Chapter 30: Dragon Tongue

  Now, listening to stories every night has become an indispensable entertainment activity for Gao Qianxue sisters, just like watching a play or listening to opera. Moreover, after Lingyun stopped telling only children's stories, Gao Qianxue was no longer just listening and laughing. She began to find several maids who could read and write, and started seriously recording these stories one by one, especially long stories like "Three Kingdoms". After recording them, Gao Qianxue was even more amazed. She couldn't imagine how Lingyun knew so many stories. Moreover, this is no longer just a story. If these stories already existed, it's clear that Gao Qianxue, who has extensive knowledge, had never heard of them before, which can only explain that Lingyun's vision is broader than hers, and indirectly explains that Lingyun's identity is not ordinary. And if these stories were all thought up and written by Lingyun himself, then it would be even more incredible.

  Later on, Gao Shallow Snow no longer regarded these as mere pastimes after tea and meals. She treasured them, transcribed and compiled them, and then handed the manuscripts over to several senior officials of the Gao family who had served in high positions during the Northern Qi dynasty. When Gao Bo, the steward of the Gao household, who had once held the position of Northern Qi's Can Jun Shi Lang, first saw these manuscripts, he did not believe they were written by Ling Yun. The position of Can Jun Shi Lang was a prestigious one, being an imperial advisor who could often accompany the emperor. Truly knowledgeable and erudite.

  "Who is the uncle?" All the elderly people who had read the manuscript couldn't help but sigh, and then they all asked Gao Qianshu for a copy of the manuscript. The servant girl who copied books for Gao Qianshu was overwhelmed with work, so several old men started to find someone to copy it themselves. Gao Bo's favorite book was "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Although he thought the scenes where the generals fought one-on-one were a bit exaggerated, the strategies and tactics in the book made him read with great enthusiasm. Zhang Bo, the accountant, liked "Journey to the West" the most. He was a Buddhist and was fascinated by the story of Tang Monk's journey to the Western Heaven. Although he had never heard of the Tang Dynasty monk before, this didn't stop him from reading the book every day as if it were a treasure. Qian Shu, the doctor in the village, liked "The Investiture of the Gods" the most. In fact, Qian Shu believed in Taoism, so "The Investiture of the Gods" was like a sacred book to him. Gao Ding, who had been recovering from his injuries, also became addicted to reading these days. He used to be a guard officer and liked to dance with swords, ride horses, and shoot bows. He disliked reading books the most, and whenever he saw a book, he felt dizzy. However, after listening to Gao Yi recite a small part of "Water Margin", he immediately praised the heroes of Liangshan Mountain who replaced heaven's will in the Song Dynasty, although he thought the Song Dynasty was the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties.

  However, what makes these bookworms extremely frustrated is that these books are really good to read, but they don't have complete manuscripts. Most of them only have ten or twenty chapters, and just when you get hooked, there's nothing more. They go to find the maids who copy books for Gao Qianxue, but the maids don't have complete manuscripts either, they're just recording the stories told by Mulan Qinglian. Lingyun can't possibly tell many stories in one day, it's just a bit of this book today and a bit of that book tomorrow. The result is that now, the people who are infatuated with Lingyun's stories in Gaojiazhuang, including Gao Bo, are all experiencing happiness and suffering every day. Those handwritten copies are almost worn out, but sometimes not even one new chapter is added in a day.

  Later on, Gao Bo and the others couldn't wait any longer, and they would often find excuses to come to the tea house, chat for a while, and then ask about the next plot development. It was said that Gao Bo and the others had become his own readers, and Ling Yun was somewhat surprised by this. From that day on, Gaotang Village had an additional nighttime activity. Every evening after dinner, everyone would rush to the large warehouse in front, sit in line, and listen to the young master tell stories, similar to the secular lectures given by monks in temples, but more enjoyable than those. People of the Sui Dynasty really didn't have much nightlife, nor would they engage in any entertainment activities, especially not in rural villages like Gaotang Village. In the past, after eating their fill, people would at most chat about family matters, gossip, and then go to bed early.

  Now, they suddenly found that there was such a good storytelling, and naturally no one wanted to miss it. Every night, the warehouse was packed, and everyone waited for Lingyun to tell stories. Because the audience's age was different, in order to satisfy everyone's needs, Lingyun even had to make a program list, telling two hours of stories every night, starting with two fairy tales, and then telling a little about Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, etc., to satisfy everyone's different tastes. However, unexpectedly, even if Lingyun started with fairy tales, except for those children on the farm who listened with relish, the adults also listened with rapt attention. Whether it was the myth of Journey to the West or The Investiture of the Gods, or the heroic stories of Three Kingdoms and Water Margin, or the romantic stories of Dream of the Red Chamber, everyone liked them very much.

  At night, telling stories became Lingyun's daily task. As a result, his popularity in the village soared, and he became an idol of the whole village of Gaojiazhuang. Even three-year-old children would cling to him to tell stories about two tigers or Little Red Riding Hood.

  However, during the day, Lingyun was still busy with tea production.

