There was little high-grade tea base available, so after discussing with Ye Chongming, Ye Yaming decided they would only give it away but not sell it; what they were offering in the teahouse now was only medium and low-grade tea.

All those present were regular tea customers who, once the tea was brewed and they examined the spent leaves, would understand the quality of the tea leaves when harvested. The waiter couldn’t tout the quality of this loose tea, so he only spoke about its taste.

The osmanthus tea was secretly developed by the Ye family—the only one of its kind in the entire Great Jin Dynasty, with no other branches. If they sold it too cheaply, not only would they lose money, but it would also lower the class and style of osmanthus tea. Therefore, even though the tea materials used weren’t excellent and the osmanthus flowers were cheap to acquire, after discussion, Ye Chongming and Ye Yaming still set a relatively high price.

After all, they only made a few hundred jin in total, and Ye Hongsheng had taken most of it to the Capital. For customers who loved this flavor, even if it was expensive and the tea quality wasn’t particularly good, they would still buy it. There was no concern about selling the osmanthus tea.

To allow the osmanthus fragrance to spread and to make the tea taste better, when Ye Jiaxing came to the teahouse, he specially called over the tea masters and instructed them on the brewing method.

Therefore, after brewing the tea, the tea masters didn’t cover the pots. They only put the lids on when they were near the tea tables, then walked over to pour tea for everyone.

As the tea was poured out, a rich osmanthus fragrance spread throughout the teahouse. Not only the nearby tables, but even customers sitting further away could smell it.

“Oh my, is this osmanthus tea? It is fragrant,” someone craned their neck to look toward the source.

Among the customers who had ordered the tea, those with impatient temperaments couldn’t contain their curiosity. They didn’t even wait for the tea to be poured out. After the tea master finished pouring and set down the teapot, before he could add more hot water, the curious customer leaned over to look at the spent leaves inside the pot.

“It is just tea leaves!” he exclaimed in surprise.

This exclamation prompted other tea customers to look at the spent leaves in the teapot.

The tea master didn’t rush them, letting them look as they wished.

The first impatient customer, having examined the leaves, became curious about the taste. Not minding that it might be hot, while others were looking at the leaves, he picked up his teacup and took a sip.

As the tea entered his mouth, the rich osmanthus fragrance seemed to transfer from the air into his oral cavity. The fragrance and the fresh, crisp taste of the tea spread throughout his mouth, thrilling him to the point where his very soul felt euphoric.

He hurriedly swallowed the tea and exclaimed, “Oh my, the taste of this tea is truly exceptional. Fragrant, incredibly fragrant! Beyond the fragrance, there’s the fresh crispness of the tea. It’s marvelous in every aspect!”

Hearing this, other tea customers also quickly picked up their cups to taste, and immediately a chorus of praise filled the air.

The tea master, hearing these compliments, was extremely pleased and happily poured another stream of hot water into the pot before going to brew tea for other tables.

With this table giving such high praise to the osmanthus tea, requests for it immediately echoed throughout the teahouse, one after another. After tasting it, those customers who didn’t mind the expense immediately began buying it by the jin.

The shopkeeper happily weighed the tea for them, adding, “We only have a little over two hundred jin of this osmanthus tea in total. Once it’s sold out, there won’t be any more. You gentlemen are quick to buy, truly fortunate.”

“How can there be so little?” A customer immediately became anxious upon hearing this.

He had thought it expensive, so he had only bought one jin, planning to come back for more after finishing what he’d bought. This way, he wouldn’t have to spend too much silver at once, making the purchase less painful.

But if there were only a little over two hundred jin in total, this tea would be sold out in less than two days. By the time he wanted to buy more, there would be none left.

“Manager Lin, you’re not trying to fool me, are you?” he asked Lin Zhensheng suspiciously.

Lin Zhensheng replied, “Our master requires us to treat customers with honesty—don’t you all know that? How would I dare to make things up? Our Ye family’s loose tea is limited in quantity; there aren’t many osmanthus flowers in the city, and the production process is extremely complex. We only made a little over four hundred jin in total, and half of that has to be allocated to old customers in the Capital. Don’t we only have a little over two hundred jin here?”

Now the customer no longer doubted, and regardless of how much silver it cost, he said to the tea-weighing attendant, “Give me two… no, three more jin.”

After thinking a bit, he felt it still wasn’t enough and immediately said, “No, no, make it five jin.”

This osmanthus tea tasted good and was limited in quantity—truly a case of scarcity increasing value. When the teahouse ran out, other tea customers would surely beg those who had bought it to spare some at a high price. At that time, if he sold two jin, he might earn back the cost of the three jin he’d drink himself, plus gain goodwill.

With this thought, he only wished he could buy more.

But Lin Zhensheng said, “I’m sorry, Sixth Master Wu, because the tea is scarce and our master wants everyone to have a taste, each person is limited to buying two jin. The rest is for our teahouse to sell.”

“How can it be only two jin…” Sixth Master Wu became anxious upon hearing this and was about to argue with Lin Zhensheng.

Another person who had a good relationship with him quickly tugged at his sleeve, giving him meaningful looks.

Seeing this, although Sixth Master Wu was confused, he still closed his mouth.

After leaving with their tea, he asked his friend, “What’s going on? Why did you stop me just now? Don’t you want to buy more, too?”

As he spoke, he also shared his plan.

After all, they were friends because they were both only moderately well-off and lived frugally. He knew his friend wouldn’t laugh at his scheme but would think it was a good idea.

His friend shook his head and said, “It wouldn’t have helped to argue, and you would only offend those wealthy and powerful people who couldn’t buy tea. If you want to buy more, there’s a way—just have someone else from your household come to buy. The teahouse only recognizes people, not households. Why bother offending others?”

Upon hearing this, Sixth Master Wu immediately slapped his forehead and said with a smile, “You’re the clever one.”

In the teahouse, the vast majority were like Sixth Master Wu—astonished after tasting the osmanthus tea and rushing to buy a jin or two.

The few who didn’t buy only thought it too expensive, feeling that adding some osmanthus fragrance to loose tea didn’t justify such a high price increase. It wasn’t that they didn’t think the tea tasted good.

Seeing silver flowing toward the counter, some quick-thinking individuals hurriedly asked Lin Zhensheng, “Where is your master? I have something to discuss with him.”

The Ye family might be out of loose tea, but his family had some. The osmanthus season might be over in Lin’an, but it wasn’t in the Capital. The Capital was north of Lin’an, so the osmanthus flowers would certainly bloom later there. If he went to the Capital now to purchase osmanthus flowers and mass-produce osmanthus tea, even if he, as a loose tea producer, made only a small profit, it would still be a substantial gain.

Lin Zhensheng smiled and said, “Now that we’ve produced new osmanthus tea, our master naturally wants to bring some for Master Zhineng to taste. The old gentleman went to Chongshan Temple early this morning and isn’t here.”

“Ah?” The man exclaimed in disappointment.

Master Zhineng of Chongshan Temple was a tea enthusiast. Tasting such excellent tea, he would surely be overjoyed. And the people he associated with were all powerful and wealthy. With his recommendation, even if Ye Chongming wanted to collaborate, he would never choose this man.