Chapter 7 Lying "No, no, no, it's 399 yuan!"...

Chapter 7 Lying "No, no, no, it's 399 yuan!"...

Ye Hantao's lack of explanation only confirmed the speculation.

[The father worked hard to bring her here early in the morning, and she complained that her family was embarrassing, like char siu.]

[Snobbish and materialistic, tsk tsk tsk.]

Birds of a feather flock together, right? What good can someone be if they're friends with Liao Jiayue?

【？？？？？】

The air in the courtyard seemed to freeze slightly, and even the thick-skinned Su Yi'ang felt a little uneasy.

He scratched his head awkwardly, thinking, "This blockhead, think of something!"

"Tao Tao." Su Yi'ang managed to muster the last bit of intelligence he had during the competition, "Did you ask your uncle to drive you here?"

Ye Hantao: "That's right!"

Su Yi'ang smiled brightly, feeling that he had helped Tao Tao clarify the misunderstanding.

Judging by actions, not intentions, if Tao Tao truly disliked her family, she would never allow her uncle to drive her around in his electric tricycle.

Ye Hantao then explained, "My dad originally wanted to borrow a car from a colleague, but it wasn't necessary." There was no live stream in between, so she couldn't maintain a vain persona.

[Disease progression: 96.1%]

"Netizens say you are vain, lying, and making far-fetched excuses."

Ye Hantao's lips parted slightly, completely baffled by the netizens' thoughts.

Liao Jiayue seemed to feel guilty for causing trouble for Ye Hantao with her words. She stretched out her dress and said with a look of surprise, "Taotao, look, we're both wearing white. We're so in sync."

[Yueyue, your way of changing the subject was too abrupt.]

Yueyue is simply kind.

[Kindness? Liao Jiayue deliberately mentioned the electric tricycle!]

Liao Jiayue really thinks the audience is stupid, trying to be clever and cause trouble.

Stop it, haters!

[Funny, Yueyue saw it, and can't she even mention it casually?]

[I'm not a fan, but if Ye Hantao had openly admitted it, she wouldn't have been criticized so harshly. Liao Jiayue is an innocent victim.]

[A chance to demonstrate her character was offered to her for free, but Ye Hantao simply couldn't accept it.]

Seeing that the topic had turned to clothes, Ye Hantao smiled and her eyes crinkled. "These are my new clothes."

"New clothes..." Liao Jiayue joked, "Did you buy them specifically for the show?"

Ye Hantao nodded, wondering why she hadn't received the vanity alert. After thinking for a moment, she added, "It's very expensive!"

[Disease progression: 95.8%]

In the bedroom, Ye Wei looked up in surprise, "Honey, weren't all the clothes in the store on sale for 39.9 yuan?"

“Yes.” Zhou Ti stared intently at her daughter on the tablet. “Tao Tao and I almost lost out to the other customers.”

Only close relatives know the inside story about Tao Tao. For example, the owner of POL Dessert Shop is an outsider they hired, which is why Tao Tao often can't buy desserts when she goes to POL Dessert Shop alone.

Zhou Ti had someone temporarily open a clothing store a couple of days ago, and also hired outsiders to prevent Tao Tao's identity from being exposed. The store owner treated them no differently than anyone else, so she and Tao Tao had to compete with others for the same items.

Ye Weizheng watched Tao Tao on the show, his feelings were complicated.

In Tao Tao's mind, just how poor was her family that she could consider clothes costing 39.9 yuan as very expensive?

Or perhaps Tao Tao felt inferior because her family was poor after going to university, and exaggerated how expensive the clothes were when she appeared on the show?

The thought of this possibility made Ye Weizheng feel as if he had been struck hard with a small hammer, a dull pain in his heart.

On the tablet, Tao Tao held up three fingers to everyone.

"It's really expensive."

Ye Hantao decided to add fuel to the fire. If Jin Shiyue's bag could be worth 800,000, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for her to say that her t-shirt was worth 30,000.

"3..." Her mouth was agape, "39 yuan..."

Ye Hantao: ? !!!

"No, no, no, it's 399 yuan!"

Ye Weizheng & Zhou Ti: "..."

So it was because her family was too poor that Tao Tao felt inferior?

[Disease progression: 95.5%]

Ye Hantao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling lighter.

She felt so ashamed when she was about to say 30,000 yuan.

I really can't imagine what an ordinary white T-shirt could possibly be worth 30,000 yuan. I hesitated and changed my answer to 3,000 or 300 yuan.

But three thousand yuan, even three hundred yuan is expensive. In a moment of distraction, the real price slipped out of my mouth.

The audience looked at Ye Hantao with a somewhat complicated expression.

[Her ability to ask Yueyue for plum blossoms and black bandages over the phone... speaks volumes about her intelligence and emotional intelligence.]

[Clumsy, can't hide her little thoughts...]

[I'm doomed, I think she's kind of adorably clumsy, hahaha.]

