Chapter 3: Business
On the first day of June, Milan Capital reopened. The bustling scene that day can only be described as “hot” with my magic. The entire Milan Capital was packed with people, and even the end of the street was crowded. The hottest news in the city that never sleeps that day was the opening of Milan Capital.
It seems that the news of the opening of Milan Capital was so hot that even some of the noble ladies of high society were alarmed. On the third day, four or five of them even came. The waitresses introduced them to the Yalan Xuan, and the clothes I designed immediately became their first choice. The waitresses around them explained the advantages and disadvantages of each piece of clothing, how to maintain it normally, and how to match it to bring out their own advantages.
In this way, they were immediately impressed and left with a distinctive impression. After a few visits, they became loyal customers of our Milan Capital. After the guests left, a woman would quickly draw a portrait of the guest and note all the information about that person next to it: hobbies, strengths and weaknesses, address, family information, etc. This way, the next time the customer comes back, the waitress will know exactly what to say. In order to improve everyone’s memory, I also passed on some exercises to them.
The overall profitability of Milan Capital is very good. If this situation continues, it will not be a problem for the public sector to make a profit of 200 gold coins per year. Although Yalan Xuan is currently losing money, the situation is getting better and better, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion at this time.
In fact, Taoranju makes the most money. Since I took over Taoranju, I have hired three master chefs based on my many years of experience. Want to know how I managed to get them? I used my mental power to summon powerful energy to embed the cooking gene into my cells, and then used the sleepwalking technique to imprint the cooking skills deeply into my mind, making them part of my subconscious. Then I made each dish dozens of times, and my skills were perfected.
Then I invited the three of them to come over and cook three dishes of golden fried fish. I let each of them taste one piece, and I also gave them a copy of the recipe. The three of them stayed, on the condition that they would continue to get paid and I would teach them one dish each month. I taught the three of them some more advanced cooking techniques, which helped them break through the bottleneck and take their cooking to the next level. With these three masters at the helm, the business of Taoranju became more and more prosperous day by day. Although the prices of many specialty dishes continued to rise, it could not stop the endless stream of customers. Judging from this, it will be easy to make a profit of 500 to 600 gold coins a year.
The singing and dancing troupe has not yet performed, they are still rehearsing. In half a month, it will be the 68th birthday of General Lin’s wife, the godmother of the Fu sisters. For this reason, the Fu sisters have specially rehearsed a birthday celebration program to present to their godmother.
In order to effectively manage the daily affairs of the troupe, I bought a middle-aged man from the slave market. He is probably only 40 years old, with a haggard face and vacant eyes, but under my mental power, he cannot hide anything. I know this guy is a master of organization and management. After buying him, I found out his name was Yan He. He was originally a merchant from the Chu-Huai state, but ended up being cheated by his best friend and wife in business. Not only were the goods stolen, but he was also sold. Naturally, his wife ran off with his original best friend. I’m afraid Yan He is not good at business, but he is very good at managing people and getting things done. He manages the dance troupe so well that he saves me most of the trouble. So I officially appointed him as the manager of the dance troupe, and he is in charge of all administrative matters.
These days, I meet with the four Fu sisters every day, watching them rehearse their songs and dances, eating the delicious food provided by Sister Yufeng, watching the sisters dance, listening to them sing, and muttering some comments in a small voice. Believe it or not, the four sisters really do listen to my opinions (of course, my opinions are the summing up of the music and dance masters over the course of hundreds and thousands of years). In order to make this performance a sensation, I was also in charge of the costumes. According to the needs of the plot, I designed a lot of costumes, which took Milan a few days to rush out. After putting on the costumes and rehearsing again, Ye Ran was very satisfied and praised me. I was very excited. Tomorrow is the birthday of Mrs. Lin, so although Ye Ran is very satisfied, she still rehearsed some parts again in order to strive for perfection.
Oh, by the way, I’m supposed to teach the three chefs how to cook today. I have to hurry, or I’ll be in trouble if they quit. I said hello to Ye Ran and told her I was going out. Ye Ran was busy rehearsing and just nodded without paying any attention to me.
I entered the kitchen through the back door and saw the three chefs busy sweating. Seeing me, the three chefs beamed. Chef Chen Gumu said with a smile, “Young master, you’ve finally arrived. We’ve been waiting for you since this morning.”
“Yes, we thought you’d forgotten,”
“How could I forget, I’m here now.“ I smiled and said, ‘Hello, Aunt Liu, I’ve come to see you.’ Aunt Liu is always at the Taoranju restaurant, and I always greet her whenever I come.
”Xiaohan, here to eat again? I’ll cook for you,“ Aunt Liu said to me with a smile (don’t forget, my pseudonym is Qiu Shuihan).
”Auntie, you’re wrong,” I said triumphantly, ”I’m here to cook.”
