"Haha, Roumei, don’t be upset, I can exchange my prize with you."
Tang Xiyue wasn’t upset just because Si Ma Roumei said something. He was too happy today; money wasn’t the most important thing. What mattered was winning honor among his peers.
"Who cares if you have a bit more prize money? Do you think I’m short of that little amount?" Si Ma Roumei rolled her eyes. She cared about honor, believing women were no weaker than men.
"Hahaha, Xiao Xing, I’m a bit ahead, how about I treat you to a milk tea?" Tang Xiyue replied generously.
"Tsk, how could milk tea be enough? You must go all out." Si Ma Roumei gestured toward the entertainment and food available at the mountaintop.
At the top of the mountain, there were pavilions, dining areas, and swimming spots where people could enjoy themselves while taking in the view.
Being generous, Tang Xiyue slapped his chest, "Hehe, I can cover half, and the other half..." He patted his younger cousin’s arm, "Shall we split it?"
Tang Shunyan nodded and replied, "No problem."
"Hahaha, here we come." The other friends, lagging a bit in leg strength, arrived panting, their clothes soaked with sweat.
By now, all the people and their guards had arrived, and the group made their way grandly to the dining area.
Here, they offered breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea services, even milk tea, juices, fruits, and snacks.
They had just had breakfast and were now missing a cup of chilled drink. Upon arriving at the restaurant and finding a seat, the waiter came over, and everyone, including the attendants, ordered chilled drinks for themselves.
The ladies sat at one table, the young masters at another, and the attendants stood, happy just to drink.
Ye Shiqi ordered a cup of watermelon juice, opting not to have the so-called pearl milk tea, a concoction she had suggested made not with cow’s milk, but with fresh goat milk, and the "pearls" made from black rice.
This black rice was one of the crops in her space, not highly produced but enough to supply her small-scale pearl milk tea. The space produced crops every few days, and she had a fair amount of stored grain.
As she grew older, her space expanded to over eight acres, devoted not to frivolous planting but to growing grains like glutinous rice, rice, and black rice, all except for areas designated for flowers, herbs, and grass.
There were springs and hot springs inside, used for watering the crops.
With so much grain coming from her space, she wouldn’t foolishly bring all of it out for family consumption or sale. She had built a grain storage in her space. In these times, grain was crucial, and money was secondary.
She had a feeling that one day she would need these grains, and as her space grew larger, her main focus was to expand the grain storage.
There was also a personal room for storage and sleeping, which served as her secret resting place.
Ye Shiqi took a sip of the chilled watermelon juice, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
The other two girls enjoyed their pearl milk tea, particularly the pearls inside.
Tang Shunyan had ordered a cup of mung bean soup, finding it satisfying in a way he never did at home. He couldn’t figure out why but guessed it might be due to the water source.
"Ah, it’s cool to the core!" Tang Xiyue said as he sipped the icy cold watermelon juice and then ordered some tortoise jelly.
The other young masters each had different drinks, sharing the same expression as they enjoyed their chilled beverages to the fullest.
During the scorching summer season, many wealthy families sent their young masters and mistresses, or other family members, to their secondary residences to escape the heat for two months.
Some Old Masters, who managed family businesses, liked to come here for morning tea and return home with chilled drinks, not minding that the ice had melted by then—they could simply ice them again at home. Our real interest isn’t in the drinks themselves but in enjoying the fine food.
Even a simple cup of tea or plain boiled water seemed different here at the estate; they would even buy bottled ice water and boiled water to take home.
After having tea here, the water and boiled water they took home was still sold, and while others might find it odd, those who could afford to come here for tea didn’t mind the cost as they cared about the taste and health benefits.
The quality of the water at the estate could perhaps only be explained by Ye Shiqi. In order to maintain the estate’s uniqueness, she needed to make daily public appearances, secretly adding spring water to the wells both uphill and downhill.