Volume 2 Chapter 60 Tire
âTwo days into one day?â Chairman Pompeii was stunned before he shook his head, âHow could that be possible? If you say a day and a half, I could have my subordinates work a bit harder and buy some better horses, perhaps it would be possible. But to shorten it to a dayâŠ..Only if there was a public road connecting Banta City and Anvilmar City.â
âDonât think about it for now.â Xu Yi shook his head, âThe two roads we are building right now is an experiment for his majesty. When these two roads are finished and his majesty feels the results are good, then the kingdom will start investing into building public roads. As for the road connecting Banta City and Anvilmar City, who knows how long weâll have to wait.â
Chairman Pompeii gave a dejected nod, âThatâs right. If every part of the Lampuri Kingdom was connected with roads, then it would be much easier for our carriage company to do business.â
âThis is my second time hearing someone sigh like this.â Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, âRelax, as long as more people see the benefits of these roads, then I believe that all of the Lampuri Kingdomâs roads will be turned into public roads.â
âI also believe this, but the problem is how long will it take? Right now I canât wait that long.â Chairman Pompeii gave another sigh before looking at Xu Yi, âChairman Xu, didnât you say that we should change ourselves and not change the roads?â
âThatâs right, Iâm talking about something more realistic. It is the horse carriage that your company currently uses.â Xu Yi said.
âHorse carriage?â Chairman Pompeii considered it before knitting his brows, âHow can we improve the horse carriages? Other than getting better horses, is there anything else we can do? The problem is that good horses cost more and eat more expensive feed, I canât support that.â
âAlright the horse can be replaced with something else, we canât do that now. I came to you this time to talk about the carriage specifically.â
âCarriage?â Chairman Pompeii was even more confused, âWhat part of the carriage can be improved?â
âOf course thereâs a part.â Xu Yi gave a confident nod, âI saw the Sarank Chamber of Commerceâs cavalcade just now and I noticed that all the horse carriages in their cavalcade were made of wood?â
âOf course, our carriages are horse drawn vehicles, whether it is transporting humans or goods, they are all made of wood. Is there some problem?â
âCould it be that you donât thinkâŠ..horse carriages made from wood arenât durable and break easily?â Xu Yi asked.
âOf course Iâm clear on this, but we canât make it out of metal, right? I tried making a carriage out of metal before, but the problem was that not only is metal heavy to the point that two horses couldnât even move it, it also costs quite a bit to make. Last time I tried making a four person carriage and it actually cost me two hundred gold coins! Do you think that I can afford this kind of price? You have to know that all our horse carriages are made of wood and they cost no more than twenty gold coins to make.â
Xu Yi couldnât help smiling. A carriage made completely out of iron? This chairman Pompeii really could think.
âIâm not saying to completely make it out of iron, of course that wonât work. My meaning is that for a carriage, the easiest thing to wear down and break is not the horse carriage itself, but rather the tires and rolles, right?â
âThatâs right, it is indeed like this.â Chairman Pompeii nodded, âBut Iâve also tried this, making the wheels and rollers out of iron. It is still too heavy and is actually easier to distort than wood. Adding in the fact that it costs several times more than wooden tires, I had to give it up in the end.â
âIt costs several times more to make it?â Xu Yi was a bit surprised, âThat isnât right, from what I can see, iron should be cheaper. Shouldnât it be more expensive to make wheels and rollers out of wood?â
âChairman Xu, you donât understand. Although iron itself is much cheaper than wood, to build the same kind of wheel and roller, it costs more to pay a blacksmith than a carpenter. Calculating this, itâs more expensive to make a wheel out of iron.â Chairman Pompeii helplessly said.
âPaâââ
Xu Yi suddenly clapped his hands before saying with a smile, âThatâs it!â
Chairman Pompeii looked at Xu Yi in surprise, âWhat do you mean?â
Xu Yi laughed, âChairman Pompeii, if I told you that I could sell you wheels and rollers made of iron at a price lower than that of those made of wood, would you be interested?â
âAre you joking?â Chairman Pompeii curled his lip, âHow could iron be cheaperâŠ..â He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Xu Yi with wide eyes, âThatâs right, doesnât your Frestech Chamber of Commerce do this! I really am stupid, I actually forgot something like this! Chairman Xu, can you really provide a cheaper wheel and roller made of iron?â
âOf course, I can even add something better that is called a tire.â Xu Yi replied with a smile.
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It was close to night when he left the Fersen Carriage Company and when Xu Yi got home, the curtain of night fell.
