Chapter 8

"Good wine, such good wine!!!!" The praise echoed incessantly.

Just as everyone was still savoring the excellent drink, they found their cups empty, yet the taste of the fine wine still lingered in their mouths, making them feel restless and anxious.

"Cai Dajia, there's not enough wine. I only had one sip, and it's gone. Aren't you being too stingy?" Cao Cao, still savoring the fragrance of the wine, looked dissatisfied.

"Yes, yes, Cai Dajia, how can you be so stingy?" Everyone chimed in.

Cai Yong was secretly delighted, seeing that his goal had been achieved. He put on a reluctant face and said, "This, this isn't me being stingy. It's just that there really isn't much left. I only have five jars left."

"Why don't you share them with everyone?" The crowd began to clamor.

Liu Yao saw this scene, a sly smile appeared on his lips, and he gave Cai Yong a meaningful look.

Cai Yong received the look and sighed helplessly, "Why must I do such things?"

Cai Yong raised his hands to stop the commotion, "Everyone, this wine was prepared for an old friend to sell, so..." Cai Yong looked a bit embarrassed after saying this.

"Ha ha ha, Cai Dajia, what's the problem? I'll buy all of it for 5 gold." Cao Cao, who loved wine, quickly spoke up.

At this moment, a sarcastic voice came from the crowd, "Hmph!! Cao Mengde, you're really generous. I'll offer 10 gold." It was obvious that it was Yuan Shu, who didn't get along well with Cao Cao and was trying to sabotage him.

"You!!!" Cao Cao's face darkened, but since his face was already quite dark, it wasn't very noticeable. However, Cao Cao, being Cao Cao, didn't argue with Yuan Shu.

"Hmph." Seeing Cao Cao back down, Yuan Shu sneered, looking at him with disdain and not even giving him a direct glance.

"I'll offer 10 gold for just one jar." Another voice joined in, it was Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu.

"You!! Yuan Benchu, you're just a bastard. What right do you have to compete with me?" Yuan Shu, who already looked down on Yuan Shao, was now furious.

"Hmph, Gonglu, don't disgrace our Yuan family. If you don't have money, don't speak." Yuan Shao also despised this foolish younger brother who always talked about being a bastard or a legitimate son.

"You're the one without money, Yuan Benchu. I'll offer 20 gold for one jar today. I want to see who really has no money." Yuan Shu was furious and seemed determined to go all the way.

"Good, good, good, Yuan Shu, you're a great fool. Good, Yuan Shao, I really have to thank you. You truly are my money-making boys." Liu Yao, seeing Yuan Shu's behavior, was overjoyed.

For the rest of the time, the two Yuan brothers continued to compete, and the crowd enjoyed watching these "family members" fight. In the end, the first jar of wine sold for 200 gold. Yuan Shu, who successfully bought the fine wine, became even more arrogant, looking down his nose at everyone. To him, as long as he could outdo Yuan Shao, it was a victory.

Due to the high price of the first jar, the remaining four jars, though not as expensive, each sold for more than 100 gold, bought by Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Zhang Miao, and Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu, who got two jars of fine wine, was elated and looked down on Yuan Shao, whose face turned black with anger.

The poetry gathering soon ended, and everyone gradually left for their respective residences. Everyone left happily, except for Yuan Shao, who was in a bad mood. However, everyone couldn't stop thinking about the fine wine and felt a bit regretful.

"Ha ha ha, Yao'er, I never expected you to have such a talent for business. You actually made so much money, 700 gold for just five jars of Fire Cloud Wine." Cai Yong laughed heartily.

"Hehe, Teacher, do you know how much it costs to make one jar of wine?" Liu Yao asked with a mischievous smile.

"I really don't know." Cai Yong was taken aback; he had never paid attention to such things.

Liu Yao held up one finger, "One hundred, 100 coins. The cost of one jar of wine will never exceed 100 coins."

"100 coins!!!" Cai Yong was completely stunned. He thought such good wine would cost at least 1 gold, which would still be a hundredfold profit. But now it wasn't a hundredfold, it was ten thousandfold (1 gold = 10,000 coins).

"Hehe, Teacher, we need to brew more Fire Cloud Wine as soon as possible. These aristocratic young men are very wealthy. Now that they've been tempted by our wine, the money will come in quickly." Liu Yao looked like a money-hungry person.

"You, I don't know how your mind works. Where do you get all these ideas?" Cai Yong laughed and scolded, but his face was full of pride.

"Hehe." The hall was filled with the laughter of a big and a small fox.

With Liu Yao's deliberate promotion, a message spread throughout Luoyang in half a day.

At the city gate, two soldiers on duty were whispering, "Hey, do you know? There's a fine wine in Luoyang that sells for 200 gold per jar!!"

"What! How do you know that?" Soldier B asked in surprise.

"How could I not know? My uncle's neighbor's daughter's husband works in the Yuan family. He told me that Yuan Shu bought it." Soldier A said proudly.

"Really? 200 gold? If I had 200 gold, I wouldn't need to stand here every day. I could go back home, get married, and live a good life." Soldier B's face was filled with longing.

"Forget it!! Stop dreaming." Soldier A poured cold water on his hopes.

"Alright, don't talk anymore. The captain is coming." Soldier B whispered.

Time flew by, and fifteen days passed quickly. One day, another piece of news spread. At the eastern gate of Luoyang, a new tavern called Fire Cloud Pavilion opened, and the key point was that Fire Cloud Pavilion sold the legendary Fire Cloud Wine.

Upon hearing this news, scholars, literati, and young men from noble families rushed over to inquire.

In front of Fire Cloud Pavilion, a middle-aged man in his thirties with an ordinary appearance stood at the door, looking at the large crowd gathered around.

"Everyone, everyone, I am Zhang Fang, the manager of Fire Cloud Pavilion. Today, our shop is opening, and we are selling Fire Cloud Wine, the same fine wine that appeared at Cai Dajia's poetry gathering. We have three grades: premium, medium, and basic, priced at 1 gold, 1000 coins, and 500 coins per jar, respectively." This person was Cai Yong's steward and the manager of Liu Yao's business, Zhang Fang. The three grades were to meet everyone's needs, with the basic and medium grades being diluted.

Upon hearing the prices, everyone was surprised. They didn't think it was too expensive but were amazed that it was so cheap. They had heard that it cost 100 gold per jar.

At this moment, Zhang Fang announced another piece of news, "Everyone, today is our opening day, so we will give each customer a pot of premium Fire Cloud Wine."

The crowd immediately erupted, praising the manager's generosity.

"Everyone, our shop is now officially open."

With Zhang Fang's command, everyone rushed into the tavern, making it bustling with activity.

Before long, the stock in the tavern was sold out, and many people began to complain loudly. Zhang Fang, who didn't expect the business to be so good, quickly brought in more Fire Cloud Wine to calm the crowd.

By nightfall, they had sold 1000 jars of premium wine and even more of the others, with a total income of over 2000 gold. Such income made Liu Yao extremely happy.