Kaerton stood on his spot, frozen like a statue. He was stunned for a few seconds before he quickly caught up with Su Ye. As they walked side by side, he smiled and said, “Don’t make it sound so bad. I came to you for a collaboration. Previously, when we were chatting, you mentioned that you would focus on your study for a month first. Then, we would talk about making money. Now, it’s time.”
“I didn’t expect you to be so good at calculating and remembering things,” Su Ye teased as he walked.
Hark followed the two of them while the coachman slowly trailed behind all of them with the carriage.
Kaerton asked, “How are things? Have you thought of any new dishes or ideas?”
“I’ve too many of them. You can’t afford them,” Su Ye said.
“Name a price,” Kaerton said proudly.
“Ten thousand Gold Eagles.”
Kaerton smiled helplessly and said, “I’m being serious here.”
“I’m not joking with you either.” Su Ye stopped and looked at Kaerton with an earnest expression.
“Let’s go to Dolphin River and talk,” Kaerton said seriously.
“Are you sure?” Su Ye smirked.
Kaerton let out a long sigh and lamented to Hark, “See this guy here? He was very respectful the last time he came to me. Now, he is looking down on me.”
Hark turned his head and looked into the distance.
Su Ye grinned and walked towards the carriage.
The three of them got on one after another. Su Ye and Kaerton sat side by side while Hark sat opposite them.
Kaerton remained silent for a long while before he said, “The success of your salad sauce recipe is beyond my imagination. Money is not my biggest gain. What’s important is that it allows my reputation to spread throughout Greece and even to Rome. The second-in-line heir of Averardo actually visited Dolphin River a few days ago and personally bought the salad dressing recipe from me.”
“Don’t tell me how much he spent. My heart will ache.” Su Ye naturally knew that the price would not be low.
Kaerton smiled wryly and said, “But I know that if I want to collaborate with you, I will have to spew some out.”
“That’s too kind of you.” Su Ye was suddenly in a good mood.
Seeing Su Ye’s brightened mien, Kaerton suppressed his unwillingness and proposed, “I want to strengthen the collaboration between us. I am sure that you must have better business ideas than just salad dressing.”
“Collaboration?” Su Ye grasped the key point in Kaerton’s speech.
“Yes, collaboration. Our transaction last time was just a deal, but we will be partners from now on,” Kaerton solemnly affirmed.
“What do you want?” Su Ye slowly turned around and stared at Kaerton’s deep-set brown eyes.
“You said you want to open a restaurant in the noble district?” Kaerton inquired.
Su Ye nodded and said, “It’s true.”
“I can join you,” Kaerton said.
“If you dared to open a restaurant in the noble district, you would have done so long ago,” Su Ye said.
Kaerton raised his chin. With a hint of smugness in his voice, he explained, “I haven’t been idle these past few days. I’ve gotten to know many of the noble’s butlers. They’ve revealed that if my restaurant is good enough, they would be willing to work with me.”
Su Ye shook his head and pointed out, “No. You would be eaten clean.”
Kaerton’s expression turned sullen, but he didn’t retort Su Ye.
“Who’s the noble supporting you?” Su Ye asked.
Kaerton instinctively glanced at Hark. He saw that Hark’s face was expressionless. After hesitating for a moment, he revealed, “He’s a new noble, a sage warrior. In the past, I fought under him, and he admired me very much. He owns 20 percent of all my businesses.”
“He’s not powerful enough to suppress others,” Su Ye said.
A strange look appeared on Kaerton’s face.
If even a warrior at the level of Sage wasn’t sufficient to hold the fort, then at least a warrior at the level of Legend would be needed. Perhaps they might even need to seek protection from a Heroic Family.
“Is your business that huge?”
“It’s bigger than you imagine.” In fact, Su Ye was already being rather modest. There was too much he could do. Right now, he could only choose a few things that were related to his own background and didn’t require too much of his attention.
Kaerton once again sunk into deep thought.
Soon, the carriage came to a halt. The three of them entered the backyard, into Kaerton’s room.
