Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start
Chapter 385 - 383: Rat-catching Team Unites to Produce Supreme Ancient Tea!

Chapter 385: Chapter 383: Rat-catching Team Unites to Produce Supreme Ancient Tea!

"Come on, Sang Biao, eat some cat snacks."

Xu Yang held the cat snacks in his hand, luring Tabby Cat over.

Sang Biao immediately scampered over, enjoying the treat he deserved.

However, just as he was happily munching away, Xu Yang grabbed him, pinched a pill between his index finger and thumb, shoved it deep into his throat, then touched his throat.

The next second, Sang Biao swallowed the pill down.

He hadn’t even realized what had happened.

While he was still somewhat stunned, Xu Yang placed the cat snacks in front of him again.

Sang Biao, smelling the cat snacks, started eating happily again.

After all, it was just a cat.

Xu Yang smiled smugly.

Feeding medicine was something he had become quite skilled at.

After all, with many animals at home, there were many medicines that needed to be administered.

But these creatures were so cunning, even pills hidden in meat could be picked out by them, so Xu Yang had learned to administer them by hand.

Tabby Cat had no clue.

It had to be said, the rat it caught last night was really big.

No wonder it could break through the pottery used for brewing.

It belonged to the "Rat King" of the farm.

But this time, it hadn’t escaped, and was dead and beyond dead, stuffed by Xu Yang into a bag and thrown onto the garbage truck.

Rats are kind of scary, and if left to breed, they could quickly multiply into dozens.

So, Xu Yang thought, maybe it was time to expand the scale of the farm’s Rat-catching Team.

Now, apart from Tabby Cat, there were only a few foxes.

"Sang Biao, got any buddies? The farm is so large, it wouldn’t hurt to bring some little buddies over."

"As long as they can catch rats, they are free to roam here."

"Now that the land has expanded and the weather is warmer, there are quite a few rats in the fields."

"Bring over a few little buddies,"

Xu Yang looked at Sang Biao, asking.

Cats are smart, they understand human speech, it’s just that sometimes their personalities are a bit odd.

Sang Biao understood what Xu Yang meant, but outwardly remained impassive.

Currently, the rats in the fields were mainly caught by the foxes.

Other animals didn’t bother.

It was time to assemble a Rat-catching Team.

Xu Yang had merely mentioned it casually, but unexpectedly by noon the next day, he saw two new Pasture Cats appear on the farm.

One was a Holstein Cat, black and white, with a ring of black around its eyes and white on its nose and mouth area, which looked a bit strange.

Another one was a little Tabby, looking exactly like Sang Biao.

Seeing them appear, Xu Yang was quite surprised.

"New cats?"

"Sang Biao, so you did have little buddies!"

As the Boss Cat of the village, Sang Biao’s status was definitely not low.

Previously, thinking Xu Yang did not want other cats to appear on the farm, he didn’t allow other stray cats to come in, but now that Xu Yang had spoken, the cats naturally followed.

They started bustling in the fields immediately.

And their achievements were quite impressive.

This was, in fact, a good thing.

The farm looked bustling again.

The new Pasture Cats were happy, running and jumping in the Pasture.

They occasionally glanced at Sang Biao’s face, since it was Sang Biao who brought them here.

For the Pasture Cats, the farm was almost like a paradise.

Xu Yang was very satisfied; with the cats and the foxes, the Rat-catching Team was officially established.

With them around, the farm’s rats would find it hard to survive.

Farm life was always bustling.

In the afternoon, Xu Yang went to the Ancient Tea Tree, looking up.

At this moment, the Ancient Tea Tree was lush and verdant, its leaves particularly abundant.

Especially at the very top, they were larger and more tender.

This was a premium Ancient Tea Tree, producing tea leaves with excellent flavor.

The method of picking was simple, just climb the tree and pick the topmost leaves.

Soon, Xu Yang picked a full basket.

Coming down from the tree, he saw Husky and foolish roe deer together, tilting their heads, looking up at him.

These two, normally unseen, made Xu Yang want to pinch their chubby faces whenever they appeared.

"How do you two always pop up out of nowhere?"

"At least give a shout or something."

Xu Yang couldn’t help saying.

The two creatures still looked bewildered, so Xu Yang didn’t bother with them any further.

The tea leaves were picked, but frying them was another issue.

The leaves from this Ancient Tea Tree couldn’t be directly steeped in water, they had to go through a frying process.

Looking at the full tree of tea leaves, the quantity produced after frying wouldn’t be small.

This was premium Ancient Tea, only available once a year, and Xu Yang planned to stock up and save it; this was his foundation.

Once the name became renowned, whether for trade or for exchanges, it would be a great choice.

But Xu Yang didn’t have the Skill to fry tea, so he and Xu Hongshan needed to find a professional.

When he asked Xu Hongshan, Xu Hongshan replied:

"Frying tea? There’s someone in the village who knows how."