  He has now basically mastered the craftsmanship of new tea and taught a group of people in the village. A brand-new tea workshop has also been built in the village, with complete equipment. Although Mulan always says that she will be responsible for frying tea, Lingyun really doesn't mind letting them do the frying work in the future. In the end, he chose a few young people from the children of the old villagers to learn about tea making. The workshop is also located in the village and has household guards to ensure the secrecy of the new tea craftsmanship.

  The name and packaging design of the new tea, Lingyun had already been prepared. The tea is green tea, which should belong to the silver needle category in terms of variety. After the tea leaves are made, they are round and green, like pine needles, with white hairs, straight and tight. The color, fragrance, taste, and shape are all good, especially after brewing, the tea is emerald green and clear, with a refreshing aroma, rich flavor, and sweet aftertaste. Even Qian Shu, after carefully tasting and studying it, judged from a professional perspective that this new tea has many benefits when consumed regularly, including relieving thirst, clearing the mind, aiding digestion, promoting urination, reducing fat, treating asthma, eliminating phlegm, and dispelling annoyance and greasiness.

  Such good tea must have a matching name, it must be elegant and high-end. It can't just be an ordinary name like Liuhe Yinzhen or Shifeng Green Tea. Lingyun thought for a long time and finally named this new tea "Longshe". There is a type of tea called Que She, so Lingyun directly came up with Longshe. The world's top tea, Mengding Shihua and Zijun, just looking at the name is extraordinary. Longshe has a dragon family, which implicitly gives it a noble and aristocratic atmosphere. Thinking about it, there are also Que Nest and Longshe Orchid in later generations, all of which sound good. As for packaging, tea leaves are prone to moisture and fragrance is easily volatile, so sealed packaging is very important. Moreover, high-quality tea leaves must have high-end packaging to match. In the end, Lingyun chose to customize a batch of high-end ceramic packaging from among bamboo tubes, wooden tubes, paper bags, pottery, and ceramics. The beautiful ceramic has a beautiful woman picking tea printed on it, along with a line of beautiful tea names, and even a sentence of advertising words can be added. The advertising words were all thought out by Lingyun: "Fragrant flowers bloom on the surface, water flows from the stone spring." This is actually a couplet in many tea houses in later generations, which Lingyun plans to print directly on the ceramic tea cans.

  Tea, as a thing, originally doesn't differ much, but the reason for its high and low value lies in the cultural value attached to it. To put it bluntly, tea is actually made through roasting, which requires both the process of roasting tea and the process of making a name for itself. If roasted well, with a good reputation, it naturally becomes priceless. Longtong (Dragon's Tongue) is a new tea, belonging to the silver needle category of green teas, produced in Liuheshan, and originally didn't have much fame. However, this is the first tea made using the new roasting technology since the Sui Dynasty, so it's naturally different. Such a tea should take the high-end route, with exquisite packaging, new roasting techniques, and even new ways of brewing and drinking tea, to bring about a revolution in tea culture. To promote Longtong, it's best to start from the top down. From the beginning, position it as a high-end tea, targeting upper-class consumers, to lead the entire tea market.

  While having dinner, Lingyun proposed to Gao Qiansheng that they should expand the new tea roasting workshop, and if possible, build more new workshops, and also recruit new people for training in tea roasting.

  "Didn't you say that this new tea is going to take the high-end route, become a luxury product, and even create its own brand? If so, shouldn't we focus on the quality of the tea leaves, packaging, and promotion? The production volume may not be too much in demand for now?" Gao Qianshuang was puzzled. High-end also means scarcity, and things are precious because they are rare. If it's everywhere, what's high-end about that? Therefore, many times, high-end luxury is mainly about being scarce."

  "We should strive to make Long Tong a top-grade high-end tea, but the market for mid-to-low grade tea is also huge. We are now striving to make Long Tong a high-end tea, and if it can be made into a high-end tea, it will have a brand effect. At that time, we can follow up with mid-to-low end teas by taking another name, such as Mei Ren Tong or Que Tong, which will surely bring in huge profits. Therefore, let's do the preparatory work well now, otherwise, after the stir-frying method of tea becomes popular, I'm afraid there will be a large number of tea merchants following us closely to grab the market for fried tea."

  Although no one knows the technique of frying tea now, Lingyun will not think that this technique can still be kept secret after the fried tea is listed. Suiren just hadn't seen this new type of tea before, and when this fried tea appeared, tea merchants would definitely follow up with research and development of new technologies. Indicating the direction, technical barriers are not a big problem. They can only maintain some technical advantages, but it is impossible to truly monopolize this new technology. So, making money should be done as soon as possible. New technologies bring new business opportunities, and Lingyun's goal is to use new technologies to capture business opportunities and make a lot of money. Seizing business opportunities, launching high, medium and low-end brands in the new fried tea.

  "Yi Lang is indeed a man with great vision, taking one step and looking three steps ahead." Gao Qianxue's eyes flowed with movement as she looked at Ling Yun, her demeanor having taken on a few parts of a young girl's.

  This made Lingyun's heart flutter, as he had been busy developing new tea and Gao Qianshuo was busy with her rebellion, so that until now the couple hadn't even consummated their marriage. Perhaps it was time to complete the unfinished wedding ceremony. Such a beautiful wife, how could she be left aside all this time? Wasn't this a waste of heaven's gift?