Chapter 79 Why is everything related to him?
The scene in the wheat fields was not the only difference Banta City had from other cities.
Sophia’s group of four went down the road and not only did they see many different Magic Harvesters moving through the wheat with high efficiency, they also saw beautiful houses made of small bricks placed where there wasn’t farmland.
These small bricks were finely made and placed together row by row, forming beautiful little residences.
Other than this, they saw that the fifty meter wide river outside Banta City had countless people working on the banks. They were transferring stone like things to the banks of the rivers, but it was unknown what they were doing.
They saw in many desolate places, there were large factories erected there that also had many people busily working on something.
When the horse carriage finally entered the Banta City gates and they saw the lively crowd outside the carriage, Sophia couldn’t help being surprised. She said in a shocked voice, “Why are there so many people here? Isn’t Banta City just a small city? Why do I feel that there are even more people here than in our Anvilmar City?”
Baron Hannas looked outside the horse carriage before saying with a smile, “For a small city that only had fifty thousand people to suddenly have more than two hundred thousand people, it’s not strange if there are this many people. Of course, being honest, Banta City still has less people than our Anvilmar City. You have to know that according to the last census, Anvilmar City had over five hundred thousand people.”
“But two hundred thousand people isn’t small.” Sophia was still very surprised, “A city with this many people can be considered a large city in the kingdom. Hannas, why are there suddenly so many people in Banta City?”
“The reason is very simple, it’s because there are many work opportunities in Banta City. It could be said no matter who comes here, they can find work that will satisfy them. You have to know that if large companies employ someone without any skills, the lowest wage they will receive is around ten gold coins per month.” Baron Hannas replied.
“Ten gold coins per month?” Sophia thought about it before asking Kennard, “Is that a lot?”
“It’s quite a bit. Even if it is a normal worker in Anvilmar City, they only receive around six gold coins per month as a wage.” Kennard nodded, “So for Banta City to suddenly have all these people, it isn’t strange at all. Sophia, you should know that many people in our kingdom can’t eat their fill. They can fulfil that need with just one job and they can earn a salary of over ten gold coins per month, that is a very satisfying thing for many people.”
Sophia thought about it before finding it a bit strange.
“This isn’t right, Anvilmar City is the kingdom’s capital, so the salary of the workers there should be the highest. How can Banta City’s companies give people such a high starting salary? Do they have too much money?”
“Then you should go ask Xu Yi.” Hannas laughed, “Because that fellow is the first one to give such high wages, so the companies in Banta City had no other choice and had to give their workers the same high wages, or their workers would have all been stolen by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.”
“Why is it related to that fellow again?” Sophia muttered in a dissatisfied voice, “Is everything in Banta City related to that fellow?”
Hannas laughed, “You’re right. No matter what you see in Banta City right now, it is most likely related to him. Who told the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to have this much influence in Banta City right now.”
“Humph! I don’t believe it.” Sophia pursed her lips and looked out the window, pointing at a store and saying, “Look, that can’t be related to him, right?”
Hannas looked at where Sophia was pointing and found that it was a woman’s clothing store.
Looking at the sign of the store, Hannas broke out in laughter.
“Ha, ha, Sophia, I’m afraid that you’re wrong. Although that store sells women’s clothing, that store sells the Armani Chamber of Commerce’s products. Just a while ago, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce helped the Armani Chamber of Commerce develop a Magic Loom, which all of the Armani Chamber of Commerce’s cloth products are made off. Tell me, is this related to Xu Yi?”
Sophia’s eyes popped out as she stared at the women’s clothing store until it disappeared from the sight of the window. She indignantly turned back and looked right at Hannas and Kennard who were secretly laughing as she said with a cold snort, “This Xu Yi, he really is too despicable! Why is he everywhere!”
Kennard revealed a faint smile, “Sophia, do you really hate him this much? Then let me tell you some unhappy news. If nothing happens, in less than twenty minutes, you will be meeting him.”
###
Twenty minutes later, carriage of the four turned stopped at a quiet little alley in the west of the city. 𝐛𝐞𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦
The four of them got out of the horse carriage and Sophia looked up at the beautiful little two floor house in front of her, revealing a surprised expression.
“That detestable fellow’s place is quite good. But since he has that much money, why doesn’t he buy a manor outside of the city? Isn’t it better than living here?”