When he walked into the door, he saw a figure appear in front of him as Agnes suddenly came out.
âSir chairman, youâre finally back!â Agnes excitedly called out. She grabbed Xu YIâs hand and pulled him in through the door.
Xu Yi was a bit surprised, âAgnes, you seem quite happy today.â
âThis is because Agnes made dinner tonight.â Stillâs voice came from inside the room.
When she saw Agnes pulling Xu Yi in by the hand, Stillâs expression changed slightly. She stood up and her expression didnât change as she stole Xu Yiâs hand back from Agnes before saying with a smile, âYou were gone for so long, the dishes are almost cold.â
Xu Yi looked at Vivian on the side with surprise before looking back at Still, âDidnât you say that you two were making dinner tonight, why did it become Agnes?â
Still gave a shrug, âYou should ask Agnes. When she saw Vivian and me prepare to make dinner, I donât know what happened, but she suddenly said that she would make dinner. She wouldnât listen to us no matter what we said.â
Xu Yi looked at Agnes in surprise, âAgnes, did you meet something that made you happy today?â
Agnes shook her head, âNo. When I saw Still and Vivian preparing to make dinner, I suddenly thought that Iâve been here for so long, but Iâve always eaten the food Vivian made. According to what sir chairman told me last time about humans carrying their own weight, I thought that I should repay you by making dinner and returning your favours. Am I right, sir chairman?â
Xu Yi couldnât help smiling, âAlthough itâs not completely right, itâs not wrong. Very good, Agnes, youâre learning more and more about the customs that we humans have. I believe that youâll soon become what elder Illusia wishes for and youâll truly be able to live in our human society.â
Agnes said in a somewhat distressed voice, âBut every time I go out, there are many people who point at me and quite a few people surround me.â
âThereâs no other way, who told them to be not used to you.â Xu Yi smiled as he patted Agnesâ shoulder, âRelax, humans get used to new things quite quickly. I believe it wonât take long before everyone is used to the existence of you elves. Look, now that a hundred of your compatriots have come, when they reveal themselves more in the city, everyone will gradually be used to this situation and will no longer point or surround you.â
Agnes thought for a bit before nodding, âI hope so. Alright, sir chairman, youâre finally back, so letâs quickly eat dinner. I donât know what human eating customs are, but Still and Vivian both said that the dishes wonât be good if theyâre cold, so letâs eat them before they get cold.â
Hearing Agnes say that she didnât understand human eating customs, Xu Yiâs heart skipped a beat.
Last time when he went to the Night Song Tribe, elder Illusia had only given the three of them some simple fruits and water. This made Xu Yi complain about the diet of the elves.
Now that Agnes had emphasized this point, just what kind of appearance would the meal she made have?
Seeing Agnes pull back the cover over the table, Xu Yi took a deep breath and calmed himself as he took a look.
When he saw it, Xu Yi almost began to cry.
The things in the three dishes and soup bowl were completely black, he couldnât tell what they were at all.
If someone wanted Xu Yi to recognize this as a normal meal, it would just by too hard to do.
Seeing the bright smile on Agnesâ face, Xu Yi asked Still and Vivian, âHey, were these dishes made by Agnes alone? You just stood on the side without helping her at all?â
âThis is because Agnes said that having people help wouldnât let her show her sincerity, so she chased both of us out.â Still casually replied before looking at Xu Yi with a secret smile, âDear sir chairman, Agnes said that since she came to the human world, you have helped her the most, so she wanted to make this meal to thank you. SoâŠ..you canât let down Agnesâ good intentions.â
âThatâs right, sir chairman, in order to show my gratitude, I made this entire meal by myself. How about you have a taste?â Agnes looked at Xu Yi with an expectant gaze.
Seeing the happy expression on Agnesâ face, as well as the secret smile on Stillâs face and the worry on Vivianâs face, Xu Yi gave a sigh in his heart. He revealed a bright smile on his face and said to Agnes, âAlright, let me give it a try.â
He gritted his teeth after saying this and revealed a righteous look, as he took a large bite of the food Agnes delivered to his mouth.
Instantly all kinds of strange tastes exploded in his mouth. Xu Yi felt like he had fallen into an amazing world and the surrounding space turned colourful.
At this time, Agnesâ voice rang in his ears.
âSir chairman, does it taste good?â
After a while, Xu Yi slowly spat out two words with difficulty, âTastesâŠâŠgoodâŠâŠâ
[TL Note: Moment of silence for our poor manâŠ..]
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