Chapter: The Manor Deal
It was a sunny afternoon.
Cheng Yu and Marcus set out to visit the manor.
Along the way, Mina followed behind Cheng Yu, her cold eyes locked onto Marcus like a predator stalking prey.
Marcus squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze.
Cheng Yu had warned Mina that if a slave killed someone, the slave owner would be implicated too.
Mina didn't want to cause trouble for Cheng Yu, so she settled for glaring daggers at Marcus without actually doing anything to him.
The three of them headed north and left Bailu Town behind.
A dense jungle stretched between Bailu Town and the Northern Fortress. The environment was peaceful, almost idyllic.
Golden sunlight filtered through the gaps in the canopy, forming scattered pools of light on the forest floor. The air smelled fresh—grass and wildflowers mingling together in a way that cleared the mind.
The gravel road, more than ten meters wide, cut through the woods and extended all the way north to the fortress.
If you stood at a hundred meters high and looked into the distance, you'd see a towering mountain range stretching across the northern horizon—thousands of miles long, like a Great Wall holding back the demons from the northern Demon Domain.
That mountain range was the northern border of the Black Sun Empire: the Snow-Capped Mountains.
The Snow-Capped Mountains didn't just block the northern demons—they also blocked the cold air from the north. South of the mountains lay warm, fertile forests. North of the mountains lay frozen, barren snowfields where nothing grew.
The mountains were the real MVP in the war between demons and humans.
After leaving Bailu Town, the three walked north along the gravel road for more than ten minutes.
In the woods beside the road, an artificially cultivated farm came into view.
The farm was laid out in a neat rectangle—over 300 meters long, more than 200 meters wide. Roughly a hundred acres total.
The black soil was rich and fertile, so packed with nutrients it looked like you could squeeze oil from it.
The farm was surrounded by forest, separated by a simple wooden fence.
A Gothic-style manor stood in the northwest corner of the property. It consisted of three connected townhouses covering several thousand square meters. Colorful flowers bloomed around the buildings, adding a splash of beauty to the scene.
Cheng Yu looked at the manor and the farmland, quite satisfied. "How much?"
"One hundred fifty gold coins," Marcus said with a smile.
Land prices in a border town like Bailu were cheap. A hundred-acre fertile farm plus a manor for just over a hundred gold coins was a fair price.
"One hundred fifty gold coins isn't expensive, but I don't have that much money." Cheng Yu spread his hands helplessly.
He'd spent ninety gold coins buying Mina last time. Now he only had about thirty gold coins left. Not nearly enough for this manor.
Marcus's fat face lit up with a grin. "That's fine. If Brother Cheng Yu can teach me the secret recipe for your fried rice, I'll give you this manor for free."
Ah. So that's his game.
Merchants chased profit, and Marcus had been eyeing Cheng Yu's egg fried rice recipe for a while now.
He'd calculated that Cheng Yu wouldn't have much money left after buying the orc slave, so he'd deliberately brought him out here to see the manor—planning to trade the property for the recipe.
Cheng Yu raised an eyebrow. "That fried rice recipe took me a lot of effort to develop. I put serious work into it."
"So you're not willing to trade the recipe for this manor?" Marcus's expression darkened slightly.
"I didn't say that. You just need to add more."
"Add more? How much?"
"This manor plus a hundred gold coins."
Marcus's eyes darted around as he weighed the benefits in his mind.
If he got Cheng Yu's fried rice recipe, he could open several fried rice restaurants in nearby major cities. He'd recover his investment within a year, easy. Massive profit potential.
"Alright. Deal."
Marcus agreed to trade the manor plus a hundred gold coins for Cheng Yu's egg fried rice recipe.
The three of them entered the manor. Cheng Yu found a pen and paper and wrote down the recipe—the ratio of egg mixture to salt, the method of steaming rice, the order of adding MSG, green onions, and other seasonings, and the exact frying time.
The Celsis Continent didn't have MSG. Cheng Yu figured that after Marcus opened his restaurants, he'd sell MSG to him at a premium.
This was what you called "controlling the core technology."
Both Cheng Yu and Marcus had their own schemes.
Marcus was overjoyed to receive the fried rice recipe. He immediately drew up a property transfer contract with Cheng Yu, and both pressed their fingerprints to seal the deal.
