At this moment, Chen Xuan had to maintain a calm expression, as if everything was under control, "How about it... this room shouldn't be worse than the guest room provided by the Government Office, right?"
"Not worse at all, they're completely incomparable!" Liu Shuyue muttered, "I can feel the Spiritual Qi here is abundant, greatly beneficial for cultivation, even the meditation chamber of the Lotus Cloud Sect can't match this place.
Is there really such an abundance of Spiritual Qi?
Why can't I feel it?
Chen Xuan raised his eyebrows, pressing this doubt deep into his heart, "Only VIP customers can enjoy this benefit. Of course, the price of this room isn't cheap, I'll give you a discount, five thousand per day."
He naturally set the five thousand on the spot.
"Five thousand what? Five thousand silver pieces?"
"Five thousand universal currency." Chen Xuan originally wanted to show her a banknote but then remembered everyone uses electronic wallets now, so he changed his wording, "There's no physical form of this currency and it's not exchanged one-to-one with silver... but you don't need to worry about that, the pricing here is absolutely within a reasonable range, you're certainly capable of paying. Even if you can't pay now, it's okay, I'll give you credit."
Liu Shuyue was half-believing, half-doubting.
But she couldn't bear to leave such a Cave Heaven Blessed Land.
If this news reached the Sect, those seniors would certainly spare no effort to occupy this place.
Most importantly, she needed to see this store manager every day, not once every few years—at least until the refugee issue was resolved.
Owing money is just owing money... it's not like she won't pay it back.
After a struggle in her mind, Liu Shuyue bit her lip and nodded, "Then I'll be imposing."
Chen Xuan had already guessed one thing... probably every room's environment varies according to individuals. When the customer registers for accommodation, the room automatically matches their identity and background to give the guest a homely comfort, emphasizing humanitarian care.
When he retired, could he become a premium customer as the next store manager, bringing along his abilities?
"Why is there another door over there?" Liu Shuyue suddenly discovered something new.
Chen Xuan followed her gaze and saw that there was indeed a door embedded in the rock wall across the pond.
"Open it and you'll see." he replied vaguely since he didn't know either.
Liu Shuyue, trusting his words, directly leaped into the clear pond, walked on the water, and flew over. Opening the door, she exclaimed in surprise, "Outside is... my residence!"
At this moment, Chen Xuan also made his way around the pond.
He saw that outside the door was an ordinary side room, the incense in the copper kettle was still burning, emitting a faint osmanthus fragrance, matching Liu Shuyue's scent. The window was half open, outside was the familiar corridor and courtyard.
Isn't this Zhangwei City's Government Office?
He could even see the shop's supposed location—right across from this room.
But it was merely "location" as before, because now across was an ordinary house with neither a plastic door curtain nor a roller shutter, as common as could be.
It seems that as long as he closes the shop door, the shop indeed temporarily disappears.
"Going round and round, we're back at the Government Office?" Liu Shuyue couldn't help but laugh softly... this was the first time Chen Xuan saw her relaxed after meeting her, "This works well, saves us from greeting the Governor."
"Now you understand, don't you? The back door doesn't fixate on one spot." Chen Xuan had also grasped the room's rules, "Its purpose is to allow guests to return to the VIP suite at any time, and the suite's door connects to the shop... this way, you can contact me anytime."
"The Sumeru Mustard Seed Transfer Technique?" Liu Shuyue marveled, "I only heard of such a magical method in the world before, never expected to witness it firsthand today."
Chen Xuan smiled but said nothing.
It's best if she could find an explanation herself.
"Then without further delay, I'll go integrate the refugees outside the city right away." She looked invigorated, as if rejuvenated, "The food issue is up to you."
"Certainly." Chen Xuan didn't forget to remind her, "While food is crucial, don't underestimate the importance of organization. These supplies aren't related to the Government, so processing, storing, distributing, and recording must be handled by the refugees themselves. You must exert all your abilities and become a leader that everyone trusts for this relief to be successful."
Watching Liu Shuyue leave, he returned to the first floor from the guest room and opened the shop's roller shutter.
As expected, outside was the familiar Celestial Ridge District.
"Next is seeing how much food can be acquired."
Chen Xuan was full of confidence in this.
After all, in areas stricken by famine, grain was precious, but over here, it's abundant.
Currently, a total of seven thousand refugees, even if it increases to tens of thousands as Liu Shuyue predicted, it's not an exorbitant number.
Especially since Great Qi's disaster relief system was already operating, surrounding state cities were gathering grain and funds for Zhangwei, which would arrive within a week to half a month. He just needed to help refugees survive this period.
The reason Chen Xuan was confident was due to the first pot of gold he earned from Hundred Herbs Hall.
How much rice can two million buy?
Casually using the calculator and based on the local rice wholesale price, it could buy a whopping 364 tons of raw rice! Calculated with each adult consuming 250 grams of raw rice daily, enough for a hundred thousand people to eat for a month!
Of course... this is for three full meals per day, for those suffering from famine, having just a bowl of porridge would be heavenly, doubling the number of people wouldn't be a problem either.
Even if the budget surpassed, he could supplement it by further alchemy, pulling Liu Shuyue along to refine hundreds of pills per day for a considerable income.
Chen Xuan immediately fetched the phone number of the seller from the wholesale market and started inquiring about prices one by one.
"...You wish to procure that much rice? Is there a record?"
"Price is negotiable... but we can't handle that large amount privately.
"Yes, you'd best cooperate with a nearby supermarket that has the qualification to purchase grain."
After making several calls, Chen Xuan realized this wasn't as easy as he thought.
As an individual business operator, the amount of grain he could buy was regulated!
Offhand, after checking, he found something called a "Grain Procurement Certificate." Without it, he was restricted to purchasing only 50 tons annually!
For a small community supermarket, stocking 50 tons of rice per year was more than enough, selling half of it would already be considered good.
But aiming for 364 tons, the 50-ton limit seemed insufficient.
Now what?
Chen Xuan couldn't help but scratch his head, the promise was made, he couldn't back out midway.
Getting a certificate was clearly too late, how about pulling some strings?
The boss of Hundred Herbs Hall has been in business for many years, might have channels for this. But what's his relationship with Xu Wangxian, why would he help him do something against the rules?
Walking around the shop twice, Chen Xuan's gaze suddenly stopped at the shelves.
There were two packets of instant noodles displayed.
Still his newly stocked goods.
Right! A sudden idea hit him, staple grains like rice had a limit, but instant noodles didn't!
What if he switched to supplying instant noodles?
Community stores sell them for 2.5 yuan each retail, bulk purchase could lower the price quite a bit, switching to cheaper brands could negotiate to 1.5 yuan each.
Chen Xuan immediately picked up the calculator, hitting the keys he found that switching to instant noodles would increase cost compared to rice, but not by much overall. For instance, calculating at 1.5 each equals 1.33 million packets, one packet a day could keep a person alive, high salt and oil are all advantages, nutrition is even more plentiful!
He called the wholesaler again.
"Boss, are you sure you want so many boxes of instant noodles?" They sounded somewhat astonished.
"Yes, don't mix in near-expiry stock. Got any?"
"Absolutely! I'll pull from across the city if need be! But... given the quantity, a prepayment may be required." The caller cautiously replied.
"No problem, add me on WeChat, let me know the amount for direct transfer." Chen Xuan responded cheerfully, "I have one request, the faster the shipment, the better."
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