Lu Feng was lost in thought when his phone rang. It was a call from his cousin, Yang Ming.
He answered, and his cousin's voice came through. "Xiaofeng, the goods have been dealt with. Where are you? I'll come pick you up for some tea!"
"At my rented apartment!" Lu Feng said, surprised.
'My cousin's already back, which means things went smoothly.'
"Okay, I'll be right there," Yang Ming added before hanging up.
Lu Feng put away his phone, glanced at the box of Qingfeng Tea, and grabbed a single-serving packet before heading downstairs to wait.
Before long, Yang Ming arrived in the BMW 740. Lu Feng opened the passenger door, got in, and Yang Ming restarted the car, heading for Jinhong Mansion.
When Lu Feng arrived at Yang Ming's rented office again, the place was already bustling with conversation.
Ah Lin, Ah Pao, and Chen Bo were all there, along with the four guys Yang Ming had found and the three men Chen Bo had brought.
They were crowded around a tea table, and those who couldn't find a seat were standing off to the side, chatting.
Perhaps from having worked together this time, they had clearly become more familiar with one another.
"Brother Ming, Xiaofeng!" Ah Lin, who was making tea, was the first to spot them and quickly greeted them.
"Quick, make room for them," Ah Pao said to two men beside him. Taking the hint, the two men immediately stood up.
"Young Master Feng, come, sit over here." Chen Bo was even more enthusiastic, ushering Lu Feng to a seat at the tea table.
He had to be enthusiastic toward his God of Wealth.
After all, thanks to the Gold jewelry from Lu Feng's channel, he had made hundreds of thousands over these last two deals.
'And how many days has it been?'
After Lu Feng sat down, both Chen Bo's three men and Yang Ming's four guys proactively greeted him.
Once Yang Ming and Lu Feng were seated, Ah Lin was about to get a new packet of tea to brew a fresh pot.
Seeing this, Lu Feng took out the packet of Qingfeng Tea he had brought and handed it to Ah Lin. "Brother Lin, try my tea."
Ah Lin nodded, took the packet of Qingfeng Tea, tore open a corner, and poured the leaves into the teapot.
He added water, rinsed the leaves, added water a second time, and after repeating the process, a large pot of tea was brewed. He then poured a cup for everyone.
"Huh!" Chen Bo let out a cry of surprise after taking a sip. "Young Master Feng, this tea is excellent! This fragrance, and that sweet aftertaste... it's not something you find in ordinary tea. Plus, just one cup makes you feel more alert. This refreshing effect is probably on par with tea that costs over ten thousand a box."
Since he ran a teahouse himself, he could obviously tell the difference in this Qingfeng Tea right away.
"Yes, this tea is really something special," Yang Ming couldn't help but praise.
Although he only rented this one office, he knew some bosses who would invite him for tea, so he often drank tea that cost several thousand a box. But none of them were as good as the tea his cousin had just produced.
Ah Lin, Ah Pao, and the others could also tell the difference and voiced their agreement.
Seeing their reactions, Lu Feng nodded to himself, becoming even more certain of the Qingfeng Tea's value.
At this point, Yang Ming shifted the topic to business. "Xiaofeng, this batch of Gold was handled smoothly. I already paid you one million. I'll transfer the remaining 2.88 million to you now."
As he spoke, Yang Ming took out a laptop and a USB security key for his bank account. He started the transaction, and before long, Lu Feng's phone buzzed with a text message:
"Account ending in XXXXXX... received a deposit of 2,886,000.00. Current balance: 4,132,390.00!"
Lu Feng looked at the string of numbers in the message, a smile spreading across his face.
'He never would have dared to even dream of such a large sum of money before.'
'In all these years, his bank account balance had never exceeded 10,000.'
Just then, Chen Bo asked, "Young Master Feng, I have sufficient funds now. Is it possible to ask your channel when the next shipment might arrive?"
'I know what Chen Bo's getting at. He believes I have a channel, and behind that channel, there must be other people or forces supplying me with the Gold jewelry. Otherwise, the goods couldn't just materialize out of thin air.'
'Of course, he had no way of knowing that the so-called channel was the game world of 'After the Apocalypse' inside my head.'
Lu Feng couldn't be sure when he would find more Gold in the game, so he just made something up. "Boss Chen, I'll have to wait for a notification from my side."
