Yonghe Road

Chapter 62 Tea BA
This was the Baihua Garden, a villa complex in the city that had been built about fifteen years earlier. The villas here were all low-rise, single-family homes of only two or three stories. Wang Zian was leaning on the railing of a second-floor cast-iron terrace. Looking up, he could see the round Ferris wheel of the amusement park in the distance, and looking down, he could see the shadows of the camphor trees drifting across the blue brick walls.

The west wall was covered in overgrown ivy, and on the balconies of the neighboring houses, floral bedsheets billowed like sails in the draft. It wasn't even midsummer yet, but the loquat tree planted by the old lady to the east was already bearing fruit, its branches and leaves reaching into the public sidewalk, forcing Wang Zian to duck his head as he followed Secretary Wang Kai onto the running track in the villa complex a few hours ago.

The sound of traffic on the villa district's foreign road, rolling over rusted iron fences, echoed like the lingering sound of a tide lapping over rocks. Beneath the faded blue road sign at the corner, several tied garbage bags lay piled high, their damp vegetable leaves mingling with the scent of last night's rain. In a villa district dominated by the wealthy, this was a real eyesore.

On the brick-red track of Shuangyong Park next door, the dust kicked up by children skipping rope was shrouded in the setting sun, like a veil dusted with gold. This complex of gray and white buildings seemed trapped in the folds of the bustling city, and the plantains sprouting from the cracks in the cement were blooming stubborn white flowers.

Wang Zian's eyes wandered aimlessly in the villa area, and his hands boredly stroked the peeling imitation stone paint on the terrace handrail. Suddenly, he felt that the mottled cracks were very similar to the map of the old city - each gully led to a half-open courtyard door, behind which might be a group of people trapped between fireworks and silence.

The sound of footsteps behind him attracted his attention and made him turn around. Secretary Wang was walking out of the balcony, but his furrowed brow did not look relieved at all.

"Hasn't the deal been settled yet?" Wang Zian asked his father in a low voice.

Secretary Wang Kai shook his head.

This is the office location temporarily rented by the "Shibashiba" Group. After the New Year, Wang Zian has accompanied Secretary Wang Kai to visit it several times, all for matters concerning the villa area in Baile Village.

Chairman Ji Tong has already bought the villa area. Recently, news came out that a group of foreign friends with whom Chairman Ji Tong had many business dealings in the past and later developed deep friendships are interested in buying property in China. Chairman Ji Tong is planning to sell the villas in Baile Village to these foreign friends. Secretary Wang Kai is anxious about this matter.

Without this villa area, where else can the people of Baile Village move from Chang'an Avenue? Developing real estate in rural areas is not an easy task these days. Even if new real estate development is possible, land acquisition and investment are not things that can be completed in the short term.
If Baile Village cannot move out of Chang'an Avenue, it will not be able to further develop the "two parks and two districts" project, and the lives of the villagers will not be able to be improved to a higher level from the current level.

If President Ji Tong wants to sell his villa, he can only sell it to Baile Village.

However, over the past few months, Secretary Wang Kai visited President Ji Tong several times, but they were unable to reach an agreement, and his head of white hair inevitably increased a lot.

This time, Wang Zian was hired as a driver and went into the city to visit President Ji Tong, hoping that she would give in. Unexpectedly, he ran into Director Mei Wending who also came to "Shisansansan" to discuss something with President Ji Tong. The two had been talking in the tea room for an hour, and there was no sign of the conversation ending. No one knew what they were talking about. Secretary Wang Kai couldn't put his ear to the door and eavesdrop, so he could only wait.

Seeing his father's anxious face, Wang Zian couldn't help much. Just then, his cell phone rang, so he walked aside to answer it.

The call was from Zhong Ziqi.

Since confirming that his son liked the girl, Secretary Wang Kai no longer had aversion to Zhong Ziqi and returned to his previous attitude of an elder towards a younger person.

Wang Zian pointed at the cell phone and mouthed the word "Zi Qi" to Secretary Wang Kai. Secretary Wang Kai waved his hand in understanding and asked him to answer the call.

"Zi Qi, you're in the city too? What are you doing here?"

Wang Zian was not at the tea factory, so he naturally hoped that Zhong Ziqi would stay behind to take charge. However, Zhong Ziqi had another hidden reason. He said, "My little nephew was bitten by a bee, and I was accompanying my sister-in-law at the She Medicine Hall."

