Starting Today, I’ll Work as a City Lord

Chapter 159: Strong Merchant Team

“The merchants want us to lift the purchase restriction…” Nicole talked about how the merchants had been hoarding goods for the past few days, and Anri had placed a restriction on the amount of goods that could be purchased.

“Oh? Interesting.” Liu Feng was a bit surprised. I didn’t expect these merchants to have such good eyes, immediately discovering the business opportunities of the shopping mall. Sure enough, there’s no shortage of smart people no matter where it is. But you’re dreaming if you think you can swallow all the goods from the shopping mall.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Anri walked in, having washed off the flour on her face.

“Great job setting this purchase restriction,” Liu Feng said, giving Anri a thumbs up. “You did a great job at looking after our home.”

“…” Anri scratched her cheeks, embarrassed by the comment. Her face was a little red.

“But Young Master, what do we do next? The merchants keep asking for the purchase restrictions to be lifted,” Anri said worriedly. “Even if we limit their purchases, they would just buy in turns and quickly empty the goods as soon as they get restocked.”

“Don’t worry, I already have a solution,” Liu Feng said, smiling lightly and shaking his head. “Nicole, have someone announce that the Drunken Night Restaurant will open tomorrow and have people spread the word that I will go to the Drunken Night Restaurant.”

“Understood!” Nicole nodded and immediately wrote it down in her notepad.

“Right, is there any information on the merchants?” Liu Feng asked, turning to look at Anri. “I want the information on the most powerful ones among those merchants.”

“There is!” Anri pulled out a notepad, flipped to a page, handed it to Liu Feng, and said, “The most powerful merchant here is a man named Solo. He is a merchant from the capital, and I heard that he has a strong merchant team.”

“Strong?” Liu Feng looked at it carefully for a while and then closed the notepad. Everything depends on their choices tomorrow, as they only have one chance.

“Young Master, are you planning to meet those merchants at the Drunken Night Restaurant?” Anri asked, frowning. “Won’t this give them too much power?”

“Who said I’m planning to take the initiative to meet them?” Liu Feng smiled, his eyes flashing with wisdom. “Have someone make 10 invitation tickets, send 5 of them to the 5 most powerful merchants, then spread the word saying that those who attend the banquet will have the opportunity to receive the rights to be supplied¹ the largest amount of goods from West Sun City.”

“What about the other 5?” Nicole asked, curious.

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“Put the remaining five out secretly; the highest bidders will get them.” Liu Feng said. “Merchants value profit. They were able to share goods harmoniously before, but what about this time?”

“Infighting!” After thinking about it for a while, Anri understood the purpose of the plan. She also understood that the most important thing was the banquet after the opening of Drunken Night Restaurant. Looks like Young Master already has a plan. It’s definitely much easier and relaxing to have a pillar of support back home.

“The human race is good at infighting, especially when it comes to their own interests.” Liu Feng said.

The people present all thought about this statement, and Tess and Mina soon gave up. Only Anri and Nicole seemed to understand something.

“…” Liu Feng glanced at Tess and Mina, who had bitter expressions on their faces. Is this the difference between honor students and bad students? Or do people with strength develop their brains slower?

“Alright, don’t think about it for now,” Liu Feng said, breaking the silence. “Anli, how much wheat is there in the city now?”

“A lot, Young Master.” Anri got excited talking about the wheat. “The granary is almost full, and there’s enough for the whole city to eat for a year.” Anri only included the wheat that the citizens paid in taxes and not the wheat the commoners had left.

In the past, Carter would take 80% of the wheat as taxes, half-fill the granary, and sell the rest to the grain merchants for a few gold coins.

“A year’s worth?” Liu Feng nodded with satisfaction. With this amount of wheat, along with the wheat brought back from North Wind City, I can push forward the wine brewing plan.

“Young Master, the weaving factory and the spinning factory have started production. However, they lack workers, so they aren’t producing much,” Anri said, reporting another important affair.

“We have brought back people; you can recruit workers tomorrow. The most important thing is to take measures to make sure it is kept secret. I don’t want the two machines to leak out,” Liu Feng said. “Cloth will become one of the most important items of our West Sun City.”

“Understood!” Anri decided to send more people to keep watch on the two workshops. Whoever dares to try sneak peeks or secretly learn them will be sent to the mines to dig ores for 30 years.

“By the way, is Weiya not back yet?” Liu Feng asked. He glanced around and didn’t see Weiya anywhere.

“Almost. Weiya is normally back around this time for lunch,” Nicole said softly.

“Does Weiya have something important to say to me?” Liu Feng remembered that Weiya had wanted to say something before he had left for North Wind City.

“Let Weiya come back and tell you herself,” Anri responded.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

And just as they were talking about Weiya, Weiya appeared.

Upon seeing Liu Feng, Weiya’s light red eyes lit up immediately, and she said happily, “Welcome back, my lord.”

“So tall!” As soon as she saw Weiya, Tess walked over and compared their heights. “She’s really tall!”

“Hehe…” Mina laughed softly. “Weiya is the tallest person in the City Lord’s Mansion.”

Weiya looked at the girl in front of her. Where did my lord entice this beastkin from?

“Ah, I almost forgot to introduce her.” Liu Feng smiled lightly. “Her name is Tess; she came back with us from North Wind City.”

“Hello everyone, I’m Tess, a cow beastkin. I’m very strong. Just tell me about whoever dares to bully you; I can beat them up,” Tess said, patting her chest.

Anri’s eyes lit up. She looked at Mina, then looked at Tess, and instantly became down again. She gritted her teeth, saying, “Damn it, why is everyone who come here big fierce² women, we can’t even interact peacefully.³”

“Hmmm?” Anri suddenly thought of something, raised her head to look at Tess again, stroked her chin, and thought, is there a secret to why she can grow so big? I’ll ask for some advice when I get the chance.

“Let’s eat,” Liu Feng smiled, waving his hand. “Let’s eat first and then deal with the problems later.”

“Mmm!” Weiya nodded and smiled lightly, no longer reserved like before.

Translator’s Notes:

¹ Not if this is supposed to be the rights to supply goods or the rights to be supplied with goods.

² 凶. Means fierce. It has the same pronunciation as 胸, which means breasts. So 大凶女, which means big fierce women, is a pun for big-breasted women.

³ 平. Means peaceful, normal, flat. So 和平相处, which is normally used to mean interacting peacefully, can also mean interacting with flats.