Cooking? Aunt Liu’s eyes were full of question marks.
I laughed a few times, reached out and pulled a waiter, and asked him to put a wooden board in the doorway with the words “Closed for half an hour (16:30-17:00)” (lunch is at 16:00 sharp).
I took a few stools and placed them by the stove so that I could stand on them to reach the pot and stove, mix the sauce, and prepare the side dishes. The side dishes were tofu and sliced bamboo shoots, which I asked to be a pale, translucent white. After they were ready, I put them on a plate. For the main dish, I caught a carp and put it on the plate. I poured oil into the pot, waited for the oil to heat up, then added the spring onions and ginger and then put the fish in the pan. Immediately reduce the heat, fry the fish for a while, turning it frequently. After five minutes, add the seasonings, increase the heat, and after another minute, take the fish out and put it among the garnish. The protruding parts of the garnish form the shape of an arched gate, the rest of the garnish is in the shape of a dragon, and the fish head is directly above the gate. The name of this dish is Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate.
Because the garnish is made in a special way, it has a suppressing effect on the release of aromas, so when this dish is taken out of the pot, the aroma is not strong. It is not until everyone tastes it that they exclaim in amazement. Before anyone has had a few bites, the dish is gone.
The three chefs began to learn how to cook it, and I guided them. After four times, they had already done an excellent job, although of course it was still not as good as mine. While I was guiding them, I cooked three more fish. Together with the fish cooked by the three chefs and the fish I cooked at the beginning, one-third of the fish prepared for the day was gone.
“Young master, your fish is delicious, it brings out the full flavour of the fish,” said one of the male waiters.
“If you can eat such delicious food in your lifetime, it’s like having a trip to heaven,“ Chef Chen Guming said, feeling that there was such delicious food in the world.
”Young master, if you sell your dishes, how much do you think you could get?“ A young waitress asked curiously.
”At least 100 gold coins. Is my food easy to get?” I said proudly.
“Then our dishes can sell for a gold coin each,“ said another chef, Zhou Xuan.
”Okay, my task for today is complete, I’m leaving,“ I said and ran off like a flash.
”Madam, should we heat up the fish and sell it as takeaway? It’s so delicious, it would be just the thing to make our Taoranju brand famous.“
”Okay, but if anyone asks, no one is to say who made that dish,” Liu Xianghong pointed at the dish I had made.
“Yes,” all the people responded.
The wooden board at the door had long been removed, and in no time the building was full of people, as were the upstairs private rooms. At this time, four waiters, two men and two women, came up, each carrying a tray of dishes in their hands. One of the young girls said, ”This is a dish specially made by the three master chefs of this residence—Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate. It is available in limited quantities, only twelve pieces, and each one costs one gold coin.”
One gold coin? A buzzing sound filled the room, and the people upstairs couldn’t help but discuss the matter. What kind of famous dish would cost one gold coin? Even if it was a restaurant dish of this quality, it would still be twice as expensive as an ordinary restaurant, but a dish would only sell for a little over one silver coin. Even if the business at Taoranju was booming, the dish would only sell for a maximum of three silver coins. How could this fish cost one gold coin? The average person’s annual income was only a dozen gold coins. Everyone shook their heads. Had Taoranju gone crazy?
The young girl spoke again: “If no one buys it, we’ll take the fish back.”
Still no one bought it. The young girl nodded to the other three, and the four of them turned to go downstairs.
“Wait!” A young man of about twenty, who was near the window, said, “Can the young lady tell us the benefits of this dish?”
“It’s delicious, very delicious,” the young girl smiled, “You’ll know as soon as you try it.”
Nonsense, the young man muttered under his breath, and opened the fan in his hand with a swish. “Then I’ll have a plate of the new dish to try.”
The young girl handed over the plate she was holding.
The young man picked up the chopsticks, took a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, savoring it. After tasting it, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wonderful.” Unable to help himself, he picked up a few more pieces of chopsticks, then stopped holding the chopsticks in his hand, put the meat in his mouth and chewed slowly, shaking his head and savoring it. Words like wonderful and superb kept coming out. The young man was passing through the capital and had heard that the food at Taoranju was exquisite, so he came here to try it. He ordered a few dishes to try, but didn’t think the food was very good. Compared to the food his sister made at home, it was quite inferior. However, after eating the Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate, he was convinced that it was truly delicious.
…
In a private room, someone whispered, “Is this Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate really that delicious?”
“Miss Bi, if you want to eat it, I’ll have them bring you a portion,” said a young man’s voice.
…
“This Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate was prepared by three masters, each with a different flavor. I wonder if anyone else wants to try it.”
“Let’s have some,” came the voice of a man from a private room.
