PCJ – Chapter 388 Wealth Moves the Heart

Others might not know, but Zhang Youlian certainly does. In fact, he knows a bit about the bamboo carving business. However, he feels that it’s better to let the people of Meizi’ao benefit from it rather than outsiders. The tea factory encourages everyone to carve bamboo, offering good prices, making the profits from bamboo carving increasingly tempting. In the end, the people of Meizi’ao banded together and nearly monopolized the bamboo carving business.

At this point, it would be quite difficult to touch their interests. If they were to be provoked, they might go on strike and halt the bamboo supply, making it hard to find enough bamboo quickly. The current situation could be maintained for now, considering that the production of Zhang Jiaohua’s Biyu Xianyin was already low, and the output of Hongyu Xianyin was even lower. The demand for bamboo tubes was relatively assured, although some of them had subpar quality.

“Jiaohua, should we call your parents and Director Zhao to discuss this matter before making a decision? This is not a small issue,” Zhang Youlian knew that once Jiaohua found out about this, it would be problematic. If it were just Zhang Youping and his wife who knew, it might have just passed quietly. But now that Jiaohua knew, things wouldn’t be so easy.

“Alright, have my parents and Director Zhao hurry back and tell them that Biyu Xianyin is going to stop production.” Zhang Jiaohua was genuinely angry.

As Zhang Youlian made a call to the county, the villagers could hear him clearly. Soon, the news spread throughout the village.

The profits from bamboo carving had been viewed by the villagers as Meizi’ao’s exclusive treasure. Now, young and old were learning bamboo carving, and everyone wanted a piece of the pie once they mastered it. Now that Jiaohua wanted to share this treasure, how could they be willing?

Zhang Jiwang was one of the earliest practitioners of bamboo carving in Meizi’ao, and he currently had several apprentices. He was quite respected in the bamboo carving community of Meizi’ao. However, the monopoly on bamboo carving had nothing to do with him. But in terms of having a say in front of Zhang Jiaohua, Zhang Jiwang was one of the few who could. Everyone knew that Zhang Jiaohua trusted Zhang Jiwang a lot. When Zhang Youping and his wife were not around, if there was work at the horticultural farm or pig farm, Zhang Jiaohua often thought of Zhang Jiwang first, not Zhang Manyin or Zhang Youlian.

Now that things had become urgent, everyone rushed to Zhang Jiwang’s house.

“Uncle Jiwang, you need to intervene in this matter. We can’t let Jiaohua mess things up. As the saying goes, ‘Fat water does not flow to outsiders.’ No matter how you look at it, Zhang Youping’s family are people of Meizi’ao. The success of the Meizi’ao Tea Factory is a result of the efforts of the entire village. Now that the tea factory is thriving, the villagers should share in the profits. What is Jiaohua trying to do with this situation? Is he going to burn the bridge after crossing it?” Zhang Benrui was quite agitated.

“Who do you think you are, talking about burning bridges! This tea business is solely Jiaohua’s achievement. The prosperity of Meizi’ao today is also solely due to Jiaohua. The villagers may be ignorant and unreasonable, but don’t you see? Your mute cousin has benefited so much from following Jiaohua; don’t you realize it? Even if the entire village opposes Jiaohua, you cannot! With that wooden head of yours, others treat you like a pawn, and you happily rush to the front. If it weren’t for Jiaohua, would your family live in a small building? Would you eat meat every day? Acting like a pig and still shouting here. Get lost; I can’t stand the sight of you.” Zhang Jiwang scolded Zhang Benrui harshly.

Only then did Zhang Benrui come to his senses, scratching his head, “I was just incited by them and rushed over in a heated moment.”

“I need to clarify this matter with the Zhang family of Meizitang. Regardless of what others do, we cannot create trouble. We must act with a conscience. As the old saying goes, ‘A favor in rice is repaid with a grudge in a bucket.’ It seems that everyone has become wealthy alongside Jiaohua, and they have truly forgotten this favor of his. Now they are turning gratitude into hatred. Think carefully; what kind of miserable life did you live a few years ago, and what kind of life do you have now? Is it possible that Jiaohua has made you rich and now you hold a grudge against him? Not only not repaying his kindness but also returning kindness with hatred?” Zhang Jiwang was quite angry as well.

