One couldn’t blame them. Currently, the main tea-producing regions in the Great Jin Dynasty were along the Yangtze River Basin and the Huainan area, with Sichuan producing the most, followed by Jiangnan Road, Huainan Road, Jinghu Road, and Liang-Zhe Road; Fujian Road had the smallest production.

After researching these tea-producing areas, Ye Yaming was secretly delighted. At this time, only the tea from Shexian in Huizhou Province was famous, and in Minzhou Province, only the tea from Jianzhou was well-known.

Thinking about the future famous teas from Huizhou Province—Huangshan Maofeng, Lu’an Guapian, Tunxi Green Tea, Taiping Houkui, Keemun Black Tea—and from Minzhou—Da Hong Pao, Anxi Tieguanyin, Wuyi Rock Tea, Fuding White Tea, Lapsang Souchong and other famous teas, Ye Yaming couldn’t help but drool, her heart itching with anticipation.

The origins of these teas weren’t famous yet, and the tea mountains were very cheap, just waiting for her to discover and purchase them.

Before Lu Guanyi and the others departed, Ye Yaming had wanted to give them some hints. But on second thought, she decided against it, planning to let them inquire around and travel about first.

Perhaps without her saying anything, they would find the right direction on their own?

But now, they hadn’t brought her any pleasant surprises.

She said, “Grandfather, in my dreams, I did hear about two places with excellent tea quality. One is Huizhou, and the other is Minzhou.”

“Huizhou? Minzhou?” Ye Chongming paused, frowning as he thought about these two places. “That’s quite far away.”

Ye Yaming nodded, “Indeed, it’s far. But precisely because it’s distant and not famous, the mountains and tea lands there are extremely cheap, and the local government would likely welcome us to buy tea mountains and grow tea there.”

After all, the tea business was a major taxpayer. In a place with many mountains and little land, having people come to grow, process, and sell tea would significantly raise the local tax revenue.

Although the tea trade was a government monopoly, and the tax revenue wouldn’t go to local officials, wouldn’t selling mountain land bring in income? Didn’t growing, processing, and selling tea require manpower? One thing leads to another; once a leading industry emerges, it stimulates the local economy.

“You’re right about all of that,” Ye Chongming nodded in agreement with Ye Yaming’s view, but his brow remained deeply furrowed. “But it’s truly too far. If something happens, we won’t be able to respond in time.”

In this era of inconvenient transportation, the Ye family didn’t have many members. Just managing the businesses in Lin’an and the Capital was enough to keep them busy. How could they possibly expand to Huizhou and Minzhou?

“Look, we should have sent one person each to buy mountains and make tea sets. But your father and your big uncle need to go to the Capital, I need to stay in Lin’an, and none of us can go. We could only send your cousin with Young Master Lu to buy tea mountains, and there’s only Young Master Qi working on the tea sets.”

Mentioning this, Ye Chongming sighed.

The first branch’s Madam Tao had given birth to one son and two daughters; the second branch’s Madam Yin had only two daughters; the third branch’s Madam Cai had only one posthumous daughter; the fourth branch’s Madam Zhang had two sons and one daughter.

He had four sons but only three grandsons. Currently, only his eldest grandson could be relied upon; the two grandsons from the fourth branch were still too young to be of any use.

Originally, his fourth son, Ye Hongrong, was capable, but after causing trouble for the family, Ye Chongming no longer dared to use him.

“Never mind the present, in the future, your big uncle and I will each need to oversee Lin’an and the Capital, and we can’t move around. When spring comes and tea production begins, your father will be stationed at the tea factory and won’t be able to move either. Our family only has your elder cousin who can work with Young Master Lu and the others. If your elder cousin were capable, that would be fine, but…”

At this point, Ye Chongming sighed, shook his head, and said no more.

Although the Ye family was investing in their tea processing formula and Lin’an gardeners, sending just one person could be justified. But the status disparity between the parties was significant. Once the tea business in other regions developed and its value exceeded the tea in Lin’an, and as time passed, no matter how unconcerned Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji might be, the Ye family would feel embarrassed.

Upon hearing this, Ye Yaming became displeased, “Grandfather, have you forgotten about me? Can’t I be someone useful?”

“You?” Ye Chongming glanced at his granddaughter. “Of course you’re useful, much more capable than your cousin. But you’re a girl, and you can’t go running around everywhere with Young Master Lu and Young Master Qi.”

At this point, he wanted to beat his chest in frustration again: “If only you were a boy, how good that would be.”

Ye Yaming: “…”

“What’s wrong with being a woman? I’m already planning to bring in a husband through uxorilocal marriage, you should treat me like a grandson,” Ye Yaming pouted, as if throwing a tantrum.

Although Ye Yaming had been offering strategic advice for the family lately, Ye Chongming always felt she was too rational, with a sense of detachment from the Ye family.

Now that his granddaughter was acting coquettishly with him, Ye Chongming was particularly pleased and stroked his beard, laughing, “Ha ha.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll treat you like a grandson,” he placated her first, then continued earnestly, “I could indeed use you. But think about it, how would you participate in this business? Could you go with Young Master Lu to buy mountains? Or could you go with Young Master Qi to make tea sets?”

Ye Yaming was rendered speechless by Ye Chongming’s questions.

She could do it. Whether it was going with Lu Guanyi to buy mountains or with Qi Ji to make tea sets, she could handle it. As for reputation, as long as the Ye family didn’t mind, she didn’t care.

The problem was that Lu and Qi couldn’t do it.

Thinking back to when she went with Ye Hongsheng to collect the compressed tea, Lu Guanyi’s servant had looked at her with suspicion, as if guarding against a thief, fearing she would cling to Lu Guanyi and try to marry him.

Now, just thinking that Lu and Qi, along with that servant, might have the same idea made her want to avoid them at all costs. How could she possibly approach them? Even if these future polygamous men were interested in her, she wasn’t interested in them.

So it was better to keep her distance.

Thinking this way, she became dejected.

“Then how about this: I’ll write several books about tea. In one of them, I’ll write down the places I mentioned in my dreams, and then pretend that the book was passed down from our ancestors. You can have my brother memorize it and guide them to buy. As long as my brother puts in significant effort, and we sell the tea sets they produce and the tea they grow through our tea shops and teahouses, along with my continuous introduction of new tea-making methods, we won’t be considered contributing too little,” she said.

“Can this be done?” Ye Chongming’s eyes brightened. “Can you write a book?”

“Yes, I can,” Ye Yaming affirmed.

She had the original owner’s memories. As the granddaughter of a scholar and the fiancée of a provincial graduate with a clever mind, the original owner’s literary talent in writing poetry and essays was quite good. The problem was her limited experience, which made her poetry and essays petty and narrow-minded. When shown to Song Yifeng, they were scorned, deeply hurting the original owner.

Ye Yaming herself had been an avid reader in her previous life and had good writing skills. With the original owner’s classical Chinese foundation, plus the fact that travelogues and miscellaneous notes of this era tended more towards vernacular rather than requiring too brilliant literary flair or dropping numerous allusions, she could certainly write about tea knowledge.