【Probationary members: 396. Expand to view the full list.】
【Congratulations — you have earned one Team-Level Lucky Draw.】
"Old Wang really came through. He rounded up every last one of those old boys and dragged their families along too — over three hundred people showed up."
"Add in the destitute folks from the surrounding area who've been trickling in, and that's another two hundred or so."
"I'm about to hit six hundred people on my end. To found a village I need a thousand, so I'm only four hundred short."
"But those four hundred aren't going to be easy to find."
The truly desperate people living near Qingniu Town had mostly already come. It was hard to see where any explosive population growth would come from in the near future.
In this day and age, ordinary people thought simply: as long as there was food in their bellies, they had no desire to leave home — not even for ten or twenty li.
Most people in this era had never once ventured beyond a ten-li radius their entire lives.
"Last time the draw gave me that big still that brews strong liquor — I'm pulling in over twenty taels of silver a day from that. So what'll I get this time?"
Indeed, Immortal Brew had gone up in price again — now three hundred copper cash per jin.
Even the wealthy landlords in town could barely afford it anymore, yet people kept buying.
It had even begun to show signs of speculation.
The hundred jin of Immortal Brew he sent to town each day sold out almost the moment it arrived, and that was with purchase limits in place.
The tavern's selling price was three hundred cash; transactions between private buyers went even higher.
Boss Zhang, who held a thirty-percent stake in the tavern, had come to find Jinxiu just a few days ago to ask whether Jinyi might consider raising the price further.
"For now, that's fine. Immortal Brew alone is more than enough to cover current expenses."
"Under six hundred people, averaging five copper cash per person per day — that's barely three taels of silver."
"Daily material costs are low too. Even if the workforce multiplied several times over, I could still break even."
"Then let's focus on raising everyone's happiness index. What do people need most? Food, most likely."
"Should I bring in some meat?"
"Never mind. Even if I farmed it at scale and drove the price down, it still wouldn't go below rice or white flour — and if people can't afford rice and flour, they certainly can't afford meat."
"We've already cleared quite a bit of wasteland. Let's plant something high-yield."
"System, draw me some seeds for a high-yield crop."
【Congratulations — you have unlocked the right to purchase sweet potato seeds.】
【Sweet potatoes have been added to your shopping list.】
Zhao Baihui glanced at the list. Sure enough, a sweet potato option had appeared: fifty cents per jin.
"Haven't had sweet potatoes in ages. I'll grab some."
He bought twenty jin, slung the bag over his shoulder, and headed to the kitchen.
Jinxiu's mother, busy at the stove, gave a startled jump and quickly set down what she was doing, rushing over to take the bag from him.
"Master, what brings you here? Whatever you need, just tell me and I'll take care of it."
"It's nothing much — I brought some food. Here, help me get the fire going."
"Master, what would you like cooked? Let me do it."
"I want to roast sweet potatoes. You haven't made them before — just tend the fire for me."
Jinxiu's mother had no choice but to do as she was told.
That afternoon, the four maidservants returned after a busy day and came for their lessons, but when they didn't see Zhao Baihui, they went searching everywhere.
After looking for a while, they finally found him crouched in front of the cookstove with a handful of the younger children from the estate, his face black with soot, eating something with evident delight.
Jinyi took one look at that smudged, grimy face and couldn't help bursting out laughing. "Master, what on earth are you doing?" She pulled out her handkerchief to wipe his face.
Zhao Baihui dodged away. "Not yet — let me finish eating first. Jinyi, Jinxiu, come try some, quick — they're incredible."
The master had spoken, so the maidservants had no choice but to comply. Though they were far more composed about it — even finding roasted sweet potatoes delicious for the first time in their lives, they weren't about to throw dignity to the wind over it.
Zhao Baihui ate his fill, slapped his hands together, and stood up. "Steam some more for dinner — I haven't had nearly enough."
Jinyi wiped her hands and came over to clean the soot from his face.
Jinxiu's mother was still eating her roasted sweet potato when she heard the master say he wanted more for dinner, and she nodded enthusiastically. This thing was genuinely delicious — fragrant and sweet, soft and yielding. Really something else.
"Jinyi, this is called hóngshǔ — a sweet potato. I'm more used to calling it dìguā. And this is exactly what I'm planning to grow."
Jinyi nodded, picking up the rest of her sweet potato and continuing to eat. She thought it was delicious too.
"Master, will you plant sweet potatoes across all the wasteland? Will there be enough seeds? It really is quite good." She paused. "Oh — what kind of yield does it give?"
"A couple thousand to three thousand jin per mu, I'd say. At least ten times the yield of ordinary crops."
Thud. Everyone except the children dropped their sweet potatoes on the ground.
Jinxiu managed a strained smile. "Master is teasing us again. There's no such thing in this world as a crop that yields that much."
"If you don't believe me, let's make a bet — I'll wager anything you like."
Jinwen grinned. "Master's handing out rewards! Come on, everyone, get in on this."
"Ha. Ignorant little girls — you'll have your tears soon enough."
"Come with me, girls."
Zhao Baihui led the four maidservants to an empty storehouse in the back courtyard.
"I'll let you in on a secret — your master is actually an immortal!" He turned around, expecting to see their stunned expressions.
The four girls simply looked at him, perfectly calm.
Zhao Baihui felt a flicker of defeat. Were people in ancient times really this spiritually unshakeable? A living immortal couldn't even get a gasp out of anyone?
Refusing to be outdone, he swept his hand through the air. Ten thousand jin of sweet potatoes materialized from nothing, nearly filling the storeroom to the rafters.
"Wow, Master is amazing!" The maidservants erupted in excited, delighted applause.
Good lord — that was the wrong reaction entirely. Weren't they supposed to be at least a little frightened?
They'd accepted it just like that.
Revealing his hand had been a decision Zhao Baihui had weighed carefully. He was certain that going forward, he would keep producing inexplicable things. With more and more people around, it would become impossible to hide — especially from the girls who lived with him day and night.
Better to come clean, and let the four of them help him keep up appearances. That way, at least, he could fool everyone else.
"Doesn't this surprise you at all?"
Jinyi smiled. "We're not stupid. We'd already figured out bits and pieces. You spend every day with us and never have contact with anyone else — yet the things you produce could only have come from thin air."
"Honestly, we don't care whether Master is an immortal or a demon. The four of us have decided we're sticking with you for the rest of our lives."
Zhao Baihui felt a sting behind his eyes. These girls — they weren't even worried he might be some tiger spirit who'd eat them alive someday.
"All right, I'll be straight with you. I came to this world by accident. I am, well, an immortal of sorts. I have some power, but I'm still in a mortal body — I can still grow old and die."
"So don't breathe a word of my secret to anyone."
"Master, don't worry. They could starve me to death before I'd say a thing!"
Of course it was you, Jinwen. Is there anything in your world that can't be measured in food? I should never have given you the name Jinwen — 'Brocade Pig' would've suited you far better.
"Then let me tell you one more thing. My power depends on how many people I have under me. The bigger our enterprise grows and the more people we have, the stronger my power becomes."
One person equals ten yuan of power, to put it plainly.
Jinyi thought hard for a moment, then nodded with great seriousness. "I understand, Master. Jinyi will do everything in her power to help you become Emperor!"
Good grief, girl — don't say things like that out loud! What on earth is going on in that little head of yours? You don't want to make Master the Emperor — you want to send Master to an early grave!