Luke's business empire and quality-of-life improvent plan unfolded thodically in King's Landing.
Besides the tavern on Silk Street that was still being renovated and whose positioning was yet to be decided, he acquired another shop on the relatively respectable and steady-flowing Silent Sisters Street.
This shop he planned to use for a relatively "accessible" yet sufficiently unique product — "Ice Crystal Honey" (rock sugar).
He handed one hundred jin of rock sugar to Arthur. The forr Myr steward displayed extrely high efficiency. He quickly recruited reliable staff, gave them simple training, and the "Ice Crystal Honey" specialty store quietly opened for business.
The pricing was naturally not cheap, but compared to the skyrocketing prices of salt, sugar, and perfus, the "sweetness" of rock sugar felt purer and more harmless.
It soon attracted a batch of middle-class citizens and noble youths who loved novel sweets, becoming another stable cash inflow point and brand showcase window for Luke.
One day, Luke felt his clothes were becoming ill-fitting again.
The Constitution upgrade brought not only internal optimization but also subtle height growth and body adjustnts.
His current height was visually close to 1.8 ters. In Westeros, where the average height was on the shorter side, he already counted as tall and straight.
The previous black noble outfit had sleeves and trouser legs that were now too short.
He took Bronn with him to the best-reputed tailor shop in King's Landing, said to have served many great nobles.
The finest fabrics, the most exquisite craftsmanship — three sets of luxurious everyday clothes custom-made, costing a full two hundred gold dragons.
Bronn watched the tailor asure Luke, clicking his tongue in amazent. He ca over, used his hand to compare their height difference, and couldn't help exclaiming:
"Hey! Luke! Did you eat sothing you shouldn't have? In such a short ti, how did you shoot up again?"
"Could it be your parents are siblings? Only deford children from incest grow this fast!"
Luke irritably slapped away his gesturing hand and glared at him. "Shut up, Bronn. This is the natural growth from the awakening of 'Heavenly Dragon' bloodline. Stop making a fuss over nothing."
He was too lazy to explain more and simply used the "Heavenly Dragon" identity — which had almost beco a universal excuse — to shut him up.
Whenever he t soone, no matter who, Luke would intentionally or unintentionally emphasize that he was a "Heavenly Dragon"!
Bronn curled his lips and muttered, "Does the Heavenly Dragon bloodline also control height growth?" but didn't pester him further.
Besides clothing, Luke's requirents for his living environnt were also rising.
With a wave of his hand, he allocated another three hundred gold dragons and had Arthur purchase a batch of new furniture, replacing all the old, sowhat crude and heavy tables, chairs, cabinets, and beds in the main building with new ones that matched his aesthetics and used better materials.
Mainly various genuine leather, fresh animal hides, velvet, solid wood…
Of course, the core item — the mattress — he secretly brought a comfortable "Simmons" king-size bed from Blue Star, replacing the hard feather mattress.
The twin maids who had the honor of helping make the bed upstairs were full of "interest" in that bed!
The kitchen and dining room were the重点 of his renovations.
The previous kitchenware was crude, and the tableware mostly rough pottery or inferior tin.
Luke directly took out complete sets of iron pots, stainless steel cookware, modern ceramic bowls and plates, crystal-clear glass cups, and shiny alloy knives, forks, spoons, and chopsticks from his storage space.
He even thoughtfully prepared several pairs of chopsticks for himself!
He simply couldn't stand using those possibly unclean Westerosi traditional tableware that might still carry strange odors.
He partitioned a small "master-exclusive" kitchen next to the main building and filled it with various seasonings brought from Blue Star: soy sauce, vinegar, cooking wine, oyster sauce, chicken powder, five-spice powder, chili sauce…
Along with a heavy bag of Northeast Wuchang rice that he regarded as strategic reserves.
He tossed a Chinese cookbook with detailed English translations and full-color step-by-step pictures to Annie and Emma Waters, instructing them to study it well.
The two sisters held the beautifully printed "heavenly book" with pictures so realistic it looked like the dishes were sealed inside the paper. They were shocked beyond words, their small mouths forming perfect "O" shapes.
