Even though the Youyang Sheng family is now prosperous and Mr. Sheng Weisheng is admired by everyone, in fact, he also came from a miserable background.
The father inherited the family business but made a farce of spoiling his concubine and destroying his wife. Before his death, he lost all the family property, leaving only Sheng Wei and his mother, an orphan and a widower, dependent on each other.
With a little bit of brainpower and a willingness to endure hardship, Sheng Wei worked hard in Youyang for more than 20 years before earning his current huge family fortune.
Although Jiangning Mansion is not ranked among the hidden dragons and crouching tigers, at least in Youyang, the Sheng family is already one of the top wealthy families.
In the past two days, Mr. Sheng can be said to be in high spirits.
The continuous investment in Sheng's righteous studies over the past few years finally reaped rewards. He received a blessing from the academic master and earned him a reputation as a "Confucian businessman."
The direct benefit brought by this is that the Sheng family's industry can finally move out of Youyang County and occupy a place in Jiangning Mansion. Although it is only a small and insignificant area, it is enough to make Sheng Wei excited.
Sheng Wei knew very well that although the current good situation was due to his years of painstaking planning, it was also inseparable from Wei Chen's genius.
Without Wei Chen's efforts to turn the tide in front of the Master of Academic Affairs, how could Sheng's Yixue be as prosperous as it is today?
Therefore, when Sheng Wei heard a report from his servants that Wei Chen had come to visit, Sheng Wei immediately went out to greet him personally and invited Wei Chen to the hall to speak.
After the guests and hosts took their seats, Sheng Wei saw that Wei Chen was still carrying something in his hand. He immediately said with a straight face and said displeasedly: "My dear nephew, how can you misuse money to come to my uncle's house and buy so many things!"
"It's hard to come empty-handed when you're visiting for the first time." Wei Chen smiled, opened the two wooden boxes he brought, and took out the contents: "Uncle, don't be too busy rejecting them. Let's see what they are first."
Sheng Wei glanced at the contents of the wooden box and saw two unremarkable wine jars. He couldn't help but said suspiciously: "This is..."
Wei Chen smiled slightly, said nothing, clapped his hand and opened the seal on the wine jar. Immediately, the sweet aroma of wine spread out.
When the servants of the Sheng family who were accompanying him smelled the aroma of the wine, they knew what it was and couldn't help but secretly despise Wei Chen's behavior.
It was so mysterious that I thought it was some kind of good wine, but it turned out to be the most worthless fruit wine! Fortunately, I am still a scholar. I bring this kind of thing when I come to see my master. I don’t understand any etiquette!
Sheng Wei was not unhappy at all when he saw Wei Chen bring fruit wine to his door. He had known for a long time that Wei Chen was born in a poor family and his family had no money. It was a token of his gratitude to bring a gift to his door. As for how much the gift was worth, Sheng Wei didn't care.
Sheng Wei immediately laughed and said, "Since it is my nephew's kindness, I will not be disrespectful. Come here, bring me a wine cup. I want to drink this wine with my nephew!"
Not long after, the servants brought out two exquisite white porcelain wine cups and placed them respectfully in front of Sheng Wei and Wei Chen. Then they picked up the wine jar and filled the wine cups respectively.
As the dark red wine was poured into the cup, Sheng Wei's eyes gradually became serious.
This wine... seems different from the fruit wine he usually sees?
It is not turbid like ordinary fruit wine, but is clear and bright. It looks like a piece of rippled amber in the cup. It has a long lasting flavor and is so beautiful that it is intoxicating.
But Sheng Wei didn't know that these two jars of wine, one jar of peach wine and one jar of bayberry wine, were not ordinary fruit wines, but had been blended with glycerin.
Wei Chen saw the change in Sheng Wei's expression and smiled slightly, but did not explain.
He picked up the wine cup and made a gesture of invitation.
Sheng Wei didn't hesitate and picked up the wine cup together with Wei Chen, but he still kept an extra thought in mind. He first put the wine cup under his nose and smelled it. After confirming that there was no peculiar smell, he took a small sip.
