The Bureau of Industry and Commerce managed all the businesses in the county, big and small. Whenever a directive came from above, they had to hold a seminar in response.
Most of the business owners in the county, big and small, would attend.
The seminar lasted until noon. Afterward, the business owners were invited to a lounge, where the Bureau of Industry and Commerce would treat them to lunch in the cafeteria.
Most of them would stay. After all, it was a chance to dine with the bureau's leadership, and they might even be able to fish for some information.
When Huang Yuan walked into the lounge with the box of Qingfeng Tea, the business owners were already chatting amongst themselves.
He went to a tea table and opened the box of Qingfeng Tea.
Since his childhood friend had asked, he was naturally happy to help with such a small matter.
He poured the tea leaves into a large teapot, added hot water, and began to brew. Before long, he had prepared a large pot of tea.
He poured himself a cup to try it first.
The moment the tea touched his lips, a wonderful aroma filled his senses. After a sip, a sweet aftertaste lingered in his mouth. Even though he didn't know much about tea, he knew this was absolutely top-quality stuff—far better than anything he drank at home.
With that thought, Huang Yuan grabbed some teacups, picked up the pot, and began pouring tea for the business owners.
The business owners weren't surprised by this. After all, tea culture is deeply ingrained in the south, one might even say it's in their bones. From tea sets and water quality to the proper way to drink various types of tea, no one was more skilled in this art than the people of Min Province.
In modern society, business deals are often sealed over a dinner table filled with alcohol. It's as if a deal isn't done until someone has been drunk under the table. After every one of these booze-fueled negotiations, many people probably end up cursing under their breath.
But southerners could often while away an afternoon at a tea table and successfully close a deal.
So, none of the business owners found it strange that the bureau was serving tea. They all picked up their cups and began to drink.
But after a few sips, looks of surprise appeared on all their faces.
"Huh, this tea is quite good!"
"Good? It's more than good! The aroma and aftertaste are signs of a truly fine tea!"
"It's so refreshing, too. I bet you couldn't even get this for ten thousand a box, could you? Why would the Bureau of Industry and Commerce provide us with such a fine tea?"
"This tea is indeed better than those that cost over ten thousand a box," a middle-aged man suddenly said. "And brewing it in a large pot like this has already compromised its flavor."
Seeing this man speak, the others all nodded in agreement.
This middle-aged man was Zhou Xiang, the owner of a textile factory and one of the county's more prominent entrepreneurs.
He was also famous for his love of brewing tea.
Zhou Xiang took a few more sips from his cup, a look of sheer bliss on his face, and asked Huang Yuan, "Sir, what kind of tea is this? I've never had anything like it before."
Huang Yuan quickly explained, "This was sponsored for the seminar by Qingfeng Tea House over at Zhongmin Square. The tea itself is called Qingfeng Tea."
"Qingfeng Tea House? Never heard of it. Is it new?" Zhou Xiang asked, intrigued.
He loved brewing tea and was familiar with almost every tea house in Youcheng. He often took people out for tea and even kept a few boxes of the most expensive tea stored at each of his regular spots.
Huang Yuan nodded. "Yes, Qingfeng Tea House just opened. In fact, it's now the largest tea house in Youcheng!"
Zhou Xiang's interest was piqued. "So what's the price for this tea? I bet it's at least fifteen thousand, right?"
Huang Yuan didn't know the answer to that. "President Zhou, I'm honestly not sure," he said quickly, "but I can call and ask."
"Go on, ask!" Zhou Xiang said at once.
A few other bosses chimed in eagerly:
"Yeah, I just ran out of tea at the office. I'd love to get my hands on a few boxes!"
"This tea is great. If the price is right, I'll grab a few boxes too."
"Please ask for us!"
"..."
Seeing their enthusiasm, Huang Yuan took out his phone and called Da Fei.
Da Fei had already returned to the tea house with Lu Feng and Yang Ming. He saw Huang Yuan's call and answered immediately. When he heard Huang Yuan's question about the price of Qingfeng Tea, he replied at once, "The Qingfeng Tea is 7,500 yuan a box for sixteen servings!"
After hanging up, Da Fei smiled and reported to Lu Feng, "Young Master Feng, my childhood friend just said a lot of the bosses who tried the Qingfeng Tea are asking for the price. Once they find out, I'm sure many of them will come to buy it."
"Mm," Lu Feng nodded.
'Since this Qingfeng Tea is far superior to teas that cost over ten thousand a box, people will definitely buy it at only 7,500 yuan.'
Back in the lounge at the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, Huang Yuan hung up the phone and announced to Zhou Xiang and the others, "President Zhou, gentlemen, the folks at Qingfeng Tea House say the Qingfeng Tea is 7,500 yuan a box for sixteen servings."
"Sixteen servings for only 7,500?" Zhou Xiang was the first to react, surprised. "The most expensive teas at the other Youcheng tea houses are usually 5,000 a box for twelve servings. Isn't this price pretty comparable?"
The other business owners were also surprised. The Qingfeng Tea was truly excellent; they had been expecting it to cost ten, even twenty thousand a box. Who would have thought it was only 7,500 yuan?
Besides, it was a tea none of them had ever tried before. They had to stock up on a few boxes.
This thought crossed the minds of quite a few people.
Seeing that his job was done, Huang Yuan said no more and simply focused on pouring everyone another cup.