“Let’s have one too,” came the voice of a man from another private room. The man had purple hair, a purple robe, bushy eyebrows, and big eyes. If anyone from the imperial military was there, they would immediately recognize this person as one of the Six Pillars of the Empire, the ‘Purple Flame Demon’ Gao Meiqing. This person never took any prisoners, was known throughout the world for his cruelty and love of killing, and was the most feared person in the western countries of the mainland.
It didn’t take long before the carp that had previously been unsalable suddenly sold out. The four waiters also withdrew, but the restaurant was still abuzz with conversation, and everyone who had eaten the dish couldn’t help but be impressed by its deliciousness. After a while, the young girl came back up again, still holding a plate in her hands, which still contained the Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate, but it was the one I had made.
“Miss, give me another one,“ the young man at the window exclaimed as soon as he saw the fish in the girl’s hands. The others, who had not reacted in time, were filled with remorse.
”Young man,“ the girl kindly reminded him, ‘the price of this fish is different. It costs 100 gold coins.’
The young man went dumb, and all he could say was 100 gold coins over and over again. The whole upstairs suddenly fell silent, and everyone stared at the girl.
”Excuse me, what is this dish called?” finally asked one of the guests.
“Carp leaping over the Dragon Gate,“ the young girl replied politely.
”Then what is the difference between this dish and the previous ones?“ another person asked.
”The taste is different. If those were earthly delicacies, this is heavenly.“ The young girl smiled.
…
”Give it to me,“ the young man in the private room and Gao Mieqing said at the same time.
”I’m sorry, there is only one plate of this dish, so please discuss it between the two of you,”
“I’ll pay 200,“ the young man said.
”Young man, who are you?“ Gao Mieqing asked.
”Oriental Mysterious Intent.“
”Are you the Oriental Mysterious Intent of the Oriental family, known as one of the three dragons of the Orient?“ Gao Mieqing said coldly.
”Exactly,“ Oriental Mysterious Intent said, feeling a little elated to hear that this person knew his name.
”My name is Gao Mieqing,”
Dongfang Xuanyi’s face suddenly turned pale. The power of the Dongfang family, no matter how great, was still unable to compare to the Purple Flame Demon, one of the six pillars of the empire.
“How has Uncle Gao been? Ruoxin sends her regards to you.” A beautiful woman in a green dress walked out from the crowd.
For the first time, Gao Mieqing’s face revealed a look of shock. Gao Mieqing came from the Demon Dao and was one of the top experts in the Demon Dao, while the woman in front of him, Bi Ruoxin, was a disciple of the Wuxun Sword Dao, the sworn enemy of the Demon Dao. Bi Ruoxin is one of the two most outstanding disciples of the Wuxun Sword Dao. The other is her uncle, Xin Qixuan. Most of the disciples of the Wuxun Sword Dao are women, and women practice the Wuxun Sword Dao, while men practice the Wangqing Dao. And the location of the Wuxun Sword Dao is in the territory of the Chu-Huai Kingdom, but it is unexpected to encounter it in the imperial capital.
Gao Mieqing gave Bi Ruoxin a deep look and said, “Just because you called me Uncle Gao, I’ll let this go. Let’s go.” He then led his four attendants downstairs.
…
The performance by the Lianxin Song and Dance Troupe at Mrs. Lin’s birthday banquet was a great success. Even the costumes I made specially for the occasion became the focus of everyone’s attention. Due to the success of the performance, the income earned by the troupe in the following days was also extremely impressive. It seems that the annual profit will be around 140 gold coins.
Although the businesses of Milan Capital, Taoranju, and Lianxin Song and Dance Troupe are all doing well, the combined annual profit of the three can be as little as 1,000 gold coins. This is mainly due to the limitations of scale. It seems that it is necessary to expand the scale. Money is currently a problem that can be solved, as the Winged Clan has as much as 200,000 gold coins in reserves. However, the situation is not too optimistic. The annual output of the gold mine can only reach 150,000 pieces (which can support for 8 years, last time the Winged tribe did not tell us the real gold mine reserves), but the five tribes of orcs in the Changbai Mountain area plus the 10,000 people of the Winged tribe have a total of 500,000 people. Even if each person only uses one gold coin per year, there will be a shortfall of 350,000 gold coins this year, which makes me wonder where to find it. If Zhang Lao can find a big buyer in the northeast, the financial situation will improve a lot.
That day, I got in touch with the robot again. As soon as I got in touch, I heard the Lion Clan patriarch, Bach Xiang, speaking, “I wonder when the young master will be here?” Next to him were Zhang Zhengli and his apprentice.
“I’ve already arrived,” I said through the robot’s mouth.
Everyone was taken aback.
“You are…” Romeland said.
It took a lot of effort for me to convince them that I was their young master. After they knew for sure that I was indeed their young master, they all looked at me with admiration. Everyone regarded me as a god. They had never seen anything like this before and thought that only the gods in legend could do such things. In fact, I knew clearly that there were no gods in this world at all, and at most there were some energies with the germ of consciousness.