Wang Zian exclaimed "Ah" and made an appointment with Zhong Ziqi to meet him at She Medicine Hall after he finished his work.

Wang Zian was startled after finishing his call. He'd unknowingly wandered to the tea room's doorway, poking at it while on the phone. The door, which Secretary Wang Kai had been standing on all afternoon, afraid to push, was now opened by Wang Zian. Inside, the people sitting on either side of the long conference table all looked toward the door. Wang Zian recognized President Ji Tong and Director Mei Wending, and they recognized him as well.

The son of Secretary Wang Kai of Baile Village, he was a good basketball player. This was President Ji Tong's previous impression of Wang Zian. At this moment, Director Mei Wending whispered to President Ji Tong, who was leaning over, "This young man is not bad. He also opened a tea factory..."

So, President Ji Tong waved to let Wang Zian in.

Wang Zian didn't dare to disobey, so he hurried in and closed the door politely.

On the balcony, Secretary Wang Kai, leaning against the cast iron carved terrace railing, opened his eyes wide: Why did that brat suddenly go into the house by himself?
After Wang Zian entered the room, he was quickly arranged to sit in the corner, and he and President Ji Tong, who was sitting at the top, were exactly at the head and tail of the Yangtze River.

President Ji Tong said, "We at 'Shishishishi' are also planning to enter the white tea industry and would love to learn from you."

Although President Ji Tong said this to Wang Zian with a smile, the majesty she exuded made her seem unapproachable, and most people would inevitably feel intimidated.

Fortunately, as the son of Secretary Wang Kai, he had seen some of the world since he was a child, and knew that he should not take President Ji Tong's words seriously at this moment, so he politely replied: "You are welcome anytime." He was neither humble nor arrogant.

President Ji Tong then returned to discussing the topic with Director Mei Wending, ignoring Wang Zian. Wang Zian, taking things as they came, drank the tea the "Shi Ba Shi Ba" staff had poured for him. It was just an ordinary business tea, a far cry from the high-end white tea he enjoyed at "Zhi Yin Bai Cha Fang."

About ten minutes later, Wang Zian figured out what everyone in the room had been discussing for most of the afternoon:

As the executive deputy leader of the city's tea industry leading group, Mei Wending hopes that President Ji Tong can support the development of his hometown's white tea industry and play an entrepreneurial role in the development of the white tea industry. However, President Ji Tong is currently only interested in the sports industry in his hometown. Director Mei Wending is unwilling to give up such a powerful entrepreneur like President Ji Tong, and the two are in a state of competition.

"Guizhou has village BAs, why can't we create a 'tea BA'?" A young man's voice suddenly sounded in the tea room, seeming a bit abrupt.

Everyone turned their eyes to Wang Zian who was sitting at the bottom of the table. He drank the cup of tea in his hand again and faced the gazes of the crowd without seeming nervous.

"Zi'an, what is tea BA? Please be more careful." Director Mei Wending pointed at Wang Zian and said.

President Ji Tong also nodded to Wang Zian.

Wang Zian put down his teacup, stood up, cleared his throat, and said, "Leaders, the so-called 'Tea BA', as the name suggests, is a sports event that combines tea culture with basketball. As we all know, there are village BAs in Guizhou, which have created a sports and cultural storm that has swept across rural and urban areas, transcending geographical boundaries and exerting influence nationwide and even internationally. If we can learn from the successful model of village BAs and combine the white tea industry with basketball events, can we also achieve a 1+1 greater than 2 effect?"

Director Mei Wending's brain raced. Basketball + white tea, sports + intangible cultural heritage—holding such an event would not only promote the inheritance of tea culture, but also attract a large number of spectators and tourists, boosting the local catering, accommodation, and tourism industries, and certainly boosting the local economy. If this event could be developed into a regular or branded event like the Village BA, it could potentially be expanded to other regions, becoming a renowned sports event with local characteristics. It would also inject new vitality into the local white tea industry. It was a truly promising idea.

Director Mei Wending exchanged glances with President Ji Tong, and it was obvious that President Ji Tong thought the same.

Director Mei Wending couldn't help but cast an approving look at the young man sitting in the corner of the table.