In fact, Su Ye had been thinking about the money for tea much earlier than Teacher He imagined.
Last year they went to a restaurant in Gangcheng for dinner. Su Ye drank some tea in the restaurant and frowned.
People who are used to drinking good tea suddenly drink ordinary tea and find that it is not cheap, so they can't help but feel disgusted. Su Ye asked the waiter in English about the price of tea in the restaurant. After asking, he was already thinking about the sales of tea in Shanggou Village in the spring of next year.
A cup of tea costs 30 Hong Kong dollars. The exchange rate of the US dollar to the RMB is 1:2.5, and the exchange rate of the US dollar to the Hong Kong dollar is 1:5.6. A cup of tea costs 13.3 yuan. The price of this cup of tea deeply hurts the hearts of the working class. It is one-third of Su Ye’s salary when he was a teacher in No. 1 Middle School.
When Su Ye lived, the tea culture in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao was magnificent. "Tea" had been integrated into everyone's life, and the habit of drinking tea became popular, giving rise to the term "morning tea". In the last century, a large number of people from Chaozhou and southern Fujian in Guangdong Province immigrated to Hong Kong, bringing the habit of drinking tea with them.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong City developed rapidly and was in a period of economic prosperity. Many people said that Hong Kong City was full of gold. Cars flowed continuously on the road, high-rise buildings were lined up one after another, and the prosperous city at night was like a city that never sleeps. Everywhere you look, you can see brilliant lights.
Su Ye believed that Jin Xiangyu from Shanggou Village could make a fortune in the port city, and he had confidence in her. Her tea was once a special-grade tea and was once presented to the imperial palace as a tribute. God gave her such a difficult environment, but he also gave her clear and fragrant tea.
This is both the source of their poverty for generations and an opportunity for their development. However, the prerequisite is that Su Ye must get a "pass" issued by the government.
Su Ye told He Meimei, Zhou Yi, Teacher He, and Ruan Ruliang about his plan to sell tea in Hong Kong. They were so shocked that they were speechless for a long time.
To be honest, there are not many people who dare to think like this these days, and Su Ye is one of them!
Teacher He was a little speechless, but also a little excited. How could someone think about making money from the country all day long? Gangcheng has not yet returned to the motherland. If tea is sold to Gangcheng, it is called export at this time, and it is all under the control of the state. There is no way for private individuals to get this opportunity to export.
After listening to Su Ye's plan, Zhou Yi was silent for a moment and said, "Do you need my help? Actually, I know that Commissioner Zhang."
Su Ye's eyes lit up. No wonder. At that time, he was curious why the comrades from the provincial party committee would remember a middle school teacher. So this was the reason!
"Please stay here later. I will explain this to you in detail."
He Meimei admired Su Ye very much and there was nothing she dared not to think of.
In my mind, Hong Kong is a capitalist society. These days, mainland Chinese people buy Hong Kong tapes and listen to them secretly in bed, fearing that they will be labeled as decadent and capitalist. I never thought that I would actually make money from capitalism!
Is it so easy to make money from capitalism
After the meeting, Zhou Yi told Su Ye that Commissioner Zhang and his father had been good friends for many years. Although they were not relatives, Commissioner Zhang had watched Zhou Yi grow up.
Su Ye communicated with him and told him what kind of certificates and letters of introduction he needed.
Su Ye said righteously: "Teacher Zhou Yi, this is a special difficult period. It is right for the government to help the people in need. Don't feel burdened. When you meet Commissioner Zhang, you should be neither humble nor arrogant. Just show your attitude."
Selling tea can generate foreign exchange earnings, ease social and economic pressures, and allow villagers to have enough food and clothing. This is beneficial to the country and the people, and benefits all three parties. Why not do it
Zhou Yi nodded, and that night he simply packed two sets of clothes and returned to City C.
Su Ye informed Ma Gensheng to collect the tea leaves and put all his energy into making better quality tea.
Ma Gensheng wanted to pour out his heart, and he almost swore: "I will punish anyone who dares to cheat me! I will invite the best tea-making master to preside over it, and my father and I will watch it with our own eyes."
The village was full of vigor and enthusiasm. They first stored enough food for the whole year, built a chicken farm, planted high-yield sweet potatoes in the spring, and learned agricultural science and literacy every day. Everyone was full of hope for the future, sweeping away the gloom of last year.
They heard that the village's tea could be sold this year, so how could they not cheer up and take it seriously
Su Ye quickly contacted his former partner, the top student from the Academy of Fine Arts introduced by Professor Feng An-Ning, to continue painting high-end gift boxes.
It will be too late if he doesn’t draw the gift box now. Su Ye recalled the nightmare last year when he urged Feng An to draw the box every day.
