Chapter 75 Invitation from the Business Union
After visiting the Angola Tribe, Xu Yi stayed for another half a day and gave some information on material research to chief Siluka and chief Monto before finally leaving.
Camby didn’t leave with him and chose to remain.
After chief Monto prepared the hundred dwarves, Camby would lead them back.
As for Xu Yi, naturally he needed to head back to Banta City first to prepare some things.
Because there was a road leading to the main road from Norma City, the travel schedule didn’t require an entire day’s travel like before. However Xu Yi left the Norma Tribe at noon and when he arrived in Banta City, it was already turning dark.
Even though it was a bit late, Xu Yi directly headed to the factory outside the city.
Although it was already under the cover of night, the two factories were brightly lit up and it was clear they were working overtime.
During this time, working overtime had already become a habit for the two workshops.
The dwarves in the magic machine workshop were all working hard on the agricultural magic machines the nobles had made orders on. As for the household magic machine workshop led by Heinz, they were all working until dark because of how popular the Magic Rice Cooker was.
Actually there were some interesting developments with the Magic Rice Cooker.
Xu Yi had designed the Magic Rice Cooker because of a sudden idea that had appeared in his mind, he didn’t think that much about it back then. When the Magic Rice Cooker was made, he found that there was a serious problem. It was that the staple food source around Banta City was grains and the bread made from those grains were the staple food around Banta City.
The Magic Rice Cooker’s abilities were very simple right now, it could only be used to cook rice and it couldn’t be used to cook bread at all. So unlike what Xu Yi had expected, the sales inside Banta City weren’t that high.
After realizing this problem, Xu Yi immediately changed his strategy. He marketed the Magic Rice Cooker to the surrounding cities, especially selling large amounts in Karma City that was famous for their rice paddies.
This chance in their plan was very appropriate. After seeing how convenient it was to cook rice with the Magic Rice Cooker, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce immediately received large amounts of orders.
Just in Karma City alone, from the companies that worked with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce on the Magic Fans before, their orders added up to a total of over seven thousand.
Adding in the orders from other cities, as well as the demand from Banta City, the task the household magic machine workshop faced now was having to make over sixteen thousand Magic Rice Cookers in a month!
Even if it was much easier to make Magic Rice Cookers compared to Magic Fans, which made it much faster to make, this was still a very tiring task.
But for a fellow like Heinz who only knew how to worry about not having any work to do, this was a very happy thing for him.
During this time, Heinz had been in the workshop daily supervising everything, even sleeping in the workshop at night, rarely returning to Banta City. There were many times when Heinz’s wife had come looking for him and they had started arguing in front of Xu Yi.
But Heinz became very excited every time the factory was filled with work, so how could he have the mind to listen to others.
After Xu Yi found that talking to him didn’t work, he just let him do what he wanted.
Heinz as the factory manager went all out, so the workers under him naturally couldn’t be lazy.
There was no need to mention the hundred slaves he borrowed from Viscount Leslie, even the hundred workers recruited after all worked very earnestly. Whenever one entered the workshop, they would always see a bustling working scene.
Of course, the reason why the workers were so full of zeal was that Xu Yi had told them through Heinz that they would receive overtime pay!
This was a very new thing for them.
For these workers, they had never heard of the concept of working overtime before.
In their knowledge, since they came to work here, they did whatever the boss told them to do, or they wouldn’t receive their wages.
But the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had opened their eyes.
Because the Magic Rice Cooker hadn’t been sold yet, so the workshop’s work wasn’t too heavy, so they strictly followed the work schedule of eight hours a day.
The workers were confused back then. Clearly there were many things to do still, so why was their rest time each day for so long?
There were many workers who were even unsettled by this. Such a strange company, could it be there was a problem?
After being here for a few days, as the Magic Rice Cooker was sold to the other cities and large amounts of orders came in, Heinz announced that they would by working overtime. The workers all became assured and felt that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was just like any other company.
But at this time, Heinz then announced that they would also receive overtime pay which confused the workers even more.
What was overtime pay? Didn’t we already discuss our salary? Could it be that after we finish the work we should do, the company will pay even more money to us?
