NOVEL WEB Chapter 152: Making Friends Over Wine_1
Having confirmed with Yan Xing that he could procure this type of red wine for sale, Chen Shi finally felt at ease. All that remained was the issue of money, wasn't it?
"Mr. Yan, please rest assured," Chen Shi said. "Money is but a vulgar object to some people. As long as you can persuade your friend to part with some of his homemade wine for sale, you may name any price."
"How could I just name any price? Am I that kind of unscrupulous merchant?" Yan Xing said, displeased. "My friend is willing to give me this wine out of friendship; my willingness to share this wine with you is a matter of principle. Friendship and principle are priceless! If your clients think money can make me and my friend sell this wine, then... you've truly found the wrong person."
Chen Shi immediately knew he had misspoken. He hurriedly apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. Yan... I was being crude. I certainly didn't intend to demean your wine with money. I know that anyone capable of brewing wine of such caliber must be an unworldly expert. If it was about making money from wine, this red wine would have been renowned worldwide long ago. Mr. Yan, the fact that you used such simple containers to give me the wine shows that, in your eyes, this superb red wine is merely a small token of friendship. This kind of sentiment, valuing feelings over material objects, is indeed rare in this materialistic world. That effortless nonchalance is truly admirable. Whereas I... even went out of my way to buy some exquisite bottles for decanting. I was being tacky, truly tacky!"
Yan Xing had originally intended to find some pretext to quote a high price in a more acceptable manner. He hadn't expected Chen Shi to be so moved. And the fact that he used a water bucket for the wine was merely to save money on expensive bottles, far from the casual detachment Chen Shi ascribed to him, as if all tangible things in the world were beneath his notice. But since Chen Shi had, at a glance, perceived such a transcendent level of refinement in him, Yan Xing felt he could only humbly accept the compliment. It was all for the sake of the wine sale, after all.
"No harm done, no harm done," Yan Xing began, starting to weave a story for the wine. "To tell you the truth, my friend and I are very pleased that people like this wine. As for its history, it can be traced back to medieval Europe. The premium a product can command largely depends on how captivating its story is.
"My friend's ancestors were highly distinguished in those times. Though they experienced various historical upheavals, much was passed down to him. He belongs to a family that hasn't needed to worry about their livelihood for generations. Among the lasting properties these families possessed was a particular vineyard, where the grapes grown were quite peculiar. I don't know their variety, but once ripe, they look very much like small bitter gourds. Even the taste is sweet with a hint of bitterness, easily reminding one of life's encountered frustrations, and then, upon reflection, the sweetness of success that follows such setbacks. The wine I've given you is brewed from these grapes.
"The brewing technique is also a family secret, passed down since the Middle Ages. All I know is that this technique allows the wine, after bottling, to undergo a slow and complex fermentation at a specific temperature. This fermentation process needs to last at least ten years to cultivate a palate enriched by the sediments of time. It has profound depth, allowing the connoisseur to feel as if they are traversing the river of time, personally experiencing what a medieval great noble felt, gazing out over his domain from the highest point of his castle. Moreover, once uncorked, this wine does not change flavor despite long exposure to air. It can be preserved for several years without altering, much like the unchanging character of my friend's family, passed down through centuries, even millennia."
Chen Shi listened, captivated. He felt profound admiration... Indeed, this must be the heritage of an unbroken line of ancient European nobility! Only a family of such lineage could infuse a wine with such a sense of time and distinction. For modern-day elites, these were exactly the things they lacked and yearned for. A single sip allowed one to taste the history of a family spanning hundreds, even thousands of years. A single sip allowed one to witness the rise and fall of a noble house, their eventual retreat to a pastoral life, and their state of mind, detached from worldly matters. In this superficial world, the essence of this wine couldn't be bought with money; the wisdom within it couldn't be comprehended by wealth alone. If just a moment ago he had grasped the first layer of meaning behind Yan Xing's use of a water bucket for the wine, now, he felt he had grasped a second layer. To this wine, any vessel used to hold it, regardless of the material's expense or the craftsmanship's quality, was merely a wine container. There was simply no distinction of high or low. Perhaps, in some distant past, this wine was even drunk with gusto by its owner from an enemy's helmet.
Upon this realization, Chen Shi couldn't help sighing, "In this world, there must be few who are worthy of drinking this wine."
Yan Xing was startled. Did I overdo it? Did I scare Chen Shi off from selling the wine? If you don't help me sell it, who will I sell it to?
Yan Xing hurriedly tried to salvage the situation, "What's this about being worthy or unworthy? In my view, wine is brewed to be drunk. It's just that this particular wine is produced in small quantities, so only those destined for it can enjoy it. What do you think is a suitable price for this wine? My friend's private plane is getting a bit outdated... If I get him some of this wine to trade for a new plane, he'll definitely be thrilled."
Such a level of understanding! What truly *is* a profound level? Chen Shi thought he had reached the second level, only to find that Yan Xing was in the stratosphere. External objects, mere external objects... At their level, everything was just an external object.
After some thought, Chen Shi replied, "It's really hard to set a price for this wine... If Mr. Yan wants to gift your friend a private jet, then let's use the price of a private jet to do the math. Let's say a private jet is valued at 300,000,000 RMB. If we aim to sell 1,000 bottles of this red wine annually, that comes to 300,000 RMB per bottle. This would be your cost price, Mr. Yan. I don't mean to measure your friendship in money; it's simply a matter of calculating from a trade perspective. If the purchase cost is 300,000 RMB per bottle, then... a retail price of 600,000 RMB per bottle should be appropriate. After all, if we set the price too low, my clients wouldn't be happy."
Six hundred thousand RMB per bottle. The 'bottle' here refers to a standard 750ml wine bottle. A gallon could fill five such bottles.
Yan Xing did the math in his head... His own procurement cost was 50 RMB per gallon, meaning each bottle of red wine was just 10 RMB. Selling a bottle for 600,000 RMB—wasn't that a bit too cutthroat? Earning money like this didn't sit right with him!
No, he shouldn't calculate his cost based on the woven bags. He, this Old Master, after all, exchanged woven bags for Gold Coins. This wine's cost, therefore, should be pegged to Gold Coins. One Gold Coin was worth 9,000 RMB, so his 'cost' for the wine instantly skyrocketed to 1,800 RMB per bottle.
Now *that* was a more fitting calculation... The cost had increased 180 times. That made him feel much better. One should always be honest in business.
"Alright, let's set the price like that," Yan Xing said. "I don't care much for the money; what matters is making friends over wine. If people like it, both my friend and I will be happy. Let's eat, let's eat."