[Are you guys really that hungry? You can't even associate a gold digger with cuteness?]

Liao Jiayue had already anticipated the mockery from the viewers in the live stream towards Ye Hantao, but she showed just the right amount of concern on her face, as if she felt sorry for Ye Hantao being tricked.

"It's really 399 yuan?" she said, reaching out and casually draping her hand over Ye Hantao's white T-shirt fabric. "It's this fabric..."

Liao Jiayue suddenly paused, then touched it again, still unconvinced, and said blankly, "It's quite soft."

A white T-shirt that costs 39.9 yuan, so plain that it doesn't even have a brand label, you can tell it's cheap without even guessing, but why does it feel so soft to the touch, like holding a cloud in your hand?

Looking at the color, it wasn't the usual glaring white, but rather had a warm and smooth feel, and the texture seemed to surpass that of the SAR* printed short-sleeved shirt in her suitcase that cost over a thousand yuan.

"Hantao, where did you buy this T-shirt?"

"There's a shop on the back street of my neighborhood where the clothes feel incredibly comfortable to the touch, and dozens of people are lining up to buy them," Ye Hantao said proudly. "My mom managed to snag three pieces thanks to her quick reflexes."

[...Why would a store selling items for a genuine 399 yuan each rely on lightning-fast reflexes to snag one?]

[It's like a domineering CEO in a luxury store ordering the sales assistant to cut off his clothes—it's all in my imagination.]

Can I tell you? Dior and LV really do have cross-shaped bags (facepalm)

Liao Jiayue let go of her hand expressionlessly, thinking to herself that she had really overthought things. What high-end goods could those shops located near old and dilapidated buildings possibly have?

Yuan Kai's gaze swept over Ye Hantao's face, and the scrutiny in his eyes clearly took on a different meaning.

From their brief encounter, he noticed Ye Hantao's outstanding demeanor and the fact that she was classmates with Liao Jiayue, who came from a wealthy family. He had assumed that Ye Hantao was also a pampered heiress. He never imagined that she was just a poor student wearing a 39-yuan T-shirt.

After everyone introduced themselves, Ye Hantao sat down in her original spot on the stone bench, with Wu Xia to her left and He Qiang to her right. Liao Jiayue, taking advantage of chatting with Su Yi'ang, sat down between Su Yi'ang and Yuan Kai.

"It's better to be genuine." He Qiang's eyebrows were slightly sharp, and she was so serious that it sounded like she was lecturing someone. "Be the way you are."

Ji Changtu touched the jade pendant on his wrist and chimed in, "Yes, we business people don't like to do business with people who play tricks."

Upon hearing this, He Qiang rolled her eyes. A man in his forties, looking bloated and bloated, had the nerve to say that.

Upon hearing this, Ye Hantao silently avoided He Qiang's gaze and touched her nose. In order to recover her health, she definitely couldn't be herself during the two months of recording the variety show.

He Qiang noticed Ye Hantao's guilty conscience, and a nameless anger surged in her chest, but she kept a straight face, thinking to herself: Another Jin Shiyue 2.0.

This person really doesn't mince words.

[Forget giving Ye Hantao face, He Qiang even criticized foreign media at her solo exhibition abroad.]

I just searched for He Qiang online, I'm sorry! I didn't recognize her!

[Are there really people who don't recognize her?! A leading figure among young Chinese painters, she won the gold medal at the National Art Exhibition at 24, held a solo exhibition at the Louvre at 26, and her painting "Rising Sun" is in the collection of the National Art Museum of China.]

[I know her, sob sob! The show just officially announced He Qiang a minute ago, I almost missed my idol!]

“Since the rest of the people haven’t arrived yet, let’s continue drinking tea.” Ji Changtu quickly glanced at the camera lens, leaned over with his slightly protruding belly, picked up a can of tea that had been placed on the table earlier, the three characters “Yuqiantang” on the can were written in a flowing and majestic style.

He then opened the brocade box next to him, and the camera panned across the tassels and jade buckles on the box and the gold-stamped logo inside. Even if the audience did not know anything about teaware, they felt that those seemingly ordinary teacups were made several levels more elegant by the brocade box.

Yuan Kai was pleasantly surprised, "You even brought it with you!"

“Changtu treasures his tea set very much; it’s a genuine antique from the Qing Dynasty.” Yuan Kai picked up a teacup with a blue and white lotus scroll pattern on its surface.

He explained, "Look, there's a seal script mark on the bottom of the cup that says 'Made in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.'"

He patted Ji Changtu on the shoulder and said, "You're something else. You were hiding this treasure from the four of us while we were having tea just now."

“I also wanted to wait until everyone arrived.” Ji Changtu straightened his teacup. “I can’t favor one over the other.” Besides, Yuan Kai’s popularity couldn’t compare to Liao Jiayue’s. The more people in the live stream, the more attention his tea shop would receive.

