I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 289: Chapter 273: This Is a Tea Tree?

The guests continued to eat.

At two-thirty in the afternoon, the last group of customers finished their meals and left.

Ye Shengge came down from upstairs and said, ”Boss, what are your plans for this afternoon? Are we going to keep looking for wild fruit?”

Li You said, ”We won’t be looking for wild fruit this afternoon. I’m planning to make a trip home. I need to take back that Reishi I bought from Uncle Zhang last time.”

”Oh, I see!” Ye Shengge nodded. ”You should definitely take it back. The sooner you get it to them, the sooner your aunt and uncle can start using it to make tea.”

Li You nodded. ”Exactly.”

Ye Shengge thought for a moment, then added, ”In that case, can I go back with you? I want to see your village. I’ve been here for so long, but I’ve never been. Also, you mentioned this morning that your village has a lot of birds, and I’d like to see them too.”

Li You was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected Ye Shengge to want to see his village.

But of course, Li You wouldn’t refuse such a request. He nodded and said, ”Sure! You’re more than welcome to come.”

Ye Shengge said happily, ”Then let’s go. Hmm, wait... shouldn’t I bring a gift for your aunt and uncle? It doesn’t feel right to go empty-handed.”

Li You laughed. ”It’s not like you’re a daughter-in-law visiting for the first time. Why would you need to bring a gift? You don’t need to bring anything.”

Ye Shengge rolled her eyes at him. ”It has nothing to do with being a daughter-in-law. It’s my first time visiting your home, after all. I’d be embarrassed to show up empty-handed. I have to bring something. How about I go to town and buy some fruit?”

Li You said, ”We have fruit at home. Plums, grapes, we have both.”

Ye Shengge replied, ”You have plums and grapes, but not other kinds! I’ll buy something else. What kind of fruit do your aunt and uncle like?”

”Well...” Li You thought for a moment, then nodded. ”Alright, fine. If you insist on buying something, get some bananas. They both like bananas.”

Ye Shengge nodded. ”Okay, then. Let’s go to town first.”

Li You nodded. ”Alright. We’ll take my motorcycle.”

”Okay!”

Then, Li You told Da Bai and Xiaohai to watch the shop before straddling the nearby motorcycle.

Ye Shengge swung her long leg over and got on as well.

This was the first time Ye Shengge had ridden on Li You’s motorcycle.

”Hold on tight. We’re off.”

”Okay.”

The two of them set off.

They first went straight to a fruit stall in the town market.

Ye Shengge started by picking out at least forty-four pounds of bananas. When Li You saw this, he quickly told her to buy less.

’How could Mom and Dad possibly eat that much? It would just end up spoiling, what a waste.’

Only then did Ye Shengge buy half that amount—twenty-two pounds.

Then she also picked out eleven pounds of apples, eleven pounds of lychees, and a large watermelon.

He had originally just told her to buy some bananas, but Ye Shengge said that bringing only one type of fruit wouldn’t look good.

It was a kind gesture from Ye Shengge, so Li You could only express his thanks.

After placing all the fruit into the storage basket on the back rack, the two of them set off again.

They headed straight back to the village.

On the way, while passing a forested mountain area, Li You stopped the motorcycle.

”What’s wrong, Boss?” Ye Shengge asked.

”I saw a rather interesting tree. I’m going to go take a look,” Li You said.

Ye Shengge’s interest was instantly piqued. ”What kind of tree? A wild fruit tree?”

Li You shook his head. ”It’s not a wild fruit tree.”

Ye Shengge asked again, ”Then what is it? I’ll go with you. I want to see it too.”

”Okay!”

The two of them got off the motorcycle.

Li You parked the motorcycle securely on the roadside, then said to Ye Shengge, ”Let’s go, this way.”

Ye Shengge agreed.

The two of them walked to the edge of the road, needing to enter the mountain forest from there.

The path was overgrown with weeds and the ground was uneven, making it difficult to walk.

Li You walked ahead, then turned back and held out his hand to Ye Shengge, saying, ”Give me your hand.”

Ye Shengge didn’t hesitate to reach out and take Li You’s hand.

Li You could feel how soft and delicate Ye Shengge’s hand was.

He led Ye Shengge forward by the hand, only letting go when they reached the tree he had mentioned.

”This is the tree,” Li You said.

Ye Shengge circled the tree. She saw that it was over ten meters tall, a type of arbor tree.

Other than that, she couldn’t see anything special about it.

”Boss, what kind of tree is this? Why did you say it was interesting?” Ye Shengge asked.

Li You said, ”Because this is a tea tree.”

”A tea tree?” Ye Shengge’s eyes widened. ”Boss, are you sure this is a tea tree?”

Li You nodded. ”Of course, I’m sure. Besides, a tea tree like this is extremely rare around here. I can’t believe there’s one here. I’ve never noticed it before.”

”But...” Ye Shengge said in disbelief, ”Boss, I may not know much about tea, but I know what a tea tree looks like. Tea trees don’t look like this, do they? How can a tea tree be this tall?”

Li You smiled. ”In your mind, are tea trees all the short, shrub-like kind? Less than a meter tall, a little over a meter at most, with no distinct main trunk—a typical bush?”

Ye Shengge nodded. ”Yeah! Aren’t all tea trees like that?”

Li You said, ”The common tea trees are indeed like that. However, not all tea trees are the shrub type. There are also arbor-type and small arbor-type tea trees. Arbor-type tea trees can grow to over 30 meters tall, with lifespans of several hundred, or even a thousand, years.”

”Is that so? I learned something new.” Ye Shengge looked at the tea tree before her and added, ”So, you’re saying this is an arbor-type tea tree?”

Li You nodded. ”Exactly. And it’s a wild one.”

Ye Shengge was delighted again. ”This is the first time I’ve heard of this, and the first time I’ve seen a tea tree like this. Boss, can we pick tea leaves from this tree?”

Li You said, ”If the tree were healthy, we definitely could. But right now, I’m afraid this tree has some problems. Look closely. Do you see all the boreholes on the trunk?”

”Really?”

Ye Shengge observed it closely for a moment and, sure enough, saw quite a few boreholes on the trunk.

This was a tea tree suffering from an insect infestation.

’What a pity.’

Li You also felt it was a great pity. But there was nothing to be done, as he didn’t know how to treat tea tree pests.

However, right at that moment, the System’s voice rang out in his mind.

”Detected that host’s current environment is suitable for generating a game instance.

Game instance generating.

Instance Name: Save the Pest-Ridden Tea Tree.

Task Requirement: Eliminate thirty of each of the following tea tree pests: tea aphids, tea caterpillars, and tea black moth larvae.

Task Completion Reward: 1,100 pounds of West Lake Longjing Tea (Quality: Superior).”

This voice was a pleasant surprise for Li You.

...

Today is the Lantern Festival. I wish everyone a happy Lantern Festival.

Once the Lantern Festival is over, it means the New Year festivities are well and truly finished. I can’t help but feel a bit reluctant to see it go.

The liveliness of the Spring Festival feels like it was all a dream.

Now that the dream is over, things feel even more desolate and lonely than before.

Before the New Year, you don’t want it to come.

After the New Year is over, you don’t want it to end.

People are always so strange.

But no matter what, I want to wish everyone good health, a happy family, and for all your wishes to come true!

...