"Oh, Seven Hells… is this the secret recipe of the God of Food?!"
"God of Food above… from now on I shall worship the God of Food."
The way they looked at Luke was no longer re admiration — it was almost reverence bordering on viewing him as a walking deity.
On the security side, Luke also made upgrades.
He bought a set of three wireless surveillance caras with night vision and two ultra-high-capacity outdoor power banks from Blue Star.
Under the cover of night, he installed them himself: one above the inside of the outer courtyard gate, one on the outer wall of the second floor of the main building, and one directly facing the staircase on the second floor.
The wiring was a bit troubleso, but he cleverly hid the power lines using wall corners, eaves, and pre-prepared covers.
The two outdoor power banks alternated, enough to support this simple surveillance system for over a month.
This way, even if he was on Blue Star, if sothing happened here, he could investigate afterward!
Fuck yes, with surveillance!
No one could fool him!
After completing all this and looking at the estate that was gradually becoming comfortable, safe, and full of "modern" conveniences, Luke nodded in satisfaction.
It was ti to deal with the mountain of "stones" piled up in his storage space.
He needed to cash out part of the "jewelry and jade" to replenish his shrinking Blue Star account.
At the sa ti, he wanted to verify how much value these things — regarded as "pretty stones" in Westeros — actually held on Blue Star.
He crossed back to Blue Star again without lingering.
Following the information he had checked beforehand, he took the high-speed train to Yangcheng (Guangzhou), then transferred to the famous jadeite trading hub — Pingzhou.
This was the capital of jadeite, with gambling stone stalls lined up one after another.
Luke's goal was clear. He skipped the finished product area and went straight into the highest-risk, highest-potential "full gamble raw stone area."
He knew nothing about jadeite, and even less about evaluating raw stones.
He closed his eyes and spent fifty thousand yuan purely randomly buying thirteen raw stones of various sizes.
He had ten of them cut on site. The result was no surprise!
They were either worthless brick material or low-grade stuff with dry color and poor transparency. The fifty thousand yuan went straight down the drain.
The onlookers around made sounds of pity or schadenfreude.
Luke remained expressionless. He put the remaining three raw stones into his backpack and left the noisy cutting area.
He had originally planned to find a deserted place to throw away these three "waste materials," but after thinking about it, he stored them directly in his space.
All the above operations were for show — to prove that the "good stuff" he would bring out next wasn't conjured from nothing and had a traceable source!
Following the map on his phone, he found a well-known jadeite appraisal and carving company in the industry.
Upon entering, the receptionist was a young woman with delicate makeup wearing a professional skirt suit, with a standard professional smile on her face.
But when her eyes swept over Luke's ordinary casual clothes and slightly tired expression, a trace of barely noticeable contempt flashed through them.
"Sir, how may I help you?" Her voice was sweet but carried distance.
Luke didn't waste words. He directly took out two pieces of jadeite rough from his shoulder bag — the ones he had traded in Westeros as "pretty green stones," simply cut to reveal rich green color and fine texture — and placed them on the clean reception desk.
Luke knew absolutely nothing about "jadeite"!
But he had his own simple and crude "appraisal thod" — the "Wind Oil Essence Comparison thod"!
He had collected many "suspected" jadeite stones. rchants, to increase sales, had polished most of them.
Luke directly took out a bottle of wind oil essence, held it against the light, and compared the color saturation, texture, and that "moist" feeling.
If sothing was truly a natural stone and looked almost identical to "wind oil essence" in color, luster, and texture, then it was definitely "high-quality jadeite"!
Netizens often used "wind oil essence" to mock jadeite. Now Luke had reversed it.
Direct reverse operation — using wind oil essence to appraise jadeite… pure evil cultivator thod.
"Please appraise these and give a price estimate."
The girl's gaze fell on the two stones. At first she was sowhat indifferent, but when she saw the deep, pure green that seed to flow under the light, and the icy, moist, translucent texture, her professional smile instantly froze. Her eyes widened dramatically!
"This… Sir, please wait a mont! I'll imdiately call our chief appraiser! Please sit here and have so tea!"
