359 Reconstructing the Residence of Yun (1/2)
Sensing the unusual sense of tension in the atmosphere, especially in Yun Yang's abnormally ugly expression, Qiu Yunsan was struck by a bolt of sudden wisdom. He remarked inanely, ”Actually, it was Dong Tianleng who had forgotten his belongings and had left it here. We are here to accompany him to retrieve them. He was too embarrassed to admit it, that is why he is taking boss as an excuse to return... ”
Chun Wanfeng and Xia Bingchuan were nodding like chickens pecking at grains of rice, ”Yes, right, right, right. That is truly the case! Dong Tianleng is full of lies. Boss, you have to punish him!”
Dong Tianleng felt extremely vexed at the unjust accusation, yet he had no choice but to give in and mumbled reluctantly, ”Yes, yes, yes, I was embarrassed to admit that I was so forgetful that we all had to come back here...”
”Hmph!” Yun Yang grunted. His face remained stern, but his heart was, in fact, filled with warmth. It was an emotion that he had not experienced for a very long time.
Today, there was Dong Tianleng and the other three who had risked their lives to come back. There were the two elders, Marshal Qiu and Marshal Leng, who did not hesitate to go against the Four Seasons Tower, at their own peril. For that, Yun Yang was extremely glad. Although he was openly complaining, his heart was truly touched and he felt extremely fortunate. Not only was he lucky enough to have so many great friends, proving the fact that he was successful as a person, he was also grateful that he was lucky enough to turn the tide of the battle with just a few tiny, white paws. It seemed to be a storybook tale, seeing as to how lucky he was. The chances of such an occurrence were so rare, it was near impossible!
”Since you fellows are back, it just so happens that there are some other troublesome matters to take care of here. Not only to repair the entire house, there are other concerns as well. You fellows might as well just stay and help with it.”
Yun Yang rolled his eyes, ”There is free labor. It will be a waste to not utilize it.”
”Great great, am willing to die for boss.” The four noble young masters were all delighted at the prospect of lingering.
Everyone looked at each other, and could no longer hold it in, and burst out into laughter. The hilarity was viral and resounding. Their hearts were wholly relaxed. All of them felt that their brotherhood had ascended to a new stage, a true closeness of the mind, without any barriers in between.
”Now that the situation has changed, what are we going to do with the rest?” asked Chun Wanfeng in a low tone.
Qiu Yunsan replied, ”For those who cannot bear the troubles with you, do you still want to keep them? Pass on my orders, send the mystical beasts back, and dismiss the others on the spot. Let them walk their own paths that they so choose.”
Dong Tianleng beamed brightly, ”I was thinking of that as well, how can one keep this kind of people? If one were to hold on to them, it would then be deemed as a woman's benevolence and indecisiveness, wouldn’t it?”
”It is decided then. Send the message back immediately.” Xia Bingchuan was similarly determined.
”After the challenges of these battles, what is left is gold!” Qiu Yunsan uttered, ”I have no objection. I don't wish to take another glance at them.”
”Where will we stay, though? There are only one or two rooms that we could possibly stay in within the Residence of Yun. It wouldn't be possible for so many of us to bunk in there.” Bai Yixue scratched his head.
”How can these dangerous rooms be used at all? I have gotten rich today, everyone will stay at the inn! ” Yun Yang waved his hand benevolently and cried out, ”The best room for each and every person! I will pay!”
...
Money did wonders and even in the vast majority of cases, money was everything! There was no need for Yun Yang to even appear personally. Lao Mei took the banknotes out and within a quarter of an hour, he had managed to find the artisans. Under the snowy weather, Lao Mei had managed to find ten teams of workers to work around the clock to reconstruct the Residence of Yun!
The corresponding wages were overpriced by at least three times the usual going rate.
Anyway, what was being spent was the money that had been extorted by the very people who caused the damage in the first place. Lao Mei spent it without any guilt or remorse.
Originally, the heavy winter period was a time of rest for these artisans; all of them were basically unencumbered. Now that they could earn a lot of money, a flock of smiths could be seen enthusiastically strolling in, one after another. If not for the fact that the number of people hired by Lao Mei was sufficiently large, and he did not refuse any person who came for the job, the frenzy in which they tried to vie for a spot would have led to a fight!
However, there were certain things that even money had difficulty solving. For example, it was impossible to mix the mud in the snow, particularly in such a heavy winter, which extraordinarily cold and chilly. Even if they were to forcefully mix it, it could not be put to use.
”Use stones instead,” Yun Yang was adamant on this, ”We might as well build the entire Residence of Yun using white mystical rock! We will use the white mystical rock everywhere to ensure consistency, and that everything is neat and uniform - even for the lavatories!”
White mystical rock was the lowest of mystical stones and not much mystical Qi could be absorbed by them, but if it were to be used as building material, it would be the most advanced building material within the Tianxuan Continent. Each and every piece of it was square and equilateral, well-equipped with insulation capabilities, keeping one warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
After the house that was built with this kind of material was ready, due to the similarity of the materials’ nature and the weight pressure from the top, the whole white mystical rock would merge together with absolutely no gap in between them at all!
What was more important was the fact that the white mystical rock would, to a certain degree, have an effect of advancing the cultivation base of the practitioners.
Therefore, the price of this material had always been as high as the sky. There were only a few people who would even think of using it to build their entire residence!
Even in the palace, white mystical rock buildings could only be found in a handful of courtyards, at best. Even so, it could be deemed as an extravagant luxury!
At this moment, at the behest of Yun Yang, the required reconstruction fee for the entire Residence of Yun would undoubtedly soar to an astronomical figure!
The estimation of the construction fee had caused Lao Mei to leap to his feet, feeling slightly dazed.
”Young master, the initial estimates indicate that we need at least eighty million silver taels!” Lao Mei's face had turned a sickly green. This was because the eighty million silver taels only covered the materials, whereas all the other manpower, as well as other miscellaneous fees, had yet to be accounted for. Only a single material fee for the white mystical rock had already cost so much. The whole project was likely to cost over a hundred million silver taels!
This number would have emptied the Yutang Empire’s treasury in its entirety!
”Only that much?” Yun Yang raised his eyebrows, ”Then let's have it all changed to double-layered white mystical rocks! The underground chambers, do not forget, they must be strengthened as well. All the foundations are to be in white mystical rock too!”
Lao Mei stretched his neck and his eyes grew large. With such a method of construction, he was afraid that even two hundred million silver taels were insufficient.
”Yes, remember to use silver mystical rock for the roof.” Yun Yang’s decadence was alarming, ”Use snow mountain sandalwood for the beams of the room. As for windows, use white crystals so as to ensure the best lighting!”