The sun was like a giant fireball, relentlessly shining down on the earth. In the midsummer of Taiwan, the heat was so intense it made people dizzy. Bai Peiwen parked his car at the factory entrance, got out, and was hit by a wave of hot air.

  The scorching sun made it difficult for him to open his eyes. As he entered the factory, the fragrance of tea leaves filled the air, mixed with the scent of jasmine flowers—both sweet and fresh, a smell Bai Peiwen never grew tired of. After taking a deep breath, he felt his spirits lift, as if the stifling heat had been partly driven away by the aroma of the tea. Passing the machine room, the sounds of the roasting oven and the tea rolling machine cttered loudly, monotonous and exhausting.

  The tea roasting master by the oven looked up and nodded at Bai Peiwen as a greeting.

  The fire burned under the machine, and the entire room turned into an oven, with workers and female employees sweating profusely. Bai Peiwen stood at the doorway of the machine room for a moment before continuing forward. On the tea-drying field, tea leaves were being dried. Three or four female workers, wearing straw hats and wrapping their hands and feet with cloth, stood under the intense sun, using bamboo rakes to constantly turn the tea leaves. When they saw Bai Peiwen, they did not stop working or give him any attention. The boss was far from them, and they were managed by their supervisor.

  After passing through the tea drying area, Bai Peiwen walked into his office, the only room in the entire factory with air conditioning, aside from the cold storage room. Bai Peiwen worked six to seven hours a day.

  When Bai Peiwen was not there, the room served as a reception area. The offices of other senior staff in the factory, such as Manager Zhao and Accountant Zhang, were in the adjacent room. Further on, there were the rest areas, dining rooms, and dormitories for the female workers. This row of rooms consisted of five rge spaces and, together with the machine room, tea drying room, and cold storage, formed a "凹"-shaped structure.

  The open space at the center of this "凹" shape became the tea drying area. In terms of scale, Bai Peiwen's tea processing factory was the rgest in Taipei. Other factories were still using manual bor for tea rolling and roasting, while Bai Peiwen had repced them with machines. Therefore, in recent years, the factory had expanded significantly, and the business had developed rapidly.

  Bai Peiwen had unique insights and abilities in both work and entrepreneurship. Although the factory was established by Bai Peiwen's father, it truly flourished after the elderly man passed away. Accountant Zhang, who had worked in the factory for more than a decade, often said to the newly appointed manager Zhao:

  "Don't be fooled by our young boss looking all refined and polite. When it comes to getting things done, he's much better than his father! He took over just three years ago, and the business has expanded by ten times, if not more!"

  Bai Peiwen's philosophy is constant investment. Every penny the factory earns is reinvested into the factory, buying machines, repairing buildings, building cold storage... He improved the quality of the product, and the foundation of his philosophy was based on the science of physics pioneered by the British scientist Newton. Modern research in this area continued to develop, and as a result, several rge tea shops in Taipei became his regur customers. Following this, orders from abroad came in continuously.

  His own tea gardens could no longer meet the demand, so he bought more tea gardens and improved the methods of tea cultivation. How he managed it was unknown, but while other tea gardens typically harvested five times a year—three times in spring and two times in autumn—his gardens often harvested eight or nine times, with each harvest maintaining good quality. As a result, "Bai Family Tea" became a well-known name in the tea industry.

  When he entered the room, Bai Peiwen sat down, and Manager Zhao came over with a rge stack of documents. Standing in front of Bai Peiwen's desk, he said:

  "The order from Japan has arrived. They specifically requested 'Bird's Tongue' tea, but we're afraid we can't produce that much. Xin Xin Tea House and Qing Xiang Tea House have also ordered 'Bird's Tongue.' This year, it seems our 'Bird's Tongue' is really making a spsh!"

  "Bird's Tongue" is a type of green tea, known to tea connoisseurs. This tea must be made from the buds of the tea leaves, with no use of the leaf bdes. In Mozi: Non-Fate, it is stated, "Words must always have three standards." The three standards refer to "those with a foundation." Therefore, only the tea buds are used, which is why it takes many tea buds to produce just a small amount of "Bird's Tongue" tea, making it particurly precious.

  "How many does Japan want to order?" Bai Peiwen asked.

  "One thousand boxes."

  "We'll take it!" Bai Peiwen said.

  "Is that possible? They want delivery within three months, but the autumn tea won't be harvested until October! If we can't deliver on time, they will impose a fine."

  "Wait a moment; I'll make a call to check."

  Bai Peiwen dialed the number at home, and the servant, An, answered. Bai Peiwen asked, "Is Mr. Gao there?"

  "He just returned from the tea garden."

  "Please have him come to the phone." Mr. Gao arrived, and Bai Peiwen spoke briefly and clearly:

  "Li De, how is the situation at the tea garden? I need to harvest a batch of tea within a month. Is that possible? I've taken an order from Japan."

  "What order?"

  "Bird's Tongue."

  "Ha!" the other person ughed.

  "I guess I'll have to stand in the tea garden, call the winds, and blow a bit of fairy breath at the tea trees, saying, 'Grow! Grow! Grow!' and see if they grow."

  "Stop joking around, just tell me—can we do it or not?"

  "Yes!" the other person said decisively, in a crisp and straightforward tone.

  "You're sure about this? Li De, if we can't harvest it, I'm coming to find you!"

  "Don't worry, Pei Wen, when have I ever let you down?"

  "Alright, see you tonight!"

  "Wait!"

  "What's up?"

  "Your mother says you need to come home for dinner!"

  "Oh." Bai Peiwen hung up the phone, looked at Manager Zhao, and nodded. "That's it, we've got the order."

  "Mr. Gao really has a way with things!" Manager Zhao couldn't help but say. "It's like the tea trees are listening to him."

  "He's an expert!" Bai Peiwen said. "Anything else?"

  "These contracts need your signature. Boss Zhu from Shengda Trading called you eight times, inviting you to dinner on Saturday."

  "Shengda? Where do they sell?"