The Way of Relief

Chen Xuan maintained a calm expression, as if everything was under his control. "How is it... this room shouldn't be worse than the guest rooms provided by the Prefect's office, right?"

"It's more than just not worse, they're not comparable at all!" Liu Shuyue murmured. "I can feel the abundant Spiritual Energy here, which is greatly beneficial for cultivation. Even the meditation rooms of the Lotus Cloud Sect can't compare to this place."

There's such a thing as abundant Spiritual Energy?

Why can't I feel it?

Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow, suppressing this question in his heart. "Only VIP customers can enjoy this privilege. Of course, the price for this room isn't cheap. I'll give you a discount, five thousand a day."

This five thousand was, of course, a price he'd made up on the spot.

"Five thousand what? Five thousand taels of silver?"

"Five thousand universal currency." Chen Xuan initially wanted to take out a banknote to show her, but then he remembered that everyone paid with electronic wallets now and no one carried paper money anymore. He changed his tune. "This kind of money has no physical form, and it's not a one-to-one exchange with silver... But you don't need to worry about that. The pricing in my shop is definitely within a reasonable range, and you'll definitely be able to afford it. Even if you can't pay now, it's okay, I'll let you pay on credit."

Liu Shuyue was half-believing, half-doubting.

But she truly couldn't bear to leave such a blessed place.

If the news reached the Sect, those seniors would definitely go to any lengths to occupy this place.

And most importantly, she needed to be able to see this shopkeeper every day, not be separated for years—at least until the disaster victim issue was resolved.

It's fine to owe money... I'm not going to not pay it back.

After a period of internal struggle, Liu Shuyue bit her lip and nodded. "Then I'll be imposing on you."

Chen Xuan had already guessed something... It was likely that the environment of each room varied from person to person. The moment a customer registered for accommodation, the room would automatically match their identity and background, giving the guest a sense of comfort as if they were home. The main focus was on humanistic care.

If I retire in the future, can I bring all my abilities to be a qualified customer for the next shopkeeper?

"Why is there another door there?" Liu Shuyue suddenly discovered something new.

Chen Xuan followed her gaze and saw a door embedded in the rock face opposite the pool.

"You'll know if you open it."

He didn't know either, so he could only reply vaguely.

Liu Shuyue didn't doubt him. She leaped directly into the clear pool and stepped on the water's surface as she flew over. When she opened the door, she gasped in surprise. "Outside is... my room!"

Chen Xuan had also walked around the edge of the pool.

He saw that outside the door was an ordinary side room. The incense in the bronze censer was still burning, emitting a faint scent of osmanthus, which was essentially the same as Liu Shuyue's scent. The window was half-open, and outside was the familiar corridor and courtyard.

If this wasn't Zhangwei City's Prefect's office, then what was it?

He could even see the location where the shop should have been—directly opposite this house.

However, it was only a "location." Because the place directly opposite was now an ordinary house, with neither plastic curtains nor a rolling shutter door. It was as ordinary as could be.

It seemed that as long as he closed the shop door, the shop would indeed temporarily conceal itself.

"After going in circles, we're back at the Prefect's office?" Liu Shuyue couldn't help but chuckle... This was the first time Chen Xuan had seen her looking so relaxed since they met. "This is good too. It saves me the trouble of greeting the Prefect."

"Now you understand, the back door isn't fixed in one place," Chen Xuan said, having figured out the rules of the guest rooms. "Its purpose is to allow guests to return to the VIP suite at any time, and the suite door is connected to the shop... This way, you can contact me anytime."

"Summoning Mustard Seed Transfer Technique?" Liu Shuyue exclaimed. "I'd only heard of such a miraculous technique in the world before, I didn't expect to see it with my own eyes today."

Chen Xuan smiled without saying a word.

It was best if she could come up with her own explanation.

"Then, without further ado, I'll go to the outskirts of the city to organize the refugees." She was full of energy, as if revitalized. "I'll leave the matter of grain to you."

