However, tonight both Ye Hongchang and Ye Hongrong were injured and couldn’t come. He only had his second son and eldest grandson with him, as well as the two little ones from the fourth branch of the family. With even fewer male family members present than before, that melancholy feeling in Ye Chongming’s heart had surprisingly disappeared.

His granddaughter was more capable than other families’ entire broods of grandsons. The Ye family’s prosperity was imminent. What did he have to feel melancholy about? He was greatly looking forward to ordering tea tomorrow and seeing the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces when the osmanthus tea hit the market.

That would certainly lift his spirits.

The next day, it was nearly the hour of Si (9-11 AM) when Ye Chongming finally appeared with Ye Jiaxing at the entrance of the Tax Bureau.

Today was the day to place orders for spring tea.

Many people were more impatient than Ye Chongming and had arrived at the Tax Bureau early, either lining up at the front or gathering in small groups to chat.

And what they discussed most were the rumors about the Ye family.

A tea merchant from one of the tea shops spotted Ye Chongming, his eyes lighting up as he hurriedly approached, attempting to pull him aside to a more private location.

Ye Chongming’s expression darkened as he said, “If you have something to say, say it here. Chongming doesn’t speak to others without good reason.”

The man had no choice but to lower his voice and say, “Brother, how much tea are you planning to order today? I say, elder brother, if you have excess raw tea leaves, could you spare some for your younger brother? If you could let me have those teas, I’ll pay you fifty wen per jin. What do you think?”

Ye Chongming gave him a cold look and continued walking forward without stopping: “No.”

“Hey, Brother Ye, don’t go! The price is negotiable,” the man called out.

Ye Jiaxing blocked the man: “Elder Wang, say no more. My family barely has enough of the tea we’ve already ordered. If Elder Wang has excess, you should share some with us. We’ll pay you one hundred wen per jin. What do you think?”

Elder Wang was taken aback and frowned as he lectured Ye Jiaxing: “Young man, don’t joke with your elders.”

Ye Chongming stopped in his tracks: “This is no joke. Though my family has suffered some losses, our foundation is solid. We can certainly afford the deposit for ordering tea leaves. If Elder Wang has excess, we’ll pay one hundred wen per jin, in silver, on the spot.”

Elder Wang’s face instantly froze, then shifted to an awkward expression. He laughed dryly, “No… no excess. How could there be any excess? Haha.”

He looked at Ye Chongming with a complex expression: “Your Ye family truly does have deep pockets.”

Ye Chongming didn’t want to waste another word on someone trying to profit from others’ misfortune. He snorted coldly and led his grandson forward.

These past two days, he had truly seen the cold and warm sides of human nature.

Ordering tea traditionally required standing in line. But every merchant would send servants to line up in advance. Small tea merchants didn’t dare compete with larger ones, so they naturally queued behind them. Over time, Ye Chongming, as the head of the tea guild, had ended up first in line.

In any case, every merchant would pre-order tea leaves from their familiar garden households, so whether one stood at the front or back of the line didn’t make much difference.

Seeing Ye Chongming with a ruddy complexion, full of energy, standing tall and proud at the very front, showing no signs of a fallen household, those merchants who had been avoiding him lately—fearing he might ask to borrow money—all showed expressions of surprise.

Some people, relying on their distance from Ye Chongming, whispered and discussed the matter with nearby merchants. Some even placed bets on how much tea Ye Chongming would order.

The officials at the Tax Bureau were also curious about how much tea the Ye family would order.

Since yesterday, many people had approached these officials, hoping to get the Ye family’s excess tea allocated to themselves. Some even wanted the officials to directly withhold a portion of the Ye family’s tea. These people outbid each other with increasingly higher prices.

The officials were naturally tempted. However, Ye Chongming was the head of the tea guild and had never been stingy with bribes in the past. Now that they heard the Ye family was short on funds, directly withholding their tea would be too greedy. If word got out, it would damage their reputation as officials.

It wasn’t until last night when Magistrate Qi sent someone with instructions not to tamper with the Ye family’s tea that they abandoned these thoughts. They told those who had offered high prices that if the Ye family truly couldn’t handle that much tea, then they would reallocate the excess to them.

But if the Ye family had the ability to take all the tea, they wouldn’t harbor any improper thoughts.

Hearing this, those people dared not say much more and simply waited to see how much tea the Ye family would order today.

Seeing that the time was right, the officials simply announced the start of proceedings.

Because the amounts were large and counting silver was troublesome, the Tax Bureau cooperated with an officially backed money house in Lin’an called Fengtai. Merchants would first deposit their silver at the money house, which would issue a bank note similar to a receipt. Merchants would then bring these notes to the Tax Bureau to pay taxes and place tea orders.

Since the tea wasn’t physically present, the Tax Bureau officials weren’t concerned about merchants forging bank notes. After the tea ordering was complete, they would verify the amounts with the money house. If any discrepancies were found, targeted investigations would follow. Unless someone deliberately wanted to go to prison, no one would dare tamper with the banknotes.

Ye Chongming had only gone to the money house just before arriving at the Tax Bureau, so apart from the money house staff, no one here knew how much silver he had deposited.

Now he took out his bank note and handed it to the Tax Bureau official.

The official saw the amount, paused in surprise, then looked up with a smile and clasped his hands toward Ye Chongming: “The Ye family truly has substantial wealth.”

He then announced the amount of tea being ordered to his clerk, instructing him to fill it in on a contract.

Hearing the number he announced, the people who had craned their necks to learn about the Ye family’s situation all gasped in astonishment. Those with ulterior motives were especially disappointed.

The amount of tea Ye Chongming ordered was the same as in previous years—although the garden households from Gong Family Village and Wang Family Hillside hadn’t signed contracts with the Ye family, that was merely the connection with the garden households, a step that could be skipped. The Ye family could still pay silver at the Tax Bureau to order tea.

While the tea gardens in those two villages were small, and losing a hundred jin of tea or so wouldn’t affect the Ye family much, Ye Chongming still ordered the same amount as in previous years to silence the rumors.

After receiving the contract, Ye Chongming addressed the people behind him: “Besides these tea leaves, my Ye family would like to order more. However, the tea mountains produce limited quantities, and if my family buys more, those behind us won’t have any to purchase. So we can only order the same amount as in previous years. If anyone wishes to order less, you can tell me, and I will certainly show my appreciation.”

With that, he clasped his hands toward everyone and strode away.

Those who had been harboring intentions couldn’t help but curse inwardly, reluctantly withdrawing their schemes as they waited to place their orders.

Once in the carriage, an extremely excited Ye Jiaxing said to Ye Chongming: “Grandfather, you should have seen some of their faces when they heard the amount we ordered. Their expressions changed in an instant. Hahahahaha…”