The girl's attitude did a complete 180-degree turn. She hurriedly led Luke to the VIP lounge, served him hot tea, then trotted off to make a phone call, her voice trembling with excitent.
Luke picked up the teacup, took a slow sip, and watched the girl's hurried back with a cold laugh in his heart: "You're no good at judging people… but at least you have so skill judging stones."
Soon, a white-haired, energetic old man wearing gold-rimd glasses, accompanied by an assistant, walked over quickly.
The old man was the company's chief appraiser, surnad Li.
Old Li didn't waste ti on pleasantries. He put on professional gloves and a magnifying glass, carefully picked up one of the jadeite pieces, examined it ticulously under the light source, gently stroking the cut surface with his fingers, his expression focused and serious.
After looking for a full ten minutes, he took out a strong flashlight he carried with him to observe the internal structure.
He even had his assistant run tests for density and refractive index using instrunts.
Finally, Old Li put down the jadeite, removed his gloves, let out a long breath, and looked at Luke with a completely different expression — full of shock and a trace of barely concealed eagerness.
"Mr. Lu, these two pieces… are both real jadeite." Old Li's voice trembled slightly from excitent.
"And the quality is extrely high! High-ice type, vivid green, strong color, excellent translucency, clean base, almost no impurities or cracks! Especially this one,"
He pointed at the slightly larger piece: "This is already glass type! Material like this is extrely rare on the market nowadays!"
He paused, steadied his breathing, and said solemnly: "Our company is very sincere. If Mr. Lu is willing to sell, we are prepared to offer… two million five hundred thousand RMB for these two jadeite roughs, paid in full at once."
Two million five hundred thousand!
Luke's hand holding the teacup paused imperceptibly.
He quickly calculated in his mind: These two stones in Westeros were just "extras" traded from a Dornish rchant using two jars of "Velvet Snow" and one jar of "Demon's Whisper" perfu.
Total cost on Blue Star: no more than thirty yuan.
Thirty yuan for two million five hundred thousand.
So many… so many tis the profit!
Even though he was ntally prepared for the insane profits of two-world trading, this number still made his heart pound wildly.
What excited him even more was that this verified his previous judgnt — natural gemstones from Westeros held astonishing value on Blue Star!
Moreover, cashing out through legitimate channels, although it would take a cut of the profit, was far safer and more convenient than dealing with gold!
He didn't sell gold for cash because he couldn't explain its origin… so for quick money, he could only sell natural gemstones.
The stones were all "cut" out — legal, legitimate, and law-abiding.
"Wash, wash, everyone co wash money together, help think of ideas…"
He forcefully suppressed the near-explosion of ecstasy and shouting in his throat. On his face, he maintained calmness and even deliberately furrowed his brows slightly, as if the price was not entirely satisfactory.
"Two million five hundred thousand…"
He pondered, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop:
"Old Li, as far as I know, high-ice vivid green material like this — and two pieces at that — if made into finished products, would be worth far more than this amount, right?"
A gleam flashed in Old Li's eyes. He knew he was dealing with soone knowledgeable, not just a random college student — at least soone who had done his howork.
He smiled, his attitude becoming even more sincere: "Mr. Lu is a sensible man. There is naturally a difference between raw material price and finished product price. Our company also has to bear the risks and costs of processing, design, and sales."
"If you are not satisfied with the price, we can discuss further. Or… are you interested in contributing the raw material as capital? We can cooperate on developnt with profit sharing?"
Luke's mind turned rapidly.
Cooperative developnt?
The cycle would be too long, with too many variables, and he needed quick, safe cash flow.
Selling outright, although the profit would be compressed, was simple, fast, and money in the pocket.
"No need for cooperation." Luke shook his head, his tone firm. "Three million. If your company is sincere, we can sign the contract now and complete paynt and delivery imdiately."
There was another short round of back-and-forth.
In the end, both sides settled at two million eight hundred thousand RMB. They signed the contract, transferred the money. Looking at the long string of numbers that suddenly appeared in his banking app, Luke felt his heartbeat had never been so strong.
Walking out of the company's doors, the afternoon sunlight felt a bit blinding.
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