Hark stood guard at the door.
“What exactly do you want to do?”
The two had sat there for a long time before Kaerton finally managed to ask a question with some difficulty.
“It’s very simple. I plan to sell some dishes, and at the same time sell some new cutlery, plates, and bowls,” answered Su Ye with a relaxed tone.
Kaerton’s spirits were lifted. He wasn’t very interested in new cutlery, but making utensils like plates and bowls was a lucrative business. At first glance, it didn’t seem like much. However, if they managed to expand their business by many folds, let alone a silver warrior like him, even the sage warrior wouldn’t be powerful enough to protect their business.
“Ordinary cutlery doesn’t seem to require the intervention of a Sage level Family,” Kaerton said tentatively.
“How about cutlery that might change the dining culture of all of Greece or even the world?” Su Ye replied with another question.
Kaerton’s eyes were wide open, and his gaze was as bright as a torch. Cutlery and food were two completely different concepts.
Other people would soon learn how to cook the dishes one invented. Besides that, there was a limit to where they could sell the dishes. On the other hand, cutlery was a commodity. As long as one had expanded the market with their innovation, they would always be in the lead.
“I can talk to that sage warrior,” Kaerton said.
Su Ye thought for a moment, then said, “I’ve already found my first partner.”
Kaerton was frantic, but he quickly gained control of his bad mood and asked, “Who is that?”
“Plato Academy,” Su Ye replied.
Kaerton let out a sigh of relief and said, “You made the right choice. Plato Academy’s products are very popular. Although those nobles claim that they hate magicians, they like magic products the most.”
“Other than Plato Academy, I don’t have any other power to stop the nobles from pawing at my ideas. It hasn’t been easy for you for the past few days, has it?” Su Ye looked at Kaerton with an exceptionally kind gaze.
Kaerton’s gaze turned warm as his eyes turned red. He let his emotions brew in his heart for a long while before he finally exhaled a long sigh and vented his spleen, “I don’t even want to recall how difficult it has been. Those nobles are simply a bunch of mad dogs. No, mad hyenas. They want nothing more than to tear me apart and squeeze out all the bone marrow from the crevices of my bones. If it wasn’t because I was using Pandion Family and Averado Family as my shields, I would be left with absolutely nothing. I don’t understand. They clearly know that the salad dressing is actually not that profitable. It can at most generate 1,000 Gold Eagles worth of profit per year. Why must they be so vicious?”
“The logic behind it is very simple,” Su Ye said.
“Oh? Tell me about it,” Kaerton said.
Su Ye smiled and said, “A servant in my family once asked the same question. He questioned why a noble would force him to death for 60 Silver Peacocks. He was forced to become a debt slave because of it. I didn’t figure out the answer before this, but after hearing what you said, I suddenly understand.”
Kaerton stared at Su Ye.
Su Ye asked, “Will you risk your life for a meal?”
“No.”
“Would a commoner risk his life for a meal?” Su Ye asked.
“No.”
“Would a noble risk his life for a meal?” Su Ye asked again.
“Of course not.” Kaerton vaguely understood where Su Ye was going with his explanation.
Su Ye expounded, “You see, no one would risk their life for a meal. So, the answer to my servant’s question was very simple. Those 60 silver peacocks were merely the money for a meal in the eyes of the noble. He believed that the servant would definitely be able to fork it out. Therefore, from those nobles’ point of view, if you have the salad dressing, you ought to share it with them. The salad dressing was just a small business for the nobles. They would never imagine that the salad dressing was actually an opportunity for you to climb up the ladder. They also could not imagine that the salad dressing was once my life-saving straw. Many times, the nobles have no intention to put an end to our lives. They merely take away an unimportant straw.”
Su Ye paused for a second before continuing, “If we object to their decision, they will say, ‘Why aren’t you willing to give us even a straw? You’re too petty. You must be punished!’ Look at those Persians and Egyptians who were forced to death by heavy taxes. The Persian Kings and the pharaohs thought that they were just taking away straws. Little did they realize that a soul was attached to each straw.”