Glory

The fat page's behavior was extremely rude. No household would treat guests in such a manner.

Ye Hongsheng couldn't help but worry, saying to Ye Yaming, "I'm afraid this matter won't be easily resolved."

Ye Yaming didn't think the fat page's attitude was due to the tea.

She was observant.

When Li Fu spoke to the fat page about the tea, the page still had a smile on his face. It wasn't until Li Fu mentioned "the young lady" and the page saw her that his expression changed, revealing a hint of impatience.

Could it be that someone resembled her, and the page mistook her for that person? And that person happened to have done something annoying, causing his expression to change?

Ye Yaming searched her memory but couldn't find any sisters or relatives who looked like her.

This body had inherited the best features from both Ye Hongsheng and Yin Shi. Not to mention her cousins or maternal relatives from the Yin family, even her own younger sister Ye Yayin didn't look much like her.

Apart from sharing similarly beautiful eyes, their face shapes and features were different. She had inherited Ye Hongsheng's oval face, while Ye Yayin had inherited Yin Shi's round face.

Finding no answer after pondering, Ye Yaming decided not to waste effort and simply waited to see what the other party had in store.

The page didn't say "my master is not home" but instead accepted the visiting card and asked them to wait, indicating that the master was indeed home. However, since the page showed disgust, the master might not see them.

After waiting for what felt like half the time it takes to drink a small cup of tea, the fat page finally came out and asked Ye Hongsheng, "Are you certain you're only here to exchange the tea?"

Ye Hongsheng was taken aback for a moment before replying, "Yes, aside from exchanging the tea, we also came specifically to apologize to your master."

The fat page glanced sideways at Ye Yaming and saw her beautiful almond-shaped eyes fixed on him, though her expression remained neutral.

He then stepped aside and said, "Please come in."

As the group entered, they saw the entire estate lush with greenery. Along the way, the pavilions, towers, ponds, and trees were all exquisitely designed.

Although the Ye family's ancestral home was decent, it couldn't compare to this meticulously designed garden with its cultural depth.

It seemed that this man named Lu Guanyi was not only wealthy but also had refined taste.

However, the vast garden seemed sparsely populated. They walked for quite a while and only encountered one elderly woman and one page. The garden was so large and the people so few that Ye Yaming couldn't help but feel the place would seem eerie after dark.

Soon, the fat page led them into the main hall. A young, handsome man stood up from his seat as they entered.

Ye Hongsheng disliked socializing, but he had no choice but to brace himself and exchange pleasantries. He cupped his hands and smiled at Lu Guanyi, "You must be Young Master Lu? I am Ye Hongsheng."

He gestured in introduction, "This is my daughter, Ye Yaming. We came today specifically to apologize to you, Young Master Lu. The pressed tea sold to you by Jixiangfang a few days ago was defective, and we would like to exchange it."

Li Fu and the accompanying page, Laonu, quickly placed the silk and pastries on the table.

Lu Guanyi returned the gesture to Ye Hongsheng and said, "Please have a seat, Master Ye."

He then greeted Ye Yaming, "Please sit, Miss Ye."

Though he said this, from beginning to end, his gaze never lingered on Ye Yaming, as if he were deliberately ignoring her presence.

After Ye Hongsheng and Ye Yaming took their seats, Lu Guanyi instructed the fat page, "An Tai, go fetch those pressed teas and bring them to Master Ye.""Yes." An Tai left and soon returned with the pressed tea.

For pressed tea sold at Ye Jia's tea houses and tea shops, whenever a customer purchased more than ten cakes, they would receive a rectangular rattan box with a lid, perfectly sized to hold all the tea cakes.

Ye Hongsheng stood up to take the rattan box and personally inspected the tea cakes inside, discovering one broken cake. Within that broken cake, moldy tea was mixed in.

He looked up and glanced at Lu Guanyi.

Lu Guanyi did not avoid the issue, smiling as he said, "I was curious about why this tea needed to be recalled, so I had my page break it open to take a look." Ye Hongsheng nodded without speaking, then closed the rattan box as if preparing to stand up and take his leave.

Ye Yaming quickly interjected, "I heard from the shopkeeper that Young Master Lu purchased a great deal of tea at Jixiangfang. Do you enjoy drinking tea, young master? If we have new teas at Jixiangfang, would you like us to send some for you to sample? They would just be sample teas, not much in quantity. If you don’t like them, it’s no problem—you don’t have to send anyone to purchase them."

Due to the official tea monopoly, the amount of tea that could be obtained from the Tea Monopoly Bureau with a Tea Import Permit for resale was not very large. As a result, tea merchants of this era only sold their tea in tea houses and tea shops, without offering home delivery.

Having experienced modern tea sales, Ye Yaming knew that with intense competition and the rise of e-commerce, the method of selling in shops and waiting for customers to come had long become obsolete. For high-quality customers, they adopted the approach of delivering sample teas for tasting to make sales.

For customers who bought tea through online shopping, they would also use data analysis to send them sample teas they might like and could afford. If the customers enjoyed the samples after tasting, they would place orders. When the tea was shipped, two new sample teas would be included as gifts.

Although competition in ancient times was not as fierce as in modern times, it still existed. Not only among tea merchants themselves but also between tea merchants and the official monopoly, there was a competitive relationship.

Why high-quality customers bought from one shop instead of another came down to marketing strategies.

This Young Master Lu had recently purchased a variety of teas at Jixiangfang, buying ten cakes of each type of pressed tea and ten jin each of loose tea, coarse tea, and tea dust. Although the amount he spent at Jixiangfang was less than that of long-term regular customers, the one-time purchase was astonishing, making him a significant customer.

Regardless of his purpose for buying these teas, it at least indicated his desire to purchase tea. Thus, it was worth the effort to keep him as a customer at Jixiangfang.

Lu Guanyi cupped his hands toward Ye Yaming and said, "Thank you for your generous offer, Miss Ye. However, I am often not at home. If you send the tea, you can just leave it with the gatekeeper."

He then cupped his hands toward Ye Hongsheng and said, "I’ve troubled you today, Master Ye. The tea from your family has a good flavor. I’ve heard it was all produced by the Second Master. You have remarkable talent."

Ye Hongsheng smiled upon hearing praise for the tea he made and modestly declined the compliment.

While Lu Guanyi was speaking to Ye Yaming, the plump page named An Tai glanced up at her, as if trying to gauge her reaction.

Noticing his covert observation, Ye Yaming suddenly had an epiphany, belatedly realizing why this plump page, An Tai, had been somewhat resistant to their visit.

She discreetly observed Lu Guanyi.This Young Master Lu, with his dashing eyebrows and starry eyes, was quite handsome. Standing over six feet tall, he had a tall and elegant stature. Though his face appeared youthful, his commanding presence and composed demeanor made it difficult to guess his age. However, he seemed no older than twenty by appearance.