Marriage in the 1980s 5
Cheng Sheng had tasted this wine before, and after returning home, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He'd been looking for Tao Yuan for the past few days, but Tao Yuan wouldn't see him, telling him to wait until the wine tasting. So he'd waited until today, finally meeting the person he'd been dreaming about and drinking the wine he'd become addicted to. He wasn't a heavy drinker; it was more like he just enjoyed it before, but he could do without. Even though he enjoyed the Xiao Family Winery's wine, he'd never considered drinking it to this extent.
"As for the monthly output you mentioned just now, I want to order all of it except for the sporadic sales." Cheng Sheng looked at Tao Yuan and said seriously.
Tao Yuan propped up his chin, smiled and said, "Impossible."
"I will ask someone to help you do better publicity, which will be much better than selling the wine to other restaurants at the same time. If you can trust me, I will never let you regret it." Cheng Sheng's words were ambiguous. The word "trust" he said had another meaning.
"The production volume I mentioned isn't because we can only produce this much each month. It's because we only produce this much, and we're selling it in a way that's always in short supply. This is called the starvation sales method," Tao Yuan said, looking at him. "But if I only offer it to you, my grandfather won't agree unless you can convince him. But I don't think you need to do that. We'll have a lot of new wine to sell later, and if you order every single one, it won't be a good idea for either you or us."
"It took you ten years to finally have new wine for sale." Cheng Sheng looked at Tao Yuan with suspicion.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. You should go talk to my grandfather about business matters. I'm only responsible for making wine and don't want to get involved in other things." Tao Yuan gestured to him and said, "Try these snacks and see how they taste."
Cheng Sheng glanced at Tao Yuan, then picked up a small piece of braised dried tofu with his chopsticks. After chewing it for a few times, he paused for a moment before trying boneless braised duck feet, braised edamame, spicy stir-fried shrimp, spicy diced rabbit, and so on. He ate continuously without saying a word.
Tao Yuan poured himself a glass of wine, savored it carefully, and thought about what kind of wine he should brew next.
Although the portions of these side dishes were not large, with only a small plate of each, there were still quite a lot of them. Tao Yuan was distracted for a while, and when he came to his senses and looked at the plates, he found that they were all empty.
Cheng Sheng put down his chopsticks, drank the last sip of wine, looked at Tao Yuan with an unsatisfied look and said, "Can I rent your chef for a while? Let him teach my chef too. My grandfather likes to eat braised food. You can name the price."
It was common for wealthy families to borrow cooks from each other.
"My chef?" Tao Yuan looked at him and said, "If you want to borrow it, you can borrow it. It's free. But these braised dishes are not made by my chef."
"Did you buy it outside?" Cheng Sheng felt it was impossible after he said that. If such delicious braised food was sold outside, he would definitely not be unaware of it.
Tao Yuan shook his head and said, "You can borrow our chef, but if you want to borrow the person who makes the braised food, I'm afraid it won't work."
Cheng Sheng observed Tao Yuan's expression in silence for a moment before saying, "Did you do this?"
Tao Yuan smiled, and although he didn't answer, his meaning was very clear.
"Do you believe in fate?" Cheng Sheng asked seriously.
Although he asked suddenly, Tao Yuan still answered seriously, "I believe it. Why not?"
"I hadn't planned to attend Zhao Haoyu's wedding before. I had something to do that day, but it was canceled for some reason. Then my car happened to pass by the hotel where your wedding was held, and I suddenly wanted to go in and take a look. I felt like I would regret it if I didn't go in, so I went in."
"And then you saw me smashing the wine bottle?" Tao Yuan continued.
"Yes, that's why I fell in love with you." Cheng Sheng knew that he had just experienced a marriage that had failed inexplicably, so he must be very cautious and on guard. He originally wanted to slowly win his favor, but he didn't know why, as soon as he saw him, he couldn't wait to possess him immediately.
Tao Yuan was stunned for a moment as he looked at his eyes filled with intense passion. Suddenly, he didn't know how to answer him, so he could only change the subject and said, "Why don't we talk about these braised dishes? Do you think we can make money if we package them and sell them?"
"If you want to sell these braised foods, I can help you set up a food factory and then hire someone to manage and sell them. All the profits will belong to you." Cheng Sheng said seriously.
"You provide the manpower and help build the factory, and then you don't want a penny of profit?" Tao Yuan looked at him with deliberate suspicion and said, "I find it hard to convince myself to trust you."
"Not only can I help you without asking for any benefits, I can also hand over all my personal property to you for management. As long as you agree, I will transfer all my current property and real estate to your name in the shortest possible time." When Cheng Sheng said this, he was actually proposing.
"Why should I manage your property..." Tao Yuan said pretending to be confused.