"Understood!" Chen Bo nodded, not pressing further. He then added, "This deal went smoothly. Young Master Feng, Brother Ming, let's go to the Ultimate Bar again tonight. It's my treat, you both have to come."
"We'll definitely be there!" Yang Ming agreed with a smile, then turned to Lu Feng. "Xiaofeng, let's go together."
"Okay," Lu Feng nodded.
"Then it's settled! I'll contact you tonight!" Chen Bo laughed heartily, drank two more cups of tea, and then left with his men.
After Chen Bo left, Yang Ming said to Ah Lin, Ah Pao, and the others, "Alright, get out your payment QR codes!"
Ah Lin, Ah Pao, and the other four guys instantly beamed.
Now that the outsiders were gone, it was time for them to split the money internally.
Lu Feng didn't involve himself in this.
'After all, this was the 10% profit from my cousin's 'grey' channel.'
The value of the Gold from the second gold shop yielded a 10% profit of 485,000 for the grey channel. However, since they had used Chen Bo's channel to sell it, Chen Bo had to get a cut too.
Lu Feng didn't know the exact details of his cousin's distribution, only that his cousin transferred 30,000 each to Brother Lin and Ah Pao, who had invested for a share, while the other four guys, who were just getting a red envelope bonus, each received 5,000.
5,000 might not seem like much, but they had only been out for two days. In Youcheng, many people worked hard for a whole month and still didn't earn a 5,000 salary.
Lu Feng wasn't a stingy person either. He made a few taps on his mobile banking app and transferred 100,000 to his cousin.
He had earned so much from this batch of Gold that he didn't care about 100,000.
Besides, he was in a good mood. He considered it a bonus for his cousin's hard work.
When Yang Ming received the transfer notification, he asked in surprise, "Xiaofeng, did you send this?"
Lu Feng nodded. "Yeah, I made a good amount on my end, too!"
'Of course I know he earned a lot,' Yang Ming thought. 'He bought me a car, after all.'
'This just proves my cousin is more than a simple agent. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to spend that money so freely. The people behind the channel would definitely have a problem with it.'
'But he wasn't going to get hung up on it. That was between his cousin and his suppliers. He certainly wasn't going to say anything. After all, he was making money with his cousin now, and his cousin hadn't done him any wrong.'
So, he turned to Ah Lin, Ah Pao, and the four other guys and announced, "Xiaofeng sent a bonus for you all, too!"
Then, Yang Ming transferred another 20,000 each to Ah Lin and Ah Pao, and an additional 5,000 to each of the other four men.
Ah Lin's face lit up with a huge smile. "Xiaofeng, looks like we'll be eating well by following you."
"Yeah," Ah Pao nodded in agreement.
Both of their faces were full of delight.
Including the bonus from Lu Feng, they had each made a cool 50,000 in one go this time.
That was no small sum.
The other four men also chimed in with their thanks:
"Thank you, Young Master Feng!"
"Young Master Feng, if you need anything in the future, just give the word!"
"Whatever Young Master Feng says!"
...
They were also beaming with joy.
They had each earned 10,000 in one go, and their respect for Lu Feng grew even deeper.
While they valued loyalty, they naturally wanted to make money too.
Seeing his cousin build goodwill on his behalf, Lu Feng began to understand why so many men were willing to follow him based on loyalty alone.
'My cousin really does have a certain charisma in how he deals with people.'
Lu Feng looked around his cousin's tea-brewing office and asked, "Cousin, what do you think about me opening a teahouse?"
Opening a teahouse was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked it.
'First, a teahouse would give my cousin and his men a respectable place to gather and drink tea. These guys follow my cousin out of loyalty, so they must be decent people.'
'Second, teahouses are naturally places to gather influence and connections. Once we have our own place, the people my cousin knows will gradually start coming, and they'll bring their friends.'
'Influence and connections will slowly accumulate. When that influence and network reaches a certain level, the rich and powerful will start coming to us.'
'That would be beneficial for me, too.'
'Third, once I have the network, I can sell the Qingfeng Tea from the game in the teahouse. Plus, there's no need to sell it all at once; I can just sell it slowly through the shop.'
'Fourth, it would serve as a good cover. Otherwise, if I have no businesses and start spending large sums of money, people will wonder where it's coming from. Having a visible business changes everything.'