Chapter 91 Will you be sad?
A rare double horse carriage sped out of Banta City’s west gate and its wheels rolled over the Falling Rain Road, as it charged towards the Falling Rain Valley.
Xu Yi looked at the roads being built in the suburbs of Banta City before turning back to look at the people in the carriage. Finally his eyes fell onto Still and Agnes sitting with Sophia on the other side and he suddenly revealed a smile.
Sophia immediately glared at him, “What are you smiling at?”
Xu Yi shook his head, “No, don’t misunderstand. I’m just surprised, why did you insist on coming with us? The Falling Rain Valley is close to sixty kilometers away and even with the road, it isn’t a comfortable matter to go there. I think that staying in Banta City is the better choice.”
“Humph, I like it, what do you care?” Sophia said in a firm voice.
Xu Yi shook his head as he thought that he really didn’t care.
But he was indeed curious about why Sophia insisted on staying in Banta City instead of returning to Anvilmar City.
She wasn’t willing to leave when Hank Wilson headed back and said that she wanted to stay with Kennard. But now that Kennard was staying as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s general manager, he would be staying in Banta City for a period of time, so it wasn’t right for Sophia to stay here.
Of course, it wasn’t right for Xu Yi to ask this question, otherwise it would seem like he was chasing Sophia away.
“Chairman, Sophia is just this willful, please forgive her.” Kennard apologized form beside Xu Yi.
Before Xu Yi could reply, Sophia glared at Kennard and pointed a finger as she lightly stomped her foot, “Big brother, you’re actually not helping me! Is it because now that you’ve become his subordinate, everything is about him? You won’t even help your little sister?”
Kennnard looked up, “I help whoever makes sense. The chairman is right, we are here because of official business, so why do you need to come with us?”
“So what if it’s official business?” Sophia said with a cold snort, “I’m not following you guys, I’m following big sister Still and big sister Agnes, so you don’t need to care about me!” ｂ𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎ｌ.ｎｅｔ
After saying this, Sophia pulled up Still and Agnes beside her without any reservation with a look saying come bite me if you’re not satisfied.
Kennard knit his brows, but because Sophia pulled up Still and Agnes, it wasn’t good for him to speak.
However, Still and Agnes’ reactions surprised Sophia.
Still was still fine, only slightly knitting her brows. She helplessly shook her head and gave a sigh, looking like she had no way of dealing with this little sister Sophia.
Agnes directly pulled her hand away from Sophia’s and looked at her as she honestly said, “Young miss Sophia, I am out on official business with the chairman, so please don’t hinder me.”
“Hinder?” Sophia never expected that Agnes would say such impolite words, so she looked at Agnes with wide eyes, “You’re actually saying that I’m hindering you? Big sister Agnes, you…..you’re really making me sad!”
“Sad?” Agnes looked at Sophia before turning to ask Xu Yi, “Chairman, you said that humans would cry when they are sad. But she isn’t crying right now, so she must not really be sad.” She turned to Sophia after saying this and said with a strict expression, “Young miss Sophia, the reason why us elves didn’t like making contact with humans is because humans like to lie. If you really want to become friends with me, I hope that you will not lie to me again, or I will be very unhappy.”
Seeing Sophia’s helpless gaze, Xu Yi almost couldn’t help breaking out in laughter.
For someone like Sophia who had grown up spoiled at home and had become a willful young miss, it wasn’t easy for others to talk her down.
To control her, you needed someone who was naturally dull like Agnes.
The expression Kennard had was very bright.
He was the most familiar with Sophia’s willful attitude and how she causes scenes, normally not even their lord father could take care of her. But now she had become speechless from what Agnes said, which even made him want to laugh a bit.
Of course, this was all based on the fact that Agnes was an elf.
Otherwise if it was a human girl that Sophia deeply admired like Still who had said this to her, it would definitely make her unhappy and she might even talk back.
Seeing the aggrieved blank look on Sophia’s face and her little lips pouted, Still revealed a faint smile and explained to Agnes, “Agnes, humans don’t always shed tears when they are sad. There are some people who even if they are very sad, you can’t see it on the surface at all. Some people will just show sad expressions. Only when a person is sad to a certain extent will they break out in tears.”
