First in Line, Please Come In
While Jiang Youfu is highly skilled in cooking, there are areas of food preparation he hasn't explored before, such as tea making.
However, as a seasoned gourmet, Ma Changlong had not only studied the dishes but also the tea-making techniques. Therefore, after he became Jiang Youfu's disciple, the Lingxian Sect Spirit Cuisine Hall expanded significantly in various food categories.
Li Zhouxuan had tasted some of the spiritual tea from the Lingxian Sect before. After all, the Li Clan had frequent dealings with the Lingxian Sect in the past, and he was also quite familiar with Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe, so they would send him some tea privately.
However, Mo Yuanjiao said that he had put more effort into growing the tea this time, and it was better than the tea from the sect in previous years.
Li Zhouxuan opened the tea canister, took out a small wooden tongs, took out a small piece of tea and put it into the purple clay teapot next to him, and then placed the tea canister on the small antique shelf next to him.
The small kettle beside the desk was boiling silently. He took out a booklet of various plans that he had discussed with Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe over the past two days, along with some Jade Slip contracts, from his Lock Ring, and placed them all on the file rack on the desk.
The Lock Ring provided by the sect had a large capacity, but Li Zhouxuan didn't stuff everything into it. He only put some of his most important items and various office documents in it.
He kept all his everyday odds and ends in a Storage Bag Storage Bag, which was made by Mo Yuanjiao. There was no other way; nowadays, everyone in the sect used Lock Ring, and Storage Bag were used much less.
Storage Bag are only used when transporting large quantities of goods; the disciples usually find Lock Ring more convenient.
The desk was already equipped with the Four Treasures of the Study (writing brush, ink stick, inkstone, and paper) and other items needed for signing contracts, such as specially made cinnabar. After Li Zhouxuan checked and found nothing wrong, the kettle next to him began to gurgle.
The water is ready.
He lifted the kettle and poured hot water into the Yixing teapot. The delicate fragrance of the tea wafted out from the spout of the teapot along with the soft steam, filling the room with its aroma.
Two disciples from Azure Cloud Peak shared an office with him and assisted him with his affairs entered. Smelling the fragrant aroma filling the room, they greeted him with smiles, "Good morning, Brother Li. You're making tea so early."
"Good morning," Li Zhouxuan replied with a gentle smile, then took out three teacups and poured tea for the two of them, saying, "Have a taste together."
The two accepted the tea, expressed their gratitude, and walked to their desks.
Two clanging gongs sounded in the courtyard outside, signaling to everyone in the affairs center that it was time to open the main gate.
A short while later, there was a knock on the door of Li Zhouxuan's office, which had a sign that read "Foreign Trade".
A long line of people stood prominently outside the door.
They were all leaders and elders of various sects and royal families.
They originally rushed in all at once, but it was only after an old man from the original Xiushui Village, who was hired to guard the gate, reminded them, "Don't rush, line up and do your business one by one," that they roughly formed a queue.
Li Zhouxuan and the other two Azure Cloud Peak disciples immediately got to work.
"Please come in, first one!" Li Zhouxuan to the outside world.
Although he had been emperor for many years, he adapted very quickly after shedding his lofty status in the mortal world.
Upon hearing the sound, the two people standing at the front entered.
The visitors were Venerable Xunfang of the Crimson Firmament Sect, and the sect's second elder.
"Please have a seat here." A disciple gestured for them to sit opposite Li Zhouxuan's desk.
The two sat down, and Li Zhouxuan asked them, "What brings you two here, and what business do you need to conduct?"
The Second Elder turned to look at Venerable Xunfang beside him.
"The leader of the Crimson Firmament Sect, whose pen name is Xunfang, has come specifically to rent a shop in the city's commercial district for my Crimson Firmament Sect," Venerable Xunfang said.
Li Zhouxuan quickly jotted down information about the Crimson Firmament Sect and other matters in the small booklet in front of him, while asking:
Currently, only No. 1 Street is open for leasing in the city's commercial district. Each shop on No. 1 Street is the same size, 50 square meters. Shop locations cannot be selected; they can only be determined by lottery. Rent is waived this year, and rent will be charged starting next year.
As he spoke, he tore off a page from the booklet he had just written and handed it to Venerable Xunfang: "This is your sect's lease receipt. You can take this receipt to the shop rental office next door to sign the lease contract and draw lots."
Venerable Xunfang took the small piece of paper, which only contained simple information about their sect and was marked with the number one.
Immediately afterwards, he heard the young cultivator opposite him ask again:
"Does your company have any interest in taking on the transaction orders from Xiushui City?"
"Naturally." Venerable Xunfang nodded. This was exactly what they had come for. On New Year's Eve, after the Lingxian Sect brought up this topic, they were handed over to the Li Imperial Clan to receive them. The problem was that the Li Clan was not prepared at the time and did not explain in detail. They only gave them a general understanding of past transactions, and nothing was actually settled.
Li Zhouxuan then pulled out several bound sheets from the side and handed them over, saying, "This is our Trade Center's purchase order for next month. The types of goods to be purchased, the prices, and the grade requirements are all marked on it. If your clan wants to take on a particular order, you can check the box next to that order and indicate your clan's shipment volume."
Venerable Xunfang took the list, scanned it with his Divine Sense and immediately understood its contents, then handed the list to the Second Elder beside him.
This list contains a wide variety of items. Some of these items are things their sect can make, while others are things they've only ever bought at high prices from the Immortal Cultivation Realm, and they themselves don't know how to make.
But what surprised him most was the purchase price of each item on the list.
Surprisingly, it's not low.
The Lingxian Sect is aware that most sects in the Mortal Realm do not know how to make some of these items, and they will later set a reasonable price to sell these production methods.
But not now.
Many sects here haven't done business with the Lingxian Sect yet. Even if they revealed the production method, they might not trust it and buy it. Besides, they haven't taken on these kinds of orders before, so their proficiency is definitely not high.
To avoid sects from overextending themselves by rashly buying production plans and taking on numerous orders, it would be better to wait until they develop a certain level of trust in the Xiushui City Trade Center before offering them for sale.
Li Zhouxuan immediately took another list from the shelf and handed it over, "This is our shipping list. Your sect can take a look at it. If there is anything your sect needs on it, you can check it and write down the quantity you want to buy. Of course, these items will also be sold in our shops in the city starting today, but that's the retail price. This list shows the bulk selling price given by our center, which will be lower."
Then Venerable Xunfang reached out and took the Divine Sense to browse it.
He was even more surprised when he saw the types of items and their prices.