[Middle-aged Man] Anyone in?
[-] Just when I'm feeling like my stomach and tea knowledge have almost been filled to the brim, a ruckus seems to erupt in the tea house. Yuan Xiao excuses herself and rushes over to the source.
[Middle-aged Man] Is Fei Ming here?
[Yuan Xiao] I'm sorry, he went out to take care of something. How can I help?
[Young Male] You must be joking. This is above your paygrade, little girl. Now get that rascal Fei Ming out here!
[player] More troublemakers?
[Yuan Feng] I'm afraid these aren't your run-of-the-mill troublemakers. See the one in front? The middle-aged man who looks like he's smiling?
[Yuan Feng] That's Mr. Li, he runs the New Moon tea house. He's also the head honcho of the tea association on Champion Street. As Bamboo Cloud's representative, you should be familiar with him.
[player] New Moon... Is that the one that was recently renovated?
[-] The materials Ume sent me did indeed mention this man. After all, he's been Bamboo Cloud's primary tea supplier for the last few years.
[Yuan Feng] Supposedly, they only closed down for renovations so that they could work with Bamboo Cloud again this year, and now that's all gone. The partnership is over, the customers have left, and all that's left in the tea house is formaldehyde. It's been a bad year for them.
[Yuan Xiao] I'm sure we can work this out amicably if you just tell me what you need.
[Mr. Li] I finally came to Magical Dream for some tea and snacks to see what all the fuss has been about, but... even your fruits are rotten. You call that quality control?
[Yuan Xiao] I checked them myself when I served them, and they were fine!
[Young Female] You're telling me you checked each and every one? If not, how can you be so certain that there weren't any bad ones?
[-] A woman at the same table then stands up and nudges the plate of fruit in front of her. She speaks in a soft, gentle tone, but her words are less than friendly.
[Yuan Feng] This one's an even greater contender. She's the tea association's second-in-command and is reportedly its mastermind behind the scenes. She's more of a tactician than a businesswoman, but she keeps the entire business in order.
[Yuan Feng] Everyone around here calls her "San Niang." If you're thinking of getting on her bad side, I'd advise against it. Even Ms. Minami treads carefully around her.
[player] Why would I want to get on her bad side?
[-] Yuan Feng says nothing, but smiles at me knowingly. I've got a bad feeling about this.
[Yuan Xiao] What...?
[???] Hmph. You think giving this green tea a pretentious name elevates it somehow? You gotta be kidding. Nothing ticks me off more than snobbery.
[player] Who's the curmudgeon?
[Yuan Feng] Mr. Zhao, he runs the Meridian Scholar tea house not far from here. Despite his bad temper, business is actually quite good for him.
[player] Do tea drinkers... prefer stronger flavors nowadays?
[Yuan Feng] Haha, not at all. It's mainly because the tea house has a nice name, as well as good feng shui. Multiple people have won the lottery when drinking tea near his tea house--
[player] My tea doesn't taste so good all of a sudden...
[Yuan Xiao] ...It is this year's superfine tea, yes! How can you know it's bad without even tasting it?!
[Mr. Zhao] What do you know about tea? Think you can pull the wool over our eyes? Are you trying to tarnish the good name of Champion Street's tea houses by serving us this swill?!
[Mr. Li] Relax, Zhao. We're not trying to make things difficult for you, miss. Why don't you bring out your top-shelf stuff for us--the one you recently served to Ms. Minami.
[player] Bringing up the tea my boss drinks all of a sudden? That's interesting.
[Yuan Feng] Champion Street has been abuzz these last few days with a rumor that Ms. Minami suddenly decided to offer Magical Dream a major collaboration deal after drinking only a single cup of a mysterious tea here...
[player] Yeah, right... Uh, I mean, do you think it's true?
[Yuan Feng] You represent Bamboo Cloud, don't you? How should I know! Haha. Shall I find out with some divination?
[player] No, no need.
[-] Fuuka Minami certainly never mentioned this to me, though I'm not sure whether that's because she forgot or didn't think it was important... Either way, who knows what's on her mind anyway? It is what it is, so I'd better get to work.
[Yuan Xiao] I... It's not that I'm holding out on you, it's just that I genuinely don't know which tea Ms. Minami had that day.
[Mr. Zhao] Sounds to me like there was no tea, but rather some sort of backroom deal!
[Yuan Xiao] Y-You... Hrgh! {var:Shake}
[-] Seeing that Yuan Xiao has taken a fighting stance and that the situation is about to get out of hand, as Bamboo Cloud's representative, I...
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