“Old Zhang, how is the matter you are handling?” I asked the most important question.
“I asked some friends, and in the end only three martial arts schools replied. A total of 4,000 weapons are needed, preferably swords and the like. Armor would be even better.“
”We can make armor now, but the weapons can only be swords. Don’t they need shields?“ I asked.
”Shields are not generally used in the martial arts world,“ Zhang Lao shook his head, ‘but we can take 200 to 300 over there, and maybe they really want them.’
”How much is the price?” Romanland asked.
“One gold coin for weapons and three gold coins for armor, and if the quality is truly excellent, you can add half the price,“ Zhang Lao said.
”That’s 16,000 or 24,000 gold coins. It’s not much, but it’s pretty good for one trip. Zhang Lao, you’ve worked hard this time, and you’ve completed the task well. For this, I will pass on to you the method of how to fuse the Golden Mysterious Qi into the Taiyi Mysterious Energy,”
Old Zhang was overjoyed to hear this. Taiyi Xuegang was extremely powerful, but Golden Xuan Qi was his famous and unique technique, and he was reluctant to give it up. For this reason, Old Zhang had racked his brains for many days, trying to fuse the two together, but to no avail.
“That’s right, clan leaders, at present, since we can only mass produce one type of weapon, namely the sword, many of you may not be used to it. Therefore, if you want to cast other weapons, you will have to rely on yourselves,“ I said to the five clan leaders.
”That’s fine, as long as the young master can provide us with food for a thousand people, then casting weapons will not have much of an impact on us,” Bach Xiang said, ”The Bull Clan is the best at forging weapons among our Orcs. Although they are inferior to you humans, they are not too much worse.”
“That’s good. I have some information on forging here, in the production control room. You can take a look at it.“ I transmitted some data on forging techniques to the computer in the production control room and asked it to print it out.
”Okay, Richard, go and take the information back to the clan elders,“ Paganini said.
”How’s the search for agents going?”
“We found two groups of bandits outside Changbai Mountain, subdued them, and are now gathering them in a mountain fortress. We also destroyed seven other bandit dens. Actually, the bandits we subdued were a pitiful bunch. They were originally villagers from the foot of the mountain or runaway slaves. Because the northeast is in such chaos, with monsters, demons, bandits, and constant gang disputes, these villagers could no longer survive in the village, so they went up the mountain to become bandits. That’s why we were able to convince them so easily.” This time it was Lu Weixian who spoke first.
“We asked several pharmacies if they were willing to sell, but none of them agreed. In the northeast, the pharmacy business is particularly good, and no one has been robbed yet. Everyone is afraid that something might happen to them, so they value pharmacies and doctors very highly.” Zhang Laoda
“It doesn’t matter if no one sells it, we can rent them a place in the store to sell our medicine. If it sells, they can keep 10% of the money and pay four silver coins a month as rent.“
”Will that work?“ Zhang Lao, who had never heard of this method, asked doubtfully.
”Just ask them. If it works, do it; if not, forget it,” I said.
“Our production line can produce 1,000 finished products a day. There are already more than 10,000 finished products in the warehouse. Old Zhang, you can deliver them immediately. By the way, where is the delivery location?“
”It’s in the Changbai Mountain area,“ Lu Weixian replied.
”Very well, five tribal chiefs, please select 3,000 warriors and Old Zhang to accompany you. One is to transport weapons, and the other is to prevent someone from looting or the opponent from cheating.”
“We’ll go find them now.”
I took some time to come here a few days ago and unlocked the computer locks on the magnetic shields, the Yang Blade, and the alloy armor. Together with some that were produced later, there are now a total of 603 magnetic shields, 831 Yang Blades, and 1567 pieces of alloy armor. Since the Yang Blade is too light for the orcs to use comfortably, I didn’t equip them with it this time. They used their own weapons . However, the 20 members of the Undercover Dragon Squad all used the Broken Sun Blade, and all 603 magnetic shields and alloy battle armor were distributed. After these items were recognized by their owners (by adding blood, imprinting fingerprints, eyebrows, and corneas, and after the equipment is separated from the owner for a period of time, it must be re-identified, and the equipment can only be reactivated if all four items match), they immediately merged with the owner’s body, just like some sacred artifacts.
Seeing that everyone was present, I said to everyone, “Everyone will transport the equipment to our mountain village, and then the people from the mountain village will transport the equipment to the delivery location. After that, the people from the mountain village will immediately withdraw to the mountain village, and the 3,000 orcs will be masked and ambushed 100 meters away from the delivery location in case of any changes. This operation must be able to get the money, and the orc brothers must not reveal their identities.”
Everyone nodded silently.
“Okay, let’s go. Good luck to everyone.”