Journey to the head

Chapter 38 City Investigation
Although this young man calls himself an immortal master, he is not a mortal.He was about thirteen or fourteen years old. Lu Qian could detect a very light flowing spiritual power from him. This feeling was worse than Baitao. He must have just started.

He asked with great interest: "Do you have any advice from fellow Taoist?"

The young man's expression darkened: "I don't dare, I just learned some rudimentary Qi-entraining techniques, and I don't dare call myself a monk."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face again: "Master Xian, my name is Lin Le, you can just call me Xiao Lin. I grew up in Plum Blossom Square since I was a child, and I am very familiar with this place. Do you want to hire me? Be a guide? I will give you a clear introduction to the four gates and one tower in the five districts and eleven cities here. There is nothing big or small in the city that I don’t know about. I only need five spiritual stones a day, and you don’t have to worry about my food and drink. , do you think so?"

He said this in one breath, very skillfully.After saying that, he clasped his hands and looked at Lu Qian expectantly.

Oh, a tour guide in the world of cultivation?

Lu Qian noticed that his clothes were starched and turned white, very worn, and his body looked thin, like a child from a poor family.His black eyes were always paying attention to the expressions of the others, and his formulaic smile was actually full of nervousness.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival and the weather was getting cooler, but judging from the sweat on his head, he must have been standing in the sun for a long time.

This is a very motivated and smart child.

Lu Qian's heart moved. He happened to have some ideas and happened to investigate in Plum Blossom Square.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you." Lu Qian took out five spiritual stones and handed them over, "Start from the street below us and take us to the largest inn here."

Lin Dong took the spirit stone and jumped for joy.He carefully put away the spirit stones, then walked forward with a few people, and began to introduce: "The area we are in now is the entrance and exit of Meihuafang, and it is also the first area. The shops here sell all kinds of alchemy, The raw materials for making talismans and refining weapons are mainly..."

Xuanjizi, who was behind, pulled Taotao and murmured in a low voice: "Young man Lu, this is out of kindness. We won't stay in this city for a long time. We will go to Ningzhou in five days. No matter what this city is doing..."

Jiang Qingfeng was deep in thought. She knew that her junior brother would never do anything insignificant, and if he understood clearly, he must have his own purpose.

Under Lin Dong's introduction, the whole picture of Meihuafang appeared in front of several people.

Meihuafang has five districts, eleven cities, four gates and one tower.

The areas with five plum petals are the first to fifth areas. Their main functions are raw materials, elixirs, talismans, weapon refining and synthesis.Interspersed in the middle are large and small inns, restaurants, chambers of commerce, pawn shops, exchange offices, etc.In addition, there are large residential areas for tens of thousands of mortals and monks.

The Wudaafang District is subdivided into eleven markets, each with its own emphasis.

The so-called four sects refer to the four large or even giant sects that control this city. They have set up their own sect's station here, but it is extremely difficult for ordinary monks to enter.

The last tower is the Juling Tower on the central square.This tower is built on the spiritual veins and is the core of the entire city. It is divided into 25 floors.

A formation is also arranged in this tower to condense the spiritual energy in the spiritual veins and prevent it from leaking out.There are some buildings in the tower that are rented out for long-term use. Monks in need can rent a room to practice, but the price is very high.

After talking and strolling along the way, even Xuanjizi discovered that Lu Qian had other plans.

In addition to briefly asking about the topography, he was also asking about where the raw materials of these stores came from, how the sales were, the frequency of purchases and store rents.

These questions made Lin Le's eyes go straight, and he hesitated to speak.Lu Qian didn't worry, he took a few people into many shops along the way and talked to the shopkeepers.

As a result, they walked even slower. By the time they walked out of the first square area and arrived at Xianhe Tower, the largest inn, it was already past noon and everyone was a little tired.

Lu Gan opened three rooms and went to a lively restaurant next door, ready to eat and rest.Lin Le smiled in surprise: "Masters, please take your time while you eat. I will wait at the door."

Lu Gan shook his head: "You come and eat together. I'm not a stingy person. I have something to do in the afternoon."

The aroma of the food stimulated Lin Le's taste buds. He touched the hard dry steamed buns in his arms and couldn't say a word.

Then, under his envious gaze, Lu Gan opened a private room, and several mortal waiters nodded and bowed to greet him.

Biling chicken, eight-treasure duck, purple-bearded carp, flower-flavored dolphin... Lu Gan ordered a lot of dishes without hesitation. Not only did Lin Le's eyes widen when he saw it, but even Jiang Qingfeng felt a little extravagant.

Only Lu Qian himself knew that he selected some dishes according to three levels: high, high and low.

Although he ordered a lot, Lu Qian didn't eat much. He just tasted it briefly and then began to observe the surroundings.

The furnishings in the store, the mortal waiters waiting in the hall, and the various monks sitting down were the main targets of his attention.

At the same time, he also noticed that Lin Le still maintained restraint when facing such a large table of food, and only ate the few dishes in front of him.His eyes always glanced at Bai Tao, who was dominating the table with his teeth and claws spread out, and he showed deep envy inadvertently.

Paying the bill, this meal cost a total of 30 yuan in spirit stones, which made Lin Le dumbfounded.His job as a tour guide only opens a few times a month, and 30 yuan of spirit stones is enough to cover his two months' income.

But Lu Qian sighed in his heart.

I want to investigate Meihuafang City just to prepare for the future management of the sect.He had to see if the business models in his memory were suitable in this world.

At present, it seems that the catering service industry can be excluded from the business concept.

The food tastes great and the ingredients are carefully selected and impeccable.The service staff are of extremely high quality.Facing the monks, the mortal waiters bent their waists to the ground. Even the tables in the hall were equipped with a waiter to serve them at any time.The furnishings in the store are fresh and elegant, and the atmosphere and comfort are very strong.

But even for such a high-end restaurant, with high-end service and only charging 30 yuan of spirit stones for one meal, the daily turnover is definitely not high.

This is because only monks in the Qi training period need to eat one meal a day. No matter how high the cultivation level is, they will be completely fasted.And the vast majority of qi-training monks spend their money by scratching their heads. How many of them are willing to spend dozens of spiritual stones for a meal?

Lu Qian had just seen it, and he was considered a generous person in the restaurant. The dishes on the table usually only cost ten spiritual stones.

Based on this calculation, based on the table turnover rate just observed, how much water does this restaurant generate in a day?How much gross profit can there be?

This is still one of the best restaurants in the large market.How much profit can those restaurants in small and medium-sized markets with low traffic volume make?
After all, the entire paid market is too small. It is estimated that in the past 2 years, catering companies have only been able to continue to innovate, lower unit prices, improve quality, and provide better additional services.

If that's the case, what's the point of joining now?
Is the modern service comparable to the servility of the mortals here facing the monks' demands?Prepared dishes, central factories, raw material supply chains... these products that rely on modern logistics and information flow were rejected by Lu Gan as soon as they were thought of.

Catering is no longer feasible, so we can only think of other ways.

So he said to Lin Le: "Xiao Lin, I'll trouble you to take me around this afternoon."

(End of this chapter)