Perhaps seeing Lin Sanqi's regret, Village Chief Yuexiang was afraid that this big customer would feel that he had missed the best picking season and would not want Pu'er tea.
In this way, the Bulangshan Township where he lived would not only be unable to sell tea and make money, but also be unable to complete the orders assigned by the province, which would be a big problem.
So the Bulang village chief quickly helped explain:
"Commissioner Lin, the truth is, unlike the Longjing tea from Jiangnan, our Pu'er tea can be picked all year round. The Mingqian tea picked in spring is certainly good, but tea from other seasons is equally good.
For example, summer happens to be the rainy season in Yunnan, so tea leaves grow rapidly, have thick leaves, and a rich taste;
By the time of autumn, the tea leaves are golden in color, with a unique aroma and a mellow taste;
By the time of winter tea, the tea leaves are plump, dark in color, and have a long-lasting aroma, making them a rare treasure among Pu'er teas.
There is a tea factory in our village. We purchase tea all year round, so I am quite knowledgeable about it.
Commissioner Lin may not believe it, but ordinary people cannot tell the difference between teas produced in different seasons unless they are tea professionals like us.
Just like the tea factory in our village, when the supply and marketing cooperative comes to purchase, no matter what season you pick your tea, the price is the same, there is no pick and choose.
County Magistrate Yulang and the local officials next to him were covering their hands, wanting to laugh but not daring to.
There is indeed a Pu'er tea factory in Bulangshan Township. It is the only factory in the township, and it does purchase Pu'er tea all year round.
But what the village chief didn't say was that purchasing Pu'er tea is a national policy, which is intended to benefit ethnic minorities and is done at a loss.
The problem is that the Pu'er tea collected cannot be sold at all. The supply and marketing cooperatives are also forced to complete the task targets. They collect a certain amount every year, and they are unwilling to collect even a kilogram more than the unplanned tasks.
People in Yunnan City are all pursuing Jiangnan green tea. Some of them like Hu Jiananwei's black tea, and no one likes to drink the bitter and astringent Pu'er black tea.
As for the local people, do they need to buy tea if they want to drink it? Just like there are Pu'er tea trees everywhere in Menghai County, if you want to drink it, you can just pick some yourself.
In fact, this was the real survival situation of Pu'er tea in the 1960s. Not to mention being sent as tribute tea to the emperor in Beijing, Pu'er tea had never left Yunnan Province at all.
Lin Sanqi was confused. He had looked up some information and assumed that tea could only be picked in spring.
Now that I hear that the fruits can be picked all year round, that means he can make money all year round.
Get rich~~~
Seeing Commissioner Lin's expression turn from cloudy to sunny, Village Chief Yien and Township Chief Yuexiang looked at each other and both felt that they had passed the test.
Village chief Yien was also very capable and immediately directed the villagers:
"Come on, Genshi, Hanying, Xiangying, Daofang, the rest of you, hurry up and pick some fresh tea leaves for our guests from afar so they can taste them. Hurry!"
People in the mountains are good at climbing trees. As soon as the village chief gave the order, several local people quickly climbed up the tea trees and started picking tea.
Lin Sanqi and Director Zhao quickly found a shady place to wait.
In less than a quarter of an hour, several local villagers climbed down the tree, and the old village chief Yien personally came over with a bamboo basket filled with fresh green tea leaves.
Township Chief Yue Xiang is a qualified local cadre and an excellent salesman:
"Commissioner Lin, Director Zhao, look, this is the best Pu'er tea.
The standard for picking fresh leaves is usually one bud and two leaves, one bud and three leaves, or a small number of one bud and four leaves. The main picking method is one bud and two or three leaves. At this time, the fresh leaves are of appropriate length, leaf buds and leaf stems, and have reached the best state in terms of maturity and content.
If Commissioner Lin wants to purchase, we guarantee that all of them are first-class products such as one bud and two leaves, and there will be no adulteration.
Although good Pu'er tea tastes bitter when you first drink it, this bitterness will quickly turn into sweetness, and a refreshing and sweet feeling will slowly develop in your mouth.
Moreover, the tea soup of our Menghai Pu'er is relatively refreshing and has a strong salivation effect. After drinking it, saliva will be continuously secreted in the mouth.
As the storage time increases, the taste of Pu'er tea will become more mellow, the bitterness will be reduced, the fullness of the tea soup will increase, and the aftertaste and the effect of promoting salivation will also last longer.
Mm, it smells good, absolutely delicious~~~"
Lin Sanqi burst out laughing and jokingly said:
"Village Chief Yue Xiang, are you sure the constant salivation and watery mouth you feel after drinking too much Pu'er tea isn't caused by excessive stomach acid?"