“Really?” Agnes looked at Xu Yi with a doubtful look.
“Un, it is like this.” Seeing Sophia revealing a real aggrieved expression, Xu Yi could only quickly mediate for her, “I told you before that a human will cry when they are said, that is just a general description. There are other details that you need to pay attention to and are hard to describe. For example, humans can shed tears even when they aren’t sad. There are some who will shed tears when they are happy. So to tell when a human is sad or not, just basing it on tears doesn’t work.”
“It’s like this.” Agnes gave a slight nod. After thinking for a bit, she couldn’t help sighing, “Humans really are complicated. We elves will just directly reveal whatever mood we are feeling.”
Hearing this, Sophia forgot her aggrieved feeling and curiously asked, “Then big sister Agnes, have you cried before when you were sad?”
Agnes thought for a bit before nodding, “Un. I remember that when I was young, there was a flower that gradually withered and I cried because I was sad about it.”
Everyone in the carriage was speechless.
Sophia was stunned for a bit before saying in an emotional voice, “Big sister Agnes, you are this sensitive. If you can burst into tears over a flower withering, aren’t you sad most of the time and cry all the time?”
Agnes shook her head, “No, not now. Because of the elder’s teachings, I’ve understood that life and death are natural rules and it is very normal, so there’s no need to be sad. I think that even if you died in front of me, I wouldn’t cry from sadness.”
Everyone was speechless again.
Although this was the personality of the elves, when Agnes said it directly in front of everyone, they all felt a bit cold.
Xu Yi couldn’t help asking, “Agnes, if I were to die in front of you, you wouldn’t cry from sadness?”
Agnes looked at Xu Yi in surprise, “Chairman, according to the life span of humans, you still have quite a bit of time before you die.”
“I just said if because human life is filled with accidents. If I were to die in front of you because of an accident, would you calmly accept it?” Xu Yi kept asking.
Still looked at Xu Yi with knit brows. She thought about it and didn’t say anything as she just looked at Agnes, waiting to see how she responds.
With everyone watching, Agnes honestly thought for a bit before replying, “I think…..it depends on what kind of accident. If the chairman was killed by an enemy, I would be very angry and kill your enemy to take revenge for you. It is because you are my friend and taking care of this is the responsibility of a friend.”
“Then if I wasn’t killed by an enemy and killed by a natural accident, like if a rock fell out of the sky to kill me? Or for something more normal, if I were to suddenly die from an illness?” Xu Yi kept asking.
“If it is like this…..” Agnes thought for a bit, “This should be the natural cycle of life and death that the elder mentioned, it happens to all living beings, so I don’t think I would be sad.”
Hearing this answer, everyone let out long sighs.
Still looked at Xu Yi, “What? Is the honourable chairman Xu disappointed?”
Xu Yi clutched his chest and made an exaggerated hurt expression, as he wailed into the sky, “I am far more than disappointed, I’m simply filled with grief! I thought that I had a good relationship with Agnes, but I didn’t think that she wouldn’t be sad if I were to suddenly die, not even to shed a single tear! I really am too disappointed!”
Seeing that everyone else in the carriage broke out in laughter after Xu Yi’s actions, Agnes had a bewildered look on her face.
Still saw that Agnes was still confused, so she explained it with a smile.
The carriage continued forward while the three girls chatted and Xu Yi and Kennard discussed matters of the company. After three hours, they finally arrived at the Falling Rain Valley.
This was Kennard and Sophia’s first time seeing the Falling Rain Valley. Although when in Banta City, there were many people that described the Falling Rain Valley to them, personally seeing it, the two of them were shocked by the beautiful and magnificent scene in front of them.
“Chairman, this really is a lot.” Kennard couldn’t help saying with a sigh, “I think that anyone with doubts towards you, as long as they see this Falling Rain Valley, their doubts will scatter like smoke.”
“Oh? You’re saying that before seeing the Falling Rain Valley, you still had doubts towards me in your heart?” Xu Yi teased with a smile.
Kennard laughed, “Of course I’m the exception. If I had any doubts about you, I wouldn’t have taken the initiative to become the general manager.”
