Wang Yongzhu was very calm as he said, "I’m just a commoner who likes real gold and silver!"
Liking gold and silver isn’t shameful! Who isn’t a commoner? Who doesn’t need to eat and drink, to relieve themselves? Gold and silver are the most reliable, aren’t they?
In this world, people’s hearts change easily, but gold and silver stay with you, never fading, tarnishing, or devaluing. As long as you have enough, they can even provide a comfortable life.
With such good things, what’s wrong with being mundane?
How many people in this world can be like Ninth Master Lee, born with a silver spoon adorned with precious gems in their mouth, free to choose any treasure they desire?
And then develop the temperament that views gold and mutton fat jade as nothing but dirt?
Who doesn’t want to be pampered and grow up in luxury and honor?
Ninth Master Lee was so taken aback that he sucked in a breath and huffed coldly.
Zhang Yinbao watched on the side, breaking out in a cold sweat. Oh dear, he was scared to death.
He had thought that the mutton fat jade bi he presented hadn’t caught the Ninth Master’s Lee’s eye and was worrying about where to find another rare item if the jade wasn’t sufficient.
After all, where could one find more treasures than in the Imperial Palace or the Lee Family?
To his surprise, after Wang Yongzhu’s speech, although Ninth Master Lee still looked disdainful, he eventually let his young servant take the jade bi.
Zhang Yinbao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was good that the gift was accepted!
On the other side, Ninth Master Lee felt he might choke to death if he continued to speak with Wang Yongzhu.
He simply turned his head away, looked towards Zhang Yinbao, and asked casually, "Shall we talk about the business at hand?"
Zhang Yinbao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly replied, "I wouldn’t dare not, I’m willing to work like a dog or a horse for Ninth Master!"
Ninth Master Lee was already a bit irritated and wanted to vent on someone. If Zhang Yinbao had said anything inappropriate, he might have lost the tea business deal entirely.
Unexpectedly, he turned out to be slippery, and with that said, Ninth Master Lee found it difficult to rebuke him.
Indeed, every person Wang Yongzhu knew was just as annoying!
Ninth Master Lee nodded to Shopkeeper Wu with a huff, "You speak to him—"
Shopkeeper Wu quickly nodded and invited Zhang Yinbao to sit aside, and the two conversed gleefully.
The preliminary terms, all discussed previously through Wang Yongzhu, were well understood between them.
However, seeing Zhang Yinbao’s reverence for the Lee Family, Shopkeeper Wu, in a business-like manner, managed to bump up the Lee Family’s share by ten percent, giving the Lee Family half the stake, while Zhang Yinbao’s Hengchang Commercial Firm took thirty percent.
Zhang Yinbao was usually very shrewd, but today he was unusually compliant. Whatever Shopkeeper Wu proposed, he had no objections, readily agreeing to everything.
Not a sign of a businessman’s savvy was visible.
Because Zhang Yinbao was so accommodating, there wasn’t much to negotiate. They simply assigned responsibilities, and a contract had already been drafted.
Three copies were made, stipulating the terms of the tea business. Harvesting and maintaining the tea trees was the responsibility of the hunters in Yingzi Gully, while the roasting of the tea and teaching the hunters how to maintain and produce the tea was to be handled by Zhang Yinbao! And as for the Lee Family, they naturally took charge of the marketing of the tea!
Meanwhile, Wang Yongzhu could retire successfully, simply taking a share of the profits.
Just as the three parties were about to sign the contract, Wang Yongzhu glanced over it and suddenly realized a problem, "We’ve been discussing for so long, merely calling it wild tea. This tea will certainly be sought after in the future; it can’t be without a name, can it?"
With one sentence, he left everyone speechless.
Nobody had really considered this question before.
So, there and then, nobody was bothered about signing the contract, as each furrowed their brow and began to think of names for the tea.
Shopkeeper Wu looked at Ninth Master Lee, cautiously suggesting, "How about naming it ’Nan Tea’?"
Ninth Master Lee’s eyes widened, and before he could respond, Wang Yongzhu couldn’t help but retort, "Why not just call it ’Female Tea’? Does tea have a gender now?"
Shopkeeper Wu hurriedly explained, "Not the ’male’ as in gender, but it’s our Ninth Young Master’s given character, ’Nan’ from the phoebe tree! If we use our Ninth Young Master’s name, when this tea becomes famous, it will be the day our Ninth Young Master’s name resounds throughout the world!"
Wang Yongzhu felt like giving Shopkeeper Wu a disdainful ’hehe’.
Does bootlicking have to be this strenuous?
Zhang Yinbao on the side vigorously agreed, "Shopkeeper Wu’s suggestion is good! It rolls off the tongue nicely and sounds very impressive!"
Wang Yongzhu watched Ninth Master Lee with an expression of complete indifference.
Ninth Master Lee just felt his face heating up. When his servants praised him in the past, he thought it was perfectly normal and enjoyed it very much.
But for some reason, under Wang Yongzhu’s ’Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?’ expression, Ninth Master Lee felt somewhat embarrassed.
Without much thought, he shouted, "Nonsense! If we name it after me, what are we going to soak in the future, the tea or me?"
Shopkeeper Wu and Zhang Yinbao both lowered their heads, daring not to make a sound.
Wang Yongzhu almost couldn’t hold in her laughter.
Struggling to maintain some seriousness, she then heard Ninth Master Lee’s tentative suggestion, "Then how about calling it ’Pearl Tea’?"
Wang Yongzhu’s face immediately darkened!
So you don’t like the idea of being steeped, but you think I’d enjoy it?
She flatly rejected it!
"I say, a whole bunch of you can’t come up with a single name for a tea? How about Cloud Mist Tea? Que She Tea, Xue Ya Tea, or maybe something like Fairy Grand, Mao Jian or whatever. Just pick one, can’t we?"
Wang Yongzhu rattled off several green tea varieties she knew from before.
Then she saw everyone’s eyes brightening at once.
"Great names! Marvelous tea names! Cloud Mist Tea, as the name implies, ethereal as if atop the misty clouds. Que She, slender as the tongue of a sparrow, and Xue Ya, the buds of snowy mountains! Each and every one can be used!" Although Zhang Yinbao was a merchant, he tended to say whatever was expected depending on who he was with.
He had indeed studied a bit of tea culture, just so he could appear more sophisticated when conducting business.
At this moment, hearing the names Wang Yongzhu casually spoke, he felt each one was like a gem, every name so evocative, it sparked a flurry of images in one’s mind just by listening to them.
While Shopkeeper Wu was also somewhat astonished, he remembered that Song Chongjin was a Scholar, and the couple shared a close relationship often enhanced by the mutual appreciation of poetry and literary exchanges, so it wasn’t impossible for her to know these!
Just a bit of married life’s pleasures!
It was Ninth Master Lee who looked long and hard at Wang Yongzhu, regret flickering in his eyes. He managed to suppress it and solemnly said, "Write down all these names. Nobody is allowed to use them carelessly. We’ll start with ’Cloud Mist’ as the name for the wild tea! If new varieties emerge later, we’ll choose from the remaining ones!"
Wang Yongzhu was stunned. Ever since arriving in this era, aside from the two packets of tea leaves that Zhang Yinbao had once gifted her, she had not drunk much tea and was ignorant about tea names.
Who would have thought that, in this era, these teas hadn’t even appeared yet?
Hearing Ninth Master Lee give such serious instructions, Wang Yongzhu became even more afraid to speak, worried that she might accidentally blurt out something else.
With nobody objecting, Ninth Master Lee then added, "These tea names have been chosen excellently! A good tea name can sometimes be worth more than the tea itself at times!"