Chapter 50
The package sent this time was filled with all sorts of things. Unlike the last one, which was clearly a more exquisite and formal gift, this one felt more like a suitcase packed by parents for a child about to leave for school. It was all practical stuff. Everything they could think of, whether it would have an effect on the United Star System or not, was stuffed inside.
Next to the box of tea were several bottles of honey in transparent glass.
Director Li’s eyes immediately fell on these rather viscous, transparent liquids. He picked one up and saw a label on it.
“‘Hundred Flowers Honey.’ It’s made by bees and also has medicinal properties. It can be brewed in water to drink.”
A high-ranking official on the side let out an “Ah” and said, “Bees appeared in Host Anran’s livestream before. She did indeed mention the topic of bees collecting honey at that time.”
The Hua nation had also thoughtfully marked how much water was appropriate for one gram of honey. Too much honey in this stuff would indeed be cloyingly sweet.
The rest were seeds for various fruits, flowers, and plants, each with detailed planting instructions.
Everyone present was moved to tears of gratitude. Their ancestors were truly so thoughtful.
After inventorying the items, the several leaders and professors from the Academy of Sciences all lingered, unwilling to leave. They made small talk with the Consul General, keeping him from leaving as well.
After the conversation had devolved to the topic of how the Consul General had been sleeping recently, he finally sighed and said helplessly, “Alright, isn’t it just that you want to try the tea and honey? Why are you all rambling on about this and that?”
Everyone laughed, a tacit understanding between them. After all, they were already here. And according to the instructions from Earth, both the tea and honey only required a small amount to brew a large cup, so they just wanted to have a taste.
The leader waved his hand and had someone take the tea and honey down to be prepared. Director Li volunteered to brew it himself, and an old general also rolled up his sleeves and went with him.
The atmosphere in the hall instantly became cheerful. Everyone was discussing what to prepare as a gift for Host Anran the next time they had the chance. After all, the Hua nation had prepared things for them with such sincerity; they also had to carefully prepare a response to their enthusiasm.
Before long, Director Li and the old general returned. They had used the tea set sent by the Hua nation and had also found a large glass pitcher for the honey water. An assistant followed behind with some cups.
The old general had a sour look on his face. When he had been preparing the honey just now, the moment he opened the lid, a sweet, mellow aroma had wafted out. He had wanted to secretly dip a finger in for a taste but was caught on the spot by Director Li’s eagle eyes and was righteously refused. He just wanted a tiny little taste! He just wanted to know what it was like to eat it straight, without water! That old fossil, Li Sheng!
With the two beverages served, everyone eagerly took the one they were more interested in. The leader took a cup of Pu’er tea and was conquered by its mellow taste the moment it entered his mouth. After savoring it, he found it truly left a lingering fragrance.
The several professors from the Academy of Sciences also coincidentally took the Pu’er tea, and their eyes all lit up at the first sip.
“This is too delicious!”
“Heavens, water can have this kind of taste!”
It was strange, but the interstellar era had almost no beverages. They all drank plain water, and the quality in many places was not good, either tasting bitter or sour. And the impurities in the water were very difficult to remove. The scientists of the entire interstellar era had put in an unknown amount of hard work on water purification, but the impurities were just too stubborn, as if they were tightly bonded with the water molecules. It was truly a bit embarrassing to say that with their current level of scientific research, they couldn’t even handle water treatment.
The consul of the Third Planet preferred the honey water and gave it a thumbs-up as he drank. This sweet water was exactly to his liking! He had to figure out a way to get some to take back with him later. He couldn’t even imagine how happy he would be if he could drink it every day.
Director Li drank one cup and then refilled it, sipping it with his eyes closed, savoring it. As he drank, he suddenly felt that the headache that had been bothering him for the past few days had cleared up a lot.
This was an old problem of his: overuse of the brain. Many professors at the academy had this issue. It was also related to the interstellar environment. Brain diseases were the most common type of illness in the entire interstellar era and were one of the few that were difficult to cure. But fortunately, they didn’t affect lifespan. As long as one rested well and avoided high-intensity mental work, there was no difference from a normal person.
In recent years, he had been planning to retire, partly because he felt his physical condition was not optimistic and he could no longer conduct research for long periods. The moment he overused his brain, his entire prefrontal cortex would feel like it was being pricked by needles. But then Xia Anran’s livestream had appeared, and there was no way he could retire at a time like this. So recently, his headaches had been recurring more and more severely. When he had arrived this morning, the Consul General had even chatted with him and advised him to take a few days off to rest, lest he collapse at his workstation.
Soon, it wasn’t just him; the other professors present also discovered this effect of the tea.
“It’s true! I feel like my head is so much clearer now!”
“My god, for the past two or three years, my head has felt like it’s been blocked by something. Most of the time, I’ve been in a daze. Now I finally feel like my head is clear!”
“Another cup! I want another cup!”
The professors were all beaming, their eyes shining as they stared at the pot of tea.
Not just the professors, even the Consul General felt his mind was much clearer after drinking a cup of tea. He remembered the “refreshing and invigorating” effect mentioned in the Hua nation’s introduction to tea. Now he had experienced it firsthand.
The consul of the Third Planet put down his honey water and craned his neck to look in the direction of the tea. The professors had already rushed over, clutching the tea canister and refusing to let go. He quietly went over and also took a cup.
The first taste was bitter. For someone like him who loved sweets, this level of bitterness was enough to make him grimace. But soon, a sweet aftertaste spread through his mouth. It seemed pretty good. The aftertaste was light, fragrant, and sweet. Unlike the strong, direct sweetness of honey, the aftertaste of tea was long-lasting and elegant. Both were delicious! Hmm, a few more sips.
And then—
Thud!
