Chapter 53: The Golden Goose

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: The Golden Goose

Niu Ding’s hands ached from counting so many coins every day. He not only ordered his private gathering teams to dig up green potatoes and pick wild mustard greens for storage, but he even had his son mobilize the five thousand Beastman troops under his command to join the effort. They had to turn over every inch of ground in the surrounding mountains before the rainy season arrived.

Regarding the City Lord’s latest order to go dig up those blasted green potatoes, the Beastmen felt that the City Lord and the Little City Lord—those two bulls—had definitely lost their minds.

Although they enjoyed eating vegetables, they still needed to eat meat! Otherwise, their bodies would feel soft and weak, with no strength or energy.

Niu Dou’s personal guard, Yang Sen, was pushed forward by the other Beastmen to act as their spokesman. He came to ask, "Little City Lord... the rainy season is approaching. Why aren’t we hunting Thick-horned Beasts to stockpile?" ’Why are we digging up green potatoes? Can green potatoes provide as much energy as meat?’

A rare, profound smile appeared on the Little City Lord Niu Dou’s usually honest face. "Just do as you’re told."

’Are we digging up dirt? No! We’re digging for coins!’

...

At this point, whenever Niu Ding looked at Feng Si, he saw a golden goose. He not only had the Chief Steward personally invite Feng Si over, but he also received her in the largest hall, usually reserved for discussing political affairs.

Inside the spacious hall, the City Lord sat behind a desk at the far end of the room. Four desks were arranged symmetrically along the sides, two on each. Currently, only Feng Si was present, sitting at the first desk on the right and looking down at a ledger. Yang Wen stood by the City Lord’s side.

Yang Wen had written everything clearly in the ledger. Their partnership was a fifty-fifty split of the pure profit, and he had set the cost Feng Si provided at a high price of 500,000 coins.

Seeing that the City Lord wasn’t causing trouble and was actually keeping his word by generously sharing the profits, Feng Si said nothing and continued reading.

The revenue for seven days was 9.72 million coins. After deducting the 500,000 in costs, the remaining profit was split in half, leaving 4.61 million coins for her.

Niu Ding gazed at the top of Feng Si’s head of black hair, overcome with emotion. "I never would have imagined that seven days of selling food could bring in as much as half a month’s tax revenue for my entire city. If only I weren’t about to set off for Pantian City to pay tribute to the New Beast King..."

His tone was filled with clear regret. "If we just expanded the workshop and added more staff, we could earn so many more coins!"

"Lady Feng Si also mentioned earlier that once the market in Nantong City is saturated, we can expand to the territories of other City Lords. Cang City alone has a population in the tens of millions..."

Yang Wen chimed in with praise. The thought of the bonus Feng Si had proposed to the City Lord for him—one hundred coins for every one million in store revenue—made him squint his eyes in bliss as he stroked the beard on his chin.

He was thoroughly impressed by this capable sub-female, filled with nothing but admiration.

"Ah, that’s right! You’re a true genius at business, and a genius at cooking, too." Niu Ding looked at Feng Si, inwardly praising his own foresight for not letting this treasure slip through his fingers.

As the room filled with their flattery, Feng Si’s downcast eyes glinted. ’In a situation like this,’ she thought, ’the City Lord would probably agree to any request I make without a second thought.’

She looked up from the ledger and smiled faintly. "I’ve looked it over, and there are no problems. Since the City Lord values me so highly, I’m also willing to show my sincerity. Why don’t I register for a new Identity Card in Nantong City and become a resident sub-female? Then I, too, would be one of your subjects, City Lord."

Niu Ding nodded. That was right. If a treasure like her had a Nantong City Identity Card, then no matter where Feng Si went in the future, she would be considered a sub-female of Nantong City. She would be his subject.

That’s right. It didn’t matter where Feng Si came from before. From this day forward, she was a sub-female of Nantong City.

"Yang Wen, go make the arrangements right now. Bring the Steward from the sub-female affairs office over here to process a new Identity Card for Feng Si," Niu Ding ordered, turning his head.

Elsewhere, the Steward of the sub-female affairs office was shocked to be summoned by the City Lord. Issuing an Identity Card to an adult sub-female by directly registering her photo, without going through the transfer process? This was unprecedented.

’Why is the City Lord treating this ugly sub-female so specially? She doesn’t look like his long-lost illegitimate child. If she were, the Lady of the City would have acted by now. Who on earth is this sub-female?’

As she recorded the photo and fingerprints, too many questions clogged the Steward’s mind, but unfortunately, she wasn’t in a position to ask.

With the City Lord’s decree, it took Feng Si no more than half an hour to receive her new Identity Card. The finance Steward also presented her with a brand-new Coin Card registered in her name, into which her share of the profits—4.61 million—had already been deposited.

From now on, for the weekly settlements, Feng Si wouldn’t have to come over like she did today. They could simply verify the accounts on a light screen, and the payment would be transferred directly to her Coin Card.

Before she left, the Lady of the City, Mao Xianing, came over. Smiling, she gave Feng Si a pair of golden bracelets and spoke to her as if she were a younger member of her own family, "Come visit the City Lord Mansion whenever you have time."

Feng Si accepted the gift and smiled at the Lady of the City. "Thank you for the gift, Lady of the City. I like it very much. If you don’t mind, I’ll have the workers set aside ten portions of roasted meat and boiled meat for you every day."

"Yes, yes, of course! I wouldn’t mind at all!" Mao Xianing was unexpectedly delighted, and the affection in her eyes as she looked at Feng Si deepened even more.

...

Feng Si handed over all the business matters to the City Lord Mansion to manage. Once everything was on the right track, she was finally no longer as busy as before.

After returning home from the City Lord Mansion, Feng Si paid Bai Qingqing the 1,500 coins to cover the gathering fees. Now, all she had to do was prepare two hundred portions of food every morning—which used about forty jin of meat—and then she could comfortably nest at home and wait for her egg to be laid.

She had to admit, it was already more than ten days past the estimated gestation period for a peacock’s egg, but there was still no sign of movement in her belly.

Feng Si was a little bewildered. She had searched the internet for information on the Peacock Clan’s reproductive cycle, but unfortunately, she couldn’t find anything relevant.

So, after worrying for a while, she could only console herself with the thought that this was, after all, a male peacock from the Beast World. The gestation period was bound to be different from that of modern times.

Especially since her stomach was still very flat. It only looked slightly rounded, like a girl’s belly when she was on her period. There was no visible sign of pregnancy at all.

’Don’t rush.’

Feng Si told herself, then settled into nurturing the egg in her belly with peace of mind.

One day, a light rain began to fall outside, blanketing the world in a gray haze. A chill wafted through the closed-off room, heralding the end of the dry season and the arrival of the rainy season.

Feeling a little cold, Feng Si got up and went to the kitchen stove. She pulled open the small iron door beneath it. As long as a fire was lit here, the heat would travel through three large iron pipes inside, running to the walls and floor and warming the entire house.

’Convenient, right? The problem is, I forgot to stock up on fuel!’

Feng Si, whose mind had been working a bit slowly since she became pregnant with the egg, only just now belatedly realized that she hadn’t bought any of the long-burning black briquettes needed for the cold season.