Of course, having extra money is a good thing and the overtime pay wasn’t small. Calculating this, it was more effective to work overtime than to work their normal jobs.
So not only did the workers not reject overtime, they were actually hoping for it.
Now that they were working overtime each night, Heinz found that even though these workers were exhausted each day, they actually were quite enthusiastic when they worked overtime.
Heinz was very confused about this situation, but Xu Yi felt it was very normal.
This system was copied exactly from earth and compared to the Sines Continent, this system from earth was much more advanced.
In terms of increasing enthusiasm among workers, compared to the Sines Continent’s method of treating their workers as pack animals, there was no doubt that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s system was better.
The most obvious example was that the household magic machine workshop’s work efficiency actually increased and there were fewer problems that occurred. It was clear that the workers were focused on working and invested all their minds on it.
With their current speed, it was no problem for them to finish the order.
When Xu Yi walked into the household magic machine workshop, Heinz was inspecting the final assembly process of the Magic Rice Cooker with a very focused expression. Only when Xu YI walked over and patted him on the shoulder did he react.
“You’re back?” Perhaps it was because he had shouted too much in the workshop, but Heinz’s voice was a bit hoarse, “How did it go?”
“It’s done. If nothing unexpected happens, Camby will bring back another hundred dwarves. You…..” Xu Yi suddenly stopped.
He wanted to have Heinz prepare places for the hundred dwarves, but seeing Heinz’s red eyes, his words stopped.
“What about me?” Seeing that Xu Yi suddenly stopped, Heinz asked this in a confused voice.
“Nothing.” Xu Yi shook his head. He looked over the workshop before patting Heinz’s shoulder and saying with a sigh, “You’ve worked hard. With such a large order, you must have been working hard for several days now, right? Heinz, I urge you to pay attention to resting and give some matters of the workshop to Alex to handle. If you really collapse from exhaustion, Ria will curse me to death.”
Heinz gave a cold snort, “What does she know? She just needs to stay home and take care of the kids, does she need to care that much?”
Xu Yi revealed a smile. Based on how Ria treated Heinz before, he must not have had a high position in his home before. Now that Heinz earned more and more money from investing in the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he could stand straight when facing Ria.
“No matter what, you need to take care of your body. We have few managers in our company right now and if we’re missing you, the factory won’t be able to hold on.”
Heinz loved hearing this the most and he immediately stood straight while patting his chest. He said in a strong voice, “Relax, my body is fine, there won’t be any problems. But you’re right, my work right now is very important, so I will pay attention to my body.”
“Then that’s good.”
After talking to Heinz about a few things related to the factory, Xu Yi prepared to leave, but Heinz seemed like he suddenly remembered something.
“That’s right, Xu Yi, the Business Union of the city sent you an invitation the day before yesterday. It seems like they want to invite you to their whatever banquet.”
“An invitation from the Business Union?” Xu Yi was surprised before revealing a smile, “Heinz, it seems like our Frestech Chamber of Commerce is becoming a large company in Banta City.”
Heinz laughed, “That’s right, if those fellows didn’t recognize it as a large company, they definitely wouldn’t have invited you as the chairman to their banquet. So? Are you going?”
“Yes! Why wouldn’t I go?” Xu Yi nodded with a faint smile, “As a large company recognized by the Business Union, it is a very significant matter. How could I give up such a good thing?”
Heinz also smiled and kept nodding, “Right, right, our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has only been established for three months and it’s already being recognized by the city’s Business Union. Not to mention being the first in the Lampuri Kingdom, we’re probably even rarely seen on the entire Sines Continent. This is something others will envy if they learn of this.”
Heinz took out the invitation after he said this. Xu Yi took it to look over and found that the invitation was indeed sent by Banta City’s Business Union and it was actually signed with the Business Union president’s name.
Based on this, it seemed like the Business Union felt the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was quite important.
He waved his hand to let Heinz return to his work and Xu Yi looked over the invitation again. The look of joy that he had gradually disappeared and this time he slightly knit his brows.
“It seems like those fellow really have keen noses, they’re already locking onto us this quickly.”
