Chapter 46: Grand Gestures That Cater to People's Preferences

Xiao Yao did not decline Tang Tianhao’s goodwill. “Though you were born into wealth and privilege, your life will not be long, plagued by three disasters and two dangers. But fate has brought us together. You’re the first person whose fortune I’ve ever read, so I’ll keep you alive. When your next two calamities come, I’ll shield you from them.”

“Brother Xiao, don’t scare me like that. How short is ‘not long’? I’m only thirty. I don’t want to die young! You have to think of a way to help me.” Tang Tianhao was quite satisfied with his current life. The thought of dying before his prime was unacceptable to him.

“Of course. Now that you’re calling me ‘brother,’ how could I not help? When you’re forty and fifty, you’ll each face a major calamity. When the time comes, I’ll fend them off for you. Living to a hundred may not be certain, but making it past eighty will be no problem at all,” Xiao Yao said with confidence.

“That’s good to hear, that’s good. I’m not greedy—living to a hundred is too much to ask, but I’ll be content with eighty. I’ll count on you for those two calamities then, Brother Xiao.” To avoid an untimely death, Tang Tianhao could only pin his hopes on Xiao Yao.

Watching the laborers busily unloading, Xiao Yao remarked, “Why did you bring me so much Maotai? I may like it, but this truckload is far too much—I doubt I could finish it in a lifetime.”

“If you can’t drink it all, you can give some away or keep it as a collection. I was pressed for time, so I brought all I had at home and rounded up stock from a few friends. Even then, it was just enough to fill a truck. I’ll bring you better wine in the future,” Tang Tianhao replied, feeling that this batch was still a bit lacking in quality due to the rush.

“I’m not a heavy drinker—how could I ever finish this much? Next time you get good wine, keep it for yourself, don’t bring it to me. Otherwise, I won’t even have space to store it at home,” Xiao Yao quickly refused. “What kinds of wine did you bring me? They all seem to be quite aged.”

“The majority are aged about ten years. The younger ones I kept for myself and didn’t bring. The twenty- to fifty-year-old stock adds up to about three hundred bottles. There are seven or eight bottles aged around sixty years. Few people have much of the fifty- or sixty-year-old stock; for now, this is all I could gather,” Tang Tianhao explained simply.

“You really went to some trouble. To pull together so much twenty-year-old and older wine, you must have owed people quite a few favors,” Xiao Yao commented. No wonder the proud Pan Wu could maintain such good relations with the Tang family—they certainly knew how to handle people.

“In a bit, I’ll tell Steward Lu to set aside the wine that’s over twenty years old,” Xiao Yao said.

“The ones being unloaded now are just the ordinary ones. The best bottles are still in the truck,” Tang Tianhao replied.

“I see most of your wine is special supply—I’ve never even seen many of these before. I have to go take a look,” Xiao Yao said as he walked to the truck.

Tang Tianhao hurried after him, pointing out bottles as he explained, “Since it’s all aged wine, there’s quite a variety—every kind you can imagine. These few boxes being moved now are special summer supply for Beidaihe...”

The Maotai that Tang Tianhao brought truly was a varied assortment. In just a short while, Xiao Yao saw summer supply for Beidaihe, internal supply for the Maotai Group, military special supply, state inspection special supply, commemorative reserve for the Great Hall of the People, air force exclusive, security bureau reception wine, and many more—an entire spectrum of rare bottles.

Once most of the wine had been unloaded, Tang Tianhao pointed to the remaining cases and said to Steward Lu, “These are all at least twenty years old, plus some commemorative editions. Please store them separately.”

“Commemorative wines are even rarer than special supply. They’re seldom seen on the market. When the old master was alive, he collected a few, but not many. Which commemorative editions did you bring?” Steward Lu asked with curiosity.

“I managed to get some of all five special editions commemorating Hong Kong’s return. The rarest is the 1997 commemorative; there are just over sixty bottles, and one of them is numbered 1997,” Tang Tianhao specially pointed out the one numbered 1997.

The 1997 Hong Kong Return commemorative Maotai was a special edition with only 1,998 bottles produced, each uniquely numbered. Of those, only two were numbered 1997: one kept by the Maotai distillery, the other in private hands.

That particular bottle Tang Tianhao had managed to pry from a close friend, after much effort and several promises.

Starting from the previous night, Tang Tianhao began making calls; to assemble over sixty bottles of the 1997 commemorative in such a short time truly showed his influence.

Besides these commemorative bottles, Tang Tianhao had even brought Xiao Yao two bottles of the rare Imperial Han Emperor Maotai.

The Imperial Han Emperor Maotai is a highly collectible and appraised wine produced in 1992, with only ten bottles ever made. The gold pearl set into the dragon’s mouth on the packaging case is pure gold. Its rarity made it a true treasure.

At present, each bottle is valued at over two million yuan, with auction prices even more astonishing. Just last month, one bottle of Imperial Han Emperor Maotai fetched 8.9 million yuan, setting a new auction record for Maotai.

Learning that two bottles of Imperial Han Emperor Maotai were among the truckload, Xiao Yao was slightly taken aback. For collectors, these two bottles were priceless; with so few in existence, hardly anyone could claim to own them.

Although Xiao Yao possessed many Maotai bottles in his Qiankun Ring, most were export versions, with few special supply bottles in his collection. It had to be said, Tang Tianhao really knew how to select gifts—this truckload was indeed unique in Xiao Yao’s eyes.

Leaving aside the value of the commemorative and fifty-year-old bottles, even the ten-year special supply wine would be impressive when entertaining guests.

Xiao Yao himself didn’t care much for it, but his father, who enjoyed a daily drink and entertained frequently, would be delighted to receive these special bottles.

Xiao Yao did a quick calculation. With the expensive commemoratives and the sheer number of aged bottles, the truckload was worth at least forty or fifty million yuan.

That the Tang family could gather such a large batch of commemorative and aged Maotai in so little time, and tailor it so perfectly to the recipient’s tastes, was proof of their truly formidable influence.