novelaction Chapter 736 Discussing Prices
Chapter 736 Discussing Prices
“Miss Meng, please have some confidence! Ordinary wine costs two hundred coins a dou (a unit of volume), but ours is fine wine. How can we sell it for fifty coins? It should be at least five hundred coins!” Seeing the other woman’s pained expression, Lin Ping hurriedly explained.
"Ten times higher? Can Boss Han of Qingfeng Tower accept that?" Meng Qingge was naturally a little unsure.
She admitted that the wine was extraordinary and indeed worth five hundred coins, but since it was not well-known, the price needed to be raised little by little.
"Disagree? He wouldn't dare!" Lin Ping thought to himself. Han Jiji was just a manager he had hired; how could he dare disobey Lin Ping's orders?
He naturally couldn't speak to Meng Qingge in that tone, lest he expose his identity.
"Han Jiji is a farsighted man who knows the value of this wine. Even if it's only worth two taels of silver, let alone five hundred coins per dou, he'll still make a profit," Lin Ping said seriously.
"Two taels of silver per dou?" Meng Qingge clicked her tongue repeatedly.
Even the most prized wines from the Meng family's winery have never sold for such a price.
Regardless, Lin Ping's words gave her enough courage, and she decided to try the price Lin Ping set, even if the price was cut in half, she could still make a fortune.
The group soon arrived at Qingfeng Tower, where Han Jiji personally greeted them at the door, as if she knew they were coming.
"Young Master Lin, Miss Meng, please come in." Han Jiji bowed and scraped, her attitude not just respectful, but downright humble.
Meng Qingge quickly returned the greeting with courtesy, and kept praising Lin Ping in his ear: "No wonder Qingfeng Tower is doing so well. I didn't expect Boss Han to personally greet the guests."
Let alone a behemoth like Qingfenglou, even a restaurant of any decent size would only send out a waiter to greet customers. Only restaurants that couldn't afford to hire waiters would have the owner personally come out to greet them.
Meng Qingge was deeply impressed by Han Jiji's behavior, and she even decided to learn business strategies from him.
Little did she know that Han Jiji wasn't going out to greet guests, but rather to greet her boss and his future wife.
Let alone dozens of customers, even if a wealthy businessman spends a fortune to book the entire venue, it would be difficult to see Han Jiji even once.
Han Jiji repeatedly invited Lin Ping and Meng Qingge to the private room on the top floor, saying that the environment and service there were good, and most importantly, it would create a private space for the two of them.
Lin Ping's purpose in coming here was not to flirt, but to improve his relationship with the workers and to promote his sweet wine.
So he would drink with the workers, and in the most lively hall.
Dozens of people sat busily in the lobby on the first floor, immediately attracting the attention of many customers, most of whom looked down on them.
They are just ordinary people, and logically speaking, they don't have the money to eat at a high-end place like Qingfenglou.
However, their table was filled with all sorts of dishes, and the prices were not low.
Out of curiosity, these guests paid more attention to them.
The guests looked on with envy as they filled the jade cups with the red liquid.
The color of this wine is absolutely intoxicating.
At this opportune moment, Lin Ping raised his wine cup and loudly recited: "Fine wine in a luminous cup, I long to drink, but the pipa urges me on."
The officials at the winery were only concerned with drinking the fine wine, and their actions went beyond the meaning conveyed in Lin Ping's poem.
The customers around them were different; most of them were scholars with a keen sense of poetry.
Just as everyone was surprised, someone suddenly shouted, "There is this line in the poetry collection published by Huiwen Academy. I have been thinking about it for a long time and have searched through various classics but I have not been able to find the source. I did not expect it to be interpreted in this way!"
The history of the Daye Dynasty was very different from the history Lin Ping was familiar with, and the poem "Liangzhou Ci" had never appeared there. In addition, wine was a drink for the poor, and no one used jade cups to hold it, so naturally he could not understand the artistic conception in it, but he just thought it was very beautiful.
When Lin Ping recited "Liangzhou Ci" at this moment, it immediately made these literati realize the meaning of the poem.
"Is this the legendary 'grape wine in a luminous cup'?" The group of literati exclaimed in surprise, as if they had found an invaluable source of material.
"Young master, would you mind sharing a drink with me?" a refined young man asked in a scholarly tone.
Lin Ping's lips curled up slightly, knowing that the plan was mostly successful.
Don't underestimate these literati; their promotional abilities are terrifyingly powerful. If they were to write a few more poems about wine, it would surely create a situation where literati from all over the world would vie for it, and the wine would definitely sell out.
At the same time, the bartender, carrying a huge wine jar, shouted loudly, "This young master Lin said that everyone can drink wine for free."
Those scholars who lacked the courage to directly ask Lin Ping for wine cheered loudly; before even tasting the wine, they had already conceived many verses.
"White grape wine, red eagle wax, sweet alfalfa roots, gerbils emerge." Someone immediately recited loudly.
"A talented scholar?" Lin Ping was taken aback; this was an unexpected bonus.
As a master of copying poems, Lin Ping was not to be outdone, adding his own poem: "The Qiang flute plays the willow tune, and the Yan maiden drinks grapes."
The person before had merely described the appearance and color of wine through poetry, but Lin Ping added a much richer artistic conception.
Everyone envisioned a beautiful woman from the frontier drinking wine amidst the wind and sand—a truly breathtaking sight.
Some people even had the idea of going to the border, bringing a pot of fine wine to give to the women in the wind and sand—quite a wild idea.
The atmosphere of the entire Qingfeng Tower was immediately enlivened, revolving entirely around fine wine.
The craftsmen at the distillery were also in high spirits, praising Meng Qingge and Lin Ping. They were full of hope for the future and didn't need Lin Ping to make any promises.
Seeing Lin Ping enjoying his drink, Meng Qingge didn't want to disturb him and went upstairs alone to discuss business with Han Jiji.
"Mr. Han, this is a new variety from the Meng family," Meng Qingge said tactfully.
Han Jiji nodded immediately and subconsciously replied, "Sweet wine, the boss said so, it lives up to its reputation."
"Did the boss say that?" Meng Qingge's eyebrows furrowed, unable to understand what Han Jiji was saying.
This wine is unique; how could the owner of Qingfenglou have known about it beforehand?
Han Jiji quickly tried to evade the question, chuckling, "Miss Meng wants to talk about the price, right?"
They are all businessmen; if they don't say anything pointless, all the previous topics will become irrelevant.
Meng Qingge nodded first, then held up five fingers, waiting for the other party to reply.
The price was crucial to the distillery's profits, and she was extremely nervous.
"Five taels of silver?" Han Jiji asked back, her face expressionless.
Lin Ping had told him that he could accept a price of five taels of silver or less.
The price was naturally a bit inflated. He originally wanted to argue with Lin Ping, but seeing the reaction of the sweet wine among the literati, he immediately accepted the price.
He could easily develop sweet wine into a high-end brand, selling a jar for ten taels of silver, or even using scarcity marketing to sell it for a sky-high price of fifty taels.
“No, no, no, it’s five hundred coins. If Boss Han thinks the price is too high, we can discuss it.” Meng Qingge immediately shook her head, afraid that the other party would misunderstand that she was asking for an exorbitant price.