The sound of the Third Planet’s consul falling to the ground startled everyone. Even the professors who had just been haggling with the Consul General over taking some tea back to the academy were stunned.
With the experience of the past few times, even the Consul General could tell. This state was clearly a sign of awakening psychic power.
“Help Consul Deng to a room. Notify the professional staff from the 115th Squadron to come and watch over him,” he commanded in an orderly manner.
Recently, quite a few people in the United Star System had been awakening their psychic power, for all sorts of strange reasons. It had made what was originally a joyous occasion a bit commonplace for him.
With Qin Feng’s sudden breakthrough just now, everyone wasn’t too surprised by Consul Deng’s sudden awakening. After arranging for people to take care of him, the professors from the Academy of Sciences were still persistently clutching the tea canister, not letting go.
“Consul General, we request that the tea be supplied to the Academy of Sciences! We need it too much!”
“Yes, yes! We can’t live without tea, Consul General.”
“Sigh, we old bones really can’t go on like this.”
Director Li was silent on the side, but the hand clutching the tea tightened a little, showing his stance.
The Consul General: “…Alright, you can apply for some. Go through the procedures later.”
Then, he changed the subject. “Did Consul Deng just drink tea before he awakened his psychic power?” When he had been surrounded by the professors just now, he had caught a glimpse of him going to get a cup of tea.
“I think so,” Professor Gong said, glancing at the cup and the remaining tea that had fallen to the ground when he had fainted. He couldn’t help but feel relieved that he had been using a normal cup. If he had dropped the tea set sent by the Hua nation, even if he had awakened his psychic power, he would have had to beat him up.
The Consul General pondered for a moment. “Then add tea to the list of psychic stimulants. Arrange for people to experiment later. Wait, Old Wu, what are you doing!”
General Wu, who had been trying to sneak some honey earlier, was also a little tempted after seeing Consul Deng awaken his psychic power after drinking tea. As a military man, he had the most contact with the Interstellar Empire’s psychics, so his desire for psychic power was much stronger than that of an ordinary person. He had been drinking honey water all this time. Seeing the situation and the fact that everyone was now crowded together and no one was paying attention to him, he had secretly gone over and taken a cup from the tray. He had just taken a sip when he was spotted by the Consul General.
He was so startled that he almost dropped the Zitan wood cup in his hand, which nearly gave Director Li another heart attack.
And then there was a familiar “thud.”
Well, another one down.
The Consul General sighed, already a little numb to it. And so, General Wu and Consul Deng successfully became roommates in the ward next door.
An informal meeting to inventory the mail from the Hua nation had dragged on for a whole day, ending with the spectacular record of another breakthrough for the current strongest psychic in the United Star System and the awakening of two high-level leaders.
When it was finally over, Director Li, clutching the small amount of tea he had managed to get, walked up to the Consul General again.
The Consul General glanced at him. “Old Li, that’s enough. We’ve already given your Academy of Sciences enough. We really can’t give any more.”
“I’m not talking about that,” Director Li said, waving his hand and whispering, “I was just thinking that since tea seems to have a great effect on the brain, we could spare some for Ye Yuxing. His psychic power is special; tea might be helpful to him.”
The Consul General smiled and nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. Yuxing is crucial to the United Star System now. All resources will be prioritized for him.”
Director Li breathed a sigh of relief.
“You really care for this student. You’re a good teacher,” the Consul General said, patting his shoulder. Director Li gave a sheepish smile. He was hardly a good teacher.
…
The next day, Xia Anran’s livestream started on time.
[Here, here! I’ve moved my little stool and am ready for today’s happiness!]
[Wuhu! Anran, what are we watching today?]
[Go up the mountain! Up the mountain! The mountain is so beautiful, with animals and green plants!!!]
[I want to see the little chickens again! Host, please notice us Beastman race!]
[Hey? Why hasn’t Anran come out yet? It’s so late.]
[Yeah, although Anran’s yard is very beautiful, where is she?]
[Hello, hello! I’m calling the police! Where’s my big host?]
“Hmm? Are you looking for me? I’m coming, I’m coming!”
Xia Anran walked out of the door. Today, she was wearing a very simple and neat white shirt and high-waisted jeans, looking particularly youthful and beautiful. In her hand, she was holding a plate of golden, crispy tenderloin that Master Guo had just fried. The reason she was a little late today was because the tenderloin had been a little late coming out of the pan.
Yu Yingkai, the first person to watch Xia Anran’s livestream, had long since become a loyal iron fan of hers, wishing he could hang a sign on himself that said, “I was Anran’s first viewer.” Today, as usual, he was camping out in her stream, drinking his tasteless, golden-thread nutrient solution.
Seeing her come out with a plate of food that looked so delicious, his eyes immediately went straight. Ahhh, I hate this tasteless nutrient solution in my mouth! Especially after having eaten fruit, it was becoming more and more difficult to swallow. But to maintain his vital signs, he had to drink this stuff.
Staring resentfully at the fried tenderloin on the screen, he took another gulp of nutrient solution. It’s okay. I’ll just imagine I’m eating this delicious food right now. Hmm, it’s salty and a little spicy. The outside is crispy, and the inside is very tender and juicy. It’s so oily and fragrant!!! The delicacy of the human world!
…Wait a minute. Why did it seem like he could actually taste it?!
Yu Yingkai stared blankly at the familiar nutrient solution in his hand, his brain unable to process it. What was going on? Had he gone insane?
Then he saw Xia Anran on the screen swallow the fried tenderloin in her mouth and itch to eat another piece, but she held back. And the screen was filled with question marks and exclamation points. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had suddenly had this feeling.
Xia Anran smiled and blinked. “Today’s stream is a little special. Because we’re leaving Yanshan Village tomorrow, today, Master Guo will be cooking to treat the villagers and thank them for their care these past few days!”