The next morning, before eight o’clock, Wang Jing arrived at Fangjiayuan, driving an old-fashioned silver-gray car.

Xie Dongcheng and Yu Zi sat in the back. After sitting down, Yu Zi glanced at his car, “You’re living quite comfortably; you even have a car. Why didn’t you sell the car to repay your debts?”

Wang Jing looked at him through the rearview mirror and gave him a bow, “Sir, this car isn’t worth anything; it’s my lifeline. Without this car, I wouldn’t be able to do any business in the future.”

Yu Zi couldn’t be bothered to say more to him. The most important thing today was to go to his warehouse to find the wine.

The car jolted along the way, driving for more than half an hour until it finally arrived at the familiar small building.

Wang Jing held a bunch of keys, jingling all the way, leading them to the basement.

The dark iron lock was still hanging there, but it seemed that someone had been here before, and the position of the iron lock had changed.

Wang Jing exerted some effort to reopen the lock, and inside, the room was no longer as tidy as before, with things scattered everywhere.

“Is this what you want to offer me as collateral?!” Yu Zi couldn’t help but frown at the mess in front of him.

Wang Jing chuckled, “It’s just a bit messy.”

After Xie Dongcheng entered the room, he turned on the overhead light. Then he moved the scattered cardboard boxes to one side.

Only then did Yu Zi notice that most of the wine bottles, densely arranged in the wine cabinet before, were now reduced by half. Only a few rows of sparsely placed bottles remained.

Wang Jing guessed what Yu Zi wanted to ask and hurriedly said, “There’s not much left, and everything that could be used as collateral has already been used.”

Yu Zi gave him a sideways glance and then opened the glass door of the wine cabinet, carefully examining it.

“Where’s the wine from last time? Is it all gone?”

“It’s here, it’s here.” Wang Jing knew which one he was talking about and then turned around to pull out a bottle from the corner of the wine cabinet behind him. “Here, there’s still one bottle left.”

Yu Zi glanced at him, “Open it.”

Wang Jing quickly and respectfully helped him open the bottle, and the aroma of wine wafted out.

Yu Zi said, “Get a couple of wine glasses.”

Wang Jing took out two clean wine glasses from the drawer behind the wine cabinet.

“Do you still have this kind of wine?” Yu Zi didn’t pick up the wine glass, continuing to ask.

“Which kind?” Wang Jing turned around.

“What are you pretending for!”

Wang Jing was taken aback, suddenly realizing, then he took out five bottles from the wine cabinet, “These are all I have, given by others. I’ve never sold them.”

Yu Zi took a look, and the bottles were labeled with counterfeit logos of well-known overseas vineyards.

“Open them.”

“All of them?” Wang Jing didn’t understand.

“Yes.” Yu Zi nodded.

“Get a few more glasses.” Yu Zi tapped the table.

Wang Jing then brought out five more wine glasses and placed them on the table.

Then Wang Jing watched as Yu Zi poured the wine in front of him into each glass one by one. Then he took a few sips from each.

After he finished, he didn’t say anything, leaving Wang Jing confused.

There were a total of five bottles on the table, and in the end, Yu Zi pushed aside two of them. The remaining three bottles were lined up together.

He asked Wang Jing, “Where did you get these three bottles from?”

“No way, Mr. Yu, are you also going to do this kind of business?!”

“Who’s doing this kind of business?! Just answer my question.”

Wang Jing rubbed his nose and could only explain in a low voice, “These were all produced by small domestic vineyards. They usually sell them in bulk to distributors all over the country. Then after the distributors receive them, they bottle them and label them. Some become the house wine for mid-to-low-end restaurants, and some end up like this.”

“Where are these three bottles originally from?” Yu Zi pointed at the table with his fingertip.

“I don’t know, Mr. Yu, please don’t force me…”

“Stop talking nonsense. Will you tell me or not?” Yu Zi slammed the table in anger, causing dust to float in the air.

“Cough. Give me some time, I’ll find out.” Wang Jing quickly raised his hands.

“How long?” Yu Zi asked.

“Three days.” Wang Jing held up three fingers.

Yu Zi tilted his head, sneered, and then snapped off two of his fingers, leaving only his index finger.

“One day. I want the answer by tomorrow night.” After saying that, Yu Zi pushed open the iron door and pulled Xie Dongcheng out.

“Wait.” Xie Dongcheng didn’t follow them but turned back to pack the three open bottles into a cardboard box and hugged it to his chest.

Seeing them both drinking and taking bottles, Wang Jing couldn’t hold back his frustration, “Why are you treating me like a servant?”

Yu Zi chuckled and opened his palm towards him, “Alright, if you don’t want to be treated like one. Now, return me the 150,000.”

Wang Jing’s face turned pale, “Alright, alright, one day. I’ll definitely find out for you by tomorrow.”

After the two returned to Fangjiayuan, instead of going straight back to the nearby intersection of the community, they entered an ice cream shop. Xie Dongcheng bought two servings of mango ice cream and handed one serving and a small spoon to Yu Zi.

