Only then did Ye Chongming feel relieved: “No, no, you wouldn’t.”

“However,” he had objections about the price, “selling this tea-making method for only thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver? Yaming, aren’t we selling it too cheaply? Let me tell you, even if we asked for a hundred thousand taels, there would still be buyers.”

This was a tea-making secret formula that could be passed down to descendants, ensuring prosperity for generations.

Why had the Ye family’s tea always sold so well? It was all due to the tea-making techniques passed down from their ancestors. A hundred thousand taels—even if one family couldn’t afford it, two or three families could pool their resources together.

Ye Yaming shook her head: “No, Grandfather, I’m not selling to just one family, but to anyone who can pay, no matter how many.”

“What?” Ye Chongming was stunned.

Lu Guanyi praised from the side: “Miss Ye has a good idea.”

Ye Chongming was, after all, an experienced businessman, and after a moment of surprise, he understood.

Indeed, even if they sold it for only thirty thousand taels each, selling to ten people would bring in three hundred thousand taels. This was much more profitable than selling to just one person for a hundred thousand.

Moreover, if people could obtain the tea-making secret for just thirty thousand taels, they would likely choose to spend the money rather than risk stealing the formula.

After all, even if people didn’t know about the Ye family’s collaboration with Lu and Qi, anyone who could present Longjing tea to the Emperor must certainly have connections. Rather than offending such a family and potentially failing to obtain the secret, it would be better to spend some silver to buy it outright.

Though he understood the reasoning, he still felt reluctant: “But this way, everyone will be able to make Longjing tea, and we won’t be able to sell ours at a premium.”

“Right now, we’re riding a favorable trend, and since our supply of Longjing tea is truly limited this year and completely unable to meet demand, we can command high prices. Even the Tea Monopoly Bureau doesn’t pursue the matter.”

“Money moves people’s hearts. If only our family holds the secret, and we produce a large quantity of tea, making it an exclusive business year after year, not just Lin’an tea merchants but even the capital’s elites would be tempted. At that point, they would pressure the Tea Monopoly Bureau to create trouble for us on one hand, while instigating incidents at our teahouse on the other, perhaps even fabricating a crime to imprison you. Our family wouldn’t just fail to get rich—we could lose our lives,” Ye Yaming said calmly.

“Miss Ye makes perfect sense,” Qi Ji added. “Old Master Ye, if you don’t sell the formula, what Miss Ye describes could very well happen.”

He smiled bitterly: “My and Zi Mo’s influence is still limited; we can’t fully protect you.”

“No, no, no, even if you could protect us completely, we shouldn’t do things this way,” Ye Chongming hastily replied.

This was the Ye family’s business, and Lu and Qi hadn’t taken a penny. In a moment, the Ye family would even charge them for the tea-making formula. How could the Ye family allow their greed to cause trouble and still expect Lu and Qi to protect them? There was no logic in that.

After Ye Yaming’s analysis, his mind had cleared.

Even without Ye Yaming’s explanation, he would have understood eventually. It was just that momentary greed had clouded his judgment, leading him to say such things.

“Yaming, you’re right. Let’s do as you suggest.”

Grateful for Lu and Qi’s care for the Ye family during this period, and considering that the Ye family held half the shares in their cooperative business, he added: “However, can we sell to the two young masters first, and then to others gradually?”

“The reason I urgently called you two gentlemen over was to discuss this matter,” Ye Yaming smiled and extended her hand toward Qi Ji and Ye Chongming. “Each of you give me five thousand taels of silver, and I’ll have my father train twenty tea craftsmen for you. You’ll still be able to sell one batch of summer tea and autumn tea this year.”

“Not to boast, but even the summer and autumn tea made with this pan-fired green tea method will taste better and sell at higher prices than if you had garden workers make crude tea and then process it into other types. And once your tea craftsmen gain experience making summer and autumn tea, the quality of next spring’s tea will be better than others.”

“As for other people, after your twenty craftsmen complete their training, my father will teach the next batch, with a maximum of twelve people per batch, on a first-come, first-served basis. Those who send three people to learn will pay thirty thousand taels; those who send six will pay fifty thousand taels.”

Qi Ji was thoroughly impressed with Ye Yaming: “Miss Ye, this strategy is truly brilliant. Those who are still hesitating, once they see others spending silver to learn and then starting to profit from autumn tea, won’t they become anxious? Moreover, learning directly from Second Master Ye is different from having someone learn and then pass it on. Who knows if the latter truly mastered the skills? If that person only half understands, wouldn’t his disciples’ knowledge be even more distorted? Wouldn’t that mean the thirty thousand taels were wasted?”

“So once you announce this, tea merchants will not only rush to learn but will opt for the fifty-thousand-tael option.” He clicked his tongue twice in admiration, “Miss Ye’s money-making skills truly make me envious.”

“If I weren’t backed by you two gentlemen as strong supporters, even with countless skills, I wouldn’t dare to use them,” Ye Yaming offered a small flattering comment to both of them.

“Therefore, as a reward, when the tea plants in Huizhou have produced fresh leaves, I plan to introduce another tea-making secret, creating a tea different from Longjing. For that one, I won’t charge you any silver.”

“Another tea-making secret?” Lu, Qi, and Ye Chongming asked in unison.

Ye Yaming nodded: “It will still be pan-fired, but the specific production method will be different, and the aroma and taste of the tea infusion will also vary slightly. In the future, I plan to have each region produce its specialty tea. This way, we won’t be competing against ourselves.”

“Specialty tea?” The three of them looked at each other in confusion.

Ye Chongming asked: “Yaming, just how many types of tea do you know?”

Ye Yaming shook her head, not answering his question directly, but instead said: “A tangerine grown south of the Huai River is a tangerine, but grown north of it becomes a trifoliate orange. Tea is the same. The tea trees in the mountains of Huizhou are slightly different from those in Lin’an. Their leaf sizes differ, and the intensity of bitterness and astringency varies. Even the same type of tea grown at the foot of a mountain versus the top, on the southern slope versus the northern slope, with short sun exposure versus long, will be different.”

“When making tea, we must adapt to the tea’s characteristics. Using different production methods for different tea leaves to bring out their best flavors is what makes a good tea craftsman.”

These words captivated not only Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji but even Ye Chongming.

Qi Ji was a novice in tea-making, but this didn’t prevent him from feeling excited: “In that case, won’t we make a fortune in the future?”

“That is without a doubt,” Ye Yaming nodded solemnly.

Her solemn demeanor caused Qi Ji to burst into laughter.

Lu Guanyi’s lips also curved into a smile as he asked Ye Yaming: “What will you do next?”

“Make jasmine tea,” Ye Yaming replied.

At the beginning of spring, she had people plant over a hundred mu of jasmine flowers on the Ye family’s estate. These flowers could be harvested in the same year they were planted using the cutting method.

Now it was already May or June, and the first batch of jasmine flowers was about to bloom. She planned to shift her focus to the estate to make jasmine tea.