Farmers who have Pu'er tea trees at home make a fortune. A pound of fresh Pu'er tea can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan, and a family annual income of several million is considered a small amount.
The villagers who did not get any tea plantations at the beginning became jealous and started making all kinds of trouble, causing unrest in the village.
So the village cadres colluded with outside capital and forced the establishment of a tea cooperative to unify the picking and selling of tea.
This is how monopolies are formed.
Although the tea farmers' profits were much less, the annual income of several million yuan allowed the villagers of Banzhang Village to quickly step from primitive society into the wealthy class. Every family built a villa and drove a luxury car.
Originally, both Laobanzhang and Xinbanzhang Pu'er teas were monopolized by them.
Now Lingnan Hall suddenly jumped out and said that they have dozens of tons of the top-quality Laobanzhang Pu'er tea, which will be available every year.
Isn’t this just cutting the flesh of Laobanzhang Village?
The Yupan village chief was from the countryside and was used to bullying others in the village. He couldn't stand it anymore and started to curse loudly:
"This is outrageous! This is outrageous! I am the village chief of Banzhang Village. As everyone knows, our village produces only 50 tons of Pu'er tea a year. Last year, due to drought, the output was less than 40 tons.
So, you, Lingnan Hall, claim to have 60 to 70 tons of Laobanzhang tea? Where does your tea come from? It must be fake.
Don’t you reporters want to take pictures? Come on, take pictures! As the head of Banzhang Village, I do not recognize these Pu’er teas as Lao Banzhang.
The arrogant are afraid of the stupid. After the Yupan Village Chief made such a fuss, reporters and many tea merchants all gathered around to watch.
As the village chief of Banzhang Village, Yu Pan's words are relatively authoritative and reliable, which makes many people question Lingnan Hall.
Lin Sanqi was not in a hurry either. He had already formed an alliance of interests with President Ni of the China Tea Association and President Liu of the China Agricultural University yesterday. Naturally, he would not let the Yupan Village Chief act recklessly.
"Everyone, don't worry. Whether my Pu'er tea is Laobanzhang or not is not my decision, nor is it the decision of the Yupan Village Chief. We can ask President Ni of the China Tea Association to tell you."
Chairman Ni's butt was crooked at this time, mainly because he did not do Pu'er tea business, so naturally he had to "please" Lin Sanqi, who had the most Longjing tea:
"Ahem, as everyone knows, Laobanzhang tea is famous for its domineering taste. The tea soup is bitter and astringent, but the tea aroma is strong and the sweetness lasts for a long time, which makes people feel the masculine energy of Pu'er tea.
Looking at the appearance, as a standard large-leaf tea, the tea leaves are thick and tight, the buds are plump and hairy, and the leaves are thick and full.
The dry tea is dark green and glossy, with white hairs visible on the buds; after storage, the leaves gradually turn yellow-green or reddish-brown. So from our professional perspective, this batch of Pu'er tea is definitely Lao Banzhang."
Chairman Liu also testified at this time:
"Yes, our Tea Research Institute team has also conducted relevant tests. Lingnantang's Lao Ban Zhang tea fully meets the various nutrients and trace elements of Ban Zhang Pu'er."
Of course, the Yupan Village Chief knew that he was in the wrong.
Do you really think Village Chief Yu is a reckless man? He's quite clever, exploiting the stereotypes people have about farmers and deliberately making trouble to muddy the waters.
To quote Guo Degang's famous saying: The person who wronged you knows how wronged you are better than you do.
"Haha, what a joke! The amount of tea we pick in Laobanzhang every year is limited and all is recorded.
How much fresh tea leaves were received, how much dried tea was made, the quantity, how much was sold, and how much was in stock—all are recorded. Everyone, take a look..."
Village Chief Yupan took several account books from the secretary and shook them in his hands:
"It records our annual production and sales of Laobanzhang for the past 10 years. If you say that hundreds of kilograms of liquor have been inexplicably lost in the market, I believe it. Villagers always have selfish motives and sell it secretly.
But such a huge amount of 60 or 70 tons far exceeds the annual production, so why is there no record of it in our records? So I said that Lingnantang's Lao Banzhang is a fake, and I have evidence.
Chairman Lin, let me ask you, where do you get all this Laobanzhang Pu'er tea from?
Wow~~ Everyone in the venue was talking about it. The reporters were excited and finally started arguing.