"It’s Old Li, he fries every year. There’s a tea tree behind the hill, basically every year when the tea leaves are ripe, he fries them for drinking."

"That kind of tea isn’t worth much, and others don’t bother picking it. But he makes the best tea, the flavor is fragrant when he fries it, and he sells quite a lot."

"If you want to fry tea, just find him."

Upon hearing Xu Hongshan’s words, Xu Yang immediately became interested.

Having someone skilled was enough.

Upon asking, he discovered that Old Li had been frying tea for about twenty to thirty years, just like most of the mountain runners. Every year, at a specific time, they would go to the mountains to gather some mountain goods.

After all, some things in the mountains are truly great.

Xu Yang didn’t know Old Li and had to have Xu Hongshan accompany him.

Xu Hongshan said,

"No problem, we’re from the same village, nothing to it."

"Just prepare a little something for him, some fruits will do, it’s no big issue."

Hearing Xu Hongshan say this, Xu Yang didn’t know what else to bring, so he brought two boxes of the farm’s Blueberries.

It was a gesture of goodwill.

Then, the two went to Old Li’s house to inquire about tea frying.

When someone is home in a farmhouse courtyard, the door is generally unlocked, left open.

A Pasture Dog lay at the door, and as soon as it saw someone coming, it started running back while barking loudly.

Xu Yang and Xu Hongshan arrived at the door, and Xu Hongshan shouted,

"Old Li, are you home?"

As the words settled, they saw Old Li coming out of the house.

Xu Yang and Xu Hongshan walked into the courtyard accordingly.

The Pasture Dog stopped barking as soon as it saw its owner.

"What’s up?"

Old Li was somewhat surprised to see Xu Yang and Xu Hongshan.

Hearing that, Xu Yang immediately said,

"I’ve picked some tea leaves, I heard you’re excellent at frying tea, was wondering if you could help fry some."

"I’d like to watch as well."

Hearing this, Old Li instantly felt somewhat proud.

His skill was indeed impressive.

However, in the village, this skill of frying tea wasn’t much appreciated.

He would just go to the mountain goods market every year to sell his fried tea and make a little money.

"Frying tea? No problem."

"You, the big farm director, could just buy any fried tea, why do you need to do it yourself?"

Old Li said.

Xu Yang responded with a smile,

"I need to fry it myself; the tea I found is quite unique. It wasn’t easy to find."

"Thought I’d give tea frying a try."

The three walked further in.

All they saw in the courtyard was a large, dark iron pot under an empty canopy, with firewood on the side and a bellows set up under the stove.

Xu Yang focused on the iron pot.

It looked very sturdy, and there was a faint scent of tea leaves on it.

This was from many years of frying tea.

Old Li, a mountain runner, made a living by frying tea, the flavor of his tea was the best, others really couldn’t achieve the same taste.

So, each time the tea was fried, there were many regular customers.

There are masters in the mountains, and he counted as one.

"Alright, no problem."

"It’s just a matter of firing up the stove."

"But where did you get this tea from? I know all the tea trees around our village inside out. I know exactly which side’s tea smells fragrant and which side’s tastes bitter."

"Make sure you didn’t pick the bitter tea; it wouldn’t taste good."

Old Li was indeed a professional.

Hearing that, Xu Yang laughed and said,

"I got it myself, didn’t pick it from the mountain."

"This tea is quite good."

"Oh, and this is my farm’s Blueberry, very popular, I couldn’t come empty-handed, so I left the Blueberries here."

Old Li gladly accepted them, then without hesitation, he immediately started work: he lit the stove, heated up the pot, ready to fry the tea.

He couldn’t immediately tell whether Xu Yang’s tea leaves were good or bad, only noticing that they looked fresh and tender, seemingly quite extraordinary.

Xu Yang just watched from the side.

Soon after, the stove was blazing with fire.

Perhaps it was because Xu Yang’s eyes were full of the desire to learn, or perhaps because Old Li hadn’t been watched like this in a long time, he was very enthusiastic.

So, he explained while he was frying the tea.

It seemed a bit like showing off, but Xu Yang listened very attentively.

"Frying tea is all about controlling the temperature. If the temperature is too low, the tea won’t fry thoroughly and will be tasteless; if it’s too high, the tea will burn and taste bad."

"Thus, the fire shouldn’t be too strong, you need to feel the pot’s edge with your palm to test it."

"Feel it’s slightly hot, then you can put down the tea leaves and start frying."

"Also, you can’t fry quickly."

Old Li explained stage by stage in great detail.

Like when to flip the tea leaves.

Like when the edges of the tea leaves slightly shrink and curl up a bit, then it’s time to take them out of the pot.

Xu Yang learned diligently.

He had an exceptional Ancient Tea Tree of his own.

With this skill at hand, he wouldn’t lack for tea to drink in the future.

Moreover, as it accumulates, it could also become a substantial fortune.

That Ancient Tea Tree was considered part of the farm’s income as well.