Tales of the Herb Garden

Tales of the Herb Garden

An eight-person little herb garden—first, calculate the expenses.

In this world, the minimum annual living expenses for a normal family of five were 57 gold coins.

The herb garden's situation was somewhat better, since the land belonged to them, as did the property, allowing them to first eliminate the major expense of rent.

But food, fuel, and clothing were expenses that could never be avoided.

By this calculation, the herb garden's minimum fixed annual living expenses came to 72 gold coins, or 1,440 silver coins—an average daily expenditure of 4 silver coins.

In other words, they had to earn more than 4 silver coins a day just to ensure the herb garden did not go bankrupt.

And that was only the minimum expenditure.

Gao De had now become the Garden Master. Naturally, he could no longer eat rye bread and pea soup every day like a black slave; the food definitely had to improve.

That was another considerable extra expense.

At present, the herb garden's only fixed output was one batch of Novice Spider Venom prepared by Gao De each day.

Phil's Herb Shop offered 2 gold coins for a batch of Novice Spider Venom. The raw materials cost around 30 silver, leaving a profit of roughly 10 silver.

However, since the herb garden could produce some of the herbs itself and did not need to purchase them from the herb shop, the cost could be reduced to between 20 and 25 silver, raising the profit to 15 to 20 silver.

And every batch of Novice Spider Venom Gao De prepared produced an additional half ounce of potion.

That meant for every twelve batches of Novice Spider Venom he made, he could produce one extra batch.

"Buy twelve, get one free"—three hundred and sixty batches a year, with thirty batches thrown in.

At this point in his calculations, Gao De could not help but let out a breath.

Fortunately, Mage Seda had painstakingly built up a fairly large herb garden in his early years and trained several apprentices who knew how to cultivate herbs. Otherwise, Gao De would truly have wanted to run away.

With a profit of 15 to 20 silver and expenses counted as 5 silver, there would still be a daily surplus of 10 to 15 silver.

That came to 300 to 450 silver a month.

And 3,600 to 5,400 silver a year.

Taking the middle value, the annual surplus was 4,500 silver. Converted into Sien Gold Coins, that was 225 gold.

Two hundred and twenty thousand a year. The purchasing power of one Sien Gold Coin was roughly equivalent to one thousand yuan from Gao De's previous life. After calculating it in his head, he arrived at a preliminary estimate of his annual income.

I definitely need to give the others a share too. Ten gold coins in annual dividends for each person, and I'll still have an income of 150 Sien Gold Coins.

Only with dividends would everyone truly be tied to the same boat, willing to work harder and regard themselves more as part of the herb garden. Gao De understood that principle.

As for the thirty "free" batches of Novice Spider Venom, they were pure profit—returns from his own ability, requiring no dividends.

At 2 gold coins per batch, that was another 60 gold coins in revenue.

One hundred and fifty plus sixty—that makes two hundred and ten Sien Gold Coins.

If I can open the Arcane Wooden Box Mage Seda left behind, and if there are potion recipes inside, perhaps the income can rise even further.

Besides, those two apprentices capable of preparing Restful Slumber Potion might be able to raise their success rate through practice.

Some of the herbs produced in the herb garden are ingredients for Novice Stamina Potion. I haven't mastered that potion, so those herbs can be sold as well.

That's another source of income. It won't be much, but it's stable enough.

Well, isn't this just a management simulation game? After finishing his calculations and coming back to himself, Gao De could not help but laugh.

It felt as though the whole style had suddenly changed.

It still feels like something's missing.

Gao De pondered for a moment, thought of something, and immediately got up to fetch paper and pen, writing furiously.

A moment later:

Name: Seda's Herb Garden

Personnel: 8

Fixed assets: One herb garden, four herb fields (producing Serpent Tooth Herb, mountain mugwort, Alpine Ironwood Root, and Sunfire Fruit respectively)

Cash on hand: 8 copper coins

Fixed expenses: 4–5 silver/day (living expenses)

Income: 15–20 silver/day (fixed output of Novice Spider Venom); unpredictable irregular income not counted for now

Irregular expenses: Herb seedlings, fertilizer, materials needed to prepare "nutrient soil"

Looking at the homemade panel he had listed on the paper, Gao De nodded in satisfaction.

Now that was more like it.

By this calculation, this herb garden had plenty of potential.

Gao De was immediately filled with drive.

Though he had no choice but to be driven.

The entire herb garden was now relying on this little bit of output from him!

As the hope of the entire garden, Gao De immediately rose and headed to his workroom, where he prepared a batch of Novice Spider Venom on the spot.

Budding Month, sixth day, early morning.

Gao De, whose injuries had not yet fully recovered, left the herb garden with the batch of Novice Spider Venom he had prepared yesterday and headed for the commercial district in the city.

It was not that he was so eager. It was simply that there was no food left in the house.

Either Mage Seda had put all his savings into the Arcane Wooden Box, or he had possessed no savings to speak of in the first place.

In any case, when the apprentices cleared the ruins, they had not found so much as a single copper coin.

And the herb garden's daily expenditure of at least 4 silver coins could not be avoided.

Fortunately, the herb garden bought several days' worth of food at a time, and Gao De still had "savings" of 10 silver and 8 copper. That was the only reason they had barely managed to hold out for several days.

But by today, they truly could not hold on any longer.

After several days of spending, Gao De's savings had been almost completely exhausted, leaving only 8 copper coins. Without any new income, everyone would have to go hungry.

This was not Gao De's first time going to Hogan City's commercial district, but it was indeed his first time leaving the herb garden in the early morning.

When Mage Seda had still been around, Gao De had needed to "work" in the mornings. Only in the afternoons, after preparing potions, did he have some time to himself.

The cool morning air carried an inescapable stench of urine and filth.

That was because Gao De had already reached the Slums of Hogan City.

With the herb garden located in the Outskirts, it was practically impossible to avoid the Slums when heading toward the city center.

Once I have money, I'm definitely hiring a carriage for my commute. The dignified Garden Master, whose only means of transportation was still his own two legs, set himself a small goal. Then he held his breath and quickened his pace.

By the time he passed through the Slums and residential district and reached the commercial district, the sun was already hanging high overhead.

Though it was not yet the busiest time of day, pedestrians had already begun appearing on the streets.

With his purse embarrassingly light, Gao De ignored the enticing aromas drifting from the food shops on both sides of the street and headed straight for Pierre's Odds and Ends.

He only had one batch of Novice Spider Venom on hand.

Phil's Herb Shop would not accept such a small amount.

So even though Pierre's Odds and Ends offered 7 silver coins less than Phil's Herb Shop, Gao De could only choose the former.

When Gao De arrived at Pierre's Odds and Ends, he happened to catch Pierre just opening the shop's front door.

Since Gao De had always come in the afternoons before, he had never expected Pierre's business hours to start so late.

In his impression, small shops like this should keep something like "eight in the morning to ten at night" hours, earning their money through hard work.

Compared to Gao De's surprise, Pierre was even more astonished to see him.

"Kid, it's been a long time. I thought something had happened to you," Pierre greeted him first.

Starting from the fourteenth day of Awakening Month, Gao De had been confined by Mage Seda. It was now the sixth day of Budding Month.

By that count, more than twenty days had passed. No wonder Pierre's first reaction upon seeing Gao De was surprise.