Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

"Now their profits are basically all used for expansion."

Of the fifty-three cities, seventy-eight shops have now been acquired, including eight top-tier Wushuang hotels, fifty Fuyuan restaurants, and twenty Fushan inns.

Three of the Wushuang hotels are already profitable, three are breaking even, and two are continuing to invest in expansion. Of the remaining hotels, 50% are profitable, 30% are breaking even, and 20% are incurring losses.

In general, they are now self-sufficient, but don't expect them to contribute much revenue to the treasury, because they have a five-year plan to open hotels in all the cities of the two great powers of Longguo and Yanguo within five years, and each large city must have one Wushuang Hotel.

So they're playing a snowball game right now, the snowball keeps getting bigger and bigger, but when they'll be able to benefit from it is anyone's guess.

"I never expected that sleazy old man Jia would have such guts! It's quite an unexpected turn of events. I only asked them to open a few more branches to expand their business, but I didn't expect them to be so aggressive!"

Mo Yuming never expected that his Fu-Jia combination would be so effective.

"What's truly impressive is Master Fu. He's a completely different person now, a veritable tycoon. He's far more charismatic than Jia Shan. If Jia Shan hadn't always insisted on a steady and pragmatic approach, he might already have over a hundred shops by now!"

"Really? I never imagined that Mr. Fu, with his fat and chubby appearance, would actually be such a lucky charm!"

Mo Yuming pictured the image of a carefree, chubby old man in the canyon who was always smiling. If he shaved his head and wore a cassock, he would look like Maitreya Buddha incarnate.

If it weren't for the two of them taking the magic crystals they picked up from the canyon and selling them to raise funds, Mo Yuming wouldn't have achieved what he has today.

"Without their financial input, can the current fiscal situation still be sustained?"

"It's barely manageable. The hotels in Jian'an City, Luoxia City, and Shangyuan City are all doing very well. With the revenue from the Huilongdao Underground City, the revenue from the Wushuang Hotel, and the tax revenue from each city, we can basically maintain normal operations."

"The arsenal currently produces about two thousand weapons per day. Once the three weapon refiners from Shangyuan City join, the production capacity should increase further, and the final output is estimated to reach three thousand weapons per day."

So now the military's soldiers can basically complete the re-equipment in just one month, and most of the weapons produced afterward can be sold, in addition to basic military supplies reserves.

Besides the Huo family's share and the expenses of the workers and weapon refiners, there should be a good profit. We should hold a meeting of the elders to come up with a plan on how to develop this weapons market. I will chair this meeting; we can't afford to have a repeat of the ill-considered situation from the last weapon refiner incident.”

……

"Sister, are you really from Peach Blossom Village? What's the scenery like there?"

After discussing some important political matters, Mo Yuming changed the subject and asked about Huang Xiaoxiao's background.

"I was too young at the time. I was only three years old when my parents took me away from Peach Blossom Village. I can't remember the scenery there at all. I only remember that the house I lived in was very big and grand. There was a large pond in front of my house, which was full of lotus flowers."

My mom's lotus root soup is also very delicious!

"Huang Xiaoxiao thought about it carefully for a while and then said."

"I know an old lady who said she also came from Peach Blossom Village. Her cooking is also very delicious. I heard she's almost at the level of an eight-crown dragon chef!"

I think you look somewhat like her; maybe she really is your maternal grandmother or some other elder!

Mo Yuming recalled Huang Rongrong saying that she had once been the island master of Peach Blossom Village. Hearing Huang Xiaoxiao say this, he suddenly felt that there should be some connection between the two.

"I heard Uncle An mention that my great-grandmother disappeared when my grandmother was very young. The family searched for her for a long time but found nothing."

We should be almost a hundred years old now. If our great-grandmother hadn't suddenly disappeared, we wouldn't have ended up in that situation.

If that old woman really was from Peach Blossom Village, she might actually be my great-grandmother.

Huang Xiaoxiao was feeling a little down.

"Grandma Huang should have returned to Peach Blossom Village by now. We'll know when we have the chance to go there and meet her!"

……

"My lord, young lady, may I come in?"

Before they knew it, dusk was approaching. Yun'er came to the terrace and asked Mo Yuming if he was having dinner there.

"It's been a long time since I ate with my sister. Today I want to try her cooking again and see if her skills have improved!"

Mo Yuming said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll go cook!"

Xiao Xiao immediately got up and happily went to the kitchen with Yun'er.

"Yun'er, come and eat with us. There aren't many people who can eat the dishes made by the young lady these days."

After the table was filled with a large amount of food, Yun'er quietly turned around and was about to walk out of the house when Mo Yuming quickly called her back.

"Come on, I've never treated you like a servant. There's no need to be so reserved. After all, this is just a family dinner, just the three of us. Your young master won't mind."

Seeing Yun'er hesitate, Huang Xiaoxiao quickly spoke up. Lingyun then slowly walked back.

"I'm so full! My sister's cooking skills have improved again!"

"Good taste depends on good ingredients. The most important thing is the natural salt and seasonings you brought. Without those seasonings, even the best cooking skills are useless."

Speaking of which, the fact that so many of our hotels are able to make a profit is mainly due to salt and those secret seasonings!

Speaking of cooking, Xiaoxiao is reminded of refined salt.

"The natural salt was made by me and those old men, and the secret seasoning was made by Grandma Huang herself. They are unique and there are no other branches."

Mo Yuming smiled.

"Oh dear! Speaking of natural salt, how could I have forgotten something so important? The day before yesterday, Master Fu wrote to me asking me to prepare some natural salt, saying that the reserves were almost gone!"

Huang Xiaoxiao suddenly slapped her forehead and said.

"It's alright, I'll send someone to prepare it tomorrow."

Mo Yuming said nonchalantly. After speaking, he got up, walked around the terrace, and then smiled at the two women, saying:

"It's still early, come on, I'll take you two somewhere!"

After the meal, Mo Yuming suddenly had an idea. He remembered that he had been busy with the arsenal recently and hadn't been there for many days. So he took Xiaoxiao and Yun'er's hands and walked out of the mansion.

Mo Yuming quietly led the two to the street and bought a bunch of miscellaneous things at the general store, including food, household items, and toys, but the most were food.

Tell Xiaoxiao and Yun'er to each take some.

"Where is this going?"

Xiao Xiao inexplicably followed behind Mo Yuming, carrying a bunch of random things. It didn't look like a walk or a shopping trip, and she bought a lot of useless items.