The fifth installment,

...

To be honest, whether Zhu Pangzi did it deliberately or not, acting this way was just too disgusting. Although Qin Fang's temperament was on the agreeable side, it was Zhu Pangzi himself who had walked right into trouble.

If it had been before Qin Fang upgraded his Scouting Skill, the investigation would have likely ended with a simple conclusion of "Shanzhai Dahongpao," end of story.

And in such a case, Qin Fang wouldn't have cared too much since he couldn't really tell the difference with inferior tea leaves; the taste would just be slightly worse in the end.

But Qin Fang's Scouting Skill had upgraded, and the results of his investigation became much more detailed. He could even pinpoint exactly what materials were used to counterfeit the tea leaves in his cup—materials that were enough to make one want to vomit…

"No… Young Master Qin… I… "

Zhu Pangzi was utterly confused; he truly didn't know what had happened. Qin Fang had turned against him before even a sip of tea had gone down, which left Zhu scared and at a loss for words.

"Tea?"

However, Zhu Pangzi managed to grasp the crux of the matter, as Qin Fang had made it clear that the problem was with the tea. "Young Master Qin, you've misunderstood. This is premium Dahongpao that I bought at a high price, how could it... "

Qin Fang just glared at Zhu Pangzi fiercely, "Let's go... "

Just then, Tang Feifei and Xiao Muxue, seeing that Qin Fang had suddenly flared up, came over in surprise. Without even looking at them, Qin Fang took Tang Feifei and Xiao Muxue by the hand, one on each side, and they headed out together.

Tang Feifei naturally followed along obediently, while Xiao Muxue's hand struggled slightly, and she stole a glance at Tang Feifei before giving up her resistance and following Qin Fang out the door.

The three of them went downstairs, returned to the car and sat down, which was when Tang Feifei finally took the opportunity to ask.

"Fangfang, what exactly happened, why did you suddenly get so angry?"

"Ah, don't mention it, it was so nauseating!"

Qin Fang said with a bitter smile, then took a bottle of unopened mineral water from the car and rinsed his mouth vigorously several times before he felt a bit better.

"That Dahongpao Zhu Pangzi had me drink was not only fake, but also..."

Seeing both women looking puzzled, Qin Fang had no choice but to briefly explain what he knew, trying to make it as little disgusting as possible, but it still made both beauties feel queasy.

"You tell me, who wouldn't get angry in a situation like this!"

Qin Fang said with a bitter smile, yet there was still a flicker of something unusual in his eyes.

Perhaps Tang Feifei and Xiao Muxue didn't realize, but the fact that Mouse Qiang hadn't come down with them was somewhat telling.

...

"Brother Mouse, what the hell is going on?"

As Qin Fang and the others left, Old Zhu's face, already sporting a lot of purple and green, turned even more the color of liver. He was truly taken aback by the suddenness of it all, and before he could react, Qin Fang was gone, and from the look of things, he had offended him heavily this time.

Old Zhu's subordinates also wore faces of astonishment; clearly, they didn't know what had happened either. Seeing that the client whom Zhu Pangzi personally received had suddenly stormed off, it was obvious he was very angry. Coupled with Zhu's incessant sweating, it was clear that something serious had happened.

"Do you even have to ask..."

Mouse Qiang glared fiercely at Zhu Pangzi, "Old Zhu, brother, I really went out on a limb for you today, but you drop the ball at the crucial moment... I'm so mad I could take a knife to you right now!"

"No, Brother Mouse, I really don't know what happened, the tea leaves..." Zhu Pangzi was genuinely upset; he truly had no idea what had occurred.

"Stop talking about the tea leaves, will you? With such a big empire, Boss Zhu, can you really not spare the cash? To serve counterfeit tea to your guests? Well, I know Young Master Qin has deep knowledge in antiques and jade, and it seems he's quite knowledgeable about tea as well. Your Dahongpao isn't just fake; it was probably made using some particularly disgusting process, which is why Young Master Qin got so upset..."

And truth be told, even though Mouse Qiang couldn't rely on a Scouting Skill like Qin Fang to see through the tea, he nonetheless managed to guess a large part of the situation just from bits and pieces.

"Fake tea?"

Zhu Pangzi was completely stupefied this time; he had gone to great lengths and paid a hefty price to get this tea from a friend. It was so precious that even he was reluctant to drink it himself, only bringing it out to impress powerful clients or business partners when they visited.