Just a moment after the wine entered his throat, Sheng Wei's eyes suddenly lit up and he stared at Wei Chen like a ghost: "Is this wine fruit wine?"
Wei Chen didn't answer and asked with a smile: "Uncle, what do you think of this wine?"
Sheng Wei took another sip, savored it carefully, and then commented: "Not bitter or astringent, sweet and sour."
It's just that Sheng Wei couldn't figure out how this wine was brewed so that it was neither bitter nor astringent!
You know, even Lingnan lychee wine, which is recognized as a treasure among fruit wines at this time, will inevitably have a touch of sourness.
What Wei Chen gave him to drink was obviously the most common and cheapest bayberry wine in Youyang. However, this bayberry wine was not bitter or astringent, but also retained the unique fruity aroma of bayberry.
Moreover, in addition to the sweet and sour taste of bayberry, you can also taste a hint of warm and sweet flavor, which makes the taste of the wine even better. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a fine wine.
Wei Chen smiled and asked, "Uncle, how much do you think this wine is worth?"
Sheng Wei pondered after hearing this.
He has been in business for many years and knows the prices of all types of goods, and wine is no exception.
According to today's market, the cheapest product is fruit wine, which usually costs two or three pennies per pound.
Then there's the ale, which costs more than ten cents a pound.
The best is of course rice wine, the worse ones cost twenty or thirty fen, and the good ones range from a few hundred to several thousand fen.
Of course, those world-renowned famous wines are not included in this list. Their prices are not fixed and have no upper limit.
Among fruit wines, lychee wine is an anomaly. Due to the preciousness of lychees, the price of wine has also risen. A pound of lychee wine can be sold for 300 yuan per pound, which is far higher than ordinary fruit wine.
But even lychee wine, in Sheng Wei's opinion, tastes a little worse than Wei Chen's bayberry wine.
After pondering for a long time, Sheng Wei slowly opened his mouth and said, "In my opinion, this wine costs at least three hundred coins per catty."
Shengwei also considered many factors before giving this price. The main reference object was Lingnan lychee wine.
Wei Chen's wine tastes slightly better than lychee wine, but the raw materials are cheaper. If you put it all together, the price of the two should be about the same, so Sheng Wei quoted a price of three hundred yuan per catty.
"Three hundred coins?!"
Wei Chen was also startled when he heard Sheng Wei's quotation, and at the same time he quickly calculated in his mind.
Ten pounds of lard can produce eighty ounces of glycerol, and eighty ounces of glycerol can be blended into eighty pounds of fruit wine.
Eighty kilograms of fruit wine, if sold at three hundred penny per kilogram, would be twenty-four thousand penny, or twenty-four taels of silver.
Ten kilograms of lard costs five hundred pennies, and eighty kilograms of fruit wine costs only two hundred and forty pennies from the market. The total of the two is only seven hundred and forty pennies.
Compared with the cost, the selling price has increased by more than 30 times. It is simply a huge profit among huge profits!
When Sheng Wei saw that Wei Chen was silent for a long time, he suddenly became confused and asked: "My dear nephew, you haven't told me where you bought this wine?"
Wei Chen forcibly suppressed his excitement and replied: "Uncle, what if I said that this wine was not bought but made by myself?"
"really?"
"Absolutely true."
"Good nephew!"
Sheng Wei's eyes widened, he suddenly stood up and grabbed Wei Chen's hand.
As a successful businessman, how could Sheng Wei fail to see the huge business opportunities contained in this fruit wine?
If Wei Chen really mastered the method of brewing this wine, then he would be a walking cornucopia of humanoids!
Thinking of this, Sheng Wei could no longer remain calm. He held Wei Chen's hand tightly and said sincerely: "My dear nephew, this wine is worth thousands of gold. Let me tell you in detail!"
Wei Chen couldn't help but feel nauseous when he saw Sheng Wei's eyes that were almost glued to him, and he quickly smiled and said: "Uncle, don't worry, I'm here just to discuss this matter with you."