Chapter 76 Magic Crystal Lamp
It was a bit cold at the end of October. The people of Banta City began to wrap themselves up with long clothes, tightly wrapping them around themselves.
Compared to on the street, the temperature inside the rooms was naturally a bit higher, but even like this, one couldn’t keep wearing short skirts. Still, Evita, and Akali had already changed into loose long dresses suited for the home, completely covering up their figures.
Xu Yi looked over the three of them and a trace of disappointment appeared in his heart.
But this strange mood was quickly suppressed by him. He focused back onto the glass sphere placed on the table.
It wasn’t that all craftsmen had low skills on the Sines Continent, for example, they had many outstanding glassmakers. The sphere in front of them made of glass was completely transparent, not containing a trace of impurity. Even with how thick it was, the surface was very smooth. Even based on the standards of earth, this was an outstanding work of glass.
“This is the Magic Crystal Lamp?” Xu Yi looked at the ball and asked Still, “This thing costs two hundred gold coins?”
Still nodded, “Un, I had to ask my grandfather to get this. This is not something one could buy with just money.”
Xu Yi was instantly speechless.
This thing to put it bluntly was just used as a light bulb, but it was actually sold for over two hundred gold coins and it couldn’t be bought if one wanted to. He really couldn’t understand this.
When Xu Yi lit that candle in his house that night, there was an idea that appeared in his mind. He suddenly thought that since it was very troublesome to light a candle, why didn’t he just research how to make a light bulb?
Actually, he had already thought about this when he transmigrated, but he had gradually forgotten about it.
Thinking about it now, Xu Yi couldn’t suppress the excitement in his heart and decided to research it.
But when he raised this idea to Still and the others, he had received a blow to the head.
On the Sines Continent, there was already a magic lamp!
When Xu Yi asked the three of them that since there was already a magic lamp, why didn’t it become popular and why had he never seen one before, the answer he received had surprised him.
The magic lamp was too expensive!
It’s said the Magic Array in the magic lamp was very complex and normal magicians couldn’t draw them at all.
As for this Magic Array, other than being able to release a bit of light, it had no power at all. So since it was invented, there hadn’t been another magician who researched it anymore.
So the magic lamp became a thing of low value. Other than some fellows who bought it to show off how much money they had, normal people wouldn’t even think about buying a magic lamp.
After a long time, the magic lamp gradually became a very rare thing and naturally it became more and more expensive and more and more refined. It was completely different from the widely spread and cheap light bulb Xu Yi thought of from earth.
After receiving this news, although Xu Yi didn’t understand why magicians of the Sines Continent didn’t place importance on application of magic, that did not mean he looked down on the magic lamp. Instead he had Still think of a way to buy one so he could research it.
When he researched the small Magic Plowing Machine, Xu Yi had reached an epiphany. Even if the Sines Continent’s industrial level was far below that of earth, because of the uniqueness of magic, there were some parts where they had the advantage compared to earth.
If he could obtain some inspiration from the Magic Crystal Lamp and help him greatly decrease his production cost, he wouldn’t deny the thought of making changes to the light bulb design from earth.
“Have you studied this before?” Xu Yi pointed at the Magic Crystal Lamp and asked.
The three looked at each other before Still pointed at the Magic Crystal Lamp with a difficult expression and said, “This Magic Crystal Lamp is a whole, it can’t be opened at all. If you want to study the Magic Array inside, you have to break the crystal cover on the outside…..”
“Then how about we shatter it?” Xu Yi looked at her with a strange gaze.
“Ah? Shatter it? This cost two hundred gold coins!” Akali opened her mouth in an exaggerated manner. She pointed at Magic Crystal Lamp with a look of disbelief on her face.
“I bought it to let you study it, what use is there in just leaving it there?” Xu Yi looked around before casually picking up a stone from the table, smashing it in the Magic Crystal Lamp’s direction.
Seeing that Xu Yi really wanted to smash it, Akali and Evita showed unwilling looks on their faces.
The Magic Crystal Lamp was made very fine and the outside was very beautiful, so they loved it as soon as they saw it. Now that Xu Xi actually wanted to shatter this beautiful thing in front of them, they couldn’t look right at it.