Crude people tend to befriend others of their ilk, and not many of them truly understand tea. Even those with a bit of knowledge might not be able to distinguish the real from the fake, since if someone could sell the counterfeit as genuine, the taste probably wouldn't be too different.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered with any more nonsense. Young Master Qin is infuriated this time, and even I'm getting dragged down. You've done me in…"

Mouse Qiang, seeing how clear the situation was, knew that the moment was ripe and hurriedly stood to leave.

"No, no, Brother Mouse, help a brother out! Give me some advice…"

Old Zhu wasn't entirely foolish; knowing Mouse Qiang said this, there surely was some ulterior motive. He quickly grabbed hold of Mouse Qiang and fished out a card from his pocket, "Just a little token, for Brother Mouse and the boys to have some tea…"

This card was originally intended as an apology to Qin Fang. Unexpectedly, before he could even speak up, Qin Fang had already lost his temper, leaving Old Zhu no choice but to give the card to Mouse Qiang instead, in hopes of finding a solution.

Mouse Qiang subtly accepted the card, pocketing it, then whispered into Old Zhu's ear, "I'm not going to waste words. You've seen for yourself how much Young Master Qin liked those two beauties. Just win over those two ladies, get them to put in a good word for you, and things will be much easier..."

Mouse Qiang was actually telling the truth; if Tang Feifei and Xiao Muxue spoke up for him, Qin Fang would indeed cool down, perhaps just feeling a bit disgusted at most.

But, unfortunately, Tang and Xiao now understood why Qin Fang had reacted as he did. Just hearing about it made both of them nauseated. Naturally, they felt even more repulsed by Old Zhu, so this tactic wouldn't be so easy to employ.

"But…"

Although that was the plan, the task was not as simple as it sounded, "Brother Mouse, to be honest, I may have some skill when it comes to playing with women, but pleasing them… that's beyond me! If I have to throw more money at this, I don't even want to think about how bad it'll be!"

"What's in that head of yours? Who told you to throw money around like that? Can't you think of another way? What matters most to those two beauties right now?"

Mouse Qiang glared fiercely at Old Zhu before giving him a hint, which suddenly made Old Zhu feel like he had seen a glimmer of light in the darkness.

But that was all that needed to be said, and Mouse Qiang quickly left without another word. Old Zhu, of course, saw him out—with no courage to face Qin Fang himself...

"Dammit, fake tea? Hey, someone get this box of tea to the Su-style Auction House downtown. Have their experts carefully appraise it for me… If I find out someone's been cheating me, I won't let them off!"

After Mouse Qiang left, Zhu Pangzi flew into a rage. If it turned out to be like what Qin Fang said, he would be swallowing a crushing defeat. He immediately arranged for the tea to be appraised, and of course, didn't forget to prepare for what came next.

"Listen up, everyone! Those people were important clients for the company. Whoever isn't working on a critical project, stop and help out. We must use the best materials, the best designs… No matter the cost, we must satisfy the client!"

…

"Young Master Qin…"

After finishing his business, Mouse Qiang hurriedly went downstairs and dove into the car, seeing that Qin Fang and the others had been waiting for a while and quickly apologized.

"What took you half a day?"

Qin Fang only asked calmly.

"Nothing much, just gave Zhu Pangzi a lesson on your behalf, opened the eyes of that damn Fatty... Of course, I've also taken care of the tasks you assigned. Zhu Pangzi has promised me, if he can't satisfy Young Master Qin and the ladies, I'll immediately lead people to smash his company…"

Mouse Qiang was a shrewd man, knowing what could be said and what could not, especially since one of these women was the sister of Ninghai's notable man Tang Cheng. Now, as one of Li Dong's favored ones, he had some inkling of Tang Cheng's instructions, so he spoke in somewhat vague terms.

"Don't always talk about violence; if it doesn't work out, we'll just find another company…"

Tang Feifei, clearly not fond of the underworld style, frowned and spoke to Qin Fang.

"Let's wait and see. Since Mouse Qiang says this is the best in University Town, if it won't work, then we'll have to look for a company downtown…"

Qin Fang gently patted Tang Feifei's hand to comfort her, though he didn't definitively settle on anything.

Tang Feifei didn't catch on to anything, but Xiao Muxue eyed Qin Fang and Mouse Qiang with a curious gaze. Once she seemed to understand, a trace of a smile appeared. Clearly, this girl was quite clever.

Xiao Muxue's change in expression didn't escape Qin Fang's notice. As their eyes met, he clearly saw the playful look in Xiao Muxue's eyes, and he couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed. He realized that Xiao Muxue had seen through his little scheme.

It was really just taking advantage of the situation. After all, Zhu Pangzi dared to flirt with Tang Feifei and Xiao Muxue, so if Qin Fang didn't make him pay dearly, it would lack respect...(To be continued, for more information, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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