Chapter 51: An Ox More Black-Hearted Than Me

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: An Ox More Black-Hearted Than Me

"First, find a suitable location for the factory. Then, have someone custom-order a thousand ceramic jars like this." Feng Si took a piece of paper with a drawing of a jar from the beast-hide pouch at her waist and placed it on the table.

Yang Wen nodded and picked up the drawing. The City Lord placed great importance on this matter, and he had to complete it perfectly.

"Then, over the next few days, recruit eighty workers. Also, purchase twenty thousand pounds of green potatoes and ten thousand pounds of wild mustard greens from the public. This will be the first test batch."

Feng Si laid out the tasks one by one with clear logic. She didn’t hand over the recipe, planning to go to the factory and assign the workers their specific duties only after all the preliminary work was complete.

"I will see to it at once." Yang Wen nodded respectfully. He didn’t understand why the sub-female before him was demanding a space that met specific environmental requirements, nor why she was only requesting such a small amount of ingredients. Still, he was just following orders.

’Besides, if anything goes wrong, the sub-female will be there to take the blame.’

...

The sub-female Hei Er and her family were all slaves to the Niu Ding City Lord. They had been since birth, serving him for generations as members of the incredibly loyal Black Dog Clan.

Today, Hei Er received news that struck her like a bolt from the blue. She and dozens of other sub-females from her clan had been taken from the City Lord Mansion and brought to a completely unfamiliar place crowded with other sub-females.

A chill went down Hei Er’s spine. She huddled in a corner, hugging one of her clan sisters and trembling.

The room was packed with sub-females, as if they were abandoned property, locked up and awaiting resale. A sense of panic and unease spread throughout the room.

"No, I don’t want to be sold again!" The more Hei Er thought about it, the more she broke down. ’Leaving my family, being sold to a strange master... I might never see them again.’

Helplessness, fear... The sound of soft sobs rose and fell in the spacious room.

Just then, the familiar Chief Steward sent someone to summon them all to the rooftop. He told them they weren’t being sold, just moved to a different place to work for the City Lord.

Next, the group of eighty was divided into four groups and assigned brand-new jobs.

They were sorted into Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, and Group 4. Each group was assigned a captain, then further divided into squads of ten with a squad leader. Everyone was issued two sets of white clothes with numbers on them, and a white hat.

Hei Er was made the squad leader for Group 1. While she was still reeling in confusion, the Chief Steward ordered them to wash up, change into their new clothes, and start their assigned work that very afternoon.

She boldly asked the Chief Steward if she could go home to see her family after finishing her work each day.

The Chief Steward struck her with his long whip. "The most important thing in your life is your master, the City Lord! Do you have any idea what an honor it is to be chosen? This place is of the utmost importance to the City Lord. From now on, you will all stay here! Without my permission, you are not to take a single step out of this place."

Yang Wen berated the group of sub-female slaves harshly. This was to prevent them from developing any second thoughts and leaking information about the City Lord’s profitable food venture.

Hei Er’s face was full of shame. The others looked at this "disloyal" sub-female with contempt, distancing themselves from her.

Fortunately, the Chief Steward then had someone lead them inside to begin work. Hei Er walked away quickly, clenching her fists, determined to prove she could perform the best.

The factory was located on the top four floors of a building in the South District. One of those floors was set up as the employee dormitory and cafeteria.

Of the remaining three floors, the rooftop was used for drying. The other floors, following Feng Si’s instructions, were designated as the washing workshop, the production workshop, and the packaging workshop, respectively.

"Alright, wash all of this thoroughly. Pick out any bad or rotten leaves. The green potatoes need to be peeled and then washed again." Yang Wen pointed to a mountain of food, assigning Group 1 to this task.

Hei Er hadn’t expected that being transferred by the City Lord would mean doing a simple job like washing food. Not that she was in any position to choose.

The sub-females got to work in silence, each performing their assigned duties according to the Chief Steward’s instructions.

After being washed, the raw ingredients were sent up to the next floor. Both areas grew busy. Workers bustled in front of the large stoves, boiling the green potatoes in batches. The cooked potatoes were then transported to the top floor to be sliced and sun-dried.

The hot rice water was poured into large basins to cool. An equal measure of salt was added, and finally, the dried wild mustard greens were put in. The mixture was then moved to a completely sealed room on the floor above.

A simple, manual assembly line had been temporarily established in the Beast World.

Four days later, the first batch of Green Potatoes was finished, and the Niu Ding City Lord personally came to fetch Feng Si.

Feng Si accepted the invitation and went to the top floor. Seeing the small room, its floor covered with cotton cloths and piled high with Green Potatoes, she was a little moved.

’Teamwork really is better than working alone!’

’To think I’ve been making Green Potatoes for almost a month and haven’t produced as much as they did in a single day.’

The floor had been cleared of people for the City Lord’s arrival. Niu Ding immediately squatted down and scooped up two large baskets of Green Potatoes. With a complete lack of decorum, he stood to the side and began eating them eagerly, two strips at a time, chewing with immense satisfaction.

Feng Si paid him no mind. The City Lord was footing the bill for the entire factory with his own coins, so he was entitled to eat some of the Green Potatoes.

"You’ve done a good job. Once these are packaged, they’ll be ready for sale," Feng Si said to Yang Wen, who stood behind her. She reached into a basket for a handful of Green Potatoes, then walked over to a long table in the center of the main hall and sat down on a bench.

She took a bundle of ten Green Potatoes, tied them with a cotton thread, and placed them in a palm-sized, off-white cloth bag. As she pulled the drawstring tight, she began to explain:

"These Green Potatoes, once dried, can be stored at room temperature for several months without spoiling. You can sell them in your own shops for 30 coins a bag."

Yang Wen stared at the Green Potatoes piled up in the room, his face a mask of unsophisticated shock. "What! These common green potatoes... you just boil them, and suddenly they’re worth 30 coins?!"

In fact, when Niu Ding first learned of the raw ingredients, he too was nearly frightened off by the price.

’This season, the food collected by the slaves included vast quantities of green potatoes, and they all just piled up and rotted in the warehouses!’

’Damn it! If only I had found Feng Si and partnered with her sooner! To think Green Potatoes could be sold at such a high price... I’ve lost so much money!’

Niu Ding, feigning composure, said, "Our Green Potatoes are one-of-a-kind in the entire world. Moreover, I plan to offer these Green Potatoes as one of the precious foods for the tribute to the New Beast King."

"People will be fighting over them! They’re a little sweet after being dried... Selling them at this price is still too cheap, in my opinion. I’m raising the price! I want to sell them for 60 coins a bag!"

As he spoke, he stuffed another handful of Green Potatoes into his mouth, his heart aching with regret. He chewed with a particularly ferocious expression on his face.

Feng Si: "..."

’60 coins?’ she thought, speechless. ’This bull is even more ruthless than I am.’

Yang Wen was dumbfounded. Hearing his City Lord’s grand declaration to sell the product at such a high price, he couldn’t help but think that the Lord City Lord was being a bit delusional.