James burst out laughing. "Wang, don't listen to him. He's just heartbroken. The first bottle is from Screaming Eagle Winery, and the second is from Bordeaux Winery. They're both excellent vintages. Together, they're probably worth close to three hundred thousand dollars."
"Although the last bottle only came out last year, Bordeaux Winery actually made it a long time ago. They just never released it. It's a highly collectible wine, and its value goes up by about thirty thousand dollars every year."
Wang Yi turned to look at Popo.
Popo glared at James. "Inviting you here was a truly stupid decision."
James grinned, showing off his gleaming white teeth, and laughed.
Wang Yi shook his head. "Popo, you said I could pick whatever I wanted."
Popovich stood in front of the three bottles. "I meant you could pick anything except these three. If you insist on taking them, you'll have to step over my dead body."
James and Wang Yi looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Wang Yi turned back to look at the old man, who was the same age as China.
He smiled, then continued walking.
That was when he spotted two bottles of wine.
Their labels featured a hand-drawn map of Napa Valley, the wine's place of origin, along with the ancient Chinese character for "Yao." The design was elegant and simple.
At the top was the year 2009, printed in red.
Below it were a few letters—or rather, Chinese pinyin.
Together, they spelled someone's name:
YAOMING.
Wang Yi suddenly understood.
"Is this the wine Brother Yao gave you?"
James nodded. "The 2009 Yao Ming Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It was the first wine produced by Yao Ming Winery. They only made twelve hundred bottles, and you can't buy it on the market. It's only circulated