novelraw Chapter 780: Is Wu City Really Viable?
Chapter 780: Is Wu City Really Viable?
A colorful array of dried fruits was laid before everyone, exuding a rich fruity fragrance. Yun Siniang took a bite, and her taste buds were instantly filled with happiness. What kind of heavenly dried fruit is this? It’s so delicious!
Many people sneakily tucked the dried fruits into their sleeves, wanting to bring them home for their families. They hadn’t tasted such delicious dried fruits in years, not since the apocalypse.
"AHEM. You’ve been too generous, little sister. As a guest from afar, let me give you some of our Yun Gui specialties: bamboo mushrooms, matsutake, black truffles, and morels." Yun Siniang’s heart ached. Alright, alright, I know you’re wealthy! Let’s leave it at that! Saying this, she pressed several pounds of dried mushrooms into Jing Shu’s hands, for her alone. As for the others, she simply couldn’t spare any more.
Jing Shu could tell by their quality that these were excellent items. Unfortunately, they were all dried. She had many dried black truffles gathered in her space as well, and her supply was dwindling. Otherwise, she could have taken them into her space, extracted the spore powder, and cultivated them anew, producing countless little mushrooms!
All sorts of incredibly fresh mushroom soups made excellent bases for hot pot, or they could be simmered with lamb or chicken to create delicious broths.
Jing Shu was very satisfied. She pretended to use the black box to obstruct their view, but in reality, she reached into her space. From the ten-cubic-meter chocolate fountain she had acquired from a wealthy American’s villa, she scooped out several pounds of chocolate, packed it into a special box, and gave it to Yun Siniang.
Ten cubic meters of chocolate was an enormous amount. Jing Shu ate it from time to time, devising various ways to enjoy it: chocolate hot pot, chocolate mousse, chocolate coffee, chocolate candy, and chocolate milk tea. It was incredibly delicious, and she never tired of it. Unfortunately, she hadn’t even consumed a ton yet. She feared she would never finish it all in her lifetime.
Speaking of which, there was still quite a lot of Haagen-Dazs ice cream left. Towards the end, she found herself increasingly reluctant to eat it.
Chocolate was difficult to give as a gift back home, but being away provided an opportunity. More importantly, she didn’t feel the pinch.
In these times, anyone who could produce milk, eggs, and similar items was considered a person of means. This was even more true for someone who could offer such high-quality, processed chocolate.
After two large spoonfuls of chocolate, Yun Siniang completely surrendered. This confection was simply divine, smoother than milk... it was truly her greatest love!
When Jing Shu subtly hinted that she had a channel to purchase this kind of chocolate, Yun Siniang was thoroughly won over.
Jing Shu planned to slowly release the chocolate to cultivate a good relationship with Yun Siniang.
They quickly drafted various agreements. Originally, Jing Shu’s group was to be given a dilapidated, abandoned warehouse in the suburbs. However, Yun Siniang couldn’t offer a better gift in return (in truth, because she was pained to part with her scarce remaining stock). Ultimately, they decided to hand over the former Cigarette Factory to Jing Shu. It wouldn’t even need renovations or new hires; she could start production immediately with the first batch of people she brought.
"Although the Cigarette Factory shut down, several hundred people still live inside," Yun Siniang explained. "You’ll need to recruit 20% of the locals from among them. For the rest, you can use my brother’s employees. This way, I won’t have to bother evicting anyone. As for equipment, apart from some large, unmovable metal pieces, there’s nothing left. You’ll need to acquire your own."
Jing Shu nodded eagerly, like a chicken pecking at grain. Their biggest cost for cigarettes was labor, not raw materials. As long as they could manage the labor and the critical daily food supply, other issues would be much easier to handle.
Ahua stepped forward. "Then let’s hurry and recruit good people and organize the work. We can start production tomorrow and ship the day after. We’ll also need you to find distribution channels and start advertising by tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Ship in one day? You should know we need at least fifty thousand cigarettes to even begin," Yun Siniang said, baffled and struggling to keep up.
Don’t cigarettes need to be grown? she wondered. That’s right, her brother had mentioned they were extracted from a new species that appeared after the apocalypse.
But even then, wouldn’t they need to prepare the materials, remoisten them, store the leaves, shred them, dry the tobacco, mix leaf and stem strips, add flavoring, add casing, and so much more? All those steps were necessary.
All in all, while not as complex as brewing alcohol, it was still a complicated process. Ship out products in a single day?
If it were truly that simple, and then the raw materials were stolen and cultivated by others... this Wu City cigarette brand might not last long.
Can Wu City really pull this off?
Soon, Yun Siniang would find out if Wu City could indeed pull it off.
After the meal, Yun Siniang had four people carry her sedan chair. Accompanied by her subordinates and Lao Bai, she personally went to the local Cigarette Factory. They gathered several hundred people for Ahua to choose from.
Ahua looked at the group of emaciated, listless people—dark, gaunt figures who seemed to be nothing but skin and bones. He announced, following the previously agreed method, "We are initially recruiting only fifty people externally. I will now announce a task. Complete the task to earn points. In two hours, the top fifty scorers will be recruited!"
The crowd nodded, their responses weak and listless. Some even said they just wanted to continue living inside the factory and didn’t care whether they were employed or not.
Ahua took a deep breath and shouted the benefits for permanent employees, "Even if you’re not recruited, it doesn’t matter! Everyone’s points can still be exchanged for cigarettes at a special internal rate! Those who are recruited will receive one cigarette per day and three full meals. You’ll also earn points based on performance, which can be used to purchase cigarettes at an internal price!"
Upon hearing this, the veteran smokers at the Cigarette Factory grew agitated, shouting excitedly for Ahua to announce the tasks.
The tasks Ahua announced were simple: clean up their designated work area, organize the staff canteen, clear out the inventory warehouse, and implement anti-theft measures.
Then, the final task: a cigarette-rolling speed competition. The faster and better someone rolled, the higher their points.
The personnel from Wu City that Jing Shu had brought began to assume their respective duties. There were record keepers, inspectors, people responsible for reconciling accounts and goods, and others who started allocating housing.
Third Aunt had already taken a group with ingredients to set up the canteen and investigate locally available food supplies.
Uncle, along with Ahua, began to familiarize himself with the various management tasks.
Yun Siniang’s main purpose in accompanying them was to see the newly discovered post-apocalyptic raw material. She hadn’t expected it to be a cartload of fist-sized insects!
"Shouldn’t we take confidentiality measures? What if someone steals a few and breeds them?" Yun Siniang was very worried. After all, she was a partner now. These people’s methods were good in many ways, but they lacked professionalism.
Jing Shu smiled. She casually grabbed a few annoying, palm-sized mosquitoes and tossed them toward the insects. Under the light, as soon as the mosquitoes flew near, they were sucked dry.
Yun Siniang gulped. So vicious! They don’t even spare mosquitoes!
Jing Shu retrieved one from inside the Hulk’s body. "Mutated ticks," she explained. "They are hermaphroditic, cannot mate, cannot lay eggs, and cannot be artificially cultivated. How would anyone manage to breed them? If someone could actually figure out a cultivation method, it would solve a major problem of the apocalypse and also resolve our fundamental supply issue. These raw materials are finite; each one used is one less. They’re a non-renewable resource."
It was just that the supply of raw materials seemed almost inexhaustible, much like when petroleum was first discovered.