“That is more like it.” Xu Yi made an inviting gesture with his hand, “Then as the new general manager, let me show you where the real power of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce lies.”
Chapter 92 The Frestech Chamber of Commerce really isn’t weak
The Falling Rain Valley was being developed before the Falling Rain Road was being built and now it had been over two months since the Falling Rain Road was open. Compared to last time when Xu Yi came with chairman Pompeii, the current Falling Rain Valley was more complete. Whether it was the living area or the industrial area, it was much bigger than before.
The current Falling Rain Valley had already truly become a production base for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Now in the steel mill that stood firm, there was already a second furnace. After the initial tests, it would enter the production stage and the monthly output of the steel mill would surpass over a hundred thousand tons.
But as magic machines became more popular in the Lampuri Kingdom and with the partnership with the Walmart Chamber of Commerce, right now the companies in Banta City were producing more and more magic machines, needing more and more alloys from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Even a hundred thousand tons a month was basically not enough.
As more and more alloys were being used, more and more companies realized that these alloys were far better than normal iron. So other than being used in magic machines, there were other companies that had a strong need for these alloys.
Just last month, disregarding the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s needs, the various orders for alloy added up to over fifty thousand tons, even surpassing the production of the steel mill.
If it wasn’t for this, Xu Yi wouldn’t have let chief Siluka and chief Monto build a second furnace this quickly.
When this second furnace began production, their monthly production would meet their requirements. Just based on this steel mill, they would be earning a large profit of hundreds of thousands of gold coins each month.
Moreover, the factories that were earning money in this Falling Rain Valley was not just this steel mill.
As the Falling Rain Valley was being opened up, large amounts of other corresponding factories were being established. Xu Yi had already moved most of the production lines at the Sandton Manor over here.
It was different from before where different production lines were put in the same factory. This time Xu Yi separated the production lines of different products, with each production line getting their own workshop, giving them a space that was several times larger than before.
At the same time, with this increase in space, Xu Yi added more production lines for each product, which greatly increased their output.
For example, the Magic Bread Maker that was the most popular item in Banta City and the surrounding cities. Xu Yi had suddenly increased the one production line to four production lines, going from the previous output of ten thousand units a month to over thirty thousand units a month.
Therefore, just for the Magic Bread Maker workshop, Xu Yi had recruited over a hundred people.
If Automatic Magic Rice Cooker, the Magic Refrigerator, and the Magic Air Conditioner workshops with greater demand were added in, the workers that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had gradually hired were actually over a thousand people!。
Right now just in workshops under the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there were over two thousand workers.
Moreover, these were just human workers.
Because of the hard work of chief Siluka and chief Monto, there were more dwarves that moved to the Falling Rain Valley. There were now over three thousand dwarves and close to a thousand of them were working at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s factories.
Then there were the hundred elf workers from the Night Song Tribe. Right now in the factories under the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there were over a thousand workers from another race, making up a third of the total workers.
Not mentioning the Lampuri Kingdom, this was unique even on the entire Sines Continent.
Other companies would hire at most several dwarven blacksmiths, but the Frestech Chamber of Commerce hired close to a thousand at once.
Other people could live their entire life without seeing a single elf, but the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had stuffed a hundred elves into a single workshop.
Even for someone as experienced as Kennard who had known about this and had prepared his heart, when he saw the dwarves running all over the Falling Rain Valley, his eyes popped out and his face was covered in shock.
“Chairman, I really want to know, where did you find all these dwarves? Not to mention that the incomparably proud elves of legend are doing the simplest work for our company. You…..Do you have some special charm?”
“Ha, ha, you are not the first person to ask me this. There is only one explanation I have for this, it’s very simple, it’s because I’m handsome.” Xu Yi gave this narcissistic comment with a big smile.
Kennard wanted to roll his eyes at Xu Yi, but his good manners that had been taught to him since he was young stopped him from doing something this disrespectful.
He visited the workshops of each factory while being led by Xu Yi and Kennard couldn’t help being deeply shocked.
Actually before he came to Banta City, he had some understanding of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce from different channels.
