Lan Qingyou: "It's done."
Shang Chuan: "That’s good. You wouldn’t believe how many people have been asking about the Apprentice Frost Resistance Potion over the last two days."
Lan Qingyou: "I can make more of those later. We can even sell them alongside the kerosene."
Shang Chuan: "Selling kerosene alone won't maximize the profit. I’m planning to have Li Huai make some stone heaters. If we bundle them together, should we split the profits between the three of us?"
Shang Chuan had actually been considering the feasibility of this ever since Lan Qingyou decided to try refining kerosene.
He had even discussed it with Li Huai beforehand.
Now that Lan Qingyou had successfully produced the kerosene, the next step was for Li Huai to manufacture the heaters.
Lan Qingyou: "The stonemason? I think that works. In that case, you handle the pricing."
Upon hearing that Shang Chuan already had a sales strategy in mind, Lan Qingyou immediately washed her hands of the matter.
For her, the research was the most enjoyable part.
The finished products were merely byproducts.
She needed to find a topic, solve it, and enjoy the results—that was all.
Shang Chuan: "Alright, leave it to me then."
Shang Chuan: "By the way, how are the lessons with Professor Seymer going?"
Lan Qingyou: "They're fine. He's quite a dedicated person."
Shang Chuan: "That’s good. I looked at several candidates, and he seemed like the one most eager to improve."
After a brief discussion, their short meeting came to an end.
Lan Qingyou took a good long nap with Steel Wool before starting her new day of lessons.
After all, producing kerosene had proven that Blue Star's chemistry was useful.
Although various problems might arise during actual operations, the fact that 'chemical knowledge is useful' was now beyond doubt.
Having a professor from Harvard University provide one-on-one tutoring was something completely impossible back on Blue Star.
At least, for a family that wasn't very wealthy like Lan Qingyou's, it was a pipe dream.
“Who has wolf skins? I can make some simple items. One wolf skin coat in exchange for two wolf skins.”
“Damn! Why didn’t I think of fur clothing?”
“Why didn’t you say anything when the mana turbulence started? You only thought of it now.”
“Anyone with furs has already been making stuff in secret. Those of us without can only watch. Haven't you noticed that the guys who go out to kill monsters all the time have been keeping quiet?”
“Even if it smells a bit off, at least it’s warm.”
“I used to work in leather processing. If anyone has wolf skins, I can process them for you for free; just give me one skin as payment.”
“I have a few rabbit pelts here.”
“Hand them over!”
“Now selling stone heaters. Limited to 100 per day. Each comes with one liter of kerosene. Additionally, 500 liters of kerosene are available daily, limited to 5 liters per person.”
“Heaters? Kerosene? Shang Chuan’s shop has new stock again?”
“Wait, I get the heaters—you can hammer those out—but how did you get kerosene?”
“I heard that witch Lan Qingyou made it.”
“Huh? A witch can make that stuff?”
“A witch can't, but alchemy apparently can.”
“Dammit, if I’d known, I would have studied alchemy too.”
“Give it a rest. Is alchemy that easy to learn? There’s a professor from some university at our shelter who’s been staring at alchemy books all day and still hasn't learned a thing. The crazy part is the leader is actually willing to let him do nothing but research that.”
“Must be nice. Doing nothing but reading books.”
“What do you expect? Look at the things Lan Qingyou makes; every single one is a gold mine. Plenty of people are green with envy.”
“Haha, just bought a heater and five liters of kerosene. This is great.”
“I bought one too. Leave it to Lan Qingyou to make life comfortable.”
“So jealous. I was too slow.”
“That profiteer Shang Chuan is really greedy. 1,000 units for a heater and 100 units for a liter of kerosene? Why don't you just go rob someone?”
“Just buy it. At least you can get a good night's sleep with it on.”
“Is five liters of kerosene a day too little?”
“It’s enough. If you’re frugal, it can last two days. The mana turbulence will be over in a few more days anyway.”
“True. Too bad I missed out.”
Everyone was talking about the kerosene, Lan Qingyou, and alchemy.
In reality, as long as Lan Qingyou mastered the technique and had enough materials, hand-crafting 500 liters of kerosene took her little more than an hour.
As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and knowledge is wealth.
If others knew how low the actual cost and production effort were, Lan Qingyou and Shang Chuan would likely face a torrent of abuse.
But Shang Chuan didn't care; he had long since developed a thick skin.
Lan Qingyou cared even less. These people were hypocrites—cursing with their mouths while their hands were quick to pay.
...
“Everyone, Shang Chuan just sent over a stone heater. We can finally get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
Inside a wooden cabin in a corner of the Abandoned Forest, a group of people—young and old—were huddled listlessly around a campfire for warmth when Li Wufeng, sitting at a desk not far away, suddenly shouted to them.
“Really?”
“Quick, take it out and let’s try it.”
Upon hearing about the heater, the group excitedly rushed to the desk, waiting for Li Wufeng to retrieve the item.
“Move back, move back. How can I take it out if you’re all crowding me? This thing isn’t going to fit on the desk.”
Li Wufeng chuckled and waved them back. Once they cleared a space, he extracted the item.
This stone heater was similar in design to the one Lan Qingyou had.
However, because it was made of stone, it lacked an iron grate, and there was no glass on the peephole. Instead, the peephole consisted of honeycomb-style holes, so there was no need to worry about accidentally setting something on fire.
In addition to the heater, there was a wooden bucket with a lid containing five liters of kerosene.
The man tried to lift the stone heater but found it completely unmovable, forcing him to look at the surrounding group.
“Zhao Dulay, Otto, Kam, give me a hand. Let’s move this thing into the small room. Shang Chuan said this can only cover about 20 square meters, so a smaller space will stay warmer.”
“You got it.”
“No problem.”
The three men whose names were called immediately stepped forward.
Working together, the four of them managed to carry the heavy object into the small room partitioned by wooden planks.
They added the oil and lit the fire.
Under the watchful eyes of the group, a steady flame roared inside the heater.
“Ah... I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel much warmer.”
“It just got lit. That’s probably just psychological.”
“Psychological is fine, as long as it’s warm. Now we can sleep well without worrying about waking up freezing or just dying in our sleep.”
“That’s true. Burning wood doesn't produce much toxic smoke, but we still have to open the window occasionally to clear the smell, which lets all the heat out.”
Someone countered.
Rate on N.U.