President Zhu Baocha remained silent, neither trying to dissuade nor rebutting, but letting Yupan Village Chief perform. It was obvious that these people had division of labor today.
Lin Sanqi pretended to be innocent:
"Hey, the oldest Laobanzhang Pu'er tea tree is 1,400 years old, and the younger ones are several hundred years old. You only recorded the number of transactions within the past 10 years. Do you also have data from more than 10 years ago?
Didn’t your Laobanzhang stop producing Pu’er tea 10 years ago?
I didn't say our Lingnan Hall's Lao Ban Zhang Pu'er tea is new tea. These are the most precious aged teas, rare and exquisite Lao Ban Zhang teas that have been collected for decades. Do you have records of this as well?"
The Yupan Village Chief remained calm and continued to refute with his head tilted:
“More than ten years ago, that is, before 2000, Pu’er tea had not yet prospered. Could it be that your Lingnan Hall was so foresighted that you came to purchase Pu’er tea more than ten years ago?
That's not right. Lingnan Hall has only been established for two years, right? And what kind of Laobanzhang did you acquire? If you don't explain the source today, it only means that you are fabricating it."
When the people from Lingnan Hall heard this, they didn't look nervous at all, but were all happy instead.
Lin Sanqi also laughed and waved his hand. A large white screen and slides were immediately set up on the scene.
Everyone had question marks in their minds, wondering why they were suddenly preparing to show a movie after all the commotion.
The whole place was silent, and everyone wanted to see what Lingnan Hall was up to.
On the screen, the first black and white photo appeared.
The background of the photo is a Pu'er tea tree. A row of people are standing in front of the tree. Everyone is wearing a straw hat and their clothes are simple and old-fashioned, with a very obvious style of the 1950s and 1960s.
What's more, there is a note in the corner of the photo: 1962, taken in Banzhang Village, Yunnan.
At this time, many people were whispering to each other because there was a young man in the row who was particularly eye-catching.
He was seen with his hands on his hips, smiling at the camera with eight teeth showing. He was full of sunshine and optimism, and his temperament was completely different from that of the local cadres around him.
The village chief of Yupan also widened his eyes with an expression as if he had seen a ghost. Obviously, he recognized some of the people in the photo.
Lin Sanqi's voice sounded at the right time:
"Look at this photo, it was taken in 1962 under the Laobanzhang tree, the King of Tea, when my grandfather went to Yunnan to purchase Pu'er tea.
The youngest person in the photo is my grandfather Lin Yongyuan.
You can compare them. My grandfather and I look exactly like each other. There is no need for a paternity test.
And Village Chief Yupan, you should recognize this Tea King Tree, right? It can't be fake, right? "
The corners of Yupan Village Chief's mouth twitched...
"Everyone can check the names of the people in the photo. They include Director Zhao Youxia of the Yunnan Health Department, Magistrate Yulang of Menghai County, Director Zeng Yong of the County Armed Forces Department, and Mayor Yue Xiang of Bulangshan Township.
And Yupan Village Chief, look carefully, the old man at the edge is Yien, the former village chief of your Banzhang Village. I think he should be your ancestor. You must know him, right? "
With a bang, all the people in Yunnan were shocked.
Everyone from the Pu'er Tea Association looked at Yupan, the village chief of Banzhang Village, and Yupan's lips were trembling.
He might not know others, but how could he not know the old village chief Yien? That was his great-grandfather.
"How is this possible..."
Lin Sanqi curled his lips and said, "Why is this impossible? I have plenty of photos. Everyone, keep looking."
Next, the slides began to play one by one, and Lin Sanqi continued to introduce:
"No, this is the overall picture of Banzhang Village back then. The village was also in a dilapidated state.
This is a photo of the villagers toasting us. The beautiful girl in the photo should be a beautiful old lady now. Do you know her, Yupan Village Chief?"
The village chief of Yupan was about to vomit blood. How could he not recognize this girl? She was his biological mother when she was young.
“And here, these photos were taken on the way to the tea hills.
Noo, this photo was taken when my grandfather climbed up the tea tree to pick tea leaves himself.
This was taken at the Bulangshan Township Tea Factory, where my grandfather was teaching them how to make ripe Pu'er tea."
(It was actually a staged photo. The Lin Yongyuan in the photo is clearly Lin Sanqi himself. He doesn't know how to make tea. He's just pretending.) (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
