4333 The Other Side 302

The actor stood up, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to him. Gong Jie took it and asked curiously, "What kind of tea is this?"

"I don't know. I think that's the only box in the liquor cabinet."

"Da Hong Pao?" All Gong Jie could remember was that there was a reserve of Da Hong Pao and Taiping Houkui on the jet. They were tea set aside for VIPs.

"Da Hong Pao?" The actor was amazed to hear that. "Is this a real Da Hong Pao or a fake one?"

The reason he asked this was not because he doubted Gong Jie, but because the Da Hong Pao was really the noblest among the tea leaves and was extremely rare.

Da Hong Pao, produced in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province, is a oolong tea of excellent quality. There were very few Da Hong Pao in history to begin with, and the most recognized Da Hong Pao were only those few trees on the Nine Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City.

Because the Da Hong Pao tea trees grow on the cliffs, no one could climb them. Every year, during harvest time, the monks would use fruits as bait to train the monkeys to pick these tea leaves. Therefore, some people called it "monkey picked tea". Because of this, there is only a very small production.

The Da Hong Pao tea tree is a hundred feet tall, and its leaves are as big as a palm. It grows on the cliffs and the wind blows the leaves down. The monks made it into tea that could cure many illnesses.

In the best years, the tea production is no more than a few hundred grams, not even enough to make up a kilogram. The vast majority of it is provided to the powerful. The Da Hong Pao on the market is not considered pure.

No wonder there was only so little of it. He'd thought it was just remains of what Gong Jie had drunk, so he'd steeped all of it. No wonder it was so strong. At this thought, Hua Jin became uneasy!

Da Hong Pao was so rare. Oh God! It was actually a Da Hong Pao! If it were the real deal… then wouldn't he have been awfully wasteful?

"You think I'll drink fake tea leaves?"

"No… no…"

He had steeped dozens of grams of tea leaves in one go. He felt like he had drunk a 100 million yuan worth of tea.

"It's too thick." Gong Jie muttered something, then asked casually, "Don't tell me you've steeped all of it?"

Blushing guiltily, Hua Jin said, "Yes." Looking embarrassed, he continued, "I thought… they were just ordinary tea leaves."

Gong Jie's expression darkened. "You think my tea leaves are ordinary? …"

"No, I didn't mean it that way…" The actor looked down guiltily. "I can always make it up to you…"

"I bought this tea from an auction. Five million for 50 grams. You'll make it up to me?"

The actor's breath caught in his throat, making it hard to breathe. However, he didn't want Gong Jie to think too little of him. He braced himself. "I'll pay for it. It's not like I can't afford it."

After being in the entertainment industry for so many years, it would be unreasonable to say that he was not of monied background. Although this five million yuan was not a sky-high price, just these few dozen grams of tea leaves made all his internal organs squirm with pain.

The actor bargained, "Five million. I'll pay you two and a half million."

"Why two and a half million?" Gong Jie asked, confused.

The actor pursed his lips and motioned to the teacup in his brother's hand. "You've had your share, haven't you? The drinker pays his share."

"Is that how you calculate?" Gong Jie was not pleased. "You've steeped all the excellent tea leaves in one go and they've lost all their essence. And you have the nerve to say that the drinker pays his share?"

The actor felt even more guilty. He muttered something to himself, but it was hard to make out what he was muttering.

How painful!

Gong Jie was suddenly amused to see Hua Jin sitting there like a pincushion, and his anger immediately subsided.