Feng An's painting skills are very good, which is in line with the Chinese people's aesthetic needs for elegance and poetry. The gift box for the Dragon Boat Festival last year is still collected at home as a work of art.
After much investigation, Su Ye found out Feng An's contact information and sent him a telegram.
Feng An was deeply impressed by Su Ye, a particularly wealthy employer. He met him during the most difficult period last year. But he was still able to study with ease, all thanks to him.
After receiving Su Ye's telegram, Feng An decisively set out for Qingxi County carrying a heavy bag of paint.
Su Ye and Teacher He drove to pick him up on the day he came. Feng An sat nervously in the back seat of the car. On the one hand, he was surprised that this wealthy employer actually had a car. On the other hand, the car drove deeper and deeper into the mountains and stopped before reaching the village.
This place is too mountainous and too backward, even worse than Feng An's hometown. Fortunately, the road is still accessible to cars, but the smaller buses are not accessible. Although Feng An's hometown is poor, at least there are buses to take.
Teacher He helped Feng An share some of the luggage, and the few of them walked towards the educated youth dormitory while chatting.
He Meimei made some tea to entertain the art student who came from afar, and Niu Cuihua fried some pancakes for him to fill his stomach.
Su Ye carefully discussed the requirements of the box with Feng An, "This time the tea is to be sold to Hong Kong. Their aesthetics are different from ours. The bosses there like auspiciousness and money. The more auspicious and lively the better. You should try to paint in the direction of wealth, prosperity and good fortune. Of course, the set you painted last time is also good, you can make a small amount."
Feng An nodded and carefully wrote down this request.
After the crowd dispersed, he discussed with Feng An, "I will still give you 50 cents profit for a large paper box, and 20 cents for a small paper box."
After chatting all the way from the village to the educated youth dormitory, Feng An already knew that he was painting boxes for selling tea in a poor village. At first he didn't know how poor the village was, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he felt differently.
This place is even more difficult than their hometown. Feng An said quickly: "It doesn't need that much, one dime each will be fine."
He made a lot of money last time, and he saved it and hasn't spent it all yet.
Su Ye sipped her tea, thinking to herself, silly boy, where did Professor Ning find such a kind-hearted person? The tea sold this time will be more expensive than in City C, so the quality of the tea must be strictly controlled, and the quality of the packaging cannot be bad either.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. Painting the box this time will require a lot of paint, and fifty cents is not a lot. The task is also heavy, so if you know any classmates with strong skills, you can call them over. We'll probably need ten more people."
Considering that the weather in Hong Kong is quite humid, Su Ye contacted the paper box factory in the county town and planned to wrap the tea boxes with a layer of plastic to prevent moisture. Su Ye roughly placed an order for 5,000 boxes, each for 20 cents. This order made the paper box factory very happy. Although the money was not much, it allowed the factory, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, to breathe a sigh of relief and buy some time to survive.
After Feng An sent the telegram, his classmates came to Shanggou Village one after another in the next two or three days. They designed five sets of exquisite tea boxes.
They are Dragon and Phoenix, Blossoming Wealth, Wealth Rolling in, Good Luck, and Early Birth of a Baby, with rich colors and clear lines. Su Ye almost laughed out loud when he saw this set of gift boxes, especially the one that said Early Birth of a Baby.
I admire them in my heart, they have a clear understanding of the consumption aesthetics of Hong Kong people.
The red and purple colors are a bit vulgar, but they are painted in a very cheerful way, which is very consistent with the current needs. Who likes lively things when giving gifts during festivals? The Spring Festival has just come, so it is very appropriate to give such a gift box.
…
The scale of tea production in Shanggou Village is larger than last year. After all, the villagers were still making tea last year even though the tea could not be sold. This year, when the guys heard that the tea could be sold, they were even more excited and worked overtime to make tea.
A week later, Zhou Yi brought back good news. He and Su Ye said, "Commissioner Zhang wants to discuss this issue with you in person."
Su Ye knew long ago that Zhang Ying was not as easy to fool as the head of Qingxi County. Those who could reach this position were more cunning than others. The next day, Su Ye made a special trip to the city of C.
Zhang Ying's secretary came to greet Su Ye, "Commissioner Zhang has been waiting for Comrade Su for a long time."
Su Ye walked into Zhang Ying's office. He was processing documents and only raised his head from his busy work when he saw someone coming.
He took the tea export bid Zhou Yi gave him. In the 1960s, tea exports still occupied a major position in China, but there was no gold inlaid jade from Qingxi County in it. Zhang Ying pondered for a moment, "You want to get a share of the tea export? The several types of tea exported by our country are all well-known varieties, with stable production scale and quality. Zhou Yi mentioned this to me, and I was a little embarrassed."
