Tan You had no idea that hundreds of kilometers away, the old couple of the Ji family had started to argue. She was quite busy herself. All her attention was currently on the tea factory, and she would occasionally head into the mountains to check on those few Ancient Tea Trees.

As she came down from the mountain one day, Xu Liang smiled. "Off to see those Ancient Tea Trees again?"

"Mhm, I went to apply some fertilizer. I was thinking that during the autumn harvest, I’d also pick some leaves from the Ancient Tea Trees. Then I’ll ask Little Chuan’s grand-uncle to help roast them and see how they differ from ordinary tea."

Tan You worked the well pump to wash her hands. "I heard from Little Chuan’s grand-uncle that the tea from these Ancient Tea Trees is supposed to be extraordinary, but I’ve never tried it myself."

"We should bring more people with us into the mountains when the time comes. An Ancient Tea Tree like this... how old do you think it is? Should we report it and apply for official Ancient Tea Tree status? That way, it would be protected."

Fifth Uncle thought for a moment. "Our province already has a few recognized Ancient Tea Trees, so registering this one wouldn’t be all that special, would it? Besides, harvesting is forbidden from many of them."

Xu Liang understood what Fifth Uncle was getting at, and it was clear that Uncle Shen and the others did too.

Third Grand-uncle said, "Then let’s not register it. We won’t harvest it too heavily anyway. We’ll just symbolically pick a few pounds of fresh leaves each year. We’ll let this Ancient Tea Tree become a symbol for our factory."

"It’s a good thing this tree grows on our village’s mountain. If outsiders found out, there’s no telling what they might do."

Fifth Aunt chimed in, "I think we should fence off the area around the Ancient Tea Tree. Haven’t you seen how all the valuable old trees in tourist spots are protected? We may not register it, but we can certainly protect it ourselves and keep other people’s hands off it."

Fifth Uncle slapped his thigh. "Great idea! It’s just a shame such a huge tree can’t be easily moved."

Third Grand-uncle said, "Then we won’t move it. It wasn’t easy for it to grow that large. My point is, it’s best if only our own people know. There’s no need to advertise it to the world. You have to keep good things to yourself to avoid making others jealous."

"Down the line, we could even set up some kind of VIP system. For customers who spend a certain amount at our factory, we could give them a few dozen grams of this tea as a little token of appreciation."

Fifth Uncle made the final call. "We won’t advertise the Ancient Tea Tree, but there are a few other trees in the mountains that are nearly a hundred years old. We can promote those, right?"

Tan You’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Of course. In any case, we need to keep the best for ourselves. When it’s time to harvest the tea, Brother Xu can come into the mountains with us. We have to make sure our promotion of those trees is done right."

Xu Liang replied, "No problem. I’ve never actually seen tea being harvested before."

The reason he was still sticking around was to see how Ji Li would get the tea factory operational. As an observer, watching everyone work together with such drive and unity, Xu Liang felt his own blood pump with excitement.

Shen Yu glanced at the time. "Sis, it’s two o’clock. It’s time. The aunts have already finished sorting today’s mountain delicacies. We were just waiting for you to get back."

Tan You smiled. "Alright, let’s start the stream. Not that it makes much of a difference whether I’m here or not, right? You’re the one doing all the talking."

That’s right. For the past two days, the Ji Li account had been running a livestream. It was all because Fifth Uncle had put out the word that he was buying various mountain delicacies. Consequently, a steady stream of these goods was being delivered to the Shen family’s old residence.

Tan You decided to go with the flow and started the livestreams, which focused on the mountain delicacies they received each day. The talkative Shen Yu became the undisputed star host. He usually did all the talking, with Tan You occasionally chiming in from the side.

Tan You had also made it clear that they would stop streaming once this batch of mountain delicacies was sold. This was just a way to help the villagers sell their products.

The moment the stream went live, viewers began pouring in. Shen Yu laughed heartily. "Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to Ji Li’s livestream. I’m Sister Ali’s cousin, Shen Yu, and I’ll be your host again today."

"As for my sister Ali, she’s right over here. But first, let me give you all a look at the mountain delicacies we’ve received today..." Shen Yu held up his phone and panned it across the courtyard, where various delicacies were neatly sorted and packaged.

Tan You was in the middle of a conversation with Fifth Uncle. When Shen Yu’s camera panned over to her, her eyes crinkled into a warm smile, making her seem very down-to-earth.

"Today will probably be our last stream," Tan You said with a smile. "Over the past few days, we’ve nearly sold out all the mountain delicacies from the surrounding area. The local villagers are incredibly grateful to all of you. If it weren’t for our viewers, their hard work over the past year might have only brought in less than a third of the potential revenue."

"I just provided the platform; all of you are the ones who deserve the real thanks." After saying a few words, Tan You added, "I’ll let Little Yu take over the commentary from here. I’m not much of a talker."

Shen Yu chimed in, "Sis, even if you don’t say anything, everyone is happy just to see you sitting here."

Tan You waved him off. "Just carry on with the stream. Fifth Uncle and I have some business to discuss."

Shen Yu knew she had real business to attend to, so he didn’t say more. "Alright then, folks, let’s officially get started... First up is our star product..."

While Shen Yu was busy with the livestream, Tan You and Fifth Uncle were discussing various matters related to the tea factory.

"The factory’s brand registration came through. We need to get in touch with a packaging company to order custom packaging, and oh, some gift boxes as well..."

"If online sales do well, we should also reserve some stock to supply to supermarkets or local specialty stores..."

Fifth Uncle nodded in agreement. "Right. What I mean is, why don’t we open a tea shop in town? To exclusively sell our own factory’s tea?"

Tan You thought, ’Isn’t that just a direct-sales shop?’

"That could work, but a shop just in town is too small-scale, Fifth Uncle. How about this? What if we open a milk tea shop? We could use tea exclusively from our own tea garden."

"A milk tea shop? What’s that newfangled contraption?" Fifth Uncle took a drag from his cigarette. "Would people buy that? I’ve never even tried it."

Tan You considered it for a moment. "When the autumn tea is ready, I’ll give everyone a demonstration. I used to work at a milk tea shop, so I know how to make over a hundred different kinds. They’re very profitable."

Shen Xiaochuan exclaimed, "That’s fantastic! We’ll be able to sell our village’s tea all across the country. It won’t matter if people haven’t bought our tea leaves, as long as they’ve tried our milk tea!"

Tan You patted Shen Xiaochuan’s head. "That’s exactly the spirit. We don’t have to restrict ourselves to just selling tea leaves; we can also sell various other tea-based products."

Indeed, Tan You had her own agenda. She had no intention of competing with the village for the tea factory’s profits—that was the village’s business. Tan You’s own focus would be on the milk tea shop.

In the small courtyard, everyone was busy with their own tasks. Shen Yu was occupied with the livestream, Xu Liang was goofing off, and Tan You was discussing factory matters with Fifth Uncle and several other village leaders.

The bustling scene was interrupted when a voice called out, "Is this Shen Cunming’s home?"

Shen Yu instinctively turned his head. Seeing a few strangers, he raised an eyebrow and called out, "Dad, someone’s here for you."

Shen Cunming, who was splitting bamboo strips under the eaves, glanced up. His hand instinctively tightened its grip on the cleaver he was holding.

"What are you all doing here?"