Chapter 33: The Tenderness of That Moment

  Looking at the new and unique tea bottles and tea sets placed on the hall table, Gao Shallow Snow and others were in a state of astonishment. Even an old man like Gao Bo, who had walked through the palace of Qi State before, couldn't help but tremble with his voice. "Are these the packaging for the new tea?" It wasn't that Gao Bo hadn't seen anything before, but Ling Yun's work was too luxurious. Each piece of tea set could be called a work of art, with unique and beautiful shapes, paired with the extraordinary craftsmanship of Yu Zhen, plus the patterns and calligraphy advertisements painted by Ling Yun, the impact was really too great.

  "Ah, this is the packaging for a box of Long Tong tea, with a Yuhu Qing porcelain bottle and a set of purple sand teacups. Even the outer tea box is made of precious sandalwood." Lingyun believed that the phrase "buying a zong (a unit of measurement) but getting a zhun (a higher quality item)" was particularly apt here. The packaging for Long Tong would far exceed the value of the tea leaves themselves, and this luxurious packaging would greatly enhance the value of the tea. "Of course, even the best Qing porcelain bottles and purple sand teacups are just meant to complement the Long Tong tea," Lingyun said with a smile, first picking up a cup of tea and sniffing it under his nose, savoring the aroma with an expression of bliss.

  Qianxue and Gao Bo both picked up their purple sand tea cups, imitating Lingyun's elegant tea-tasting posture to take a light sip. They had drunk Longtong tea before, but today it seemed to have a more fragrant and richer flavor than before. Gao Bo took a sip of tea, then lowered his head to play with the tea cup again, looking at the teapot and tea bottle, as if he was in a state of infatuation.

  For nearly half an hour afterwards, the hall remained in this quiet state.

  "How is it?" Ling Yun poured tea for everyone from a purple clay teapot, refilling the cups of those who had unknowingly finished their tea.

  "Hmm." Gao Qianxue woke up from that intoxication, "Good tea, really good tea, I've never had such good tea before. I feel like this is not just drinking tea, but a kind of enjoyment. Husband, are all dragon tongue teas packaged like this?"

  "Of course, our Long Tong is positioned as a high-end famous tea, so the packaging can't be sloppy."

  Zhang Bo immediately raised his doubts from a professional accounting perspective, "The tea is good tea, but will the packaging be too luxurious? This set of packaging won't come cheap, right?"

  Gao Mingyue also forgot about her rivalry with Ling Yun at this time, and made an estimate with her keen eyesight. "The more valuable the green porcelain vase, the purple sand tea set, plus this black wood tea box, and the silk tea bag, such a set would not be less than five guan, if it's a small order, the cost will be even higher."

  Lingyun gave a thumbs up to Gaomingyue, this girl's financial vision is indeed very keen. "Because we ordered a large quantity, the first batch was 500 sets, and there will be more in the future. Therefore, the current packaging cost for the whole set is 6,000 yuan per set, with the most expensive being the Qing porcelain bottle, which costs 5,000 yuan alone."

  "Five thousand?" Even Zhang Bo, who had calculated his accounts for a lifetime, was shocked to the point of almost jumping up. The standard weight of this bottle of tea is one kilogram. The packaging cost of this bottle of tea alone is already six thousand yuan. How much would they have to sell the tea for just to break even? "How much does that tea sell for?"

  "We have the only stir-fried tea leaves in the world, and it's one of a kind. Everyone has tasted it just now, and compared to the original tea cakes' residue soup, this taste is heavenly. Moreover, what we're selling isn't just tea, but taste, elegance, and refinement. Our target audience is also the nobility and aristocracy, so price isn't an issue; as long as they acknowledge its value, people will buy it no matter how high the price is. We don't just pursue the best, but also the most expensive, making Longtong (Dragon Tongue) the noble of teas. My initial proposed price is 16 taels and 8 mace per catty of tea leaves; let's take a auspicious number and make it happen!"

  Zhang Bo almost spat out a mouthful of tea, 16 taels and 8 mace, and it's still on the rise, what a black heart. 16,680 coins just to buy one catty of tea leaves. At present, among the tight-selling goods sold to the Western Regions, silk, porcelain, and tea are the most popular. At this time, gold and silver were not the currency of the court, and the exchange ratio with copper coins was roughly one tael of gold for five taels of silver or eight mace. In ancient Rome, the price of silk from the East had once risen to 12 taels of gold per pound, and in the Central Plains, the price of silk had always been high, it was an extremely valuable thing.

