NOVPUB
Chapter 258: Chapter 127: Another cup
Gu Jiuyue calmly took out a tea cake as big as a gong, wrapped in tea paper, with bright red characters on the front — China Tea Company Yunnan Provincial Company, Zhongcha Brand Round Tea.
Her pupils shrank, startled.
Although she was living quite unsuccessfully in her later years, she was still making a living in a first-tier city, and the things she’d experienced and the world she’d seen certainly couldn’t be considered bad.
So, she recognized at a glance that the tea cake was an early Eight-center Red Mark.
This was too famous among Puerh enthusiasts, probably equivalent to a basketball fan’s Jordan autographed A-cone, a supercar enthusiast’s Lamborghini Veneno, or an art enthusiast’s Zao Banji’s first series from ’24.
Don’t ask me who Zao Banji is; I haven’t seen it, just as I have never worn an A-cone for real.
Back to the main topic, the fame of the Eight-center Red Mark did not come just from scarcity and price; its flavor was also highly recognized and considered the ultimate enjoyment for tea aficionados.
Su Huai... naturally had never tasted it, though she had often seen her company bosses showing off in their social circles.
Jealous?
Not really, because back then she knew she wasn’t worthy, she’d never even get a sip in her whole life.
But now that Wang had taken it out to share with her, she couldn’t help but salivate.
Show appreciation!
Su Huai perfectly displayed her astonishment, "Professor Wang, could this be the legendary Eight-center Red Mark Round Tea?"
"Your insight is really good, Su!"
Professor Wang was very proud, like a kid flaunting his toys, he placed the tea cake on the tea table and pointed to the "China" character in "China Tea Company" for Su Huai to see.
"Look, a red dot!"
Su Huai looked carefully and saw an unintentionally overprinted red dot above the character "China."
What does this mean?
An anti-counterfeiting mark?
Su Huai, not being part of that rich demographic, knew about the Eight-center Red Mark but did not have a deep understanding, and thus didn’t know the significance of this extra little red dot.
However, this was just right, as it gave her the perfect chance to play along.
"Professor Wang, you’ve stumped me. I know the Eight-center Red Mark is extremely precious, but what does this red dot signify?"
Not knowing was even better.
Intimates have their way of conversation, and teaching has its own joys.
Given Su Huai’s age and experiences, acting too close to Wang wouldn’t be fitting, giving him the opportunity to educate her was best.
Wang Yuqing’s desire to share surged, and he began an earnest exposition.
"The existence of Red Seal teas was very short-lived, born in 1950 and ending in 1967, just a mere seventeen years, but it gave birth to many different styles of tea.
During this period, the production of Puerh tea shifted from being dominated by private tea workshops to state government factories, and the scale and methods of production, as well as the selection and packaging of products, were all different from the pre-Red Seal era.
The Red Seal tea was made from the best tea leaves and the finest craftsmanship and ended up as premium tea.
As the early Red Seal round teas were regular products, the production span was quite long, and now we can only make distinctions based on the external packaging.
The red dot version is more robust in flavor, with a standard plum and orchid aroma, and it even has a strong medicinal scent.
Because the print block was accidentally carved with an extra dot during production, it became a distinctive identification sign, and hence a hotbed for counterfeits on the market today.
’Eight out of ten are fake’ is no exaggeration; no source or channel can be trusted..."
Su Huai interjected at the right moment, "Then how do we make sure it’s the real deal?"
"Haha!"
Professor Wang laughed heartily, responding generously, "Of course, you use money to determine it!"
Dizzy!
Are you serious? 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Wang was very serious, looking at Su Huai with profound meaning, and deliberately said, "A piece of Red Seal Round Tea with a red dot, if purchased at an auction, could fetch around one million yuan.
If it’s traded privately, selling it for 800,000 yuan is easy.
And how much does it cost to fake one?
I don’t really know, but I guess it won’t be more than a few tens of thousands of yuan.
With such profitable stuff, can you expect counterfeiters to be too sloppy? Or hope that intermediaries aren’t crafty enough for you to easily expose them?
It’s impossible, right?
So, to buy the real thing, there are only two ways—
First, go to a reliable auction and smash the highest price to get the genuine product guaranteed by reputation.
Second, you are powerful enough that the seller doesn’t dare offend you, or they need something from you, then what they offer you is likely to be the real deal.
Besides, whatever you buy from private hands can’t be guaranteed genuine, and even the sellers might be fooled, holding onto fakes as if they were genuine treasures.
Even I, when I first started getting interested in fine teas years ago, paid several million yuan in tuition fees, or else I wouldn’t have come up with these two pieces of advice...
Su, I am treating you with the utmost sincerity!"
"That’s too grand."
Su Huai shook her head with a bitter smile and naturally sighed, "Suddenly, I feel like I don’t even deserve to drink this tea..."
Professor Wang was taken aback right then and there.
Hey?!
Why is your reaction so off?
Gu Jiuyue suddenly chimed in, "Tea is bought for people to drink, come on, drink up. When it’s gone, I’ll buy more for Grandpa."
Show-off!
Talking about a million-yuan tea like it’s just cabbage...
Such extravagance, unlike Su Huai’s online coin tossing, exuded a genuine sense of carefreeness.
And Professor Wang, too, recovered from his transient shock and immediately concurred, "Su, you’ve taken such good care of Yueyue; even if you took the whole cake, there would be no talk of unworthiness. Don’t sell yourself short!"
