Chapter 153: Chapter 103: The Little Wolf is Going to Eat the Big White Sheep

Two carriages were provided for Aunt Song, with a dedicated driver to escort her to and from work every day.

Furthermore, she was protected by guards from the Zhao Family’s Nursing Home.

After all, Lu Yuan couldn’t rest easy with such a stunning beauty leaving early and returning late in the dark every day.

Even though the city was stable now, with no unsavory characters around.

But this world still had Xingzi, after all.

It was better for her to have protection.

When they reached the main gate, Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin got into the carriage together.

The carriage then set off, and Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin finally headed home for dinner.

Meanwhile, by the roadside where the two had just left,

Gu Gaoxu stood with three other men, curiously gazing in the direction Lu Yuan’s carriage had disappeared.

Gu Gaoxu was now one hundred percent certain that the mortar had come from Lu Yuan’s household.

When that very beautiful woman came out just now, everyone had bowed to greet her.

And this woman got into the same carriage as Lu Yuan.

"A little interesting~"

Gu Gaoxu remarked, raising an eyebrow.

The two men who had been with Gu Gaoxu all day had also pretty much figured things out.

"Second Young Master, since we’ve figured it all out, should we head back now?"

The two men suggested as they drew closer to Gu Gaoxu.

But Gu Gaoxu just raised an eyebrow.

"What’s the rush!

Let’s have some fun for a couple of days first!

This time, even if we mess around for half a year before going back, my old man won’t dare lay a hand on me!"

Hearing Gu Gaoxu’s words, his attendants’ faces darkened with exasperation. ’This...’

’What does "dare" have to do with it?’

’When the Prince beats you, doesn’t it just depend on whether he’s in a good mood or not?’

’Where does "daring" even come into it?’

But Gu Gaoxu was shaking his head smugly.

"Did you see that mortar? Did you see that tricycle?

With that mortar, we’ll be invincible on the front lines!

And that tricycle will solve all our logistical worries!

In the past, for every thousand catties of grain sent to the front, we’d lose at least sixty percent along the way!

But with these tricycles, I bet the loss wouldn’t even be thirty percent!

If I bring back two treasures like these, why would my old man still punish me?"

Hearing this, the two attendants couldn’t help but frown.

"But the fighting in the North is just winding down now. The armies are already on their way back.

From the looks of it, there probably won’t be any war on the Northern Border for at least twenty years."

Gu Gaoxu scoffed at their words.

"The Northern situation might be settled, but what about Liaodong?

What about the Southwest? The Northwest?"

The two attendants didn’t dare argue with Gu Gaoxu, but they thought it was highly unlikely.

After all, years of continuous warfare had left the national treasury empty.

Right now, all the orders from the Court were focused on agricultural development.

Of course, it was useless to say any of this. Seeing that Gu Gaoxu refused to go back no matter what, the two of them could only drop it.

...

「Five days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Nothing major happened during this time.

The main event was that Second Uncle arrived.

It wasn’t just Second Uncle; his wife, daughter, and son-in-law all came as well.

His daughter and son-in-law were both farmers, not involved in any particularly profitable trade.

If they could help out in the city, they naturally wouldn’t have to work in the fields anymore.

From now on, Second Uncle and his son-in-law would be busy in the back kitchen.

The two women would be in the front, helping to greet customers.

But of course, this wasn’t enough. After all, this was a factory with over a thousand workers, and it would expand to several thousand in the future.

How many people would need to eat then?

So, they still had to hire more.

As for how to hire and how many people to hire, Lu Yuan didn’t worry about these things.

He let Aunt Song handle the arrangements.

As for the money Second Uncle’s family earned, Lu Yuan’s original intention was to just give it to them.

If not for Second Uncle, his beautiful wife would have probably starved to death long ago.

But Second Uncle’s family refused to take it no matter what. In the end, they simply decided to split the profits between the two families.

Besides the matter with Second Uncle, nothing else really happened these past few days.

If one had to point something out, it would be that the greenhouses were now mostly constructed.

The remaining details were for Lu Yuan to slowly perfect.

Other than that, there was really nothing else.

Now, the entire family was focused on the second day of the second month.

To be honest, the project Lu Yuan put together this time had cost a ton of money.

He hadn’t calculated the specific amount.

But from the day Lu Yuan started construction outside the city until now, including all the miscellaneous expenses,

the total was at least 120,000 to 130,000 silver.

And many of the raw materials hadn’t even been paid for yet.

For Lu Yuan, no matter how good his ideas were, they had to be tested in practice.

