Glory

Ye Yaming remained silent, turning her gaze toward Ye Chongming.

Ye Chongming pointed at Ye Jiaxing with a smile and said, "This is my eldest grandson, Ye Jiaxing. He will remain here to accompany you, esteemed officials. Should you have any requests, feel free to call upon him. Since you must have matters to attend to, we shall not impose further and will take our leave now."

This was the first time engaging in a Dark Tea trade with the Great Jin, and no mistakes could be tolerated. In general, sampling could be done casually—selecting one or two tea bricks from each shelf, opening them to inspect and smell, breaking off a piece to brew and taste, and then splitting the entire brick open for a thorough check.

If done hastily, this task could be completed in a single day. A more meticulous approach would take two days.

However, Chen Zhen and his team dared not be careless. They spent four full days at the Tea Factory, sampling numerous additional tea specimens for inspection, meticulously recording their findings before concluding their work.

When Ye Jiaxing returned home to report, Ye Yaming and the others went to the posthouse where the officials were staying.

On the way, Ye Chongming asked anxiously, "How was their mood these past few days? Did they mention any issues with our tea?"

His heart had been in his throat all this time, fearing that Chen Zhen and the others might be dissatisfied with the tea.

This was Ye Family's first large-scale transaction with the imperial court, and not the slightest error could be afforded.

Because the old man was so tense, Ye Jiaxing had been reporting the situation to his grandfather daily upon returning home.

Understanding his grandfather's feelings completely, he replied without the slightest impatience, "It went very well. Official Chen and the others even praised us, saying the tea we produced has a remarkably consistent flavor, all equally excellent."

"They also mentioned that since the tea leaves come from three different regions—Lin'an, Huizhou, and Minzhou—and were processed by so many Tea-making masters, it's truly impressive that the taste remains uniform."

Ye Chongming breathed a deep sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.

"Thanks to your younger sister—she is truly remarkable," he praised sincerely.

Previously, Ye Hongsheng had also maintained good quality control in tea production, but that was when the quantity was small, merely a fraction of the current hundreds of thousands of jin.

Even so, Ye Hongsheng had to stay at the Tea Factory day and night, even eating and sleeping there, keeping a close watch, handling things personally, and tasting constantly—from the start to the end of the tea-making process. It took months of exhausting work and losing several jin of weight to maintain such stable quality.

Ye Yaming, on the other hand, adopted a largely hands-off approach. Last year, she trained a group of Tea-making masters and sent them to Huizhou and Minzhou to produce tea, while she focused on supervising the more complex process of surface-sprinkled tea herself.

Although she implemented a tea evaluation system and dispatched specially trained "tea evaluators" with sensitive palates to conduct inspections, Ye Chongming had still been holding his breath.

Without personal supervision and with the Tea-making masters not being particularly experienced, what if the teas produced varied too greatly in quality?

This was a transaction with the imperial court, and this batch of tea was destined for sale to the Great Jin. Any mishap could affect diplomatic relations between the two nations. If the court were to assign blame, the entire family would be fortunate to escape with their lives. As a key participant, Ye Yaming would not be spared, and Lu Guanyi's official career would also be jeopardized.

Ye Yaming had always appeared confident and composed, while Ye Chongming himself lacked the capability to intervene. With no alternative but to trust her, he had reminded her a few times before letting the matter rest. Yet, his heart had remained suspended with worry all along.After the tea from Huizhou and Minzhou arrived, Ye Yaming conducted a tasting evaluation and informed Ye Chongming that the quality was stable, advising him not to worry. Though somewhat reassured, he still couldn’t fully set his mind at ease.

Over the past few days, he had been unable to eat or sleep properly, fearing that Chen Zhen and others might give an unfavorable review. Even when Ye Jiaxing reported positive feedback, it was of no use until the sampling inspection was fully completed.

Now, at last, he could finally breathe easy.

Ye Hongrong had gone to Huizhou for inspections, and during this period, Ye Jiaxing had been the one running errands. He was well aware of his grandfather’s emotional journey. Not only Ye Chongming but even he himself had been on edge.

This spring, the Dragon Well Tea produced by several tea merchants in Lin’an City who had purchased the tea formula was released on the market. They had bought and tasted it, and while the flavors weren’t drastically different, each had its own distinct characteristics.

Ye Jiaxing immediately went to ask Ye Hongsheng about it. Ye Hongsheng told him, “We accepted their payment and taught them the most authentic methods with utmost dedication, holding nothing back. If the tea they produced wasn’t right, it could only mean that they didn’t practice diligently afterward and forgot what I taught them.” However, the tea-making masters under Ye Yaming who were tasked with producing Dark Tea had only learned from her once before being dispatched to other regions. There was no opportunity for practice, especially since there were no fresh tea leaves in winter.

So how did she manage to ensure that the tea produced by these masters had such a consistent flavor?

When he saw Ye Yaming, he couldn’t help but ask, “Third Sister, how did you manage to make the tea produced by the tea-making masters so uniform in taste?”

“It’s simple—standardization. Every step is standardized,” Ye Yaming replied.

In modern times, machines are used to produce tea.

Although seasoned tea connoisseurs might say that machine-made tea lacks the soul of handmade tea, machine production minimizes errors and ensures stable quality without unexpected failures.

Ye Yaming naturally couldn’t manufacture machines, but she could strictly define each operation and standard, even creating simplified instruments for testing. This allowed manual operations to resemble chemical experiments—as standardized and precise as possible, approaching the consistency of machine production.

Moreover, these tasks weren’t carried out by individuals alone. Instead, a team of three worked together, supervising and correcting one another.

This significantly reduced the error rate.

Additionally, tea tasters were assigned to conduct inspections, further ensuring the consistency of the tea’s quality.

For this batch of Dark Tea, exceptional quality wasn’t the priority—quality control was the key.

Not just for this batch, but for every batch in the years to come, maintaining a unified standard was essential to establishing the Ye family’s tea brand.

As for the tea-making masters sent by various merchants in Lin’an City, after returning and spending a winter away, some had forgotten parts of the Dragon Well Tea production methods they had learned. During this time, they also incorporated their own interpretations, and some even took creative liberties, making presumptuous adjustments. It was no wonder the resulting Dragon Well Tea had such “distinct characteristics.”

Of course, there were exceptions, such as Qin Sixiang, who not only preserved the original tea flavor but even enhanced it. Such talent was truly exceptional.

Watching Chen Zhen and the others transport the tea away, not only Ye Chongming but even Ye Yaming breathed a sigh of relief.

Until the delivery was completed, there was always a lingering worry, a fear that something might go wrong.

Once they had left, Ye Yaming had the leisure to ask Lve E, “Go ask Ma Yun about the situation of Qin Sixiang and his family since they arrived here. If he knows, have him come and report.”She had a difficult pregnancy, and after Qin Sixiang's family was brought to the Ye residence, she had no energy to attend to the matter. It was Ye Chongming and Ye Hongsheng who settled them in.

However, Ye Yaming had instructed Ma Yun to assign someone to closely monitor Qin Sixiang, observing his character and whether he was content to remain with the Ye family.