"Naturally," Chen Xuan said, not forgetting to remind her. "While grain is important, don't underestimate the importance of organization. This food is not related to the government, so the handling, storage, distribution, and record-keeping must be done by the disaster victims themselves. You must unleash the full potential of your abilities and become a leader that everyone trusts. Only then is there a possibility for this relief effort to succeed."

After watching Liu Shuyue leave, he returned from the guest room to the first floor and opened the shop's rolling shutter door.

As expected, outside was the familiar Tianlu Residential Area.

"Next, it's about seeing how much grain I can get."

Chen Xuan was full of confidence about this.

After all, grain, which was extremely precious in famine-stricken areas, was everywhere here.

There were only seven thousand refugees now. Even if the number increased to one or two hundred thousand as Liu Shuyue said, it wouldn't be an excessively large number.

Moreover, the Great Qi's disaster relief system had already started operating. Grain and money were being mobilized from surrounding prefectures to Zhangwei, and they would arrive within half a month at the shortest, or a month at the longest. He only needed to help the disaster victims get through this period.

The reason Chen Xuan was so confident was the first pot of gold he'd earned from Hundred Herbs Hall.

How much rice could two million buy?

He quickly keyed it into a calculator. Based on the local wholesale price of rice, it could buy a full 364 tons of raw rice! Calculating based on an adult's daily consumption of 250 grams of raw rice, that would be enough for 100,000 people to eat for a month!

Of course... this was the amount for three full meals a day. For people suffering from famine, a bowl of congee would be a godsend. The number for 100,000 people could even be doubled.

Even if the subsequent expenses exceeded the budget, he could make up for it by refining more pills. At worst, he could rope Liu Shuyue into refining with him. Producing over a hundred pills a day would also be a considerable income.

Chen Xuan immediately pulled out the phone numbers of sellers in the wholesale market and began inquiring about prices one by one.

"...You want to buy this much rice? Have you registered?"

"The price is negotiable... but we can't handle such a large quantity for a private individual."

"Yes, you'd best cooperate with a nearby supermarket that's qualified to purchase grain."

After a few phone calls, Chen Xuan realized this wasn't as easy as he thought.

As an individual business owner, there were limits to how much grain he could purchase!

He didn't know until he looked into it that there was something called a "grain purchase permit." Without it, he was restricted to purchasing a maximum of 50 tons per year!

For a neighborhood convenience store, 50 tons of rice a year was more than enough; selling even half of it would be considered good.

But for a target of 364 tons, the 50-ton limit was simply not enough.

What should he do now?

Chen Xuan couldn't help but scratch his head. He had already made the boast; he couldn't back down now.

Getting the permit would obviously take too long. So, what about calling in a favor?

The owner of Hundred Herbs Hall had been in business for many years and might have connections. But what was his relationship with Xu Wangxian? Why would he help him do something that broke the rules?

After pacing back and forth in the store a couple of times, Chen Xuan's gaze suddenly landed on the shelves.

There sat two packs of instant noodles.

They were part of a recent shipment.

That's it! A flash of inspiration struck him. Staple grains like rice had limits, but instant noodles didn't!

What if he supplied instant noodles instead?

The retail price at the convenience store was 2.5 yuan, but the bulk purchase price could be significantly lower. If he switched to a cheaper brand, he could even negotiate a price of 1.5 yuan per pack.

Chen Xuan immediately grabbed a calculator. After a few taps, he found that the cost of switching to instant noodles would be slightly higher than buying rice directly, but not by much. For example, at 1.5 yuan per pack, that would be 1.33 million packs. One pack a day would be enough to survive, and its high salt and oil content were all advantages, plus it was more nutritious!

He immediately called the wholesaler again.

"Boss, are you sure you want this many cases of instant noodles?" the other party sounded flattered.

"Yes, and don't try to palm off any nearing their expiration date. Do you have the stock?"

"Of course, we have the stock! I'll source them from all over the city for you! But... it's a rather large quantity, so a deposit might be required." the other party said cautiously.

"No problem. Add me on WeChat, and I'll transfer the money directly for whatever amount I need," Chen Xuan said readily. "I only have one request: the faster you can ship, the better."