“Wait!” Still suddenly reached out to grab Xu Yi’s falling hand.
“What is it? Still, it can’t be that you can’t let this two hundred gold coins go, right? You’ve been me for this long, you should know that the results from this research will far surpass the value of a trivial two hundred gold coins.” Xu Yi looked at Still with knit brows as he spoke.
“I understand this logic.” Still put down the stone in Xu Yi’s hand, “It’s necessary to break it, but can you not just casually break it like this? What if you also break the Magic Array inside? If you break the Magic Array, how will we study it? Will we need to buy another one?”
Xu Yi was stunned, “I forgot about this.”
Akali and Evita saw Still stop Xu Yi and they were happy because they could keep this pretty little thing, but when they heard the rest of Still’s words, they instantly looked at each other in blank dismay.
They were helpless since this Magic Crystal Lamp was bought with Xu Yi’s money, so they had no right to say how it was handled. They could only watch as Xu Yi and Still looked over the Magic Crystal Lamp before finally picking an angle to softly break it from.
“Hua la——”
The outer glass cover of the Magic Crystal Lamp shattered to pieces and finally revealed the inside.
The instant the glass was shattered, Xu Yi took a strong sniff. Other than some dust that flew into his nose, there wasn’t any strange smells at all.
After giving a sneeze, Xu Yi confirmed that the outer glass cover of the Magic Crystal Lamp only covered and scattered the light. It wasn’t like the glass cover of the light bulbs from earth because they didn’t keep the inert gases in.
Of course, this world probably does not have any sealed glass that could keep inert gases inside.
Still carefully removed the shattered glass of the Magic Crystal Lamp’s outer cover. The four of them looked at the foundation of the Magic Crystal Lamp at the same time.
As expected, there was an incomparably complicated Magic Array on this foundation. Just based on the lines of the Magic Array, one could tell it was much more complicated than the low level Magic Arrays Xu Yi used in his magic machines.
Akali looked for a while before hesitantly saying, “Sir chairman, this Magic Array is this complicated, I’m afraid we don’t have the ability to study it?”
Still nodded, “Un, there’s a bit of a problem with me looking at it. How about you take it to grandfather, he should be able to understand this.
Xu Yi also looked at the Magic Array for a while and found that Akali and Still were right. This Magic Array was too complicated, it had already exceeded his level of magic knowledge.
When he was about to nod in agreement to Still’s idea, he suddenly found that Evita wasn’t speaking. He looked down at her, “Evita, what do you think? Can you understand it?”
Evita was in thought for a while before saying in an uncertain voice, “Although I don’t understand it, I feel like I’ve seen this Magic Array somewhere before.”
“Oh? You have an impression of it? Could it be that you’ve touched this Magic Array before?” Xu Yi quickly asked.
“No, I shouldn’t have studied this complicated Magic Array before. Only…..I feel like the appearance and style of this Magic Array is very close to a Magic Array I’ve seen before, perhaps it is related.” Evita replied.
“Then do you remember which Magic Array that is?”
Evita thought about it for a while before taking a piece of paper and drawing a Magic Array on it.
The other three looked at the Magic Array Evita drew before looking back at the Magic Array on the foundation of the Magic Lamp and nodding at the same time.
“It is very similar. Although the Magic Array on the Magic Crystal Lamp is much more complicated, I can see that they are very alike.” Still said.
Xu Yi looked at the Magic Array Evita drew for a while and thought about if before saying to Evita, “Evita, can you draw this Magic Array?”
Evita gave a slight nod.
“Good, then draw this Magic Array right now and let us see what effect it has.”
Akali gave a clap, “That is a good method. Evita, quickly draw it.”
Evita nodded. She took out some magic materials and arranged the Magic Array on the ground of the living room.
This Magic Array was not as complicated as the one on the base of the Magic Crystal Lamp and Evita only spent over ten minutes to finish drawing it.
Xu Yi had the other three move back and he injected a bit of magic into the Magic Array. Then there was a blue light that quickly spread through the Magic Array before the Magic Array released a bright white light, filling the entire living room with a flash of white.
