Wu Ling's voice rang out. "It looks like a distorted Buddhist symbol."
"Is it a talisman?" Liu Miao asked.
"No, just a symbol representing good fortune. It probably fell out of use years ago, so not many people know about it now," Wu Ling explained.
The camera zoomed in on the symbol.
The stamp-like design did look like some kind of complex symbol. It didn't look much like writing.
"Let's go inside," Ye Qing said.
The camera moved into the shop.
The interior was furnished in an antique style, with plenty of wooden cabinets as well as glass display cases showing off the tea.
There was loose-leaf tea and tea in tins, and the tins bore the sign "Tongrenhao."
The shop assistant was idly playing on her phone. When she saw them come in, she barely lifted her eyes.
The camera swept around the shop but didn't capture anything of note.
Wu Ling's voice came from off camera. "Hello, we'd like to ask you about a few things."
"What kind of tea are you looking for?" the shop assistant asked.
"We're not here to buy tea. We're newspaper reporters working on a feature about tea shops across the country. We'd like to interview your boss."
The camera turned to Wu Ling.
Wu Ling took something resembling an employee ID from her bag and handed it to the shop assistant.
The shop assistant glanced at it twice, then looked at the camera. "Wait here."
She went through a small door behind her.
After a while, the shop assistant came back out and opened the door beside the counter, gesturing for Greenleaf's people to come in.
Behind the storefront were a storeroom and an office. There was only one office, but it was quite spacious, with several desks inside.
A partitioned area