The fragrance that hits your face and the dimness that is completely different from the outdoors seem to divide the indoor and outdoor worlds into two.
"Is the person coming here a kid from Zhantang?"
"Is there tea on the table? Don't linger in front of the door, otherwise the tea will get cold and the taste will be much worse after a while."
Before seeing the person, hearing his voice first, and judging only from the tone of the person's voice, there is no doubt that the person is Zhang Zhao.
Listening to this old and hoarse voice, Yi Xiaotian had already painted a rough image of Zhang Zhao in his mind.
It’s just... when Yi Xiaotian followed the dim lights and gradually walked to the middle of the house——
On the low table, the firelight from a candlestick illuminated the face of the person sitting at the table.
His ancient and smooth face basically shows his immovable character - Zhang Zhao, as a true leader of civil servants throughout the three generations of Soochow rulers, the momentum he displayed was in line with Yi Xiaotian's premonition.
There's not much difference.
In Yi Xiaotian's impression, Zhang Zhao was born during the Yongshou period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was slightly younger than Jia Xu.
However, the status and identity of the two men in Sun Cao's regime in the north and south were roughly the same.
But... Zhang Zhao gave Yi Xiaotian the impression that, compared to Jia Xu's steadyness that concealed clumsiness rather than cleverness, Zhang Zhao had the feeling of being sharp and sharp at all times.
This... is probably the reason why Zhang Zhao can only stay at home now, right?
There is no merit or demerit between showing one's sharpness and hiding one's incompetence. It's just a person's habit of dealing with others.
But...as long as you choose the corresponding method, there will naturally be corresponding risks that you need to bear.
Those who stand out will naturally have to withstand the criticism of others - if they survive, they will naturally gain greater benefits, but if they fail, they will be greatly impacted.
As it is now.
Yi Xiaotian did not hesitate, or in other words, his performance was impeccable. Following Zhang Zhao's wishes, he slowly sat in front of the desk and faced Zhang Zhao face to face.
On the table...there is indeed warm tea.
Yi Xiaotian was not polite, picked up the tea, signaled to Zhang Zhao, tasted it gently, and praised him smoothly:
"Hmm... this tea is more fragrant than anything I've ever tasted before - well, the mellow feeling in your mouth is really rare..."
"Haha, it seems that my little friend has also done some research on this tea?"
Zhang Zhao, who was sitting opposite, picked up the teacup and took a sip, just like Yi Xiaotian.
Judging from the style of the other party's tea cup, compared to the tea ceremony in the north, which is not too popular now, Zhang Zhao's side is obviously more particular.
The Eastern Han Dynasty was an era when tea culture began to flourish.
It's just that Yi Xiaotian, who mostly lives in the north, usually doesn't have access to any good tea.
Clear tea and bitter tea, if placed in modern times, would probably cost less than 100 yuan for tea cakes, let alone West Lake Longjing.
Therefore, Yi Xiaotian's compliment was not random flattery.
"If I don't say research, I can only say I have a basic understanding."
Yi Xiaotian said modestly.
Zhang Zhao's face, illuminated by the candlelight, looked like a ravine. Combined with his exaggerated beard, his entire face seemed to be hidden under a gray mask.
But when he smiled, his facial features stretched, and Yi Xiaotian could clearly see Zhang Zhao's distinctive facial features - compared with the compact and delicate facial features of southerners, Zhang Zhao's facial features were obviously more like those of northerners.
A "thick" characteristic.
After all, Zhang Zhao himself is from Xuzhou. It can be seen from his broad figure that among the short Zhang Yun, Zhang Wen and others, Zhang Zhao is definitely an outlier in all aspects.
"Haha... This is a new tea brought by me from Jiaozhou. The locals seem to call it Pu'er. It should be named after the place. This tea has a much richer taste than the bitter teas on the market, not to mention the texture.
"
"Um…"
Zhang Zhao seemed to feel quite good about the tea he made by himself, and took the opportunity to take a sip while explaining.
——
Time passed by minute by second amid the seemingly meaningless greetings between the two.
However, this was just a trial without any smoke between the two.
In fact, Zhang Zhao's first move had already been hidden in that seemingly meaningless conversation.
‘It seems that my little friend has also done some research on this tea?’
In a word, there is a hidden secret.
Many people were shocked by Yi Xiaotian's actions, such as bringing down Chen Fuan in just over ten days.
It seems that everyone has paid too much attention to this extraordinary thing, and ignored...ignored the man named Zhantang, whose identity is a mystery from beginning to end.
The person who really doubted the identity of Zhantang, the foreign businessman who suddenly appeared, was Zhang Zhao.
As the saying goes, stand high and see far. Most of the people who had dealt with Yi Xiaotian in the past did not have the same status as Zhang Zhao.
Therefore, from the information received from Zhang Zhao's position...he was more wary of people from outside the Jiangdong area.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the popularity of tea culture could, to a certain extent, be used as a criterion for judging a person's origins.
But for most people, they will not notice this, because basically no one will travel across the north and south, and naturally they will not know much about it.
But Zhang Zhao saw this clearly and launched an attack on this point.
It's just that...Yi Xiaotian's solution is not ingenious.
He gave a half-covered answer with the words "I understand a little bit", and this round of offensive was easily defused by him.
"However, today, Mr. Ge Laohuang came to a place like Zhang Mansion. Isn't he here to discuss issues related to the tea trade with me?"
Sure enough, at this point, after Yi Xiaotian took Zhang Zhao's move, he also planned to face him head-on, and did not intend to give Zhang Zhao any more opportunities to test.
Old fox, the more questions he asked, the more dangerous Yi Xiaotian's situation became.
Putting down the tea cup, Zhang Zhao's sharp gaze came straight through the light. Even Yi Xiaotian suddenly felt the pressure from Zhang Zhao.
"hehe…"
"My little friend, you know it very well...then I won't be too close to it."
Zhang Zhao's voice turned cold along with his eyes.
"Little friend Zhantang, when you come to Wu County, even if I didn't invite you, you still have something to do, right?"
"Oh? How do you say this?"
The person who makes the request first loses - both parties know this very well. The key depends on how much the two parties need the other party.
"In my opinion, my real purpose is probably not just to make small profits among businessmen, right?"
After saying this, Zhang Zhao basically made his guess clear.
This... actually put the pressure on Yi Xiaotian's side.
