Chapter 75: Big names one after another?

As the man walked over, I felt an inexplicable mix of excitement and nervousness. Is he here to do business with us? After all, anything unknown is full of attraction for a child.

Compared to my excitement, the old man was much more calm. He didn’t even turn his head to look out the window, but just picked up his cup and took a sip of tea.

The young man came over and sat down, making a face at me, which made me laugh. I thought to myself, this guy looks like a little hooligan, but he’s not bad.

“Old man, this is really rare, running a business with a baby.” The young man was quite enthusiastic, and as soon as he arrived, he started chatting. In the middle of the conversation, he took out a pack of Hongta Mountain and handed one to the old man.

Hongta Mountain! High-end cigarettes! Although I come from a small mountain village, I still have some knowledge. In my village, people only smoke Hongmei during the New Year and other holidays. If someone suddenly pulls out a pack of Hongta Mountain to smoke (for free), it will definitely be the talk of the village for a day or two, and people will speculate about the “story” behind it.

I thought that old man Jiang would take it, he usually smokes a pipe occasionally, doesn’t he? But old man Jiang didn’t even change his expression, he just blocked the young man’s hand that was offering him the cigarette, took out his pipe and said, “No, I’m used to smoking this.”

The young man’s face showed a hint of embarrassment, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. He could only watch as the old man lit his pipe. In no time at all, the familiar smell of tobacco leaves slowly rose.

Smelling the flavor, the young man curiously sniffed his nose a few times, took a few deep breaths, and said with a hint of surprise, “Master, your tobacco leaves are not ordinary. I can tell from the smell that they are mellow and have a medicinal fragrance. Is there a special spice added?”

“You know this?” My master’s expression changed a little at this point.

The young man scratched his head and said, “I can’t say. My master likes this kind of thing too. I’ve smelled it a lot and heard him talk about it a lot, so I know a little about it. In fact, this tobacco is more powerful than cigarettes, and it’s just good tobacco leaves…”

I was bored and leaned over the table. I wondered if my relative was a chatterbox. I saw that other people would simply decide whether or not to make a deal after a few words.

“Want a drag?” The old man passed the pipe over.

The young man took it without hesitation, and took two puffs, his expression very indulgent.

The old man took the pipe and said calmly, “I saw you drooling just now.”

“Cough… cough…” The young man immediately choked on hearing this. I’m used to it, but if I had to say that my master has other skills, it’s fine, but this ability to suddenly open his mouth and suffocate people is top-notch.

After the young man had finished coughing, the old man asked, “Which of your masters?”

“Ma Ronggui, also known as Ma Dudu. Have you heard of him? By the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My surname is Cao. Just call me Cao Er. I’m my master’s second apprentice.” It turned out that the young man was called Cao Er.

“Ma Dudu? Ma Dudu, who is more ‘poisonous’ with one eye than with two, heh, is also a person who knows jade.” The old man Jiang smoked a pipe and spoke of this person with a calm expression.

“You really know my master?” Cao Er was shocked and muttered, “Master’s method of judging people is really accurate. I can tell from one look that you are a master of the trade. Since that is the case, I don’t need to say much. I don’t even bother to ask if you have any goods. Are they open goods or private goods? Shall we go out to see the goods?”

The old man shook his head and leisurely took a puff of his cigarette, saying, “No, you can’t tell what I have. You can go.”

“Sir, don’t think I’m young. I’ve been with my master for 12 years. I’ve seen at least 80 good pieces of work pass through my hands.” Cao Er was not convinced. He was an old hand at this, and a few words had convinced him that the old man might have something good.

“I’m too lazy to lie to you. My master can’t even tell what this thing is. Go away.” The old man was not at all moved.

Cao Er was a bit anxious, and he gritted his teeth. Cao Er said, “Sir, you can’t put it that way. How about this? As a personal favor, please keep your goods. I’ll go get my master. It won’t take long. It’ll be here in half an hour at the most.”

The old man didn’t say anything.

Cao Er hurriedly ran out. I was quick-eyed and saw that the teahouse waiters standing downstairs all looked a little surprised, and one of them hurriedly ran upstairs.

“Master, are we waiting for his master here?” I didn’t know what the old man was up to.

“I said, his master can’t see anything. I’m fishing for a big fish. I’m coming to the door, and the value of someone who comes to the door on their own is different. Just wait.” The old man was mysterious.

He pretended to be profound, and I muttered to myself, so I didn’t ask any more.

Twenty minutes passed in a flash. Surprisingly, since Cao Er came to talk to us, our table became extraordinarily lively. Almost every two minutes, someone would come over to chat.

Almost all of them were the same: Is it a fake? Is it colored? Is it a private item? Is it new? Is it a rough stone?

No matter what those people asked at first, the old man Jiang always had a single sentence to dismiss them: “You can’t see this stuff.”

Everyone in the teahouse noticed us, and even some of the vendors started asking others about us, what kind of people we were, and what kind of goods we had in our pockets.

At this time, Cao Er also returned, panting with exhaustion. He didn’t rush to come in at the teahouse door, but respectfully waited at the door, letting one person come in first.

The man who came in was an old man with sparse hair, which was combed back and attached to his scalp. He wore a pair of colored glasses, which were rare at the time, and a short-sleeved Tang suit made of white silk, giving him a somewhat pedantic air.

As soon as he came in, the teahouse became much quieter. The “stringers” who had been running around asking about goods almost stopped talking, and looked at this person with a little respect in their eyes.

It was only when he followed Cao Er to our table and sat down that there was a murmur of discussion around us.

“The master himself has come out in person. This is something that hasn’t happened in a year or two.”

“I said that old man had something big up his sleeve.”

…

“Master, this gentleman says that I can’t see the goods on his body, and you probably can’t either. That’s why I invited you here.” Cao Er was blowing on Ma Dudu’s face with great care, and he kept talking while blowing.

Ma Dudu did not get angry, but looked at the old man Jiang and said, “Maybe I really can’t see your goods, but I am greedy for novelty. I have also said that you can learn from old age. I would like to ask you to go to the second floor, let me take a look at your goods, and learn from you.”

Ma Dudu’s words were polite, but the meaning of his words was that he was not convinced. People who run in the world and stand in the industry actually value their reputation more than anything else.

At this time, a middle-aged man with an unremarkable appearance came downstairs under the guidance of a tea house waiter and walked straight to our table.

Old Jiang muttered, “Damn it, he didn’t come down early or late, but now he’s coming down, making me sit here for more than an hour. His face is bigger than his butt.”

The words were not loud, but everyone at the table heard them. Ma Dudu only said with a bad look on his face, “There’s still a lot of nonsense. It seems that there is good merchandise, and there are no rules here.”

Ma Dudu could say that, but Cao Er was choking on his saliva and coughing. He could ignore what the old man Jiang said, after all, his ‘status in the underworld’ was there. But Cao Er was ‘shocked’ to hear that this person was the boss of this teahouse, a well-known figure in the Sichuan tea trade, and the former ‘boss’ of the underground tea trade, Yun Baochun, who was also the only son of Yun Baozi, Yun Xiaobao.

Such a character, this gentleman completely ignores others, and dares to ridicule others by saying that their face is bigger than their butt? What a bold move.

After Ma Duodu came in and sat down, people still dared to talk about it, but when this middle-aged man went downstairs and sat in front of us (the seat that Cao Er had given up), people dared not talk about it, but just looked at it with inquiring eyes.