Although Hannas had high esteems of Xu Yi and was very optimistic about the development of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he had to admit that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was still a small company in Banta City. They weren’t even considered second class in the Lampuri Kingdom.
So at that time, Kennard had been feeling a bit of disdain for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce at that time.
But when he came to Banta City and personally witnessed the change that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce brought, Kennard found that his understanding of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had been too superficial.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce couldn’t just be measured with strength, it really couldn’t compare to a first class company like the Walmart Chamber of Commerce. But every product that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce released, they all created trends in Banta City and the surrounding cities, even creating an entire industry.
This was not something that the Walmart Chamber of Commerce could do.
Now that they had arrived in the Falling Rain Valley and after personally witnessing the workshops and production lines inside the workshops, Kennard’s understanding of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was renewed.
Just from the scale of the production base, the people who had underestimated the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had been wrong.
Actually, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wasn’t weak at all.
Not to mention that there was that magnificent steel mill inside the Falling Rain Valley.
Witnessing the molten iron flowing out of the furnace, Kennard was certain of one thing.
With just this steel mill, if they kept developing, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce could become a first class company of the kingdom.
Then with the entire layout of the Falling Rain Valley, Kennard felt even more admiration for Xu Yi in his heart.
If it was said that he felt Hannas’ appraisal of Xu Yi was exaggerated at first, right now, he even felt that Hannas’ appraisal had been too conservative.
Xu YI naturally didn’t know this, he just took Kennard around the Falling Rain Valley to let him familiarize himself with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s factories as the general manager, meeting each person under him who was in charge. He unexpectedly had created a deep recognition of him in his heart.
After giving Kennard to chief Siluka to entertain, Xu Yi went to the tire factory by himself.
According to his agreement with elder Illusia, the hundred elves would undergo some special training at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. After observing them, they would decide what to do with them.
Now the elves have been in the Frestech Chamber of Commerce for several months and through Xu Yi’s observations, he was certain that these elves had changed. He decided to use the chance of heading back to the elf tribe with Agnes to bring them back to elder Illusia to let her take a look.
But the work of the tire factory was quite heavy, so suddenly taking away a hundred skilled elven workers would greatly affect it. So Xu Yi in the end only decided to take ten elven workers back for elder Illusia to appraise.
When the group arrived at the tire factory, Sophia wasn’t willing to leave no matter what after seeing the hundred elves. Xu Yi could only helplessly let Still and Agnes stay to pick who would go.
Now that close to an hour had passed, Xu Yi came back to the tire factory to find that there were already ten elves standing by Agnes.
Seeing the ten elves standing in a row by Agnes and that they were standing straight without shaking at all, Xu Yi couldn’t help giving a satisfied nod.
Compared to the sloppy elves from before, these ten elves had without a doubt trained their sense of discipline.
Moreover, the elves’ pursuit of perfection still remained. When standing in a row, there wasn’t even a bit of difference in the space between them. Looking at it from the side, one would find that they were standing in a perfect line that was twenty feet long.
After seeing these two points, Xu Yi was a bit speechless.
He just followed elder Illusia’s request to train a sense of discipline into these elves, but with this current situation, these elves had been trained into qualified soldiers.
Compared to before, the difference was rather big. He didn’t know what kind of reaction elder Illusia would have after seeing them.
“Sir chairman, it’s the ten of them.” Seeing Xu Yi come over, Agnes immediately greeted him, “The other clansmen say that they’ve performed the best during this time.”
Xu Yi nodded.
Of course he understood what performing the best meant.
Because of the conflict they had with the human workers in the household magic machine workshop in the beginning, the elves suppressed the anger in their hearts and tried to perform better than the human workers no matter what they did.
These ten elves were recognized by the other elves as the best, so other than having a good sense of discipline, they were also the elven workers with the best techniques.
Xu Yi thought about it and found that no matter what, he couldn’t connect an elf with a skilled worker with a cutting machine.
This really was just too strange.
After stopping his mind from thinking about it, Xu Yi said to the ten elves with a smile, “Very good. I think that after elder Illusia sees you all, she will be very happy. But I’m not certain if the beastmen will be happy after seeing you.”