Zhang Dayun added sternly, “I will say this up front: without Jiaohua, there would be no good life for me, Zhang Dayun. If anyone dares to oppose Jiaohua, I will risk my life to eliminate them!”

“Dayun, it’s good that you have that mindset, but don’t worry about the rest. Just take care of your tea plantation. Those who wish to confront Jiaohua will gain nothing. Just wait and see. Some stubborn individuals will only realize their folly after hitting a wall. When they are bruised and battered, it will be too late to regret. Zhang Qianlong is a living example. Even with money, can he build a house? Jiaohua has been lenient with him; otherwise, well… Forget it, I’m getting old, and you might not listen to me. Anyway, I’ll say this: I absolutely will not get involved in this matter. If Jiaohua wants me to carve bamboo tubes, I will. If he doesn’t want me to, I can live off what I’ve earned, and that’s enough for me. It seems that Jiaohua hasn’t said he wouldn’t accept the bamboo tubes we carve, right?” Zhang Jiwang suddenly asked.

“Well, he didn’t say that. He just mentioned that some of the bamboo tubes were of inferior quality, which limited the production of Biyu Xianyin,” the messenger replied.

“Isn’t this right? We want to monopolize bamboo carving, but we can’t provide high-quality bamboo tubes. It’s unreasonable to force the tea factory to accept inferior products; it’s no wonder Jiaohua is angry. The reason you want to protest is that you want to force the tea factory to accept those inferior bamboo tubes as well. But have you considered that if the Biyu Xianyin brand is ruined, won’t this work also come to an end?” Zhang Jiwang countered.

“Uncle Jiwang, you must be joking. How could the Biyu Xianyin brand be ruined because of the bamboo tubes? People buy tea leaves simply because Biyu Xianyin’s tea is good, right?” someone said with a smile.

“Do you still think people buy Biyu Xianyin because of Jiaohua’s tea? Didn’t you just say that Jiaohua relies on you to get where he is today? Do you think that by blocking the bamboo tubes, you can make Jiaohua submit? What if he chooses to use new packaging? Do you think the brand will be ruined?” Zhang Jiwang asked.

“Ah?” The crowd became a bit flustered.

“Now it’s just us, the Zhang family of Meizitang, here. I’ll speak some hard truths. Jiaohua is the Meishan Water Master, and this tea is made using the methods of Meishan Water Master. He can use Meizitang’s tea, or tea from other villages. If you really provoke him, he can just up and leave to set up a tea plantation in another town, and you’ll regret it too late. But Jiaohua has feelings for us in Meizi’ao; he doesn’t go to the county during breaks and even returns specially. You shouldn’t try to drive Jiaohua away; instead, think of ways to keep him here. Therefore, in this matter, regardless of how others protest, we from Meizitang must not create trouble, but rather stand by Jiaohua’s side. Otherwise, just wait for Jiaohua to move to another place to produce tea,” Zhang Jiwang warned.

Zhang Youping and Liu Qiaoye, along with Director Zhao Jinyuan and Zhou Xinghai, rushed back to the Meizi’ao Tea Factory.

“I want to say a few words about this matter,” Director Zhao Jinyuan said as the factory manager, “I’m not an expert on bamboo carving, and this aspect has indeed been overlooked because Youlian is handling it. However, after hearing Jiaohua’s perspective, I realize that this is not a simple issue. Our Biyu Xianyin is already an internationally renowned brand. To maintain this golden reputation, we must excel in every detail. I have actually been thinking: must we use bamboo tubes for packaging? Why not adopt more exquisite packaging? Since it’s challenging to maintain high standards for bamboo carving, why not try new packaging? The cost of bamboo carving isn’t low; we could replace it with packaging of greater artistic value and guaranteed quality,” Zhao Jinyuan said.

Zhou Xinghai nodded, “I support Director Zhao’s opinion.”

Zhang Youping quickly added, “Let’s not rush to change the packaging for now. Bamboo tube packaging is a characteristic of Biyu Xianyin. We can’t abandon this. But I will guarantee that those who want to provide bamboo tubes for us must ensure the quality; otherwise, we will not accept them. The tea factory has strict requirements for quality, and we cannot compromise on that.”

“That’s it. It’s fine if we limit the sources of bamboo tubes, but in any case, we must ensure the quality is there, or we can’t allow them to work on this anymore,” Zhang Youlian emphasized.