When Su Ye heard Zhang Ying's tone, he knew that he was an old fox. If Zhang Ying felt embarrassed, he would have refused long ago. Why did he let Zhou Yi tell him to come to City C specially
Su Ye shook his head and said, "No, it's not about taking a share of the pie, it's about expanding the market."
"This tender is just to give us an export opportunity. We will find sales channels ourselves. To be honest, my colleagues and I went to Hong Kong last year. People there like to drink tea. Hong Kong has the largest port in Asia. Victoria Harbour is very busy with cargo ships from all over the world every day."
The tea in Shanggou Village is at most tens of thousands of kilograms. This small amount of tea, when entering the port city, is like a drop of water merging into the ocean. It will not cause any changes at all.
Su Ye smiled and said, "I brought some new tea from the village today. Would you like to try it?"
He made a cup of tea for Zhang Ying, handed it to him, and said, "Shanggou Village used to have government factories purchasing tea, which provided enough food and clothing. But last year, the government stopped collecting tea, and the whole village lost its source of income, and life became very difficult. There are more than a thousand people in the whole village, but we only have two cows and a mule. Since I have the ability, I will help them."
"Taste it carefully. This tea is quite delicious, right? Since it is exported to Hong Kong, I can foresee that it will be very popular. The tea is light and sweet, which is very suitable for the taste of people in Hong Kong. I will strictly control the quality. In addition, our village also wants to generate income and foreign exchange for the government."
Su Ye brought the box that Feng An had temporarily drawn, but it had not yet been sent to the paper box factory for plastic sealing.
With a quick movement, he folded the box with adhesive tape and sealed the tea leaves in an oil paper bag. The prototype of a high-end tea gift box was formed. The cover of the box was painted with the full moon of the Lantern Festival and the elegant peony, accompanied by Ouyang Xiu's poem: "The peerless Xi Shi, the only flower in the world is the peony."
The brush strokes are delicate, the colors are rich and bright red, and it looks very lifelike at first glance.
Su Ye and Commissioner Zhang discussed the storage, transportation, and sales of tea in detail, and proposed that a portion of the profits from the tea could be shared, but Commissioner Zhang was cautious and did not mention the details of profits and pricing. Commissioner Zhang drank tea and listened to Su Ye's words quietly.
He said: "Go back and organize what we discussed today into a plan and give it to me within a week. I will ask my secretary to tell you how to apply for the remaining procedures later."
Commissioner Zhang's calm eyes finally showed a hint of approval.
The import and export of goods is not a joke. The exported goods represent the quality of Chinese products and are related to China's reputation. No matter how Zhou Yi tried to persuade him, Zhang Ying remained unmoved. It was not until he heard Su Ye explain these details to him in person and drank tea that Zhang Ying changed his mind.
Zhang Ying has always been disgusted by people around him who rely on connections to get things done, but thinking of Su Ye, who doesn't follow the ordinary path, he gives him a chance for the first time.
Although Su Ye is young, he is more decisive and calm than young people, and has a courage to forge ahead. This courage to think and do is not possessed by many people. The current environment is rather cautious and conservative, and Zhang Ying feels this very deeply.
…
After Su Ye returned, he went to several departments in succession, including filing with the C City Commerce Department, applying for export registration at the customs, and registering with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange... The procedures were so complicated that he finally got the export license a week later. With the endorsement of Commissioner Zhang, it was really different. These processes went surprisingly smoothly.
Well, of course this is all thanks to the high quality of the tea leaves from Shanggou Village.
Ma Gensheng was so excited when he knew that the tea from their village was going to be exported that he almost fainted. What was the concept of export? The tea they usually drank was actually going to be sold outside. Wasn't this a great honor
Under his vigorous supervision, a fresh batch of tea weighed 5,000 kilograms and was of very good quality. The boxes drawn by Feng An and his classmates had all been sealed in plastic. Everything was ready, except for the east wind.
The rest depends on me! Su Ye went to borrow a truck from Director Lu, and also borrowed Yang Xue's father and driver Xiao Wang.
Su Ye led Teacher He and Zhou Yi to set off, and Liu Gang and Li Ming followed them. Su Ye took the train and planned to go to Gangcheng to contact the order first. Yang Xue's father and Xiao Wang would arrive later with the tea.
This was Mr. He's first time setting foot on the land of Hong Kong City. He was fascinated and moved by this prosperous city. When he walked on the street, he couldn't help looking around, sometimes at other people's clothes and sometimes at the cars on the street.
"Oh, I should have worn my Zhongshan suit earlier." He lightly brushed off his cotton clothes.
He reminded himself that he was a graduate of a prestigious university after all, and he should not be intimidated by such a situation.
Who would have thought that it was his expression that made him look even more ridiculous. Su Ye couldn't help but remind him: "Teacher He, you don't have to walk so solemnly."
It's too much to goose-step while walking...