In the apartment.
Lu Feng appeared out of thin air, holding two even more exquisitely packaged boxes of Qingfeng Tea—one +2 and one +3.
He opened both boxes, took out a single serving from each, and then grabbed the kettle of boiling water. He started by brewing a cup with the +2 tea.
The previous +1 Qingfeng Tea already had a very rich aroma. This time, as he brought the cup to his lips, the fragrance was not just rich, but also had a captivating quality.
After two sips, the sweet aftertaste was intoxicating. The mind-refreshing and thought-clearing effects were even better; his head cleared completely after just those two sips.
Next, he brewed a pot of tea using the +3 leaves.
This time, the moment the leaves touched the boiling water, before he even took a sip, a fragrant aroma wafted out. The scent filled his nostrils, making him feel a hint of intoxication and clearing his mind even further.
It was simply incredible.
He used to watch movies with descriptions like this and think either the screenwriter or the director was full of it. 'It's just tea,' he'd thought, 'how can they exaggerate so much?'
Now he finally understood. They weren't full of it; he was just ignorant.
No wonder people said the better the tea, the more intoxicating it was. Many teas were hyped up to sky-high prices.
He just wondered what price range this +2 and +3 tea would fall into.
'I should have Chen Bo try it later,' he thought. 'I wonder if he's ever had tea of this caliber.'
Just as he was thinking, his phone rang.
It was a call from the small workshop factory where he had ordered the tea packaging.
Lu Feng answered immediately. "Great... You finished them overnight? Uh-huh... Yes, the same apartment!"
Before long, the other party delivered 500 packaging boxes to the apartment.
After locking the door, he once again began the process of repackaging it—transferring all the tea he had brought out of the game into these new boxes, and then shrink-wrapping them.
The workload of 500 boxes was not small; he was busy for a good half of the day.
Moreover, with the addition of the outer boxes, the tea now filled the entire apartment to the brim.
When he was done, he called Da Fei and told him to bring people over to transport the tea.
Da Fei arrived quickly, once again with the same two young men from before.
The two young men were named Lin Qian and Chen Hai. Upon seeing Lu Feng, they greeted him respectfully, "Young Master Feng!"
"Mm, the tea is upstairs," Lu Feng said with a nod.
Da Fei led Lin Qian and Chen Hai into the apartment. This time, they were even more shocked to see the 500 boxes of Qingfeng Tea inside.
They all knew Qingfeng Tea sold for 7,500 a box. How much money would this many boxes sell for?
"What are you gawking at? Get moving," Da Fei said, snapping back to reality and immediately urging them on.
Lin Qian and Chen Hai immediately started hauling the tea diligently. They weren't working for free; besides the red envelopes Brother Fei would give them, he would also think of them first for any future opportunities.
As for Da Fei, being the person in charge of the teahouse, he received a cut of the profits.
Of course, what was more important to him was the status. In the future, when all their brothers came here to drink tea, being the teahouse manager would have its perks.
It took some time, but Da Fei and his men eventually moved all 500 boxes of tea onto the small truck.
As Lu Feng was leaving, he took out a single serving from the box of +2 Qingfeng Tea, then headed to the teahouse with Da Fei and the others.
He had brought a serving of the +2 Qingfeng Tea with him, intending to call Chen Bo over to try it. But unexpectedly, when he arrived at the teahouse, Chen Bo was already there, drinking tea with his cousin.
What a coincidence!
At an adjacent table were a few of Chen Bo's brothers, along with Brother Lin and Ah Pao.
"Young Master Feng, you opened such a big teahouse and didn't even say a word," Chen Bo greeted him with a broad smile.
The brothers he brought with him also greeted Lu Feng respectfully.
"Boss Chen, you have time to stop by today?" Lu Feng said with a smile as he sat down at the table. He then handed the serving of +2 tea to Xiaoyao. "Use this packet!"
"Yes, Young Master Feng!" Xiaoyao nodded. She discarded the tea she had just brewed, rinsed the pot with hot water, then opened the packet of +2 Qingfeng Tea and began to brew a new pot.
Xiaoyao's tea-brewing skills seemed more practiced today. In a short while, she had prepared a pot and poured a cup for Lu Feng, Chen Bo, and Yang Ming.
Lu Feng had already tried this tea, so he wasn't surprised.
Yang Ming and Chen Bo, however, were immediately captivated by the +2 tea.
"This tea... it's too good!" Yang Ming exclaimed, staring at the cup in surprise before downing it in one gulp.
He never imagined a cup of tea could be so alluring.
"Young Master Feng, where did you get such amazing tea? I've never tasted anything this good," Chen Bo said, immediately asking Xiaoyao to pour him another cup, a look of even greater astonishment on his face.
He'd once had the good fortune to taste a high-end tea that cost 50,000 for a box of 16 servings. He felt that even that tea was only about this good, right?
The crucial thing was, tea of that caliber was already very difficult for ordinary people to buy. A box of 16 servings was about two liang, which meant it was equivalent to 250,000 yuan per jin.
And much of the tea of this grade on the market was fake, with the leaves inside possibly being worth only a few dozen yuan.
Just then, Da Fei spoke up. "Young Master Feng, the teahouse sign will be finished and delivered this afternoon. Should we pick a date for a grand opening ceremony?"
"Mm, you can just take care of that," Lu Feng nodded. As he was speaking, his gaze suddenly shifted to the game world in his mind, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
A beautiful figure had appeared in the Qingfeng Tea shop within the game.
Wasn't it the female NPC who had snatched his bread and cola before?
He had searched for her several times without a trace, but now she had appeared on her own.
Just as he was thinking, he noticed the female NPC suddenly go limp and collapse to the floor.
"I have to go home for something," Lu Feng said to his cousin, Da Fei, and the others after seeing the scene in the game. He then left in a hurry, hailing a taxi back to his apartment.
In the game world, the woman had not yet woken up.
After locking his door, he entered the game with a single thought. The first thing he saw was the beautiful woman lying on the floor.
Lu Feng hurried forward to check on her. He found no obvious wounds, but her shoulder was badly bruised, as if from some kind of impact.
Furthermore, judging by her pale face and chapped lips, she seemed to have been starving and dehydrated for a long time.
Looking at the beautiful female NPC before him, a plan formed in Lu Feng's mind.
'After all, this is the world of "After the Apocalypse,"' he thought. 'Right now, I've only explored two floors of this Department Store. There's still a vast world outside waiting for me to explore.'
'But who knows what dangers are out there? I'm completely unfamiliar with this world!'
'So, I could totally hire people from this world of "After the Apocalypse" to work for me.'
'This female NPC is the first game character I've met. Plus, the fact that she returned a piece of bread last time shows she has a conscience. We can probably negotiate.'
However, recalling the woman's skills from their last encounter, he immediately searched the area, found a rope, and then lifted her from the floor, placing her directly onto a tea table in the middle of the room.
Next, he tied her limbs, each to a leg of the tea table.
This way, the woman wouldn't be able to move when she woke up. It was just that the position was rather... suggestive. Especially with her 36D bust, which was thrust prominently upward in this posture, leaving much to the imagination.
Time passed. Lin Jiao groggily woke up. When she opened her eyes, she found herself tied to a table in a humiliating position.
In an instant, her face turned deathly pale, drained of all color.
In this dark and desperate world, she knew exactly what was about to happen to a woman with her looks.
...