Upon hearing that it was an antique, Su Yi'ang quickly went over to take a look, "This must be very expensive, right?"

Ji Changtu smiled slightly, "I value its significance and the enjoyment of drinking tea more."

[I'm back from the search, it's over 100,000...]

[The presence of Boss Ji and Su Yi'ang further proves that Yueyue's soft-heartedness was a mistake!]

Just as Liao Jiayue's fans were feeling heartbroken that their idol's classmate was nothing special, Ye Hantao suddenly spoke up: "The characters 'Made in the Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty' on the bottom of this cup seem a little different from the ones I've seen before. I remember the strokes should be smoother at the turns."

He Qiang raised an eyebrow in surprise. The fact that the girl could point out this detail meant she might actually know some Qing dynasty seal script.

Ye Hantao didn't know the exact price of the Qing Dynasty teacup, but if it was an antique, she estimated it would be worth tens of thousands of yuan.

She recalled seeing seal script from several dynasties at her traditional Chinese painting teacher's studio, "and the 'sun' character in the middle looks more like 'you,' and the one above—"

"What do you know?" Ji Changtu snatched a teacup from Ye Hantao's hand, his face darkening. "The Qianlong reign lasted so long, how could the font be the same in every period?"

Ye Hantao thought about it and said, "That makes sense."

“There are indeed differences in the characteristics of seal script from the early, middle and late Qing periods.” Although He Qiang disapproved of Ye Hantao’s vain lies, she still spoke up to defuse the situation, “It’s rare that you can see these subtle differences.”

Liao Jiayue's eyes flashed, and she continued, "Tao Tao, you remember so clearly."

[Disease progression: 95.1%]

"Netizens say you memorized it in advance, waiting to show it off on variety shows."

Ye Hantao: "?!"

Is pointing out differences considered part of the control group's persona?

Ye Hantao sat up straighter and waited patiently for Ji Changtu to make tea.

Regarding the precautions for brewing tea, during breaks from learning to paint, the teacher also had them memorize them before practicing!

Ji Changtu lifted the teapot and suspended it over the lid, tilting his wrist slightly as boiling water from the spout poured onto the cups and gaiwan. "To brew tea, you must first clean and warm the cups to allow the tea leaves to unfurl and release their aroma."

Then, he put the tea he brought into the cup, saying, "This is the shop's new oolong tea." As he spoke, he poured in boiling water with a "splash," and the tea leaves tumbled and the aroma wafted out.

Ji Changtu: "Oolong tea should be brewed with boiling water at a high temperature, preferably 95-100℃."

Ye Hantao sniffed the air. "Tieguanyin?"

"Wow, Tao Tao, your nose is amazing!" Su Yi'ang gave a thumbs up. "We just drank Tieguanyin tea."

After praising it, he chuckled and said, "I was asking before, wasn't it supposed to be oolong tea, why is it called Tieguanyin later?"

Liao Jiayue explained softly, "Tieguanyin, Dongding Oolong, and Phoenix Dancong all belong to the category of oolong tea."

"I didn't realize you were knowledgeable about tea?" Ji Changtu said with admiration. "I happen to have all three types of tea that you mentioned in my tea shop. I'll bring them over later so we can all try them."

Liao Jiayue smiled faintly, "There's a tea room at home; my father loves to drink tea."

【Ahhhhhh, Boss Ji has great taste!】

[This is what you call learning through immersion, unlike someone who memorized it beforehand and then showed off.]

[I discovered that Boss Ji's tea shop has an online store, fans, let's go!]

[Buy, buy, buy! Buy Tieguanyin tea!]

Ye Hantao couldn't see the comments in the live stream, but her almond-shaped eyes were like discerning eyes, accurately pointing out the differences: "The tea leaves I brewed today are very delicate, and the color is also greenish-brown. I can also smell a very faint floral fragrance. It should be considered a light-fragrant Tieguanyin."

The others, not understanding why she was suddenly talking about tea, all looked over.

"The light-roasted Tieguanyin tea has a low degree of fermentation, and if the water temperature is too high, it is very likely to scald the tea leaves and give them a burnt taste," Ye Hantao said.

She was so focused on maintaining her carefully crafted persona that she didn't notice the disapproving look from Ji Changtu. "The best water temperature for brewing it should be 90℃, so as not to ruin its floral aroma and to give it a slightly sweet taste, so as not to make it too bland."

After explaining all the differences, Ye Hantao looked up and realized everyone was staring at her. She paused, then asked, "Huh?"

Su Yi'ang asked blankly, "Tao Tao, does your family sell tea too?"

"Not for sale."

"Then how do you know anything about water temperature or fragrance?"

Ye Hantao smiled shyly, "I memorized it before."

Viewers in the live stream: "..."

[Little sister, you just admitted it so readily?]

A note from the author:

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*SAR virtual brand, founder: Lingdu

Tao Tao: Carried over a billion dots [glasses]