Su Mei

Chapter 45: Su Mei

Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao is the most renowned tea from Wuyi Mountain, hailed as the "King of Teas." It grows on a steep cliff face within the Nine-Dragon Casket. Tea masters have assessed that Da Hong Pao can be steeped up to 9 times before losing its original true flavor—a scent of osmanthus. In contrast, other famous teas become extremely weak after just 7 infusions.

The mother trees of Da Hong Pao, located in the Nine-Dragon Casket scenic area of Wuyi Mountain, consist of three plants with six trunks. They have a history of over 360 years.

The mother trees are specially guarded by local workers and managed scientifically. Every spring, 3-4 leaf new shoots are picked. They are then processed through sun-drying, cooling, withering, pan-firing, initial rolling, re-firing, re-rolling, drying, winnowing, cooling, sorting, re-baking, re-winnowing, and final firing. The best years for Da Hong Pao yield less than half a kilogram of finished tea annually.

Currently, the ancestral Da Hong Pao tea trees, all three of them, still stand at the bottom of the Nine-Dragon Casket valley. Due to their extremely scarce yield, the three tea trees produce only about six to seven taels of finished tea each year. Therefore, it's virtually impossible to find them on the market.

The subsequent generations of Da Hong Pao are propagated from cuttings taken when pruning the mother trees. Don't assume there are many, as the mother trees are very old and may not be pruned even once a year. Thus, these generations of Da Hong Pao are also extremely rare.

Seeing that everyone below had finished tasting the tea, the hostess spoke, "The first item up for auction is the Da Hong Pao you just tasted. It weighs half a jin, with a starting bid of 200,000."

As the female auctioneer finished speaking, many people began to bid.

"250,000."

"300,000."

"400,000."

Finally, the Da Hong Pao was purchased by a wealthy individual from Hong Kong Island for 650,000.

The female auctioneer continued her introduction, "The next item is Changbai Mountain Wild Ginseng, with a root age of 80 years. The starting bid is 1 million."

The popularity of the ginseng was clearly higher than that of the tea, and the price quickly escalated.

"1.5 million."

"1.55 million."

"1.65 million."

"2 million."

Finally, a wealthy individual from Southeast Asia purchased the ginseng.

Item after item was auctioned off, and Ye Yuan could see that these wealthy individuals truly spent money like water.

Seeing his two-head abalones being brought out, Ye Yuan couldn't help but sit up straighter.

"I don't need to introduce the two-head abalone. This time, the number of two-head abalones for auction is unprecedented – 5 two-head abalones."

That's right, 5. During their conversation last night, Ma Mingyuan advised Ye Yuan not to auction too many two-head abalones, as it would easily disrupt their price. Heng Hai Group would purchase any excess abalones at the average price of the five abalones sold at this auction.

As long as someone was buying, Ye Yuan didn't mind who they were and readily agreed.

The first two-head abalone was placed on the auction stage. The host continued his introduction, "This two-head abalone is provided by Yuwan Seafood from the mainland. It weighs 398 grams."

"The starting bid for the abalone is 400,000."

As the words fell, a Hong Kong celebrity immediately placed a bid.

"450,000."

Following that, a European tycoon also made an offer.

"550,000."

"600,000."

"630,000."

Finally, Ye Yuan's first two-head abalone was purchased by a European tycoon for 650,000.

Immediately, one abalone after another was auctioned off. After all 5 two-head abalones were sold, Ye Yuan estimated that they had fetched a total of 3.5 million.

Because the five consecutive two-head abalones all sold for good prices, there was a bit of a buzz in the venue. At this moment, a single one-head abalone was brought to the display stage. The female host cleared her throat and began:

"Now is the moment everyone has been anticipating. As we all know, one-head abalones rarely appear in the history of Hong Kong. Today, we are fortunate to witness such an event. This one-head abalone is not ordinary; its weight has exceeded the standard for a one-head abalone, reaching 621 grams. The starting bid is 1 million. Please place your bids!"

