The next day, he visited another village headman’s home and settled the matter. With the headman accompanying him, they went to three nearby villages with many tea growers and signed contracts with more than twenty households. This finally put his mind at ease.

The remaining twenty or so households lived in small villages up in the mountains, quite scattered. Some villages had only a dozen or so families, with perhaps only one or two households owning tea mountains.

The mountain roads were rugged and uneven, full of potholes. Carriages couldn’t pass through at all, requiring them to travel on horseback. The two village headmen couldn’t possibly accompany him on such a journey, so Ye Chongming could only bring his attendants and visit each household slowly, one by one.

Fortunately, he was known for his kindness and trustworthiness. In previous years, even when disasters struck and the tea growers couldn’t deliver the pre-ordered tea, he would agree to postpone the orders until the following year rather than forcing them to return the money.

Whenever a tea grower’s family faced emergencies requiring money or assistance, as long as they approached him, he would help as much as possible.

Now he was merely converting the white contracts to red contracts without asking anyone to pay an extra copper. Instead, he had the village headmen handle the process and even gave them gifts. When the tea growers heard that the headmen had accompanied Ye Chongming to two villages and the two large villages had agreed, they naturally gave the Ye family face and had no objections to this matter.

As for the tea currency, initially, everyone was reluctant and refused when they heard they wouldn’t receive actual silver.

But when they learned that the 100 taels of tea currency could be exchanged with the Ye family at tea delivery time in spring, with half a copper coin of interest, this was an unexpected windfall for the tea growers who had little income besides tea. Therefore, most growers who weren’t in urgent need of money, like those in the villages below, were willing to accept tea currency rather than actual silver.

This made Ye Chongming very pleased.

The more tea growers who accepted the tea currency, the better he could report back to Mei Chonglin.

After another full day of traveling from dawn till dusk, only three small villages remained, and the tea gardens in these three villages weren’t very large.

Li Fu advised, “Old Master, perhaps you should rest. We can visit these remaining households tomorrow.”

Other attendants also tried to persuade him: “Indeed. The Master and Young Master are both still injured and cannot handle worries. If you fall ill from exhaustion, who will manage all the family affairs, both great and small?”

Ye Chongming sighed.

Although even a mosquito’s leg is meat, and it would be best to secure these two villages’ tea, he was advanced in years and had been exhausted these past two days. If he continued, he might truly fall ill.

“Very well, we’ll go tomorrow,” he said. “Tonight, let’s rest well at the mountain villa.”

Everyone sighed with relief and quickly helped Ye Chongming onto the carriage to slowly return to the villa.

Seeing Ye Chongming’s carriage stop at the entrance, the old servant guarding the villa sighed with relief and came forward to greet him: “Old Master, you’ve returned? The Third Master from Headman Zhou’s family has been waiting for you for quite some time.”

“Zhou Xing?” As soon as Ye Chongming heard this, he guessed what the matter was about.

He hurriedly entered and went to the hall. Zhou Xing, who had been resting in a room, also came out and gave Ye Chongming a bow: “Uncle Ye.”

After exchanging pleasantries with him, Ye Chongming asked, “Why have you come? Is something the matter?”

“At noon today, a tea merchant from out of town visited my father and offered a large sum of money, hoping my father would persuade the tea growers under his jurisdiction to sign contracts with him to sell their tea to him next spring. My father naturally refused and sent me to inform you.”

Ye Chongming’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “What is this person’s name?”

“Liu Qilin.”

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Ye Chongming’s mouth.

He had long ago sent people to investigate Meng Chengwei’s situation. He knew that Meng Chengwei had brought three capable individuals with him: besides his cousin Meng Liang, there were two managers, one named Liu Qilin and another named Yuan Fang.

This Liu Qilin was indeed Meng Chengwei’s man.

Just as Ye Yaming had predicted, Meng Chengwei had sent people to poach their tea growers.

Fortunately, he had acted first and signed contracts with the vast majority of tea growers ahead of them. Although they hadn’t yet gone to the government office to convert the white contracts to red contracts, the two village headmen had spoken to the tea growers of the four large villages about the red contracts. Fearing the government, the tea growers probably wouldn’t consider breaking their agreements.

And since the two village headmen had accepted his benefits and had cooperated with him for many years, the Ye family’s foundation in Lin’an was not something an outside tea merchant could compete with. The two headmen also knew about his relationship with Clerk Wu.

He believed they would stand firm and not change their minds for trivial benefits, persuading tea growers to breach their contracts.

As for the two villages that hadn’t yet signed contracts, their tea gardens weren’t large. If lost, so be it—it wouldn’t greatly affect the Ye family.

Thinking this way, Ye Chongming was no longer anxious.

The next day, after eating breakfast at home, he led his attendants toward the two villages.

These two villages were quite close to Lin’an city. From the Ye family villa, Ye Chongming had to go downhill. However, most tea gardens were on the southern slope, while these two villages were on the eastern slope, and their tea gardens weren’t large. That’s why he had initially headed south, planning to make a loop and then return to visit these final two villages.

The path was narrow. In previous years, tea leaves were transported out on mules. Ye Chongming rode slowly on horseback. After about half an hour, they finally reached the first village.

“Is anyone home? Is Gong Daniu in?” The tea factory manager Wu Qingping stepped forward and called into the courtyard.

After a while, a middle-aged woman emerged from the house.

Wu Qingping, who had come with Ye Hongchang in previous years to order tea, recognized this woman.

He first introduced her to Ye Chongming: “This is Gong Daniu’s wife, Madam Zhao.”

Then he addressed Madam Zhao: “Aunt Gong, this is our Old Master, who has come to order tea from your family.”

Madam Zhao opened the courtyard gate but stood at the entrance without inviting them in. Her face bore a slight smile: “So it’s Old Master Ye. However, you’ve come too late this year. Our tea has already been pre-ordered.”

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Wu Qingping dumbly repeated: “Already pre-ordered?”

“Yes.”

Although Ye Chongming had his suspicions, to be certain, he frowned slightly and asked, “May I ask who placed the order? Also, do you plan to continue working with them next year?”

Madam Zhao’s smile froze, and her expression quickly became indifferent: “I don’t know who placed the order. My husband makes these decisions; I don’t handle such matters.”

She continued, “This year’s tea is gone. Please go back, Old Master.” With that, she closed the courtyard gate and turned to enter the house.

Wu Qingping was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, “Does the Gong family no longer plan to work with us in the future?” Otherwise, they wouldn’t have behaved this way.

Ye Chongming was the Old Master of the Ye family. Since he had personally come to visit, even if the Gong family’s tea had been pre-ordered, they should have invited him in to sit for a while and have a cup of tea.

But the Gong family’s behavior was essentially the same as directly breaking ties.