NOVEL NEXT Chapter 156: Broke as a Joke
"I need a bath first." Luo Wei had been traveling for four days without bathing during her time in the ice plains. Going on nine days now - she was even disgusted with herself.
"Yes, my lady."
Bella instructed the maids to prepare the bathtub and towels, while she stayed behind to handle the remaining arrangements.
"My lady, who might these people be?" Bella inquired, looking at those behind her.
There were four young people - two boys and two girls. They appeared rather ethereal and beautiful, not like typical servants, yet they were performing servants' duties. Could they be the ones her lady had purchased?
Lifting her skirts as she walked inside, Luo Wei replied, "They're servants I bought in the North. Make arrangements for them as you see fit."
So they were indeed purchased servants. Bella felt a surge of vigilance rise within her.
Her mistress was still young - she couldn't allow these alluring youths to cause any harm.
"The side building has no vacant rooms left. We can only arrange for them to stay in the newly built building in the back courtyard, if that's acceptable my lady..." Bella craftily assigned them to a place furthest from the mistress's chambers.
"That's fine, handle it as you see fit." Having been away for a month, Luo Wei wasn't fully aware of the new changes in the courtyard.
Because she had secretly established a ceramic kiln in the back courtyard, for safety, she had Troy purchase a large plot of land adjacent to Star Lotus Residence before leaving, to build workshops and walls that would block outsiders' view.
After a month, the new workshop building in the back should be completed.
After this long journey, while the factory outside was spending money, the factory at home was also spending money. Money was flowing like water - she wondered how much working capital she had left.
Thinking of this, Luo Wei asked Bella, "Have you compiled this month's household expenses, along with the monthly statements from Escore Dessert Shop and the ceramic trade records?"
Bella quickly replied, "Yes, everything has been compiled. Teresa brought over the shop's reports two days ago. I put them in your study. Would you like to review them now?"
"No, I'll look at them tonight."
After speaking, Luo Wei went to her private bathroom to prepare for a bath.
The maid carried wooden buckets, pouring temperature-adjusted hot water into her oversized bathtub, and scattered a layer of flower petals on top.
Steam curled through the bathroom, with a fragrant scent permeating the air.
Luo Wei removed her clothes and climbed up the small wooden steps into the bathtub. As the hot water enveloped her body, it felt like soaking in a hot spring.
It had been so long since she felt this comfortable. She leaned back against the warm wooden tub, closed her eyes, and temporarily emptied her mind.
The sudden relaxation of her tense nerves made her drowsy.
"Wake me in ten minutes," Luo Wei said to the two maids holding bath towels and clean clothes, allowing herself to drift off.
In another wing of the main building, male servants had also carried a bathtub into Troy's chambers, though they departed immediately after, as Troy preferred not to be attended to.
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He closed the door, removed his cloak, and his curly red hair was exposed to the misty air, looking like wet red silk.
There was no mirror in the room. Troy glanced at the water's surface, but the steam rising from the tub made his reflection blur.
With a soft "click", he placed his iron mask on a stool beside the tub.
Troy undressed, revealing a muscular back and toned physique, and stepped into the bathtub with his long legs.
In the rippling water, a distorted black totem was faintly reflected.
Troy closed his eyes, sank down, and submerged his head underwater.
His red hair floated like vibrant seaweed.
...
After bathing, Luo Wei put on her nightgown and robe, and went downstairs to the dining room.
The kitchen maids had already set out the meal, and Chris, who had also changed clothes, stood by the dining table. Seeing Luo Wei come down, she ladled out a bowl of chicken soup to warm her stomach.
After so many days of traveling, Luo Wei was mentally exhausted and had little appetite.
She finished the chicken soup, took a few bites of the dishes, then instructed the maid behind her, "Clear this away, I'm done eating."
Chris promptly offered a napkin: "My lady."
Luo Wei took the napkin to wipe her mouth, then went up to her study.
She first looked at the Escore Dessert Shop's reports. This month, with Siria Magic Academy on break, the shop had lost nearly 90% of its noble customers, causing profits to plummet to less than one-fifth of the usual amount.
"Hmm?"
Even after losing so many customers, they still maintained one-fifth of their previous profits?
Luo Wei puzzled through the parchment pages, finding the reason on the final page.
Half of these profits came from the city lord's family hosting banquets, while the other half was earned through Teresa's clever initiative to produce and sell cookies and breadsticks to other regions.
She had good business sense - Teresa was an excellent shop manager.
Luo Wei tapped her fingers on the desk, considering whether to open several branch stores in other kingdom's capital cities.
In another six months, Siria Magic Academy would have another two-month training break, during which Escore Dessert Shop's profits would drop again.
Her infrastructure projects in the North were progressing well - she couldn't afford to run short of funds.
However, this matter couldn't be rushed; it required long-term planning.
Opening branches in other regions required strong backing and connections. Those nobles could easily force her shops into bankruptcy on any pretext, like increasing "air taxes" or "sunlight taxes."
Luo Wei set aside the dessert shop's reports and picked up the ceramic workshop's profit statements.
Porcelain sales were decent this month, likely because Princess Lilith and the Siria City Lord had promoted the ceramic tableware, bringing in many orders.
However, Star Lotus Residence had used up its stored clay and kaolin, and with Troy accompanying her on the journey, they lacked raw materials to begin production on these orders.
Teresa had only collected deposits, so the ceramic workshop's cash flow was limited.
Luo Wei calculated roughly - this trip had cost her nearly 4,000 gold coins for houses, workshop construction, supplies, carriages, slaves, horses... Each expense seemed small individually, but added up to a considerable sum.
Even excluding the pearls and two gems used to purchase the slaves, she had spent 3,000 gold coins.
Three thousand gold coins, equivalent to 30 million RMB, had nearly depleted her savings, making her heart ache.
Fortunately, she had been prudent enough to leave the mercenaries on Demon Island, otherwise their wages would have cost another 800 gold coins.
By now, the slave merchant Zachary Bunian should have reached Demon Island - she wondered if Patrick had managed to detain him.
Oh, her precious gems~
Luo Wei slumped over her desk, mourning her lost money.
The urgent priority was to increase revenue.
The profits from the dessert shop and ceramic workshop certainly wouldn't cover her expenses, and the lumber mill in Sisda Town had to supply Demon Island, so it couldn't generate profits either.
She had almost forgotten about Hawkins' shop - there was some income there, but with over a hundred slaves to feed, it still wasn't enough.
She wondered how Laura's mulberry trees and silkworms were doing, and whether the number of silk eggs and mulberry leaves would be sufficient to support a small silk workshop.
She would need to buy more land to plant mulberry trees, build workshops, hire workers to raise silkworms, acquire looms and find weavers - not only would this not generate immediate profits, but it would require another significant investment.
Luo Wei had a headache. Was there any quick, highly profitable business that could help her recover funds as quickly as possible?
She lay on the desk thinking for a long while, but couldn't come up with any good ideas.
To make money quickly and in large amounts, she'd have to resort to robbery.
Robbery was something Luo Wei personally rejected.
There was an ancient Chinese saying: "Execute those who steal a hook, but make lords of those who steal a kingdom."
If you're going to rob, rob big - what's the point of stealing petty amounts? But she didn't have any troops at her disposal.
Yet maintaining an army required money - it was a vicious cycle.
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