If by any chance it didn’t work out, honestly, after spending so much of Aunt Zhao’s money, Lu Yuan would be too ashamed to show his face.

But for Zhao Qiao’Er,

the money was nothing.

To put it bluntly, from the very beginning, Zhao Qiao’Er never expected Lu Yuan to make a profit.

She just wanted to give her sweetheart money to play around with.

For the Zhao Family, calling this amount of money a drop in the bucket might be a bit too arrogant. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

But it really wasn’t a large sum.

The Zhao Family’s income from Spirit Stones alone was in the millions annually.

This little bit of money was really nothing.

What Zhao Qiao’Er was worried about was that if sales were poor, her sweetheart wouldn’t be in a hurry to take her.

After all, in the warehouse that day, she had been so wild she had almost stripped herself completely bare...

And her sweetheart still hadn’t taken her.

Zhao Qiao’Er could see it clearly: her sweetheart was determined to wait until this business succeeded.

He was being stubborn.

...

「In the early morning, a string of firecrackers went off.」

The shop in Taiping City had opened.

There was no need to hire shills; the shop was already packed with a crowd.

Lu Yuan and his whole family were on the second floor of the shop.

They were drinking tea and watching as the firecrackers went off. After the Shopkeeper said a few auspicious words, a stream of customers began to pour inside.

From the fourth day of the new year when work started until now, the second day of the second month, it had been about a month.

During this month,

the factory had produced one thousand bicycles, fifteen hundred tricycles, and four hundred hand-cranked washing machines.

As the star products, the vehicles were naturally produced at maximum capacity.

As for the hand-cranked washing machines, they weren’t sure if they would be a big seller, so they made fewer.

If it didn’t work out, they would convert the workshop to produce something else.

Currently, the Zhao Family had six shops in total.

One was in the Provincial City.

The other five, including the one in Taiping City, were in county-level cities.

The manufactured products were first supplied in large quantities to the Provincial City, with the rest divided among the five county cities.

「Just before noon.」

The Shopkeeper from the Taiping City store came upstairs, his face beaming, and announced to Lu Yuan and the others:

"Madam, Factory Director, of the two hundred tricycles in our shop, we’ve already sold more than sixty!

Of the one hundred bicycles, we’ve sold twenty!

And of the fifty hand-cranked washing machines, we’ve sold thirty."

Lu Yuan wasn’t surprised at all by the strong sales of the bicycles and tricycles.

After all, this was something he had anticipated.

But he hadn’t expected the hand-cranked washing machines to sell so well too.

But on second thought, it was actually quite normal.

The city wasn’t like the countryside; there were still many middle-class families here.

A price of eight maces of silver was still acceptable for these middle-class families.

As the Shopkeeper finished speaking, everyone’s face lit up with joy.

’They’re selling fast, aren’t they?’

’But everyone knew it was still early!’

’It wasn’t even the peak yet~’

When the first batch of buyers started riding these vehicles all over the city...

When everyone could see how convenient they were...

’That’s when things would really get crazy!’

And from the roaring business at the Taiping City shop, one could get a glimpse of the bigger picture.

The business in the other four county cities and the Provincial City must also be excellent.

Hearing this, Lu Yuan stood up, very satisfied, looked at the three women, and said:

"Alright, let’s go check on the greenhouses on the west side of the city."

The moment Lu Yuan spoke, Su Liyan quickly looked at her man and said:

"Darling~ It’s almost time for lunch~"

Lu Yuan smiled at his wife and said:

"What’s there to eat? You’ve all been feeding me this and that all morning. I’m already full."

But Song Meiqin quickly interjected in a charming voice:

"Yuan’Er, don’t go.

On such a happy occasion, we should go to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion for a drink~"

’At this rate, nearly a month of the factory’s output will be sold out in three days, tops.’

’This is what you’d call a blowout sale!!’

’We can already start planning for the future.’

’Next up is expanding our workforce and increasing production.’

’This is such a happy occasion, of course we should celebrate with a drink. Why doesn’t my man seem excited at all?’

Hearing Song Meiqin’s words, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but grin mischievously.

"We’ll have a good drink when we get home tonight.

Everyone head home early tonight."

With that, Lu Yuan leaned in close to Aunt Zhao, who had been silent the whole time, her face flushed as she was lost in thought.

Gazing at Zhao Qiao’Er, who still seemed a bit dazed, Lu Yuan reached out, pinched Aunt Zhao’s mature, beautiful cheek, and whispered:

"Auntie~ Go home early tonight and have a good wash~

The little wolf is coming to eat the big white sheep~"