood Leaf Bowl and an exquisite small wooden box.
Chen Yan took the bowl and examined it carefully. He found that it was pitch-black all over, and its glazed surface felt incredibly smooth to the touch. The most striking feature was the center of the bowl, which bore the imprint of a complete mulberry leaf. Every single vein was distinct, making it look exceedingly exquisite.
"This is the ’Wood Leaf Bowl’, from the Jizhou Kiln in Western Ganxi." Pointing at the bowl, Shopkeeper Li said, "Even back then on Qinghe Street, this item wasn’t a common good. I kept it for myself and rarely take it out to admire..."
He then opened the small box to let Chen Yan look at the tea leaves inside.
"This is the ’Shuangjing White Tea’. The Records of Retirement states that this tea is the finest of all grass teas. I don’t have much in stock, and ordinary customers can’t order it here. I only dare to bring a little out because you’re here, Boss."
Looking at the small pinch of tea leaves in the box, Chen Yan leaned in to sniff it and nodded. "This tea... is indeed more fragrant than the ones sold in the shop."
"Naturally." Smiling with a hint of pride, Shopkeeper Li handed the Wood Leaf Bowl to Si and signaled him to start brewing.
The brewing process was brief.
As a bowl of light, jade-green tea was poured out, Chen Yan waited a moment, picked up the bowl, blew on it a few times, and then took a sip.
"Good tea!"
Chen Yan didn’t know much about tea, but the sensation—initially slightly bitter upon entering the mouth, followed by a swift, sweet aftertaste, like drinking a mouthful of spring water infused with the scent of green grass—was quite intoxicating.
He slowly finished the bowl of tea. He didn’t know if it was a placebo effect, but Chen Yan felt as if he had become more energized, and the lingering fatigue of work clinging to his body had dissipated significantly.
"You’re very thoughtful, Shopkeeper Li." Setting down the tea bowl, Chen Yan sincerely cupped his hands at Shopkeeper Li.
Seeing this, Shopkeeper Li’s brows relaxed, as if his treasured collection had finally found someone who appreciated it. He immediately cupped his hands in return. "As long as you like it, Boss."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "There’s a matter I wonder if you are aware of, Boss?"
"What is it?" Seeing him act so mysteriously, Chen Yan’s heart stirred as he asked.
"That storehouse..."
As if organizing his words, Shopkeeper Li frowned in thought for a moment before continuing. "That storehouse, including the inventory I saw in the tea room when I first arrived, the quality... is simply too superior!
"Using the same type of tea cakes and tea whisks, what is whisked back in my era wasn’t as fragrant as here. The milky foam here is finer and whiter, and the tea flavor is mellower. I’ve been pondering this all day but still can’t figure it out. Just what kind of background does your storehouse have, Boss?"
Hearing this, Chen Yan’s heart skipped a beat. The items in the storehouse were provided by the system; even he, the host, hadn’t seen them yet.
Now that Shopkeeper Li was saying the quality of the tea house’s inventory was excessively superior, there could only be one explanation: the system had likely pushed quality control to the absolute extreme when providing these raw materials!
"Isn’t superior quality a good thing?" Without voicing his inner thoughts, Chen Yan changed the subject. "But superior quality aside, I must instruct you on one thing: no matter how good the tea is, the prices must not go up."
Hearing this, Shopkeeper Li immediately turned serious. "I naturally know this. Raising prices would ruin both our reputation and our good name. I won’t do such a thing."
Seeing his attitude, Chen Yan said no more and stood up, preparing to leave.
"Please wait, Boss—" Before he could even take a single step, Shopkeeper Li called out to stop him again.
Turning back, he saw Shopkeeper Li take a small cloth bundle out of his sleeve. Upon opening it, several copper coins were neatly stacked inside.
Pushing the cloth bundle in front of Chen Yan, Shopkeeper Li smiled and said, "This is your share of today’s cut. Please count it, Boss."
Looking at the few copper coins before him, Chen Yan was taken aback. He instinctively said, "No, Shopkeeper Li, we just opened for business..."
"Rules are rules." Shopkeeper Li interrupted him, his tone polite but exceptionally serious. "The Contract states it clearly: a five percent tax. I sold a few bowls of tea today, and not a single copper coin of your rightful cut will be missing."
With that, he shoved the cloth bundle directly into Chen Yan’s hands.
"...Alright." Having merchants who abided by the rules was naturally a good thing for Chen Yan.
Without saying anything more, he first pocketed the cloth bundle containing his cut. Then, he cupped his hands at Shopkeeper Li and Si before leaving the tea house and walking toward Miss Yu the Third’s stall.