There was a large sunshade outside the shop, under which several small tables were set up. The two found a clean table and sat on opposite sides.

Xie Dongcheng probably understood what Yu Zi was going to do and took the initiative to ask, “Are you planning to find the original producers and help them sell these wines?”

Yu Zi nodded, “You’ve guessed half of it.”

Xie Dongcheng asked, “What’s the other half?”

Yu Zi didn’t answer but instead brought up something else, “Do you know why these counterfeit wines are rampant in the market?”

Xie Dongcheng asked, “Why?”

Yu Zi opened the packaging of the ice cream and looked at him, “Many overseas vineyard brands are very arrogant. They explicitly prohibit internet sales since entering the Chinese market. So most people buy wine through offline distributors. And the wine industry is very complicated. Customers have a high threshold for purchasing, with factors such as vintage, origin, and vineyard level affecting the quality of the wine.”

He took a white spoon, scooped up a spoonful of mango from the ice cream, and continued, “Even if you spend money and time, what you buy may not necessarily be a good product. Many domestic wine merchants have seized on this point and directly use domestically produced wine to bottle and label. Most people who don’t have a deep understanding of wine find it difficult to distinguish between real and fake. Even if they feel the taste is not good, they only suspect it’s because of the origin. Most people can only swallow their losses.”

Xie Dongcheng understood and nodded.

“I once visited a vineyard in France. To invest in building a vineyard, just one hectare of land would cost millions of euros, not to mention adding construction, cellars, equipment, labor, marketing, and all kinds of expenses, which would add up to a sky-high price.”

Xie Dongcheng thought for a moment, “Then why do you want to do it this time?”

Yu Zi said, “Premium.”

“Foreign vineyards are naturally coated in gold. Many of their top-tier vineyards also produce wines with average tastes. But even if they are shipped overseas, they can still sell for a good price.” Yu Zi pointed to the bottles in the cardboard box at his feet, “And these wines, which have already reached such a high standard, indicate that the local vineyards have already been well equipped. But even so, they still can’t sell at any premium.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s no channel.” Yu Zi took another bite of his ice cream.

As the ice cream melted in his mouth, he continued, “The pricing of a product never depends on its actual value. Good wine of the same quality, sold in bulk to wine merchants from barrels, may not even fetch a hundred yuan per liter. But when it’s bottled in beautiful bottles and sold to people like Paul or me, it can be sold for tens of thousands.”

“But the world isn’t just made up of Pauls,” Xie Dongcheng countered.

“True. So we need to do something to find more Pauls.”

“What do you mean?”

“Create our own winery brand.” Yu Zi’s tone was very certain.

“Starting from scratch should be difficult,” Xie Dongcheng said, noticing a bit of ice cream on the corner of his mouth, subconsciously wiping with his own palm.

Yu Zi smiled, and the cream also lifted the corners of his mouth, “Difficulty means there’s money to be made.”

Xie Dongcheng didn’t respond but suddenly leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth. The warm lips brought a tingling sensation, and Yu Zi suddenly felt flustered in the early summer breeze.

“What are you doing?” he asked softly.

Xie Dongcheng didn’t answer but gently licked the corner of his mouth. The scent of mango and cream lingered from lips to tongue.

Yu Zi couldn’t help but respond, leaning in and licking Xie Dongcheng’s lips in return. They sat in a corner where passersby couldn’t see, and between their lips and tongue was the sweet taste of ice cream. Yu Zi’s back softened slightly, and Xie Dongcheng placed his palm on his back.

This kiss seemed to be sliding towards a more dangerous direction.

Xie Dongcheng finally pulled away, creating some distance between them, clearing his throat awkwardly, “I just noticed there was cream here.”

This kiss left Yu Zi’s mind blank, forgetting what he had just said.

Xie Dongcheng reminded him, “Difficulty means there’s money to be made.”

Yu Zi laughed, “Right.”

Wang Jing didn’t make him wait until the next night; in the late night of that same day, Yu Zi’s phone rang.

As soon as the call connected, Wang Jing got straight to the point, saying two words, “Bai Cheng.”

Yu Zi didn’t hear clearly, “What?”

“Bai Cheng. The original place of those three bottles of wine you were interested in is all in Bai Cheng. There’s a Bai Mountain in Bai Cheng, and there are quite a few vineyards on the east foot of Bai Mountain, mostly supplying bulk wine to wine merchants.”

Yu Zi held the phone and spoke after three seconds, “I’ll give you a chance. You don’t have to return my 150,000.”

Wang Jing, on the other end, excitedly cursed, then realized that Yu Zi was still listening on the phone and quickly changed his tone, “No, no, I’m just a little excited. What chance? I will definitely fulfill my mission.”

Yu Zi said, “You have to help me with three things.”

Wang Jing hurriedly asked, “What things?”

“You first say whether you agree or not.”

“I agree, I agree, as long as it’s not something illegal.”

Yu Zi chuckled lightly and then said, “The first thing, take me to Bai Cheng.”

“What about the other two?” Wang Jing was a little anxious.

“Finish the first thing first. What’s the hurry!”

Yu Zi hung up the phone abruptly.