After that flash of white light, it disappeared.
The four of them looked at the Magic Array in a daze. After a while, seeing that there were no other changes, they couldn’t help being confused.
“It’s over like this?” Akali pointed at the Magic Array and said, “Is there a mistake? It just released a flash of light, what use is that?”
Still said in a thoughtful voice, “This is probably a Thunder Attributed Magic Array from the class of Wind Attributed Magic. But this Magic Array is very strange, it only releases the flash of lightning of Thunder Attributed Magic, but there isn’t the might of thunder that comes with it. It seems like this is a failed Magic Array. Evita, where did you learn this Magic Array from?”
“I accidentally saw it in a book once.” Evita looked a bit disappointed, “I thought it could be a bit useful, but I never thought it would be this disappointing.”
The only one without a look of disappointment was Xu Yi, rather he had a look of pure excitement.
Hearing what the three of them said, Xu Yi gave a laugh before standing up and patting Evita’s shoulder while saying, “No, no, no, Evita, it is because it is a failed Magic Array that it is useful. If this Magic Array wasn’t a failure and contained the mighty power of Thunder Attributed Magic, how could we use it to make a lamp? Alright, I will now announce a research project for the three of you. It is to properly study this Magic Array and the final goal is to stabilize the light it releases, understood?”
Still’s group of three looked at each other before nodding.
Compared to the complicated Magic Array of the Magic Crystal Lamp, the one drawn by Evita was much easier to understand.
“Of course, it’s best if you also study the Magic Array inside the Magic Crystal Lamp. If there is anything you don’t understand, ask Great Magician Camilla. He is our Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s special research consultant, you must seize this chance to learn magic from him.”
There was no need to mention Still, but when Akali and Evita heard what Xu Yi said, they revealed excited looks.
To be able to learn from a Great Magician at any time, this would be very helpful for them when it came to increasing their magic power.
Xu Yi said a few more things before preparing to leave.
With Camby staying at the Angola Tribe to wait for the dwarves from there, he needed to pay more attention to the magic machine workshop during this period. Adding in all the different work he had, Xu Yi was very busy, not even having time to stay here for lunch.
When he walked out the door, Akali quickly came out of the room and called out to Xu Yi.
“Sir chairman, you…..Are you going to the Business Union’s banquet in two days?”
“Un, how do you know about that?” Xu Yi was a bit surprised.
“Still told me.” Akali pointed at the door behind. She revealed a shy expression as she hesitantly said, “Sir chairman, can…..can I ask you something?”
This was his first time seeing this lively girl acting shy like this and he couldn’t help finding it a bit funny.
“What is it? Tell me. If I can help, I definitely won’t disappoint.”
Hearing how quick Xu Yi responded, Akali’s eyes lit up and she quickly asked, “I’ve heard Still say that you still don’t have a female companion for this banquet?”
Xu Yi was stunned as he looked at Akali with a confused expression, “That’s right. What? Do you want to be my female companion?”
Akali laughed, “Sir chairman is truly wise. That’s right, I want to be your female companion for this banquet, are you willing?”
Xu Yi felt a bit strange, “Why do you suddenly want to go to this banquet? This thing really isn’t that interesting.”
“This…..I just want to take a look. How about it? Sir chairman, can you agree?” Akali revealed a look of begging.
“There is no problem bringing you, but Akali, if you go as my female companion for this even, aren’t you worried that people will mistake you as my girlfriend?” Xu Yi teased her.
Akali raised her underdeveloped chest and said with a smile, “As long as you agree, I am very willing to be your girlfriend. But…..forget it, if I really become your girlfriend, someone will be angry. Sir chairman, are you willing to bring me to the banquet?”
Xu Yi nodded, “Alright, since you want to come, then I’ll bring you.”
“Great! Sir chairman is truly great!” Akali cheered. She actually spread her arms to hug Xu Yi before suddenly letting go and running back into the room like a little rabbit.
Seeing her disappear, Xu Yi couldn’t help shaking his head with a smile.
These little girls, he really didn’t know what they were thinking.