“Xu Yi is a very frugal fellow. Based on what I’ve seen, he doesn’t care at all about his daily necessities, so normally he lives quite economically.” Hannas said, “He was living in a small rented room before and I think that if it isn’t because of Vivian, he wouldn’t have changed to living in this small house.”
“Who is Vivian? This sounds like a girl’s name. Doesn’t he have young miss Still as his girlfriend? Why would he buy this small house for Vivian? Could it be that he is a disappointing fellow, playing around with this girl named Vivian even though he has a beautiful girlfriend like young miss Still?” Sophia immediately asked.
Hannas didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn’t help tapping down on Sophia’s head as he reprimanded, “What are you thinking? Vivian is a slave that he bought who is fifteen this year, she isn’t even as old as you. Xu Yi has always treated her like a little sister.”
“Humph, he sees her as a little sister now, but it won’t be the same in another two years.” Sophia muttered in a low voice. Seeing Kennard glaring at her, she quickly closed her mouth and didn’t dare say anything else.
But in her heart, she had painted Xu Yi as someone who liked to play with slaves and also trash who liked to cheat.
Hannas ignored Sophia’s thoughts and saw a figure moving on the second floor. It seemed like someone was home, so he called out.
After a while, there were footsteps that came from inside the door. The door opened and a young and pretty face popped out.
“Hey, Vivian, after not seeing you for a few months, you’ve grown quite a bit and you’re much prettier than before.” Hannas raised his hand to greet her.
Vivian looked at Hannas and immediately remembered him. She quickly gave a respectful bow, “Hello Lord Baron. For you to suddenly show up today, do you need master for something?”
“Of course, if I’m not here for him, why would I come all the way here from Anvilmar City?” Hannas replied with a smile. He moved aside and allowed Vivian to see the three people behind him, “Help me tell Xi Yi that I’ve brought three friends to meet him.”
“Alright, Lord Baron. You and your three friends can come in first and I’ll go tell master you’re here.”
Vivian led the three of them into the living room and poured some tea for them before excusing herself, running up the stairs.
Seeing Vivian disappear up to the second floor, Sophia finally turned her eyes that had been staring at her away. She turned to Hannas and said with a voice filled with praise, “She is Vivian? Why do I feel that she isn’t like a slave at all?”
“Oh? Why do you think that?” Hannas was a bit surprised.
“Because she looks so pretty and she has a bit of an aura, like the young miss of a noble family. How could she be a slave? Could it be that she’s the daughter of a poor noble family? That isn’t right, even if they are poor, they wouldn’t let their daughter become a slave, right?” Sophia said in a confused voice.
“I never thought that your thoughts were this complex. Vivian has always been a slave, the reason why she became like this was because after Xu Yi bought her, he had carefully trained her. When I saw her for the first time last year, she was just a normal looking little girl. I never thought that in less than a year, she would become this beautiful and her aura would even change. It has to be said, Xu Yi really is willing to pay to train her.” Hannas said.
“Humph, spending this money on a slave, it’s definitely to satisfy his own wicked desires.” Sophia said with pursed lips.
“Sophia, mind your words!” Kennard suddenly said in a sharp voice,” If you don’t change your attitude, you can go back tomorrow with uncle Hank, you won’t be allowed to stay here.”
Kennard actually pampered his little sister Sophia quite a bit, rarely speaking to her in a sharp voice. Sophia knew that once his tone became like this, it meant that he really was angry.
So Sophia could only obediently stick out her tongue and give an un sound before not making another noise.
After a while, there was a set of heavy and soft footsteps on the stairs.
The soft ones were Vivian who had just gone upstairs and the heavy ones were Xu Yi.
Hannas, Kennard, and Hank all suddenly got up.
Sophia had been silently drinking her tea, but seeing the actions of the three, she woke up and quickly put down her teacup. She obediently stood up and looked towards the staircase.
Although Sophia had heard Xu Yi’s name from Hannas and Kennard countless times and had some understanding of this person from their discussion, even forming an image of Xu Yi in her mind, but no matter what, it couldn’t compare to seeing him herself.
Sophia’s eyes were wide open and her face was covered in expectation and curiosity.
A pair of feet appeared on the staircase first before long legs wearing normal cloth clothes. Then there was an upper body that had a large frame, but was rather thin, wearing an ugly blue linen shirt.