"Just say the word and I'll do anything." Cheng Sheng held Tao Yuan's hand tightly. "You know what I'm talking about. You can ask me for any conditions. As long as it's what you want, even if it means killing me, I'll give it to you."
"I know what you're saying, but you don't seem to know what you're saying." Tao Yuan wanted to pull his hand back, but Cheng Sheng's grip was too tight for him to pull. So he looked at him disapprovingly and said, "Don't act like a hooligan just because you're handsome. This is my house. Be careful or I'll have you kicked out."
"Give me a chance to prove my feelings for you."
"Well, didn't you say you'd agree to whatever I ask for? So what I'm asking now is that you let me go and let me think about it for a while. I'll give you an answer once I've made up my mind."
Cheng Sheng looked at Tao Yuan, then slowly let go of his hand. He couldn't help but clench his fist, wanting to keep the touch on his palm.
Tao Yuan lowered his head and pondered for a moment. He felt that if he agreed to his request right away, it would be a bit abnormal. After all, Cheng Sheng had just been hurt and abandoned. But if he refused, Cheng Sheng would definitely be sad, and he would also feel reluctant.
Earlier, Old Man Xiao was entertaining guests, beaming with genuine joy. He clearly distinguished between polite words and genuine praise. The veterans of the Wine Association were all devoted drinkers. Good was good, bad was bad. Even if it meant offending, they would never lie. And earning their praise was no easy feat.
Old Master Xiao had already taken people to see the guests off. As the guests left together, they couldn't help but praise him.
"The Xiao Family Winery's reputation as the best wine in the world is truly well-deserved. This new wine is worth waiting for, let alone ten, even twenty years!"
"Who says it isn't? I originally thought the Xiao family had no plans to release new wines, relying on the famous wines they sold previously to maintain their winery's position in the wine industry. But they are not impatient, and without making any noise, they have released such a good new wine."
"Old Master Xiao is truly patient. It's impossible not to admire him. He waited until the wine tasting to announce such a good wine, and didn't spread any news before."
"A few months ago, the Ke Family Winery released a new wine, and word spread everywhere about how good it was, claiming it even surpassed the Xiao Family Winery's Longquan wine. Out of curiosity, I sent someone to buy some. After tasting it, I thought it was indeed good, but to say it surpassed Longquan wine would be an exaggeration."
"My favorite drink for decades has been the Xiao Family Winery's Longquan wine. When I heard that the Ke Family Winery's new wine surpassed Longquan, I immediately sent someone to buy it, full of anticipation. In the end, I smashed it before I could finish it. The wine is good, but exaggerating is really annoying. This time, the Xiao Family Winery's new wine, Fengyin, I think it's even better than Longquan. Sure enough, the Xiao Family Winery has to surpass their wines themselves."
"Who on earth are spreading rumors like this? Could it be that some people who can't even drink are spreading nonsense?"
"If there's no benefit, who would spread these untrue words? Those who love to drink and know how to drink, who is better? After drinking, you will know clearly."
"That being said, a rumor spreads like wildfire, and the more people spread it, the more people will believe it, and even a lie will become true. However, the Xiao Family Winery is still very confident. This new Fengyin will surely dispel all the rumors that the Xiao Family Winery has been outdone."
"Of course. After all, this is a winery that's been open for over two hundred years, and it has the Emperor's signature inscription declaring it the best wine in the world. How can it be defeated by those villains using such despicable means?"
On the day Tao Yuan's Fengyin wine officially went on sale, long lines formed early in the morning, even before major liquor stores and distilleries opened. The association's veterans' praise for it had instilled curiosity in the rest of the group, who wanted to know just how good it was to deserve such high praise.
Each winery and wine shop has a limited quantity of wine they can sell. It's not that they can't make more, but rather that Tao Yuan wants to capitalize on a customer's psychology: the less available, the more they want it. Even the best of things, once they're available, everyone can buy them anytime they want. Sales will outperform those with limited quantities. Furthermore, Tao Yuan plans to brew many new wines in the future, creating an atmosphere where every new bottle of Xiao Family Winery's wine is incredibly hard to come by.
After a while, Cheng Sheng came to Tao Yuan and asked him to take him out for dinner or outings, and Tao Yuan agreed. After going out a few times, the two of them got along more and more naturally. Now, the only thing left was that little bit of feeling, that is, as long as Tao Yuan nodded, the two of them would immediately become lovers.
Because the weather was getting cooler, Tao Yuan took the initiative to call Cheng Sheng and asked him to take her to the natural hot springs at the villa he bought. Cheng Sheng was naturally overjoyed and immediately put down his work, asked someone to prepare it, and then personally went to pick Tao Yuan up and take him to the villa.
Tao Yuan even brought some wine with him, mentally prepared for something to happen.
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