“Phew…”
Liu Feng exhaled a warm breath, tugged at his collar, and gazed out at the clear, spotless blue sky. Lost in thought, he murmured, “It’s getting colder… Looks like the cold current from the Forbidden Mountain Range is on its way.”
“Young master, based on last year’s timing, there are only five or six days left before the first snowfall of winter,” Nicole said gently, handing Liu Feng a cup of hot tea.
“I see.”
Liu Feng frowned, withdrawing his gaze from the window. He turned to the foxgirl working on paperwork nearby and asked softly, “Anri, how many furnaces have we produced so far?”
“Just a moment, let me check.”
Anri picked up another notebook from the desk and quickly flipped through it.
Liu Feng had set up a desk and chair for Anri in his study, placed to the left side. Most administrative tasks were now handled by the foxgirl- he only needed the key figures and the general direction of things.
Just a glance at the dozen notebooks stacked on Anri’s desk was enough to see how busy she was. All the territory’s data was reported to her and sorted before being brought to Liu Feng’s attention.
“Young Master, there are currently 3,000 ceramic furnaces,” Anri said as she flipped through the notebook. “We’re producing about 150 a day right now.”
“And how many people are there in West Sun City now?” Liu Feng raised an eyebrow. That number of furnaces wasn’t enough at all- the daily output was too low.
“Young master, the population of West Sun City is about 9,000 now,” Anri replied, switching to another notebook. “Over the past ten days or so, people have continued arriving from other cities. The most in one day was 300 people.”
“Oh? That many?”
Liu Feng was surprised- the number had far exceeded his expectations.
“Young Master, have you forgotten winter is coming?” Mina said softly, swinging her legs. “Winter’s hard to get through.”
That line made everything click for Liu Feng. Winter meant snow. Without food or ways to stay warm, many people wouldn’t survive.
And the message he had Niu Wu spread was simple: anyone who came to West Sun City to work would be guaranteed full meals and a place to live.
No wonder so many were coming. Most of them probably came with the mindset of “treating a dead horse as if it were alive.” They’d just be waiting to die in other cities- why not take a chance in West Sun City?
“Have the ceramic furnaces displayed in the Shopping Mall,” Liu Feng instructed. “Put the honeycomb coal out as well. Only those with IDs or temporary residence permits can buy them- don’t sell to merchants for now.”
Winter was coming. Having a furnace at home could chase away a lot of the cold, as long as it was connected to the ventilation pipes.
“Understood.” Anri jotted down the command in the notebook she always carried with her, then asked worriedly, “Young Master, what if the merchants cause trouble?”
“If they cause trouble, lock them up in the Police Department’s jail for a few days,” Liu Feng replied coolly.
He recalled how many people had already been locked up in the Police Department these past few days- like that fat guy named Hal. On the first day in solitary, he was shouting about duels and whatnot, but after three days, just seeing Tess made him shiver. They practically had to drag him out of there.
“Heehee… Young Master, they wouldn’t dare stir up trouble openly,” Mina said, pulling out a palm-sized notebook from her pocket and handing it to Liu Feng. “They’re all talking about whether to use commoners to smuggle things and bypass the tariffs.”
Of course they wouldn’t make a scene. Everyone who’d been thrown into the little black rooms these past few days had left the Police Department in a state of sheer terror. Word had spread that the Police Department was a place where demons lived.
And Tess was the head demon. No one dared mess with her. Even people caught brawling one minute would hug and cry like long-lost brothers the moment she showed up.
Some lazy people had deliberately caused trouble just to get free food and shelter in jail. But after three days in the black room, they almost lost their minds.
“Smuggling?” Liu Feng took the notebook and flipped through it carefully. The intel had been gathered from the second floor of the Drunken Night Restaurant.
If one wanted to know how popular Drunken Night Restaurant was, they just had to look at the private rooms on the second floor. They were always fully booked by merchants at mealtimes. They’d go there to brag, flatter each other, and, of course, talk business.
Snippets of their conversations were picked up through hollowed-out sections in the room and bamboo tubes leading underground, where listeners recorded everything. The intel was then filtered and sorted by Mina and Niu Ben.
“Interesting. Trying to dodge tariffs already? Looks like I really can’t expect too much integrity from merchants.” Liu Feng’s lips curled into a cold smile. Using commoners to break up bulk goods into smaller quantities to slip past inspections- it was basically the same as using purchasing agents on Earth.
Actually, it wasn’t quite the same as back on Earth. The costs here were even lower, and the merchants stood to gain even more. All they had to do was pay the commoners a small fee.
Liu Feng thought that he couldn’t underestimate these greedy merchants. Once their profits were threatened, their brains became full of devious tricks.
“Young Master, should I arrest them all?” Mina drew a military knife, her blue eyes flashing coldly as she toyed with the blade. “I’ll bring them in right now.”
“No. That’d be letting them off too easy. If they dare break the rules, then they need to pay a price.” This time, Liu Feng had decided to make an example out of someone- to send a message to those merchants with sneaky intentions. He could make them money, but he could also make sure they earned nothing.
“What are you planning, Young Master?” Mina asked curiously.
“Next time they try to smuggle, I want them caught red-handed. Confiscate all their goods, lock them in the black rooms for three days, and then expel them from the city. Put them on the blacklist- they’re not welcome back.”
If they refused to earn money honestly within the rules, then they wouldn’t earn at all. Let them try their tricks elsewhere- he’d cut off their profits entirely.
“Those merchants are probably going to cry in the bathroom,” Anri said with a chuckle. Judging by the profits in West Sun City now, all the merchants were raking it in. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many of them coming.
“Have Niu Da strengthen border surveillance. I don’t want to hear about any illegal border crossings,” Liu Feng said seriously.
He had to keep full control over West Sun City’s development during its early stages.
“Yes!”