Pu'er tea contains a large amount of caffeine, which can stimulate the gastric mucosa and cause excessive secretion of gastric acid, leading to irritation of the gastric mucosa, and then local pain, accompanied by abdominal distension, belching, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and other discomforts.
Of course, this is not limited to Pu'er tea. Many types of tea have this side effect.
What’s more, it was the 1960s, a time when people could not even get enough to eat. There was no oil in the stomach, and drinking too much Pu’er tea would make the stomach even more uncomfortable.
Village chief Yuexiang smiled awkwardly. He didn't have the ability to tell lies with his eyes closed, so he couldn't say that there were no side effects.
Lin Sanqi took the bamboo strips at this time, looked at the green tea leaves on it and couldn't help but sigh:
"The 1960s were really great. Gold was everywhere, and the money was like picking it up for free.
This is authentic Laobanzhang tea from ancient trees that are over a thousand years old. A pound of this tea costs at least hundreds of thousands of yuan, and this is fresh tea. If it were dried tea, a pound would sell for at least several hundred thousand yuan."
Everyone around him thought Lin Sanqi was talking nonsense.
Township Chief Yuexiang and Village Chief Yin both curled their lips in their hearts, thinking that if such fresh tea was sold to the township tea factory, it would only cost one cent per pound.
Even so, the tea factory may not necessarily purchase it, it all depends on personal connections.
Villages like Banzhang are too poor and remote to give any gifts to the purchasing agents at the township tea factory. They are simply too lazy to come and buy, and the tea cannot be sold.
You still want to sell it for more than 100,000 yuan per pound? That’s just a daydream.
Lin Sanqi put his hand on his forehead and looked towards the mountain:
"Old village chief, which tea tree is the king in your Laobanzhang?"
Lin Sanqi was very interested in this king of trees, because decades later, the tea from the Laobanzhang king of trees could be sold for more than 1 million yuan per kilogram, which was amazing.
But people are too greedy. In order to make money, capital has turned the king of tea trees into Ge You, plucking all its leaves. As a result, the king of tree is dying and it is estimated that it will not survive. Then they try their best to rescue it.
So this king of trees is not a tea tree at all, but a treasure bowl.
"Tree King, come on, I'll take you over to have a look."
The old village chief led everyone up a mountain road, then pointed to a relatively thin tea tree about 8 meters high and said:
"Look, Commissioner Lin, this is the king tree of our Banzhang Village. It's about 1,400 years old."
Lin Sanqi has always believed that the tree that can be called the "King of Trees" should be like the Five-Master Pine on Mount Tai, which is twisted, ancient, vigorous and lush, and its crown can cover at least ten acres of land.
As a result, the tree king in front of him looked very thin and small, even smaller than the "juniors" next to it.
Lin Sanqi approached the King Tree, touched the trunk, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart:
"My dear, you still have decades to live, but before you die, please make more contributions for me."
Decades later, this king of tea trees was completely deified. Not only was the tea produced by the king tree sold at sky-high prices, but there were even many superstitious people who believed that the place where the king tree was located was where all the spiritual energy in the world gathered.
So a group of people sat in meditation and practiced beside the tree king every day, hoping to achieve immortality.
Don't laugh. Only those with connections and money can meditate under the tree. Ordinary people can only meditate far away on the sightseeing plank road nearby. Even so, there are still different levels of people.
Lin Sanqi reached out and plucked a piece of tea leaves from the King Tree, sighing again:
"Just this one leaf is probably worth a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes. Damn, can eating it make you immortal? Oh, and since we're here, let's take some pictures and take them back."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Yulang quickly called out to the staff:
"Hurry up and take a few pictures of Commissioner Lin as souvenirs."
After taking a photo under the tree, Lin Sanqi invited Director Zhao, Yulang County Magistrate, Yuexiang Township Chief, Yin Village Chief and other villagers to take a group photo together.
Lin Sanqi specifically emphasized taking photos, not because he liked taking photos as souvenirs, but because these photos would be of great use to him in another era.
After shooting a few rolls of film, Lin Sanqi instructed:
"County Magistrate Yu, you need to have the photos developed as soon as possible. Also, all photos should be labeled with the time they were taken and the people in each photo. That way, when I'm old, I can still take out the photos and remember you all."
Everyone present chuckled.
Nowadays, when taking photos, people will mark the year and location in a corner of the photo. Sometimes group photos will also indicate the names of the people in the photo.
"Oh, by the way, when you write my name, don't write Lin Sanqi, write Lin Yongyuan. Yongyuan, ahem, that's my pen name."
County Magistrate Yu had no objection to this small request. As long as you don't write "Runzhi", everything else is up to you.
"Okay, we've already shot five rolls of film from yesterday to today. I'll send someone back to the county to develop it right away. Commissioner Lin, please rest assured." (End of this chapter)
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