Chapter 62: Recognizing Agarwood

  The plane from Hong Kong to Beijing took off at 10:30 and arrived in Beijing at 1:50. It's already past two o'clock, Guo Yu was hungry and asked the flight attendant next to him, "Miss Tang, it's already two o'clock, let's have lunch together, or we'll all starve to death."

  Guo Yu's words made the little flight attendant even hungrier, this guy mentioned eating on purpose, Tang Fei didn't say anything, she just put her hand on her stomach.

  Guo Yu took a sneak peek and couldn't help but laugh in his heart, she's really just a little girl after all.

  Kaiyan and the other person arrived at the city, stopped at a restaurant called Hua Mei Lou, ordered a private room, "Miss Tang, you order yourself," said Gu Yu, then he ordered two dishes first. The signature dish of this place is Lion's Head, with egg yolk added inside, when it was served, it was already cut open, red and yellow, fragrant but not greasy, very delicious.

  Four dishes and a soup, both of them were hungry, eating very quickly. After the meal, the soup had to be drunk slowly. Guo Yu's habit of smoking after meals recurred, he hadn't smoked on the plane, his nicotine addiction came back, he lit up a cigar. The little flight attendant took a glance, this guy was quite pretentious, even when smoking, he smokes cigars, trying to show off in front of me, a young girl. It seems like I need to let him down, can't be bothered with him.

  "Mr. Guo, you're not trying to hit on me, are you?" This remark left Guo Yu stunned, how did this topic come up out of nowhere.

  "For now, I don't have such thoughts, I have a girlfriend." He lightly puffed out a mouthful of smoke.

  "Girlfriend, don't you already have sons?"

  "Divorced people, isn't it old news?"

  "I see, you're too flirtatious and got caught by your wife, then got divorced." The little flight attendant couldn't help but laugh at her own words.

  "This afternoon I have an appointment with someone, I'll send you back," said Guo Yu, glancing at his watch and standing up. He had agreed to meet Bai Qilin at 3:30 in Liuli Chang, and now it was already 3 o'clock, just the right time.

  Tang Fei didn't have the nerve to let Guo Yu send her, so she took a taxi back herself. The distance from here to her home was not far. Guo Yu drove straight to Liuli Factory, 37 Dong Street. A wooden sign with "Bai Bao Ju" hung in the center of the door, flanked by red lacquered pillars and two original wood-colored carved doors. Guo Yu walked into the store, where on both sides were acid-branch wooden shelves displaying various exquisite carvings, Buddha statues, decorations, rosaries, pendants, made from different materials such as rosewood, purple sandalwood, agarwood, and yellow poplar.

  Further inside is a wooden frame moon gate, which leads to another scene. On the left is a wooden long table, on the right are several wooden chairs, and in front is a wooden tea tray with a set of Gongfu tea utensils placed on it.

  As soon as Guo Yu entered the door, a salesgirl came up to him and asked, "Sir, what can I show you?" Guo Yu replied, "I'm looking for Old White, is he in?"

  At this time, a male voice remembered, "Is it Mr. Guo? I am Bai Qilin, welcome," as he spoke, a man in his thirties, about 1.7 meters tall, with a medium build and a crew cut, walked over and stretched out his hand directly to Gu Yu.

  Guo Yu hastily grasped Bai Qilin's hand, "Mr. Bai, nice to meet you, I've been waiting for a while."

  Bai Qilin said as he led Guo Yu to the tea seat, poured a cup of tea for Guo Yu and said, "Just brewed, you just arrived in time, try the taste."

  Kuo Yu took a sip of air, sipped a mouthful of tea, "Sichuan Mengding Ganlu, the taste is not bad."

  "Ah, a kindred spirit! Mr. Guo is indeed an understanding person!" Bai Qilin was overjoyed to see Gu Yu's quick wit and felt like he had met someone who shared his interests.

  "Mengding Ganlu Tea is produced in the Mengshan area of Mingshan County, and belongs to the green tea category. Its quality characteristics are: compact and even curl, emerald green color, delicate silver hairs, fresh and fragrant aroma, bright yellow-green soup color, and tender yellow leaf bottom." Bai Qilin seemed to have been struck by Guo Yu's exciting point, and spoke incessantly.

  Bai Qilin looked at Guo Yu, who was slightly stunned, and said with a straight face, "I just like these toys, elegant things, they are part of my life. If I didn't have them, I wouldn't know what else to enjoy in life."

  In Guo Yu's view, this Bai Qilin is a person with a gentle disposition.

  "Just chatting, Mr. Guo said that he came today to understand the situation of agarwood, what questions you have, I will answer them all, we are having tea and discussing the Tao, not about wood." He said, pouring a full cup of tea in front of Gu Yu.

  "I have a batch of agarwood, but I don't understand the value and grade of agarwood. I casually looked at some online introductions, which were very confusing and gave me a headache. So, I wanted to ask you, an expert, to help me understand." Guo Yu said, taking out his backpack and pulling out several pieces of agarwood, placing them on the tea table.

  These pieces of agarwood are not large, all of which were cut from different trees by Guo Yu, and several small pieces of agarwood purchased by Wu Qilang were also taken out.

  Bai Qilin held the wooden blocks, examining each one carefully, occasionally touching and smelling them, and sometimes even blowing on them. After a long time, he finally said, "You have good agarwood here, but also some worthless white wood. If you're in the lumber business, I suggest you understand the situation better, or you might end up losing out. The quality of the wood is different, with huge price gaps. It's rare that you still have agarwood, which is extremely valuable." His expression turned serious as he spoke.

  "Mr. Bai, tell me about the ins and outs of this place, I have some connections, I can get sandalwood, but to be honest, I don't really understand this business, please enlighten me," said Guo Yu.

  "Let me tell you, this agarwood is considered a very precious wood in terms of material."

  The main producing areas of agarwood are concentrated in the region around 20° north latitude, with three major producing areas: Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, collectively known as "Hoi An agarwood"; Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, collectively known as "Xin Zhou agarwood"; and China's Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan, collectively known as "Guan agarwood". Among the world's three major producing areas, Vietnamese agarwood is the most famous, while China is most famous for its Hainan agarwood, also known as "Qiong zhi". The highest quality agarwood is called "Qi nan xiang".

  "Kuo Lao Di brought should be Kalimantan agarwood, that is, Xin Zhou Xiang. To talk about the role of agarwood, it's really not a few. In terms of religion, I am a Muslim, and we Muslims believe that only with agarwood oil can one purify their lifetime of sin and enter the world of Allah. In other religions, its status is also very important. Christianity and Catholicism consider agarwood to be one of the three sacred treasures of Christ's descent into the world, used for incense and exorcism; Buddhism considers agarwood to be a sacred offering to the gods, the only fragrance that can penetrate the three realms of heaven, earth, and man; Taoism considers agarwood to be a superior product for making divine objects and ritual instruments. In the religious world, agarwood is used to make statues of gods and ritual instruments, which are considered top-grade."

  "In medicine, agarwood is the best medicine for treating lungs, kidneys, heart, intestines and stomach, and it's even better for health preservation. In Feng Shui, agarwood belongs to the positive yang plant, used in yang houses can gather wealth and energy, bring good luck and avoid evil spirits, and keep the house safe; used in yin houses can protect descendants, uplift the earth's magnetic field."