Just like that, ownership of the manor transferred to Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu had been living in an apartment in Bailu Town.
Now that he had his own manor, he could move there.
The next day, Cheng Yu hired a carriage. He and Mina loaded up everything from the apartment and moved it all to the manor.
The manor sat right along the gravel road leading to the Northern Fortress. Transportation was extremely convenient.
Beastfolk were hardworking and practical people. Mina hauled belongings and cleaned the house, tidying up the living room and bedrooms until everything was spotless.
That evening, Cheng Yu made glutinous rice steamed pork ribs as a reward for Mina.
In front of the long table in the living room, Mina picked up a rib and tasted it. The texture was soft and glutinous, fragrant and savory—absolutely delicious.
"It's so good. Every dish you make is amazing," Mina said happily.
[Host has gained +5 Favorability from Mina]
The system chimed.
After more than a week of feeding her well, Cheng Yu and Mina's favorability had climbed to 70 points.
Just 30 more points, and he'd unlock one of the Silver Wolf Clan's innate abilities.
Mina stood about 1.75 meters tall—statuesque, with slender, well-proportioned legs visible beneath her maid skirt. As she ate the steamed ribs happily, her snow-white tail swayed back and forth.
Cheng Yu's gaze drifted to the fluffy wolf tail. "Mina, can I touch your tail?"
"You can, but don't touch it for too long. My tail is... sensitive."
If this had been a week ago, Mina would've died before letting Cheng Yu touch her tail. But now, her impression of him had improved so much that she agreed without hesitation.
Rubbing his hands together, Cheng Yu's face lit up with excitement. He walked around behind Mina and gently stroked her large, fluffy tail.
Touching a beastfolk's tail felt almost exactly like petting a cat.
While stroking Mina's tail, Cheng Yu slipped his arm around her soft waist and leaned close to her ear—just one centimeter from the fluffy animal ear. "Stay with me, and I'll make you delicious food every day."
"I... I have a master-servant contract with you, so I'll follow you anyway."
At such close range, Mina's cheeks flushed red. Her eyes darted around like a startled deer. "You've been busy all day. Let me give you a back massage."
Her tail slipped free from Cheng Yu's hand. She pushed him down into a chair and started massaging his shoulders.
At seven o'clock the next morning, several cavalrymen rode their warhorses up to Cheng Yu's restaurant.
The lead rider was a red-haired young man with a straight back, wearing silver-white armor and a sword at his waist. He looked to be in his twenties, with a dignified, noble bearing.
The red-haired young man dismounted with a smile. "Hello, friend. I'm Karl Mueller, captain of the cavalry. You can call me Karl."
"Hello."
Cheng Yu studied the red-haired man.
This guy's presence was completely different from the ordinary cavalrymen. He seemed like a nobleman.
"The buns you make are delicious. I was hoping you could supply more every day."
There were over a hundred people in the cavalry unit. Cheng Yu's daily limit of a hundred buns wasn't nearly enough for everyone.
"Supply more? How many do you need?" Cheng Yu asked.
"There are over 190 people in our cavalry unit. If each person eats five buns... a thousand total."
Cheng Yu and Mina could make about 150 buns per hour. A thousand buns would take roughly seven hours.
Cheng Yu wasn't exactly a workaholic. When he'd run the restaurant, his business hours had been 10 AM to 2 PM—four hours total.
He wasn't about to work seven hours a day now.
"I can provide up to 800 per day."
"Only 800?"
Karl's tone carried a hint of disappointment, but he didn't push. "800 works."
Cheng Yu did the math. Each bun sold for 20 copper coins. 800 buns would bring in 16,000 copper coins.
Selling egg fried rice brought in 6,000 to 10,000 copper coins per day. Selling buns was clearly more profitable.
Cheng Yu decided he'd close the restaurant in Bailu Town and stop selling fried rice. Starting tomorrow, he'd make buns and sell them from the manor. That would save him rent too.
"You don't need to come here tomorrow. I live in the manor north of Bailu Town now. Come directly to the manor to buy buns."
"Perfect."
Karl smiled and nodded. Tomorrow, he and his soldiers would get to eat even more delicious buns.