Finally the face appeared.
Sophia looked at it and she felt very disappointed.
Chapter 80 Hannas’ disciple
Although Sophia from hearing Hannas and Kennard continue to discuss Xu Yi and praise him, she had an inexplicable hatred for him, for a young girl like Sophia, even if it was a great villain, he should be someone with majesty and a strong presence.
After all, even if Sophia hated Xu Yi, she had to admit that this was a man with very strong abilities, otherwise Hannas and Kennard wouldn’t have praised him so much.
Since it was a man with such powerful abilities, even if he wasn’t handsome, he should be someone with an overwhelming aura or it wouldn’t match his abilities.
But when she came face to face with Xu Yi, Sophia found that her fantasies had been completely shattered.
Although Xu Yi’s face was considered handsome still, the clothes he wore didn’t show any presence at all. Rather it made him look quite normal, throwing him into the inconspicuous pile.
What made it harder for Sophia to accept was that it seemed like this fellow hadn’t showered in several days. Not only was his hair a mess like a chicken coop, there were spots and lines of ink that were on his face and in his hair, making him look quite disheveled.
Moreover, his lips were completely pale and didn’t contain a trace of blood. Adding in the two large circles around his eyes, he didn’t seem to have any energy, just like he was completely dispirited.
What surprised Sophia was that even though there were two black circles around them, his eyes were still bloodshot and they had a glow that scared people. Just by looking at them, it made people want to look away.
“Is this person really that capable?” Sophia couldn’t help muttering in her heart.
Seeing Xu Yi’s appearance, Hannas was first surprised before understanding what happened. He came forward with a smile and forcefully patted Xu Yi’s shoulder as he asked, “Hey, Xu Yi, have you been studying something new lately? Can you tell me what it is? Let me enjoy it first.”
Xu Yi pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger and recovered some energy. He looked at Hannas and revealed a faint smile, “Why are you back again? You didn’t inform me ahead of time and prepare something.” After saying this, he looked at the three people in the living room and nodded to them, “Hello. Since you are Hannas’ friends, there is no need to be polite. We can sit and talk.”
The four of them sat down again and Xu Yi took a warm towel from Vivian to wipe his face before strengthening his body with magic. He cast a Spiritual Awakening Spell on himself and forced himself to return to normal.
Like Hannas had said, for the past three days, he had been attacking this problem without stopping. His sleep in total over the past three days didn’t surpass eight hours, so he was indeed quite exhausted.
But after seeing the other three people, he knew that the talk later wouldn’t be something casual, so he forced himself to wake up.
“Chairman Xu, hello.” Seeing that Xu Yi was prepared to look over, Kennard took the initiative to stick out his hand as he said with a smile, “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Kennard Emma, she is my little sister Sophia Emma, and this is Hank Wilson.”
“Emma?” Xu Yi shook Kennard’s hand and thought for a bit before saying, “Are you related to the Emma Family?”
Kennard revealed a faint smile, “The Emma Family’s current head is our father.”
Xu Yi revealed a look like he had expected this and looked over at Hank Wilson before saying, “If my guesses aren’t wrong, this mister Wilson should be someone important from the Walmart Chamber of Commerce, right?”
“Chairman Xu truly reacts quickly.” Kennard gave a laugh, “That’s right, uncle Hank is one of the vice chairman of the Walmart Chamber of Commerce, currently he’s in charge of purchasing goods for the company.”
“Purchasing goods?” Xu Yi couldn’t help taking another look at Hank Wilson.
Xu Yi immediately mentioned the name of the Walmart Chamber of Commerce after hearing the Emma name because many people in the kingdom knew that not only was the Emma Family one of the largest families in the kingdom, they were also the secret largest shareholder behind the Walmart Chamber of Commerce.
This Hank Wilson coming with the family head’s son and daughter, looking this close and he had the special astute aura that only belonged to merchants, which meant that he was related to the Walmart Chamber of Commerce.
The Walmart Chamber of Commerce mainly dealt in groceries, so goods purchasing was a rather important role. This Hank Wilson was in charge of this department, so his position in the Walmart Chamber of Commerce was probably higher than the other vice chairmen.
Of course, if his position wasn’t high enough, how could he be called uncle by the biological son of the Emma Family’s family head.
