Chapter 27: The Deal in the Imperial Capital (2)

  Mr. Cai heard Xiao You say that the tea was very fragrant and didn't think much of it, but seeing him drink tea, he knew he didn't understand tea. At this time, Mr. Cai also felt a bit dry in his mouth, so he picked up the teacup on the table and skimmed it twice with the lid.

  Generally, people who love tea will smell the aroma before tasting it, and Mr. Cai is no exception. He picked up his teacup, swept his nose back and forth over the cup twice, and suddenly wrinkled his brow as he caught a whiff of the fragrance. He took a small sip, closed his eyes, and savored the tea carefully: "Huh? Da Hong Pao? No, even the best Da Hong Pao doesn't smell this good... Could it be..." Mr. Cai looked at Song Hu Shan in surprise.

  Song Hu Shan nodded, affirming Cai Laoshi's guess, and continued: "That's right, this is the top-grade Da Hong Pao produced by that mother tree. Our family's old master divided three taels at the beginning of spring this year, I secretly took one tael, now I have less than half a tael left. After this time, I'm afraid there won't be much left either, and it will take another half year for new tea to come out, how can I get through these six months?!"

  Song Hu Shan knew his wife must have had her reasons for doing so, but he couldn't help giving her a resentful glance.

  When they heard this, Xiao Yu didn't understand tea but understood the preciousness of this tea. The online news reports about that mother tree were overwhelming. One time when he went online, he saw a news report saying that the tea from that tree was only supplied to national leaders and each person's share was not much. It seems that Song Hu Shan is not just a simple businessman but also has a big background.

  However, Xiao Yu didn't care at all. Isn't tea just something to quench thirst? Why make such a fuss about it? Just pick up the cup and drink! Seeing Xiao Yu holding the teacup, Song Huishan's face twitched again in pain. This wasn't because Song Huishan was stingy or afraid of Xiao Yu drinking his tea, but rather an instinctive reaction from a tea lover seeing someone drink tea like a cow chewing on peonies.

  "Xiao Lao Di, Xiao Lao Di, tea is not drunk like this! You have to savor it slowly!" Mr. Cai had just seen Xiang Yu take out the wooden box without any precautions and was about to say something, but considering that Xiang Yu wasn't a connoisseur, he held back his words. When Xiang Yu drank the first cup of tea, he didn't even know it was a top-grade Da Hong Pao, let alone appreciate its flavor. But now that he knew, seeing Xiang Yu about to gulp down the second cup like a cow drinking water, his face twitched in pain just like Song Hu Shan's, and he couldn't help but speak up.

  Xiao Yu saw Cai Laoshi and Song Hu Shan with a painful expression, shook his head, whispered: "Tea is just for people to drink, to quench thirst!" Although he said so, but he didn't gulp down the tea again, instead, he picked up the teacup and slowly savored it. Seeing Xiao Yu's way of drinking tea, the two were astonished.

  It turns out that Xiao Yu's tea tasting was very professional and even more elegant and calm than Cai Laoshi, this old tea expert.

  In fact, Xiao Yu's tea-drinking appearance is professional, but he really can't tell good from bad. Xiao Yu just understands some rules of tea ceremony since childhood by watching his grandfather drink tea, and Zhong Kui is a tea lover, so the way he tastes tea looks very professional.

  However, since his grandfather asked him to study medicine, he couldn't resist in this regard and drank the tea leaves that his grandfather treasured to vent his discontent. Gradually, he developed a habit of drinking tea.

  Upon hearing Xiao You's muttering, Zhou Ruo Ying smiled faintly: "Old Song, Old Cai, you two have lived in vain. Having loved tea for half a lifetime, yet not as understanding of tea as my brother. Living freely is what matters; even the best tea, isn't it just to quench one's thirst?"

  Song Hu Shan and Cai Laoshi both forced a laugh upon hearing Zhou Ruo Ying say this.

  At this time, Song Hu Shan was really curious, wanting to ask, but with outsiders present, he feared his wife would not answer properly, so after some thought, he decided to wait for his wife to speak up herself.

  Cai Laoshi and Song Hushan had also known each other for over a decade, and they were familiar with Zhou Ruoying. They had met many wealthy and noble people here before, but no matter what, Zhou Ruoying always maintained an aloof and proud demeanor. Never had they seen her so excited about a guest's arrival that she would bring out Song Hushan's finest red robe to entertain them.

  Now Zhou Ruoying likes Xiao Yu more and more, if it was because Xiao Yu took good care of her son earlier, now it's because of Xiao Yu's genuine and innocent heart.

  Last night after returning home, Zhou Ruoying told Song Hushan about the young man on the train who gave her a prescription. The two of them found a famous old Chinese doctor in Beijing to take a look at the prescription that night. After looking at the prescription, the old doctor also sighed at how wonderfully it was written: "Clear spirit and calm energy, condense spirit and nourish brain". After buying the medicine back, they gave it to their son to drink, and then chatted with him for half a day. This morning when getting up, although he still didn't speak to the nanny at home, but when seeing Song Hushan and Zhou Ruoying, he started calling them "Dad" and "Mom", making the two of them extremely happy as if they had met a great expert.

  "Cough...cough...I think we should talk about this wooden box first!" Mr. Cai deliberately coughed a few times to open the topic. Ever since he and Xiao Ye entered, Zhou Ruoying's way of addressing Xiao Ye had changed three times: "Xiao brother", "little brother", "brother". The relationship was getting closer with each step. Xiao Ye was like a cow chewing on a peony, enjoying the top-grade Da Hong Pao tea, while being called suave by Zhou Ruoying. On the other hand, Mr. Cai and others were slowly sipping their tea, but it seemed pretentious. If they continued talking like this, they would become nothing.

  "Alas..." Zhou Ruoying was about to speak, but suddenly thought that if she said it herself, her son would have been cured by this young man. Although the wooden box could be sold for a high price, once money was involved, Shao Yong's character wouldn't allow him to hesitate, and their relationship would likely end there. Zhou Ruoying still cared about Shao Yong, who was not only young but also an excellent doctor. So she swallowed her words and didn't say anything.

  Mr. Cai picked up the wooden box again, looked at it for a while, and said: "This wooden box has no comparable products on the market, so there is no reference. But I and several old men evaluated this wooden box from various aspects and gave a rough price of 140 million!"

  "Of course, if it's sold at auction, the price might reach 150 million or even 160 million, but after deducting some promotional expenses and the auction house's commission, it's roughly the same as what I said, this point we still have a grasp on."

  "14 million!"

  After Mr. Cai said this number, Xiao Yu's brain suddenly exploded. A few days ago, when he heard that the wooden box was worth tens of millions, Xiao Yu's mentality was still okay, after all, it was just an estimate, and he didn't think much about how much the wooden box could sell for in the end. However, when he heard Mr. Cai's quote, even if Xiao Yu looked at money lightly, his heart was still burning with excitement at this moment. This is actually easy to understand, just like you're holding a broken jar, and someone sees it and says it's worth 10 million, versus someone taking out 14 million and directly wanting to buy your jar - the feeling is completely different.