Warlord: Starting with Subduing Little A Qiao

As soon as the soft voice came out, the entire newspaper office lobby suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Du Fei froze as he adjusted his glasses, then blinked and patted Lu Erhao beside him.

"Erhao, should I go see an ENT specialist? I feel like I'm hallucinating?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Erhao, who was standing to the side, seemed to realize what was happening and immediately pinched Du Fei's thigh.

Only after hearing Du Fei let out a scream did Lu Erhao mutter to himself.

"It's really real? Am I dreaming?"

The newspaper director opposite Feng Chengcheng finally realized what was happening.

He asked again, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Chengcheng, you said your interview was successful?"

As soon as he said this, his colleagues in the newspaper office lobby started asking him questions one by one.

"real or fake?!"

"Is April Fool's Day coming up soon? Chengcheng is quite humorous!"

...

Seeing the suspicion in everyone's eyes, Feng Chengcheng, unaware of what had happened before, carefully explained the situation.

"Yes, I went to the Paramount Ballroom today. Mr. Ye was very cooperative and even took a photo with me..."

When it came to taking photos together, Feng Chengcheng's cheeks flushed slightly.

She became increasingly beaming with smiles.

As soon as he said this, all the colleagues' eyes immediately turned to He Shuhuan.

How come this is different from what Shu Huan just said?!

He Shuhuan felt everyone's gaze upon him, and his face flushed even more.

He felt a surge of resentment in his heart.

It's all Ye Bai's fault!

Meanwhile, the electronic voice rang clearly in Ye Bai's mind once again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have gained 1,000 points of He Shuhuan's defense penetration value!]

...

Upon hearing the electronic voice, Ye Bai's lips curled up again.

Another free armor penetration boost!

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Participating in the Bidding for the Waterworks! Feng Jingyao Watches the Tigers Fight from the Sidelines!

Paramount Mansion, study.

"Is water really that expensive?"

Ye Bai looked at the industry financial statements in his hand and frowned slightly.

Compared to the fact that water costs only one yuan per kilogram in most places in later times, the water price at that time was simply astronomical.

He never expected that water bills would account for a large portion of the expenses of his businesses.

Wang An, the bodyguard who was also in the study, then explained.

"When I was a child, I might only take a bath once or twice a year, simply because I couldn't afford it. On other days, I'd just go to the Huangpu River to wash..."

Do you only take a bath once or twice a year?

Upon hearing this, Ye Bai paused for a moment, even as he flipped through the reports.

Seeing the rare look of shock on Ye Bai's face, Xiao A Qiao nodded in agreement.

"Yes, water bills in Shanghai have always been expensive."

At this point, Ye Bai asked curiously.

What makes it so expensive?

Upon hearing this, Xiao Aqiao organized her thoughts and began to explain in a slow voice.

"The waterworks in Shanghai are basically controlled by foreigners. The processing technology is complex, so the cost is naturally high. How can ordinary people afford to use them?"

Seeing Ye Bai nod, Xiao Aqiao continued speaking.

"Ordinary people basically use well water."

As he listened to Xiao Aqiao's explanation, Ye Bai finally understood.

Shanghai does indeed have waterworks.

However, they were all established by foreigners in the French Concession and the International Settlement, and were supplied to the upper class.

Due to the complexity of the project and the high quality of the water, the cost was naturally high.

For ordinary people, the water price charged by the waterworks is somewhat unaffordable.

Therefore, many people prefer to use river water and well water as their drinking water source.

Even if all of this water is of poor quality.

However, as the city expanded and its population increased, Shanghai's sewage treatment system was not perfected.

Household waste and sewage are dumped directly into the river, causing the water quality to deteriorate and become almost undrinkable.

As a result, the river water became undrinkable, so people had to draw well water from underground.

As a result, wells sprang up almost everywhere in Shanghai.

The problem is that some of the water drawn from the well is bitter and salty, making it undrinkable; this is called brackish water.

Only a small number of wells produce clear and sweet water, and these are known as sweet water wells.

This has led to a scarcity of sweetwater wells.

Naturally, some people will fence off these sweet water wells and sell them for money.

A few years ago, there was even a slogan that said "a spoonful of well water is worth an ounce of silver".

While that may be an exaggeration, it is enough to illustrate the preciousness of sweet water wells.

Later, the Sweetwater Well came under the control of a few local bullies, which led to the emergence of the term "water tyrant".

These water bullies not only harass the water delivery people, but they also bully the people who buy the water.

Not only do they frequently and arbitrarily raise water prices, but they also threaten to stop water delivery at the drop of a hat.

This has led to ordinary people having to be mindful of the whims of these water tyrants even when they want to get water.

At this point, Ye Bai gradually understood.

In short, getting water from the waterworks is expensive, and buying water from a water tycoon is also expensive.

This is the real reason why water prices remain high.

At this moment, Xu Wenqiang, who was standing to the side, also spoke up in confusion.

"Is the government not going to intervene?"

Xu Wenqiang had not lived in the south before, so it's understandable that there are questions.

Upon hearing this, bodyguard Wang An rolled his eyes, his tone becoming even more indignant.

"The government only cares about asking the people for money; it doesn't care about the people's actual life or death."

Nodding in agreement with Wang An's statement, Xiao Aqiao continued.

"Our mansion's water comes partly from the waterworks and partly from well water. The waterworks have always been a public utility, and the pricing power has always been in the hands of foreigners. As for the well water, the pricing power is naturally in the hands of the water tycoon."

However, upon hearing this, Xu Wenqiang suddenly realized something.

"A while ago, a foreigner advertised a tender for a waterworks project..."

Tender?

Upon hearing this, Ye Bai's eyes immediately lit up.

If he owned a waterworks, wouldn't that solve the problem of his expensive water bill?

Thinking about this, Ye Bai pondered the possibilities even more carefully.

If there were a waterworks, it would save on current water bills and allow for the installation of taps directly in the plant area, avoiding the hassle of fetching water.

As for the complexity of waterworks technology, it's probably because the current technology level is still at a relatively low level.

For Ye Bai, that was a piece of cake.

At this moment, he thought of the tap water filtration technology he had seen in the system store last time.

Everything is ready, except for the final push.

Thinking of this, Ye Bai spoke directly to everyone.

"Let's build our own waterworks."