“Hello chairman Xu.” Only now did Wilson stretch his hand out to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi shook his hand before asking Kennard, “I wonder, what business does young master Kennard have for coming to Banta City with the Lord Baron and coming to find me?”
Kennard waved his hand and said with a smile, “Chairman Xu, you don’t need to be this polite. I am a good friend of Hannas who grew up with him and since you have a good relationship with him, you can also treat me as a normal friend. As for my trip to Banta City this time, to be honest, it was to meet you.”
“Meet me?” Xu Yi was a bit confused. He looked over at Sophia who had been looking over him with a curious gaze and said with a smile, “Is there anything special about me?”
“Of course.” Kennard gave a certain nod, “Even in Anvilmar City, one can still frequently hear news about the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, Hannas has frequently mentioned you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to me. After listening to him for a long time, I’ve become very curious. Chairman Xu, just what kind of person are you? For you to make a proud fellow like Hannas praise you like this. It was a good thing that I wanted to take a break during this time and Hannas wanted to come to Banta City to see you, so I took this chance to come with him.”
Xu Yi gave a slight nod, showing he understood. After thinking about it, he asked, “But young master Emma…..Un, alright, I’ll just call you Kennard. Kennard, on your trip here with young miss Sophia and mister Wilson, what do you specifically want to see?”
“Actually, on the way, I’ve already seen quite a bit.” Kennard had a look of praise on his face, “It has to be said, I am very surprised with the current changes in Banta City. Thirteen years ago, I came to Banta City once with my father. The impression Banta City left back then was a quiet and peaceful remote little town, but on my trip this time, I’ve found that some shocking changes have appeared in Banta City, which has surprised me quite a bit.”
Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “Actually the Banta City construction plan has just begun. If you come again in another two years, I guarantee you wouldn’t even be able to recognize Banta City anymore.”
“I believe it.” Kennard said with a nod, “Banta City can attract this many people to rush here for work, so it’s not strange if all these changes occurred. Chairman Xu, on the way here, I heard Hannas say that the Banta City renovation plan was proposed by Count Sean and you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce are the ones in charge of it?”
Xu Yi shook his head, “Not completely. I’m just giving Count Sean a bit of small advice, the final decision is still held by Count Sean. Other than this bit of work, our company is just providing some magic machines and materials. The ones doing most of the work is the Amrit Chamber of Commerce.”
“Oh?” Kennard’s expression showed that he clearly didn’t believe it, but he didn’t keep asking about this. After pausing, he said, “Chairman Xu, can you agree to a request from me?”
“Please speak.”
“I am very curious towards you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, I really want to see how you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce will change the entirety of Banta City. So…..for the next few days, can I follow you and observe how you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce work?”
Xu Yi was surprised before he turned to look at Hannas.
The request that Kennard made was the same as the one that Hannas had made last year.
Could this fellow be a disciple that had learned Hannas?
Hannas spread his hand with a helpless look on his face, showing that this was not related to him.
Seeing that Xu Yi didn’t immediately reply, Kennard continued, “Chairman Xu, please be assured, I just want to take a look and I don’t have any other plans. I guarantee that I definitely will not hinder you or the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s work and unless you agree, I won’t look at anything I shouldn’t look at.”
Xu Yi thought about it and felt that this matter was a bit troublesome.
The current Frestech Chamber of Commerce was different from last year when Hannas visited. Much of the work Xu Yi did involved secrets and if he allowed this Kennard to follow him, there would be many inconvenient times.
“Chairman Xu, I’m different from young master Kennard. I came to Banta City this time to meet you to discuss the possibility of cooperation between the Walmart Chamber of Commerce and your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, so don’t mind me.” Hank Wilson on the side suddenly said.
These words on the surface was to separate him, but with Kennard’s request, the meaning behind his words were clear.
Xu Yi considered it and after hesitating a bit, he nodded to Kennard, “Alright, but Kennard, you have to guarantee that you’ll follow my arrangement if you follow me, understood?”
Sophia couldn’t help glaring at him.
Wasn’t this Xu Yi being too arrogant?
He was just the chairman of a small company and he dared to speak to her big brother like this, he simply didn’t know what was good for him!
Kennard immediately used his eyes to stop Sophia and said with Xu Yi with a smile, “Of course. I just want to take a look, as for how it is done, we’ll follow chairman Xu’s arrangements.”