  At present, a peck of rice is worth about 10 cents, and a catty of rice is not more than 1 cent. The silk fabric made from silkworms also serves as currency, with one piece of silk fabric currently worth 200 cents. One piece of silk fabric is equivalent to over 100 catties of rice, while one piece of silk fabric measures 40 feet, weighs 12 taels, and a catty of silk fabric is worth around 268 cents.

  The Sui Dynasty's money was really valuable, a jin of silk fabric made from silkworms was worth less than 300 wen, and a jin of rice was worth less than 2 wen. But the Lingyun Dragon Tongue Tea was priced at 16,800 yuan! Is this person out of their mind or just talking nonsense?

  The aristocratic high gate may have money, but it's not stupid, right? It's worth knowing that even if the Yuezhou Qingci is the most famous porcelain in the world, generally speaking, it's unlikely to be expensive enough for a bottle to cost 5,000 yuan. This is completely because Lingyun's bottles are all custom-made special products, which are refined as art pieces rather than being fired as tea leaf bottles.

  "Things are precious because they're rare, and what's more, is it just tea leaves that we're selling?" Lingyun savored a pinch of tea leaves with a smile, while in his heart he couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the original flavor of this tea. It was truly much better than the salty, tangerine peel-infused tea soup made from tea dregs.

  "Ah, husband, you also make sense. Since this matter has been entrusted to your full responsibility, I believe you will definitely do a good job. We won't interfere too much in this matter. However, after drinking this Longtong tea, I really can't drink the original tea anymore. No matter how expensive your tea is, you must provide enough for me and Gao Bo and Zhang Bo. "Gao Qianshuo said with a gentle smile, looking like she was leaving everything to her husband. Ling Yun couldn't help but want to say loudly, 'Wife, we should consummate our marriage.'"

  "Don't worry, my dear." Lingyun smiled and handed a tea set worth 16,680 yuan to each of the core members of the Gao family, including Gao Qiansheng, Mingyue, Gao Bo, Zhang Bo, and Qian Shu. In return, he received satisfied smiles from everyone, and even Gao Mingyue smiled at him when she received the tea set.

  Twenty kilograms of tea leaves, Lingyun kept one kilogram for himself and gave one kilogram each to Mulan and Qinglian. Now he sent out five kilograms at once, and eight kilograms were gone in the blink of an eye, leaving twelve kilograms, which were all pre-ordered by the four heads of the Gao family's guard team, who would get one share each. There were also a few elderly people with high virtues who couldn't be left out. As for others, Lingyun thought that tea leaves could be given away, but such expensive packaging was not necessary. This top-level luxury tea leaf, worth 16,680 yuan, wasn't something everyone could enjoy. Lingyun didn't plan to get much of this kind of tea leaf either; the main products would still be those priced at 9,000, 8,000, and 6,000 yuan. The tea leaves this time wouldn't be top-level again, but would use one bud with two or even three leaves, and although they were still packaged in green porcelain, it wouldn't be artistic packaging like before. With proper pricing, sales could be better. And the 16,680-yuan tea was just a showpiece, not the main product.

  Of course, apart from these high-end teas, there are also mid-to-low-end ones. The price of mid-range tea is around 1,000 to 2,000 yuan per kilogram, while the low-end one is only 200 to 300 yuan per kilogram. There are also more popular ones made from tea leaves picked out during the roasting process of high and medium-grade teas, which cost only 20 to 30 yuan per kilogram. Two or three cents for a liang (a unit of weight), anyone can afford it. Lingyun is already arranging training for new workers, increasing the number of tea-roasting workshops, and even preparing to acquire more tea gardens.

  "Let's have dinner in the east wing tonight, just the two of us," Gao Shanshuo said with a faint smile. "After the wedding, I've been busy non-stop and haven't taken good care of you, let me serve you well tonight." As she whispered this in his ear, he could clearly smell the subtle fragrance on her body, which he judged was not some rose perfume or other Sui dynasty scent, but genuine body odor. Was Gao Shanshuo going to consummate their marriage with him tonight? Finally? Although they were already married and had two little maidservants constantly fluttering around them, it was frustrating that he could only look but not touch.