Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 115 Repaying the favor

"Master Jiang, Fourth Madam." Xu An bowed to Jiang Yin and Jiang Fourth Madam.

Jiang Yin and Jiang Si Niang returned the greeting and sat down.

Jiang Si Niang asked in confusion, "Is Boss Xu here to inspect the tea garden?"

Jiang Yin also looked at him, and really didn't know why Xu An came here at this time.

Her eyes inadvertently swept over the booklet in Xu An's hand. Could it be that he was here to deliver the account book of the tea garden?

But she didn't say she wanted to buy a tea plantation, so why should she look at the account books?

"You are too kind, Fourth Lady." Xu An explained quickly, "Since the tea garden has been rented to you, you will take care of it. I will not interfere."

If you want to ask, you have to wait until the lease period is up.

He paused, glanced at Jiang Yin, and said with a complicated expression: "To be honest, I came here to give you a booklet. This booklet records my experience and insights in managing the tea garden over the years. I hope it will be helpful to you."

As he spoke, he handed the booklet in his hand to Jiang Yin.

Jiang Yin showed a puzzled expression. She did not immediately take the booklet from Xu An, but asked in confusion: "What does Boss Xu mean? No merit, no reward. Boss Xu, you should take back this exclusive thing."

If she wanted to buy the tea garden, she could talk to Xu An about her experience in growing tea.

But she has not decided to buy it yet, so she cannot accept Xu An's gift directly.

This kind of experience is the foundation for survival and can be passed down from generation to generation. How can she take it for nothing?

Xu An waved his hand and said, "Master Jiang has a seal in his hand? That seal was given to Boss Wu by me.

Today I received a letter from Mr. Wu, saying that the seal was given to a woman named Jiang, and he hoped that I could lend a hand when she needed it. "

He sighed and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the person Boss Wu is talking about is the head of the Jiang family, right?"

It was just a coincidence that when he was still thinking about how to convince Jiang Yin to buy his tea garden, Boss Wu brought him an opportunity.

He could repay a favor and have a chance to sell the tea garden. Such a good thing, he naturally came immediately.

Hearing this, Jiang Yin finally relaxed and took the booklet from Xu An and placed it on the stone table.

"I see. But what about this seal?" She took out the seal and handed it to Xu An for confirmation. "This was indeed given to me by Boss Wu."

She hadn't originally planned to take it out so soon, but Xu An and Boss Wu had mentioned it in their letters, so she couldn't pretend not to know.

"Oh, yes, yes, that's the impression." Xu An took a look at the seal and said with a smile, "Master Jiang, please keep it well. If you need me in the future, just bring the seal to me."

Jiang Yin was slightly stunned and said, "Boss Xu has already given me the booklet..."

Before she could finish her words, Xu An raised his hand to interrupt her.

"Let's put things in perspective." Xu An said seriously, "This booklet is a gift from me to you two. I know you may not like it, but it's still useful."

They were all in the tea business, and Jiang's tea-growing skills were much better than his. What he had was just a regional advantage.

Jiang Yin was slightly stunned. This meant that Qian Zhang could still ask Xu An for help again. This was something she had not expected.

However, Xu An did this for a purpose. He wanted to sell the tea garden as soon as possible, preferably to them.

As his mind turned, Jiang Yin figured out the meaning behind it.

So, she didn't hesitate and decisively took back the seal, saying, "Okay, thank you, Boss Xu. I'll tell you when I think clearly about what I need Boss Xu's help with."

She planned to take a look at the brochure first, and then go to Huangshan Mountain tomorrow to have a look. After finally deciding to grow tea here, she would ask Xu An to help her buy the land.

Of course, if she finally decides not to buy it, she will not use the seal but return it to Boss Wu.

She had not expected that Boss Wu would write to Xu An. She thought it was because she had saved Runiang.

Xu An didn't think much about it, but nodded happily in agreement. Then, without further delay, he bowed and said goodbye, leaving the tea garden.

After he left, Jiang Si Niang, who was about to give up on Maofeng tea, couldn't wait to say, "A Yin, open it and take a look. Maybe we can really find some solutions from here."

To be honest, she is still very optimistic about Huangshan Maofeng, but the risk is too great and there is no reason for her to stick with it.

It would be best if there was a solution to this problem in this booklet.

"Si Niang, let's read it together." Jiang Yin nodded, picked up the booklet on the table, and pulled Jiang Si Niang to discuss it together.

The booklet given by Xu An was recorded in a diary-like format.

In addition to the growth of tea trees and the roasting methods of tea leaves, it also includes the reasons why he grows Huangshan Maofeng tea.

It turned out that Xu An planted Huangshan Maofeng tea not only out of necessity but also because the famous Huizhou tea was controlled by a few aristocratic families and they were unwilling to give any to them.

Because of the control of the aristocratic families, people like them who have no power and influence have no ability to grow those Huizhou tea trees.

Therefore, they could only settle for loose tea. After that, they continued to improve and optimize it, and it became the current Huangshan Maofeng.

Unfortunately, after so many years, although Huangshan Maofeng has been improved a lot, it is still not as good as those famous Huizhou teas and can only continue to be sold as loose tea.

After so many years of experience, their edges have been smoothed out and they are no longer obsessed with growing tea.

Jiang Si Niang couldn't help but exclaimed: "All roads lead to Rome, but they chose the most difficult one."

She paused after she finished speaking, then said with a complicated expression: "But it's not a wasted effort. Huangshan Maofeng has indeed been grown, and it has attracted us to come here."

In a sense, the improvement of Huangshan Maofeng was successful.

"Yes, it is considered a success." Jiang Yin said with a smile, "If it weren't for people like Boss Xu who insisted, we wouldn't be able to find such a unique tea as Huangshan Maofeng."

The same is true for other teas. If it weren't for the persistence of our ancestors, there wouldn't be so many good teas today. It can also be used in the tea-horse trade, bringing hope to this troubled world.

The two of them read and sighed, and learned a lot of new things from Xu An's booklet.

Until seeing a certain place, Jiang Yin said excitedly: "Fourth Lady, look here, Boss Xu also suspected that it was because of the location!"

Not only that, Xu An also wrote in the booklet the reasons why the imperial court was unwilling to sell the land on Huangshan Mountain.

The reason was very simple. It was because the tea families in Huizhou united to put pressure on the government and did not allow them to sell the land on the top of the mountain.

They don't want the already stable tea business to be disrupted by uncontrollable changes due to the entry of these new people.

Jiang Yin's brows furrowed as he watched, and he couldn't help but slap the stone table, angrily saying, "This is too much! Small batches of tea like Boss Xu's have no effect on those people at all."

Those people have already occupied the tea market in Huizhou, why don’t they leave some soup for others to drink.