The breeze was mild.
Chen Yu, stretching lazily, looked up at the void above. The cavern was indeed a peculiar place, and the unseen god possessed considerable skill.
When he first arrived in the cavern, the nights were pitch black, and the days were dim.
He had been in the cavern for nearly a year now. The moon hung high, and the sun might rise from the east at any moment.
The cavern?!
Was this truly a cavern, or perhaps another world?
Chen Yu couldn't be bothered to ponder it further. Regardless, he had already established himself here. If he could return to his familiar environment, he would be overjoyed. Moreover, he had a very important task to attend to.
“City Lord, City Lord!”
Vice City Lord Ke Lai arrived, dusty from his journey. Upon seeing him, Chen Yu’s eyes immediately held a mysterious smile.
“City Lord Ke Lai, why such a hurried arrival?” Chen Yu raised his eyebrows slightly. Noticing Chen Yu’s gaze, Ke Lai was inexplicably stunned for a moment, craning his neck and asking suspiciously, “City Lord, are you alright?”
“What could possibly be wrong with me?”
“Then… you must remember what you instructed me to do a few days ago. What you instructed has been completed, and I’ve come to find you to inspect it.”
“Is that so? Come, let’s take a look.”
On the bustling streets, the citizens were busy with their tasks. Looking at the thriving city, it was hard to imagine that not long ago, it was in internal strife, with various factions carving up the territory.
“Fengqi City is slowly recovering its vitality.”
Chen Yu murmured with a smile as he strolled through the city. Ke Lai, following half a step behind, nodded slightly.
“Yes, in less than a month, the city has regained its vitality. This is all thanks to you, City Lord. If you hadn’t appeared, this city would truly have been finished.”
“Hey, are you trying to flatter me?” Chen Yu glanced sideways.
“If you consider this flattery, my subordinates are willing to flatter you like this every day.” Ke Lai’s eyes also held a smile. Suddenly, he lowered his voice and said, “City Lord, there’s something I need to tell you. Our city’s finances…”
“Hush!”
Chen Yu, walking with his hands behind his back, signaled for Ke Lai to be quiet.
“City Lord!”
The citizens in the street district cheered with delight upon seeing Chen Yu. Many even ran up and pressed handmade items into Chen Yu’s hands.
“Uncle City Lord, this is a small handicraft I made in my spare time. Please don’t dislike it.”
“Wow, it’s so delicate.”
Chen Yu looked down at the small handicraft in his hand. It was a small rabbit woven from straw. Although it lacked color and the materials were poor, it gave a lifelike impression.
Playing with the small rabbit, Chen Yu smiled at the girl, who appeared to be about ten years old.
“Did you make this?”
“Yes~ Father and Mother are out working. Our city doesn’t hire child labor, so I thought I’d make some small crafts to help with household expenses.” The girl pursed her lips and nodded, tilting her head up. Chen Yu smiled and gently ruffled her head. “Is that so? You did very well. I’ll take it. How much does this cost?”
“No… it’s not for money.”
“Okay.”
“Heehee…”
As Chen Yu accepted the small rabbit, the girl’s eyes lit up with a brilliant smile. Then, she nervously clutched the corner of her clothes, her gaze flickering uncertainly.
It was obvious that she had something to say but was hesitant to speak.
Sensing her thoughts, Chen Yu did not rush her, offering her time with a gentle gaze.
About half a minute passed—
“Uncle City Lord, will our Fengqi City have a school in the future?” After much hesitation, the girl finally asked the question she wanted to ask.
As she spoke, her hands were still tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, pulling the fabric taut.
“You want to go to school?” Chen Yu’s gaze remained gentle. The girl nodded her head vigorously, like a pecking chick. “I want to study.”
“It will happen.”
Chen Yu smiled and ruffled the girl’s head.
“City Lord Ke Lai is already working on the matter of the school. It shouldn’t take more than a month for a school to appear in our city, and then you can go to study.”
“Really?!”
The girl’s eyes were filled with surprise upon hearing this news. The other citizens standing around also found it hard to believe their ears.
A school in the city?
More importantly, their children could also go to school.
Although the cities they had lived in before also had schools, only the offspring of officials and nobles could study. Even if they were willing to pay, their common folk were not allowed to attend.
Chen Yu, surrounded by the citizens, noticed their expressions and smiled.
“Since we’re on the topic, I might as well tell everyone directly. Fengqi City’s public school is already in preparation. Once everything is properly arranged, everyone can go to school.”
“City Lord, what about the tuition fees…”
“Free,” Chen Yu said with a slight smile. “As long as you are willing to learn, the expenses will be borne by the City Lord’s Mansion. Furthermore, the school is not only open to children of appropriate age, but adults can also study. Of course, you won’t be in the same school as the children.”
Learning knowledge was a luxury for the indigenous people of the cavern.
Chen Yu understood. The nobles of the cavern wanted to maintain their class structure in this way, and the more ignorant the people, the easier they were to control.
In fact, Chen Yu could also do this.
He didn’t want to!