…
「Qingfeng Tea House.」
At noon, Lu Feng said to Da Fei, "Let's take everyone out for lunch."
"Okay, Young Master Feng," Da Fei nodded. He then turned to Xiaoyao, the most attractive of the staff, and said, "Xiaoyao, tell the girls they can finish cleaning this afternoon. Young Master Feng is treating. Let's all go to lunch first."
Xiaoyao nodded and immediately sent out a notification on WeChat. A moment later, the other four girls came down from upstairs.
Zhongmin Square was one of Youcheng's economic hubs, filled with all sorts of shops and, naturally, all sorts of restaurants.
Lu Feng took the staff to a nearby restaurant. Not long after they had returned to the tea house, a man in a suit walked in.
The young woman, Xiaoyao, immediately went to greet him. "Welcome, sir. What can I get for you? Our tea house offers a wide variety of teas, as well as alcoholic beverages!"
The man cut right to the chase. "Do you sell Qingfeng Tea here? The kind that's 7,500 yuan a box. I'll take three boxes to go."
"Of course, sir. One moment!" Xiaoyao replied instantly and went to the storeroom to get the tea.
Da Fei and Lu Feng exchanged a look. The man had come in asking specifically for Qingfeng Tea; he must be one of the bosses from the county.
Xiaoyao quickly returned with three boxes of tea and didn't forget to add, "Sir, our private rooms have a wonderful atmosphere for enjoying tea. You should come by and brew a pot sometime when you're free."
The man glanced at Xiaoyao. "In that case, young lady, you'll have to brew it for me personally."
Xiaoyao replied at once, "Of course, that's no problem, sir. We can add each other on WeChat, and you can let me know when you'd like to come."
The man nodded, took out his phone to scan Xiaoyao's QR code, and added, "Get me two more boxes of Qingfeng Tea to keep here at the tea house. My surname is Chen, and my given name is Li."
"Right away, President Chen," Xiaoyao answered, her face beaming with joy. She went back to the storeroom for two more boxes of Qingfeng Tea, then wrote Chen Li's name on a label and stuck it on them.
These customers' personal tea boxes would be placed in a special cabinet, ready to be taken out whenever they visited.
Chen Li was decisive. He scanned the code to pay the 37,500 yuan and left with his three boxes of tea.
Lu Feng couldn't help but give Da Fei a big thumbs-up. Clearly, Da Fei's plan had worked.
Of course, the happiest person was Xiaoyao. Tea is a high-margin business; a tea house's profit margin on tea sales can be as high as 40%, and Tea Masters generally earn a 10% commission on their sales.
Her commission was also 10% of the sales total, which meant she had just earned 3,750 yuan from this single transaction.
Just as Xiaoyao was placing President Chen's tea into the special cabinet, another middle-aged man came in and asked, "Excuse me, do you sell Qingfeng Tea here? I'll take five boxes."
Another customer asking for Qingfeng Tea. A different girl, excited, hurried over to greet him. "Sir, yes, we have Qingfeng Tea. Please wait just a moment."
Da Fei had already set the rules for the five girls: aside from their own regular clients, walk-in customers belonged to whoever was on duty. If they were all on duty at the same time, they would take turns serving customers in a pre-determined order.
This girl quickly brought out five boxes of Qingfeng Tea. The middle-aged man paid without hesitation and left with his five boxes.
Right after that customer left, three more customers walked in, chatting with each other.
These three seemed to be in the bamboo products business together. The south has an abundance of bamboo, and Youcheng is even known as the "Hometown of Moso Bamboo," so a related industrial chain had naturally formed there.
These three customers were more cautious. They sat down at a table and asked to sample the Qingfeng Tea first.
Da Fei was prepared for this. He had already opened a box of Qingfeng Tea specifically for serving to customers like them.
However, after the three customers tasted the brewed Qingfeng Tea and confirmed it was what they'd had earlier, they each bought two boxes of Qingfeng Tea and left.
Almost no time had passed before another middle-aged man arrived.
This man bought twenty boxes of Qingfeng Tea on the spot, left five of them to be stored at the tea house, and paid 187,500 yuan in one go.
Lu Feng, Yang Ming, and Da Fei were all stunned.
The girl who had served him was so excited she looked ready to jump for joy. On the way out, she proactively took the man's arm and helped him carry the tea outside.
She had to be proactive; she'd just earned a commission of 18,750 yuan from this one sale.
Xiaoyao and the other three girls were filled with envy.
When the girl returned, Da Fei immediately waved her over. "Xiaoling, what was that customer's name?"
The girl named Xiaoling replied at once, "President Zhou's name is Zhou Xiang!"
"It was him!" Yang Ming said with surprise. "He's the owner of a major textile factory in the county. I've heard of him."
Da Fei nodded. "No wonder he's so generous. Xiaoling, you need to maintain a good relationship with this President Zhou. Give him a call once in a while to say hello."
"Brother Fei, I understand!" Xiaoling nodded.
Lu Feng couldn't stop himself from giving Da Fei a second thumbs-up. Honestly, if he had tried to sell this tea himself, he wouldn't have had a clue where to start. But with Da Fei's single move, they had sold 41 boxes in this short time, bringing in 307,500 yuan in revenue.
'At this rate,' he thought, 'selling all the Qingfeng Tea from the game seems like it will be simple.'