When Hú Yǐn Shā said these words, she deliberately raised her voice a little so that all the noble ladies and gentlemen present could hear her. She was suggesting that Yibai was not only ugly, but also useless.
As expected, when these words were spoken, the people who already disliked Yibai because of his appearance now looked at him with even more disgust.
Although both were sons of the city M's Su Family, Yichen, a stepson, lived a life of luxury, while the legitimate Su Family first young master had been raised in the countryside and was now useless.
Yibai saw the change in everyone's eyes, but his expression remained unchanged.
This calmness made Hú Yǐn Shā feel as if she had punched cotton, leaving her frustrated.
"Never mind," Hú said. She had achieved her goal, so she no longer insisted on having Yibai demonstrate his tea-making skills. She just waved her hand and said, "Yichen, since your elder brother doesn't know how to make tea, why don't you do it?"
Su Yichen's eyes lit up immediately. He was about to walk towards the tea table when Yibai suddenly spoke up.
"Who said I don't know how to make tea?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Su Yichen's footsteps came to a halt. Even Hú Yǐn Shā, who had no desire to look at Yibai's face again, couldn't help but look at him once more.
"Do you know tea art?" Hú Yǐn Shā asked, realizing her voice was a bit hoarse.
"A little bit," Yibai replied calmly, meeting his ex-mother-in-law's gaze. "If you don't mind, I can make you a cup of tea."
Before Yichen could say anything, Yibai added, "Why don't we give it a try and see if I can do it?"
"Yibai," Mu Xinyan called out his name in a warning, stern, and cold tone. She didn't want him to ruin Yichen's chance to shine.
She frowned and whispered, "Do you want to embarrass us even more? Let Yichen do it instead."
Mu Xinyan believed that her son Yichen was the best at tea art and would surprise everyone.
But Yibai raised an eyebrow and said, "What? Are you afraid I'll steal Yichen's thunder?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Hú Yǐn Shā couldn't hear them, but she could tell they were arguing.
The ugly duckling was probably trying to prove himself, and Mu Xinyan didn't want to be embarrassed, so she was trying to stop him.
Since the opportunity to belittle Yibai had presented itself again, why wouldn't she take it?
With this thought in mind, Hú Yǐn Shā smiled and said, "So First Young Master Su knows tea art. Perfect. This tearoom is quite large with many tea stations. How about you and Third Young Master each take a station and make me an extra cup of tea?"
Sure," Yibai agreed without hesitation.
In this life, he would never marry into the Li Family, so he had no intention of showcasing any skills in front of Hú Yǐn Shā. However, with so many elite and noble ladies and gentlemen present today, if he wanted to establish himself in city M's circle of elites, he couldn't let these people look down on him from the start.
Did everyone really think he didn't know tea art?
Then he would make tea seriously and wholeheartedly!
Yibai's emotions were turbulent, but his face remained as calm as a deep, still lake with its depth unknown, making it impossible for anyone to discern his thoughts.
Su Yichen sneered in anger.
"How presumptuous!"
He left these two words behind and headed straight for the central tea station.
A country bumpkin dared to compare tea art with him, the number one Omega White Moonlight of City M?
In order to win the title of number one Omega White Moonlight of City M, he had worked hard on his tea art, even going to a temple deep in the mountains to practice for three months to learn better techniques.
Did this bastard really think he could compare with him?
It was a huge joke!
As Su Yichen was boiling water, Yibai walked over calmly and picked a tea tray at random.
Calm and composed.
All eyes involuntarily turned towards him...
Mu Xinyan watched as Yibai also began to boil water, and she was almost going crazy.
This ignorant, incompetent, useless, shameless, bastardous spawn of Satan—where did he get the courage to defy her, prance around, and make a fool of not only himself but also of the Su family!
After the birthday banquet, she had to belittle this foolish country bumpkin in front of the old lady. This was the perfect opportunity. Let him prance around, jump up and down like a jester, and make a fool of himself. This would definitely kill all the fondness, affection, and sympathy the old lady had for him and make the old lady dislike this useless, incompetent, foolish, pesky, annoying, bastardous spawn of Satan from the countryside!
But what if the old lady questioned her for not stopping him? "You know what, damn it. If she does, I'll just say I did try, but Yibai wouldn't listen to me," she thought. That would make the old lady hate him more.
Compared to Mu Xinyan's nervousness and calculations, Hú Yǐn Shā was in a good mood.
If it was just Yibai making tea alone, even if he didn't do it well, as long as his steps were correct, she couldn't say anything to him.
But with Yichen, who was crowned City M's Omega White Moonlight pageant king—a top Omega—as a comparison, Yibai would appear even more unsightly, crude, and shallow.
"These two brothers... are really interesting," thought Hú Yǐn Shā. "She really likes Yibai's foolishness!"
Soon, both Yibai's and Yichen's water boiled.
All the Omega nobles and elite ladies and gentlemen present were skilled in tea art. From the tools they prepared, they could tell that both of them were going to make tea and what kind of mastery they had of the art.
Making tea is usually used in tea art competitions. It requires a high level of tea art and is also one of the crucial standards that one must master if they want to be crowned as the Omega White Moonlight of City M. The fact that Yibai, a "country bumpkin," knew how to make tea surprised everyone, and they all looked up at him.
Upon seeing this, Hú Yǐn Shā felt a faint sense of unease. Could this ugly creature really know how to make tea?
No, it must be an illusion. Even if the tools he prepared were for making tea, it didn't necessarily mean he knew how to make it. Maybe he was just copying Yichen.
With this thought, Hú Yǐn Shā's anxious heart calmed down a bit.
As Yichen waited for the water to boil, he also noticed that Yibai's tools were exactly the same as his.
He sneered inwardly and thought that Yibai was copying him.
But making tea was not something that could be learned just by watching. For beginners, learning how to make tea by just watching was like slapping oneself in the face. It was something that required practice and learning precisely what to do. With this in mind, Yichen decided to show off and said, "Brother, do you want to make tea too? Making tea requires three boils. The first boil should be like the eyes of a fish, with a slight sound. The second boil should be like a string of pearls from a spring. The third boil should be like waves and drumming."
"Brother, do you know what these three sentences mean?