Having received compulsory education since childhood, in his eyes, everyone should have the right to seek knowledge, and when the people were knowledgeable, development could achieve new breakthroughs. The cavern had existed for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years, while Chen Yu had only been in the cavern for a year.
If he wanted to cross this gap in the shortest possible time, he had to enlighten his people.
Free Town was already implementing this, and Fengqi City would certainly not be left behind.
“Hooray, I can study, I can study!” The girl raised her arms and cheered. The surrounding citizens heard this and doubted if they were hallucinating, but when they saw Chen Yu, the City Lord, before them, they believed it was all true.
The City Lord before them was truly a good City Lord.
Chen Yu, accustomed to the gratitude of the people, smiled at them. He understood their feelings and knew that he was indeed doing something that overturned the common understanding of the cavern. This was not because he was particularly special; he believed that in this vast cavern, similar scenes were unfolding in many other places.
The appearance of outsiders was meant to break the norm.
“There’s no need for thanks. This is what I, as the City Lord, should do. If you truly want to thank me, then contribute to Fengqi City in the future.” Chen Yu’s eyes sparkled with a smile as he met their admiring gazes. “By the way, are you busy with your current tasks?”
“City Lord, what do you need us to do?”
“Yes, City Lord. Just give us your instructions. These tasks of ours are nothing compared to yours. If you say the word, what’s the big deal about whether we do these jobs or not?”
“City Lord, please speak.”
These people, whose eyes were filled with simplicity, might not be able to speak eloquent words, but their sincerity was from the heart.
Chen Yu smiled and shook his head at the shouting citizens.
“It’s not a big deal, really. I’m about to go to the southern part of the city with City Lord Ke Lai. In the past few days, Fengqi City has built a granary in the southern part of the city. Some of you should know about this. The granary is now built, and City Lord Ke Lai and I are going to cut the ribbon. Since this is a major event for the city, I thought I’d trouble everyone to notify the other citizens and invite them to come and see if they have time.”
“We’ll go notify them right away.”
Many citizens put down their work and ran in all directions. Chen Yu smiled and nodded to them before leaving the street. Ke Lai, who had been standing behind Chen Yu, frowned.
“City Lord, what are you up to now?”
“Ah?”
“Where else would you store grain if not in a granary? If we talk about safety, then storing it in spatial artifacts is the safest. When you told me about building a granary last time, I thought it was strange. What’s the point of building a granary? Isn’t it more troublesome if something happens.”
“If not in the granary, where else would you put the grain?”
Chen Yu glanced at him and said, “Although storing it in spatial artifacts is safe, there are also hidden dangers. If these artifacts are kept by you or me, and we’re both busy every day, what if we entrusted them to someone else, and that person absconded with the entire city’s provisions? If it’s in a granary, managed by professional personnel, with records of entry and exit, wouldn’t that be better?”
“Huh?!” Ke Lai was stunned.
Was this even a problem?
To prevent it from being stolen, the grain could be divided among several people for management, which would have the same effect as building a granary.
He could think of this problem, and he didn’t believe Chen Yu couldn’t.
“Hey, don’t worry about this.” Chen Yu patted Ke Lai’s shoulder and said solemnly, “You just told me that our city’s finances… we’re running out of money?”
“Ah…”
Ke Lai’s eyes widened in response, and then he quickly waved his hands as if remembering something.
“I haven’t embezzled anything. All expenditures are recorded. You can check the accounts at any time if you don’t believe me.”
“I believe you.” Chen Yu patted Ke Lai’s shoulder and frowned. “It’s just that the money is indeed being spent very quickly.”
Although Chen Yu didn’t have much cash on him, he had given all his money to Hei Dou when he left He Town. He had handed a full five million gold coins to Ke Lai.
Fengqi City had been in operation for less than a month, and it had already consumed five million gold coins.
Its ability to consume money surpassed even that of Free Town.
“We bought too many resources during this time,” Ke Lai sighed. “Our city is just an empty shell, and we need to buy everything from outside. I’ve contacted some merchants and tried my best to purchase at lower prices, but even so, we can’t stop the money from flowing like water, so…”
“We need money.”
“Ah!”
“Alas, I didn’t bring much money with me when I went out,” Chen Yu said with a troubled expression. Ke Lai was dumbfounded. “City Lord, don’t tell me you’re out of money too. If that’s the case, our city will be in trouble. Yesterday, I ordered a batch of goods from the merchants, and they were so eager that they would deliver them by this afternoon at the latest. I don’t have money to settle the final payment.”
“Look at you, I’ll give it to you later.”
Seeing Ke Lai’s face turning green, Chen Yu pouted.
“But I really don’t have much money left. Giving it all to you later will probably only be around two to three million. It should be enough to help you out of this immediate predicament.”
“City Lord, there are still many funds to be invested later!”
“Have you heard a saying?” Chen Yu smiled mysteriously. “When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road. Although I don’t have much money on hand now, perhaps in a couple of days, we’ll have so much money we won’t know what to do with it.”
“Ah?”
“You, just don’t worry about these things. I told you, you don’t have to worry too much about money. Buy whatever needs to be bought, spend whatever expenses need to be paid. The money… you won’t be short of it.”