The host didn't need to elaborate on the rarity of the one-head abalone. Everyone present knew its value.

"1.3 million."

"1.38 million."

"1.4 million."

As soon as the female host finished speaking, three people consecutively placed bids. Ye Yuan noticed that many wealthy individuals were eyeing the supreme one-head abalone, clearly tempted.

"1.5 million."

At this point, a local Hong Kong tycoon offered this price.

"1.8 million."

Immediately after, a royal family member from the Middle East also placed a bid.

"1.9 million."

The local Hong Kong tycoon continued to increase the bid.

"Two million."

The voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the room heard it. It came from further back, where a European man with blonde hair and blue eyes made the bid.

"Two point one million."

"Two point three million."

What was thought to be a very high price was soon surpassed by several others. In the end, the abalone was purchased by Middle Eastern royalty, reaching an astonishing price of 3.05 million.

Ye Yuan didn't pay much attention to the subsequent auctions. Although 3.05 million wasn't his highest income, he still had plenty of such abalone in his spatial dimension.

After the auction ended, Ma Mingyuan found Ye Yuan and wrote him a check. Ye Yuan signed the transfer agreement, and the abalone remaining from the auction now belonged to Ma Mingyuan.

"Pleasure doing business with you, and congratulations on your significant profits from this auction, Mr. Ye," Ma Mingyuan said, not forgetting to congratulate Ye Yuan.

"May we all prosper," Ye Yuan replied, mimicking the sentiment.

Wang Yueshan also walked over at this moment. "Congratulations, little brother Ye. You've made me incredibly envious this time, a full 16 million in income."

Ye Yuan understood what Wang Yueshan meant by that; he was likely worried that Ye Yuan wouldn't be able to supply the abalone they had previously agreed upon.

"Brother Shan, you shouldn't say that. My promise to you remains unchanged. How about I sell you 10 of them at the lowest price of 600,000 each? Would that be enough?"

"Thanks, little brother."

Wang Yueshan was in a good mood. Heng Hai Group's price was 700,000 each, so he had saved a million without doing anything.

Just as the two were playfully bantering, a pleasant voice cut through the air.

"Judging by your accent, are you also from Blue Island?"

Ye Yuan turned around and saw a woman in her thirties, wearing light makeup and exuding an air of nobility, standing behind them.

Wang Yueshan gave a wry smile.

"I didn't expect Boss Su to be so resourceful, finding us even here. Since you're here, let's go grab a drink somewhere." Wang Yueshan knew Su Mei's intentions and didn't say anything harsh. He directly led Su Mei and Ye Yuan to a nearby coffee shop.

Through Wang Yueshan's introduction, Ye Yuan learned that the beautiful young woman before him was the current head of Blue Island's Fu Xiang Ju. He greeted her warmly.

"Mr. Wang, I'm not one for beating around the bush, and I can be quite direct, so please don't mind me. This young man here must be the one who supplies you with premium seafood, correct?"

Wang Yueshan thought about Su Mei's intention and didn't expect her to be so straightforward.

"Yes, his name is Ye Yuan. His home is in Pinghai County, right below your Blue Island." Wang Yueshan, seeing no way to avoid it, directly introduced Ye Yuan to Su Mei.

"Oh? Pinghai County? What a coincidence. The supplier I signed a contract with a few days ago is also from Pinghai County. I heard his family's strength is number one in your Pinghai County," Su Mei said, sounding surprised.

"May I ask who your supplier is, Ms. Su?" Ye Yuan's curiosity was piqued.

"Don't call me Ms. Su. If you think highly of me, just call me Sister Su," Su Mei said, looking at Ye Yuan with her large, expressive eyes.

Ye Yuan sheepishly touched his nose. "Then, Sister Su, don't call me Mr. Ye anymore. Just call me Xiao Yuan; everyone else does."

It had to be said that Su Mei was very adept at building rapport.

"Alright, I'll call you Xiao Yuan from now on. My supplier is quite famous there, his name is Zhang Gui. Do you know him, Xiao Yuan?"